WHO WE ARE
At the Growing Food Growing Health and Growing Food Growing Hope gardens in Lawrence, Kansas, we teach students how to grow food while taking care of the Earth, to work as members of a team, and to facilitate community healing and engagement among those who are recovering from addiction and those who are food insecure.
Our Mission
The mission of Growing Food Growing Health is to nourish and inspire personal well-being, strengthen community connections, and support sustainable, local food systems.
We fulfill our mission by creating beautiful and productive gardens, developing youth leaders, and using food as a transformative path to health.
Our History
The first season of production at West Middle School in 2010.
The Community Mercantile Education Foundation (CMEF), a 501(c) (3), was established in 1999 for the purpose of extending the educational outreach being done by our sister organization, The Merc Co+op.
Growing Food Growing Health is a project of the Community Mercantile Education Foundation (CMEF) which is dedicated to improving the health of youth. By creating school gardens that act as living classrooms it inspires hands-on education, and connecting students to locally-grown fruits and vegetables.
Now in it's ninth season, GFGH tends to over 14,000 square feet of gardens on school grounds at West Middle School, and helps support gardens at neighboring Hillcrest Elementary and Sunset Hill Elementary.