In the midst of one of the wealthiest counties in the state of Tennessee and even in the US lurks food insecurity. For people shut-in from age, frailty, or disability to people living with cancer to African American and Hispanic populations, poverty is served up daily. The need is real; the response of Franklin First UMC is the Giving Garden.
The historic congregation (founded in 1799) was moving to its fourth location on 107 acres of prime farmland. In 2010 (five years before the new church was built) the five-acre garden began with the express mission to feed people in need.
Cultivating Food and the Soil
Consistently, the garden has produced 40,000+ pounds of produce each year, all of which is given away. Potatoes, tomatoes, squash, greens, peas, blackberries, blueberries, herbs, peppers, carrots, and soon apples as the trees reach maturity, all thrive in the garden.
The soil is also lovingly cared for through regenerative agriculture practices that include planting cover crops, allowing a portion of the land to lie fallow, avoiding chemicals, and adding homemade compost from the garden itself.
Cultivating Partners
The Giving Garden operates on three pillars: 1) production—growing the food and caring for the soil, 2) distribution—working with partners to reach people in need, and 3) volunteers.
The garden’s partners are both large and small. Meals on Wheels, serving 135 shut-ins, relies on the church both for the produce, but also food preparation. Franklin First UMC has a commercial grade kitchen and works together with other churches in the area to ensure partners are well supplied. Local food pantries, facing empty shelves resulting from the new food policies of the federal government, aksi receive extra produce from the Giving Garden. Another partner, The Well, uses produce from the garden to not only stock their food pantry, but for use also in their training program which teaches clients how to cook nutritious meals using fresh produce. Daughters of the King delivers garden produce to people in the African American community in the county.
Recently, Franklin First offered the local farmers market a new home on the church’s campus. With more space and much more parking area, the market will continue to grow, helping everyone to buy local and fresh. Additionally, at the end of the selling day, farmers give their leftover produce to the Giving Garden for distribution. The new proximity will benefit both the market and the church.
Cultivating Volunteers
Gardening requires people to do the work. The Giving Garden has a reputation that has brought them eager workers from older elementary children to older adults to work for a day or more regularly. People have come from every state and even from nations beyond the US.
Part of the reason volunteers come is because of how relationships are cultivated. All abilities—even if only a smile and the gift of presence—are welcomed and valued. The Giving Garden experience helps people develop a relationship with the earth and with people in need and discover a community of like-minded people. The mission of the garden is both to grow food and people’s hearts, seeing their work as a way of making a difference in the world.
As Saint Paul reminds us, the gardeners plant seeds and water and God gives the growth (1Corinthians 3:6).
Article is based on an interview with Gary Markham, current chairperson of the board of the Giving Garden.