Submitted by Garden Inspirations
August 29, 2011
What started as a single 1986 Dodge pickup with a mini-farm planted in the truck bed has turned into a fleet of 25 trucks in 25 cities across the United States. Check out what The Huffington Post called “the coolest urban agriculture project around” when the DFW Truck Farm visits the State Fair of Texas September 30 , 2011 to October 23, 2011 in the Texas Discovery Gardens Green Exhibit area.
Truck Farm is a national urban agriculture project helmed by Ian Cheney, the Peabody Award-winning co-creator of the 2007 film “King Corn.” Truck Farm was born in Brooklyn, NY in 2009, when Ian planted a vegetable garden in the bed of his grandfather’s pick-up truck. With long time collaborator Curt Ellis, Ian exhibited Truck Farm at 40 schools in order to promote equitable access to healthy food and encourage kids to grow their own vegetables.
The capstone of the project, the Truck Farm documentary, premiered at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival in January. In coordination with the release of the film, the fleet was scaled to 25 Truck Farms in a select 25 American Cities. DFW’s Truck is owned and operated by Garden Inspirations – Marilyn Simmons and daughter Donelle Simmons from Waxahachie, Texas with support Susie Marshall from The Gleaning Network of Texas, www.gleantexas.org.
Each of the 25 Truck Farmers are using their traveling, tactile, edible classrooms to organize workshops for kids that will show them how fun, creative, easy and rewarding it can be to grow your own food. Ultimately the goal is to engage youth with gardening and inspire them to make healthy choices. Garden Inspirations plans to have designated story times during the open hours of the Green Exhibit and hands on projects for children and parents to enjoy that involve learning about growing food in small spaces.
The DFW Truck Farm’s first major stop will be the State Fair of Texas but is scheduling for the 2011-2012 school year. If you are interested in having the DFW Truck Farm visit your school or community event, contact Garden Inspirations. The contact information is below.
These workshops will also inspire kids to participate in Truck Farm’s third-annual Garden Contest, a challenge to see which student group can grow food in the most creative place. This year, the judges of the Garden Contest will be celebrities from the sustainable food movement.
For additional information, please contact Donelle Simmons 214-842-2100 or duchess@gardeninspirations-tx.com www.gardeninspirations-tx.com