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By Sara Johnson

Pack a picnic and bring the whole family for fun and educational run at this  year’s Earth Day Dallas. On April 22, the city’s Earth Day festival will host  The DFW Truck Farm 5K Fun Run prior to its Sunday kickoff at Fair Park. Proceeds  from the race will benefit the DFW Truck Farm, which is used to teach kids and  the community about growing local foods and gardening in small spaces.

Truck Farm began in Brooklyn in 2009 when a mini-farm was planted in the bed  of a 1986 Dodge pickup truck. Now, the farm is a fleet of 25 trucks located in  25 different cities across the U.S., including Dallas. Donelle Simmons, runner  and owner/operator of Garden Inspirations and DFW’s Truck, says she wanted to do  a 5K with Truck Farm to bring fitness enthusiasts and healthy eating enthusiasts  together.

“The truck farm teaches you can garden anywhere!” says Simmons. “Everyone can  garden, and making healthy choices will help with energy levels, for runners and  for everyone.”

The DFW Truck Farm provides non-profit garden education to schools and other  groups in the DFW area. Simmons says one of her main goals with the truck is to  help connect real food with kids.

“It’s fun to see kids discover that there are so many vegetables out there  other than what it in the grocery store. I want them to realize that there is  more to eat out there than macaroni and cheese and hot dogs.”

Simmons says that part of their presentation includes making salads for the  kids or sending home produce from the truck that the kids can enjoy at home. She  says that she hears from parents who say their children are more likely to try  vegetables after seeing them on the Truck Farm.

“We grow climbing spinach on the back of the truck. The kids are often  surprised when they try something from the truck that they have heard of but  only had it one way, like spinach, and now they like it!” Simmons says.

Simmons, an experienced runner who has lived and ran around the world, says  some of her favorites runs were in such places as Sarajevo and along the Nile in  Egypt. She’s added some special touches to this non-competitive, non-timed 5K  that will help families have fun and learn about growing healthy food. The run  will have optional farming challenges along the course of the run such as  planting seeds, gathering eggs or moving worms from bin to bin. The race bibs  will be seed embedded. Participants can take it home and plant it or donate it  back to the DFW Truck Farm and they will plant it at a school in the upcoming  season. The race “goodie bag" has been made out of repurposed, donated  t-shirts.

Registration for the fun run is online now at dfwtruckfarm.com. The first 100 registrants will receive a  picnic blanket, personally made by Simmons, to use during the attempt to break  the record for the world’s largest simultaneous picnic after the run during the  Earth Day Dallas festivities. Day-of-race registration begins at 7:30 a.m. at  Fair Park, with the race kicking off at 8:30 a.m. Proceeds from the event will  benefit the DFW Truck Farm. Participants are welcome to stay and enjoy the rest  of the day’s Earth Day Dallas activities.

For more information on DFW Truck Farm and to find out how to bring the truck  to your event, visit dfwtruckfarm.com.  To learn more about the 2012 Picnic for the Planet, the attempt to break the  world’s record for the world’s largest simultaneous picnic, visit The Nature  Conservancy’s web site at www.nature.org. Visit www.earthdaydallas.org for a full schedule of Earth Day  Dallas events on April 21-22 at Fair Park.

Donelle Simmons of DFW Truck Farm says she lives and teaches gardening 24/7. She says that even an old grill can be repurposed and turned into a salad garden.
Donelle Simmons of DFW Truck Farm says she lives and  teaches gardening 24/7. She says that even an old grill can be repurposed and  turned into a salad garden.
      Photo credit:    
        photo from Donelle Simmons     

Register for the event at www.dfwtruckfarm.com and click on the logo!