Food Dignity Project

Food Dignity Project

Members of The Self Advocacy Federation know a lot about how hard it is to live on a low income. One of the most concerning things to us is how much more expensive it is to eat! Wow! Grocery prices have gone up over 20%. Sometimes it’s hard to eat food that will keep us healthy because things like fruits and vegetables are so expensive. The SAF learned about the cost of food when you don’t have the transportation to go chase grocery sales, and other barriers to get good food when you have a disability and are living below the poverty line.
The SAF decided to learn how to grow our own food. Many of us don’t have yards or places to grow food. Some of us have balconies or access to community gardens and have been growing small gardens and others of us don’t have any experience gardening. One of our members offered some space in his own garden for us and we thought it would be a great idea to see what we could grow. We started with learning about seeds and which ones would grow best in our climate. Each of us picked a food that they like and wanted to try growing. We got the supplies and planted the seeds and set them in front of windows starting in February. We learned about water and sunlight and how to start the seeds.

By the end of May we had so many things to plant and were excited to meet in person! This was the first time we had all been together since March 2020 and we were all so happy to connect again. We spent the day planting and visiting and barbecuing and a great time was had by all. The garden grew quickly and some of us committed to weeding the garden and making sure that the plants were getting enough water because it was a very hot summer.

We met again at the end of September to harvest all the vegetables and to share a meal and talk about what we learned. We each come home with lots of food and were excited about eating the fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. We learned a lot about gardening and are excited to put our new skills to work next year.