WASHINGTON — It's harvest time a Nationals Park! The Nats are using rooftop space to address food insecurity in D.C. in a unique way.
Last year, the Nats teamed up with CareFirst and Building Bridges Across the River to start a 6,000-square-foot rooftop garden at the ballpark. On Tuesday, volunteers harvested the produce.
So far this year, the Giving Garden has provided 167 pounds of fresh produce to D.C. neighbors in Wards 7 and 8. According to CareFirst, these neighborhoods have the least access to fresh food and have higher rates of diet-related diseases. In Wards 7 and 8, shopping for healthy, affordable food is a considerable challenge for people with a disability or without access to a personal vehicle.
"You know that saying 'You are what you eat'? Well, actually you are what you have access to," said Kimberly Harris with CareFist. "We know food is medicine ... We'd rather provide produce than write prescriptions."
Produce from the Giving Garden is harvested and distributed through Building Bridges Across the River’s Community Raised Inspired and Sourced Produce (C.R.I.S.P.) Community Sourced Agriculture (CSA) program and Saturday Farmer’s Market, which runs from May through November. More than 400 residents from Wards 7 and 8 pay an income-based fee and receive access to fruits, vegetables, herbs and other value-added products like honey.
The Nats Park garden grows food in more than 1,000 containers. It's one of seven urban farms that BBAR has in Southeast D.C.
Scott Kratz is the senior vice president of the organization. He said the Giving Garden was something that was needed in the neighborhood because there is only one full-service grocery store in Ward 8, which serves about 75,000 people.
"It's a huge food justice issue," Kratz said. "We need to see what we can do to create a more healthy, equitable and resilient community, and certainly providing access to healthy food that's locally grown can be a huge driver to that."
Missy Jenkins, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, said the garden is a great use of space that gets plenty of sunlight.
"What better way to use real estate that would otherwise just sit here empty than to give back to the community?"
Not a lot of people know about the Giving Garden, located right above some concession stands at the park, including the players themselves.
"I roam the outfield, but I didn't actually notice that this was here much," said Nationals outfielder Alex Call. "To get up here and see what's going on is pretty special."
Produce is harvested every Saturday through the spring, summer and fall, and yields approximately 12 tons of produce annually.