“Cathedral City Community Garden & Composting Program” Wins the California Resource Recovery Association’s “Next Generation” Recycler Award
The California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) just announced that the Cathedral City Community Garden & Composting Program is the recipient of the 2015 “Next Generation” Recycler Award. This award honors the efforts of the City to involve youth or youth groups in promoting waste prevention, recycling, composting, and zero waste.
Ms. Deanna Pressgrove, Cathedral City’s Environmental Conservation & Public Works Manager, created the organic gardening program just a few short years ago by partnering with local public schools. Several enthusiastic teachers at two schools incorporated it into their educational curriculums to teach students how to garden and use fresh ingredients to create healthy, delicious meals. The success of the program continued to thrive as children grew fresh fruits and vegetables that they had never seen before or tasted.
Ms. Pressgrove opened the process for more schools to apply for a community garden. Over the past few years, six schools in Cathedral City have requested and installed gardens including Agua Caliente Elementary, Sunny Sands Elementary, Cathedral City Elementary, Rio Vista Elementary, Nellie Coffman Middle, and James Workman Middle schools.
“Our students at Nellie Coffman love the garden,” says middle-school teacher Sara Hadley. “They start their day tending to the needs of the garden. We see how the vegetables we grow can turn into delicious and healthy foods with no pesticides or preservatives. Students, who don’t like tomatoes, suddenly want to go eat tomatoes straight from the garden.”
The Cathedral City Boys and Girls Club has also taken advantage of the garden program as they host 10 beds while teaching kids how to process vegetables for healthy recipes including fresh salsa made with organically grown peppers and tomatoes.
The City now offers a garden program to the over-55, senior communities as a group-focused outdoor activity. Park David, Heritage Park, Casa Victoria and Tierra Del Sol senior apartments have gardens provided to them at no-cost. Seniors are able to grow their own vegetables to use at their facilities.
In the future, the City hopes to extend the program to individual residents who take a mandatory gardening class. The idea is to reduce product packaging that often ends up in a landfill, reduce the need to transport fruits and vegetables thereby shrinking our carbon footprint, and provide families with the knowledge to grow organic foods, free of pesticides, in the convenience of their own backyards.
Ms. Pressgrove will accept the prestigious award on behalf of the City at CRRA Annual Conference and Tradeshow on Thursday, August 6 in Los Angeles.
For more information about the garden and composting program, contact Deanna Pressgrove at (760) 770-0369 or email at dpressgrove@cathedralcity.gov.
