Community Garden partnership takes root to benefit Food Bank
On Monday, November 11, 2019 the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank and Capitol City Produce held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Vince Ferachi Community Garden. The Vince Ferachi Community Garden’s purpose is to provide fresh produce, harvested by Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank volunteers, to those in need in our community. Currently, a harvest date has been set in May 2020. These crops include garlic, onions, strawberries, collards, mustards, turnips, carrots, peppers, cucumbers and eggplants.
“Mr. Vince was truly an integral part of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank family. I can think of no better way for the folks at Capitol City Produce to honor him than continuing his legacy of support for the Food Bank and the community,” said Mike Manning, President and CEO of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.
Crops will be farmed under the guidance of LSU and SU Agriculture departments and then harvested by Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank volunteers. The garden’s harvest will be distributed to those in need by the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank through our community support network. Another purpose of the community garden is to provide an environment to schools and universities for learning about local farming. The Vince Ferachi Community Garden will provide an agricultural space to inspire future local farmers and promote agricultural innovation.
“My dad would be very proud to see fresh produce from our 72-year-old family business, that he and my mom nurtured for decades, reach more tables in our community,” said Paul Ferachi, Owner of Capitol City Produce. “I think he would be especially pleased to see our community come together in such a diverse collaboration.”
Volunteering with the Vince Ferachi Community Garden is a great opportunity for groups ranging from families to corporations. Recently, the LSU Ogden Honors College volunteered with the community garden through their Laville Service Saturday program. “Honors students are from all different majors around campus and have unique backgrounds and stories themselves. To see them not know much about planting crops or lining bed with an irrigation system but eager to learn and do it all was really incredible,” said Sydney Larriviere, Academic Advisor for LSU Ogden honors college. “You can see there is a need in the community for something like this and this community garden has the potential to fill that need in a big way.”
To learn more about the Vince Ferachi Community Garden and volunteer opportunities available, please call 225-359-9940.
Football fans respond to Joe Burrow’s call to feed the hungry
