Presentation details how gardening can fight hunger

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Karlena Brailey, Nutrition Coordinator for Clallam County’s WSU Extension and Andra Smith, Executive Director of the Sequim Food Bank, will talk to home gardeners about ways they can help to fight hunger in our community on Saturday, May 19.

The presentation begins at 10 a.m. at the Woodcock Demonstration Garden, 2711 Woodcock Road, Sequim. The event is free and open to the public; no pre-registration is required.

Despite what local officials say is a fertile soil environment and ideal weather where garden harvests can be quite abundant, just one in four Clallam County residents eat the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables daily.

Accessing adequate fruits and vegetables can be even harder for the 15 percent of our population that live below the federal poverty level or the more than half of school age children who are on free and reduced lunches, according to the 2017 Clallam County Health Assessment.

Brailey and Smith will talk to attendees about multiple programs that exist in Clallam County to donate excess food to help our neighbors in need and nourish the community.

Brailey has been working at the Clallam County Extension Office for more than three years and has a master’s degree in Public Health.

Smith, the food bank director, is an active partner in the Peninsula Food Coalition and the Olympic Peninsula Community Coalition.

This workshop is part of the Saturday’s in the Garden lecture series sponsored by the Clallam County Master Gardeners.