 Photo: THE FALLSER/Staff Tucked into an edge of this mélange is a large warehouse and parking area with about a half acre of vacant lot between it and one of SEPTA’s Regional Rail Lines. Welcome to SHARE, “A nonprofit organization serving a regional network of community organizations engaged in food distribution, education, and advocacy” states its website -- all of which was evident when The Fallser went visiting in mid-April. A volunteer corps of 2000 moves tons of food through SHARE’s warehouse each month via a network of non-profit organizations and agencies. Many volunteers are food recipients fulfilling SHARE’s requirement to give back in order to receive. Under the tutelage of a dynamic Southern belle, Executive Director Steveanna Wynn, SHARE Philadelphia’s 20 year old program is getting greener, as in fresh edibles, homegrown. Stevie’s crew is now developing its small weedy patch into a mini-orchard and city garden. And she has an impressive team to guide its development. Meet Phil Forsyth, Director of the Philadelphia Orchard Project. Phil has determined that Philadelphia should take the lead in creating a more sustainable, equitable and ethical local food system, so he is creating that program on some of the City’s 4000+ vacant lots, most of which lie in poor underserved neighborhoods. When The Fallser arrived, Phil was measuring and staking a portion of SHARE’s vacant lot, while a crew of volunteers dug and prepared pits, then planted half a dozen young fruit trees and an assortment of fruit-bearing shrubs. The ground had been stripped of rocks and debris by some of Steveanna’s faithful corps of SHARE volunteers. A pile of mushroom mulch waited as the final topping. Meanwhile, another POP volunteer and University of Pennsylvania professor Domenic Vitiello arrived with about two dozen of his Urban Design students. Gathering by a group of raised beds and homemade mulch bins, they were intent on learning about “red worm” composting, building mulch bins and creating raised beds from SHARE volunteer Carl Ingram, an avid red worm enthusiast. They were soon joined by a group of young men from West Mt. Airy, involved in a successful program of sustainable gardening in their own neighborhood. As The Fallser left for less green pastures, that half acre site was a bevy of “green” activity.
For more information on SHARE or to get involved in its programs, go to www.sharefoodprogram.org. For more on the Philadelphia Orchard Project, check out www.phillyorchards.org. Both groups seek volunteers and donations to continue their feeding and greening commitments. Photo: THE FALLSER/Staff Phil Forsyth of POP and Steveanna Wynne of SHARE have developed programs to help Philadelphians help themselves to better eating and food production.
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