Friends & Fresh Veggies Grow Together in Backyard Gardens

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From the start of one senior citizen’s small backyard garden in Holladay, Utah, to now a flourishing program of over 28 gardens throughout Salt Lake City area, Green Urban Lunch Box helps senior citizens use their back yards to grow fresh vegetables for their community.

It all started when Katie Nelson, the nonprofit’s Back-Farms program coordinator asked 84-year-old Chiyoko Chiba if they could grow vegetables in her backyard. After much faith and some cultivation from the nonprofit’s volunteers, the garden has helped senior citizens access healthier foods.

In fact, over 12,000 pounds of fresh vegetables have been harvested since 2015 straight from various backyard farms.

“This is a great opportunity to help out some folks who can no longer grow their own food,” Nelson told local news.

The extra food is dispersed to senior citizens in the area as well as throughout the Salt Lake Valley and to apprentices and local food banks.

Green Urban Lunch Box also started a farmers market at the senior centers where senior citizens can pick up local fresh, backyard grown veggies.

The whole process of gardening from seed to harvest has helped the community connect as well, where over 30 senior citizens offer up their backyard space for volunteers of all ages to interact with each other, grow fresh food, and cultivate new friendships.

Green Urban Lunch Box also encourages people of all ages to get involved in urban agriculture and growing food.

They offer various programs for people to get involved in growing and helping distribute healthy food with the Back-Farm community gardens, the mobile greenhouse, the fruitshare program, and the small farm initiative farmer training program.

To connect with others interested in how urban farms, farmers markets, and healthier foods can help kids grow up to be a healthy weight, sign up on our health leaders map!

To see updates of The Green Urban Lunch Box, check out their Facebook page!