by Share On Social!
Back in 2011, Stephen Lucke was a student at University of Incarnate Word (UIW) when his idea of Gardopia started to grow.
“I was studying biochemistry and I took a nutrition class, and I just really became educated about the obesity epidemic in the United States, ” said Lucke, “You know San Antonio was the most obese city in 2007.”
While at UIW, Lucke decided he could do his part to help bring access to healthier foods and urban agriculture education to his community.
After fundraising in 2013 to start gardens at UIW and then helping to build gardens at the Ella Austin Community Center, Lucke soon realized that he needed to also start gardens in places that need healthier food access, most of them being places of lower socioeconomic status with high minority populations.
Where is really the highest rates of obesity? In places of poverty, Lucke explained.
“If you look at a map of the United States, the highest rates of obesity are in the south,” he said. ” I wanted to give back to District 2.”
Lucke’s non-profit, Gardopia, located in San Antonio, Texas, (63.2 % Latino) now brings a utopia of fresh gardens and hopeful opportunities to the east side.
Gardopia helps harvest a healthy food environment with gardening space for surrounding residents and also partners with five to six local schools to provide gardening classes where kids learn how to grow fruits and vegetables in school gardens all while learning science, technology , engineering and math concepts (STEM).
Lucke also emphasizes the mental and physical well-being that is built through community gardens.
“Gardening is exercise, your moving, your sweating,” he said, “it helps them [kids] increase their fruit and vegetable intake, and helps them achieve better grades.”
Not only does Lucke hope to help kids, he wants to continue to bring physical and mental health to the whole neighborhood within the garden’s space, as he plans on developing a wellness center that could offer the community a fresh juice and smoothie bar, cooking classes, counseling sessions, and a small outdoor gym.
“I want it to be more than a garden,” said Lucke, “I want this to be a place where people are educated and have recreational activities.”
Lucke’s dream of making Gardopia a space for community and wellness continues to grow along with his garden, as he plans on applying for more grants this fall to help fund his garden and build a culture of health on the east side.
“The energy, the hope, the role modeling, the education makes it all worth it,” Lucke told the Rivard Report, “As long as we’re consistent and do what we do we’ll get more recognition, get more partners, and get more funding, we’ll get more done,” he said.
To learn more about Gardopia check out their Facebook and Twitter.
Volunteers are also welcome every Saturday to help water, weed, plant, and harvest.
To learn more about the importance of healthy food access for all neighborhoods, click here.
Connect with Gardopia by logging in and clicking here.
By The Numbers
142
Percent
Expected rise in Latino cancer cases in coming years
