FORT SMITH — A federal grant is planting the seed for the Fort Smith Boys & Girls Club to grow its gardening program.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the club $75,000 to grow its Gardening and Nutrition Program to address food insecurity in the River Valley.
The dual-faceted program first teaches children in the community how to grow vegetables during the organization’s Saturday Gardening Club, according to the club and its partners. Next, Arkansas Colleges of Health Education Director of Nutrition Ashleigh Smith conducts cooking classes and teaches families about nutrition and how to make healthy, inexpensive and easy meals.
“With the cost of food — the cost of everything with inflation — parents can’t provide the nutritious food children need for dinner, and they also lack the resources to teach them how to prepare those nutritious foods as well,” Smith said.
The program is currently in “phase one,” according to Jennifer Burchett, grants and program director for the club. This means the club is still teaching children how to garden and providing them with nutritious meals alongside cooking classes at the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education.
Burchett said the grant will be put toward a kitchen renovation so the club can host the classes at its facility. It will also be used to create an advisory committee to oversee the program and determine what produce to grow.
Burchett said the club is looking to expand the type of foods it cooks and teaches children about to include dishes from various cultures, such as Hispanic, African, southern and Asian cuisines. The diversification of foods is part of an effort to “reflect the rich cultural variation of our city,” according to a news release from the club.
The Boys & Girls Club is also partnering with the Fort Smith School District and the city for the program.
The club will help four yet-to-be-determined schools in the district as the schools endeavor to grow their own gardens. The specifications of the partnership are still in discussion and will ultimately be decided by the advisory committee, once it has been formed, under the advisory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The City of Fort Smith will also partake in the program by providing compost for the club to use in its gardens.
“This project is truly a collaborative effort that brings together the School District, ACHE, and the City of Fort Smith to ensure various aspects of nutrition — from composting and microbiology to cooking, budgeting and mental health — are included as children and their families take their wellness into their own hands,” Burchett said. “This program will grow and adjust based on the needs of the community relative to nutrition and wellness.”
“This funding will significantly enhance our Gardening and Nutrition Program,” said Beth Presley, Fort Smith Boys & Girls Club CEO. “Allowing us to provide fresh, local produce to our community while educating children and families about the importance of healthy eating and sustainable agriculture.”
Burchett said the program will address the food insecurity in the River Valley and cultivate in children a love of food that nourishes their bodies. She said the program is open to all families with children in the Fort Smith School District, and she expects for classes to fill up quickly.
“By teaching our youth the principles of gardening, nutrition and budgeting we aim to set them up for success later in life,” the release states.
Smith said childhood obesity and malnutrition are serious issues in the River Valley area as well as Arkansas at large.
“We’re in a food desert where we’re at,” Smith said. “So they don’t have access to a lot of the nutritional food that they need, so the obesity rates have gone up, and then that leads to different diseases like type 2 diabetes and hypertension.”
A food desert is an area in which there is a lack of availability of nutritious food. Food deserts can be a result of a lack of grocery stores within an area or an excessive distance between a resource, such as sustainable farmland for fruits and vegetables, and living communities, according to Smith.
Smith said the River Valley area qualifies as a food desert because of its landlocked nature that necessitates all produce and seafood must be shipped in and thus reduced in quality.
The State of Childhood Obesity, a research initiative that collects data on childhood obesity verified through the Arkansas Department of Human Services, found that in 2022 19.4% of young people between the ages of 10 and 17 are classified as obese. This puts Arkansas at the 39th in the U.S. for childhood nutrition.
Furthermore, the study also found that 35% of adults in Arkansas are overweight, making Arkansas the 13th most obese state in the nation, and 41% have hypertension, the fifth highest rate in the U.S.
Smith said this issue can become generational as parents will not have the resources to properly feed their children or the knowledge to teach them about nutrition. This then creates adults who do not have those resources to pass on to their children, and the cycle continues.
School districts in the area, such as the Fort Smith and Van Buren districts, offer programs such as free or reduced price lunch options for students in need that feed children during the school day. This leaves a gap during weekends, summers and other school breaks. Smith said these gaps can be filled by local food banks; however, neither Smith nor Burchett knew of any other educational programs in the area outside the Gardening and Nutrition Club.
Ember Bearden, 8, and other garden club members feed chickens in a pen Friday at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Kinsey Lawson (right), 9; Ember Bearden, 8; and other garden club members feed chickens in a pen Friday at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Rod Miller (center), a longtime volunteer with the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club, and members of his garden club feed chickens in a pen Friday at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Rod Miller (center), a longtime volunteer with the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club, visits with members of his garden club outside a greenhouse Friday at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Isabelle Vearrier (from left), 14; Ryleigh Ridenour, 12; Austin Combs, 12; Korabella Hilburn, 11; Eli Silva, 8; and Garrison Vearrier, 8, feed chickens in a pen Friday at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Rod Miller (right), a longtime volunteer with the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club, prepares to harvest pumpkins Friday with garden club members Isabelle Vearrier, 14; Khylie Hilburn, 15; Ryleigh Ridenour, 12; Mya Foos, 10; and Kinsey Lawson, 9, at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Isabelle Vearrier, 14, carries a pumpkin as Rod Miller (left), a longtime volunteer with the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club, looks for more to harvest Friday at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Khylie Hilburn (left), 15, receives a harvested pumpkin Friday from Rod Miller, a longtime volunteer with the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club, at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Rod Miller (from right), a longtime volunteer with the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club, hands a harvested pumpkin to Lincoln Ricketts, 10, Friday as Korabella Hilburn, 11, and Khylie Hilburn, 15, look on, at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Austin Combs (left), 12, carries a pumpkin while walking Friday with fellow garden club member Lincoln Ricketts, 10, at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Isabelle Vearrier (from left), 14; Lincoln Ricketts, 10; Ryleigh Ridenour, 12; Khylie Hilburn, 15; Mya Foos, 10; and Kinsey Lawson, 9, visit after harvesting pumpkins Friday at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Rod Miller (left), a longtime volunteer with the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club, examines worm farms Friday with Mya Foos, 10, and other garden club members at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Rod Miller (center, left), a longtime volunteer with the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club, examines worm farms Friday with Mya Foos (center, right), 10; Kinsey Lawson (left), 9; Khylie Hilburn, 15; and other garden club members at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Kinsey Lawson, 9, stores a worm farm Friday at the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club Evans Club in Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club received a grant for a new gardening and nutrition program helping combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
