Lead Agency: Louisville Metro Housing Authority

Thanks to the Louisville Healthy Eating by Design project, a once barren patch of land with high lead levels was transformed into a safe and fertile space to grow fruits and vegetables. It also became a community gathering place where neighborhood children learned about growing and eating healthy foods. The project even sparked new interest in gardening among some children who had touched soil for the first time in their lives as part of a school program.

Although the members of the Louisville community partnership faced many obstacles as they worked to establish the St. Peter Claver Community Garden, the power of their network helped them overcome the challenges with fortitude and creativity. As a result, the partnership secured $70,000 in direct and in-kind donations for remediation and tilling work, as well as a $30,000 grant from the sewer district to support the garden.

Project partners offered healthy eating education and held programs in the garden and throughout the neighborhood. For example, Nancy Russman, who has lived and worked as a chef in the community for years, taught regular food preparation classes at a variety of neighborhood locations, including the middle school, community center and farmers' market. "It was a wonderful challenge to help my neighbors learn about healthy eating," says Chef Nancy. "I tried to incorporate familiar ingredients with healthy choices, remembering never to tell anyone what they eat is bad or wrong." Cooking classes were even offered to students at the truancy court, who found the classes to be a positive diversion as they waited to stand before the judge. The students were perhaps the most attentive audience, and they even encouraged their parents to make healthy changes at home.

To further improve access to healthy foods for children and families, the partnership conducted a two-season WIC Special Supplemental Nutrition Program at the neighborhood farmers' market, which resulted in increases in WIC and Food Stamp redemption rates as well as overall market attendance. The pilot was so successful that the Louisville Community Farm Alliance recommended expanding the program as its top policy priority to state and city legislators. In addition, a private foundation has committed funds to continue the program for a third season. The partnership also plans to disseminate best practices and lessons learned from their work in a Healthy Eating by Design policy and tactics compendium, garden curriculum and video documentary. Long-term partnerships and funding sources will sustain the promising approaches identified through the work of the Louisville Healthy Eating by Design project. A keen understanding of the need for collaborative and diverse partnerships has undoubtedly been a cornerstone of the project's success. The lead partners, who demonstrated patience as community readiness grew, have modeled the healthy behaviors and policies they have asked of their partnering organizations, while also listening to and acknowledging the cultural context and challenges before making recommendations for change.