The Premonstratensian Fathers, the legal name of St. Norbert Abbey, De Pere, have awarded an Augustine Stewardship Fund Trust grant of $12,500 to New Leaf Foods, Inc. for the funding of Seymour Park Food Forest Implementation.
A food forest, also called a forest garden, is a diverse planting of edible plants that attempts to mimic the natural ecosystem.
The city of Green Bay Parks, Recreation & Forestry Department and the Seymour Park Neighborhood Association in partnership with New Leaf Foods, Inc. will begin implementation of the grant during the 2023 – 2024 growing season. Josh Kufahl will be the project manager of the grant.
The grant will help with the implementation and maintenance of zones 1 and 2 of the Seymour Park Food Forest comprehensive plan. This project will produce a model concept that a public park can be responsibly used to feed and engage communities in caring for each other. It will beautify the area to show that growing food and engaging with the community is something that is aesthetically pleasing and brings out the community in a way that increases comradery while reducing crime.
The grant will provide signage to educate the public on the different plants and to conduct classes/work days with local schools.
The project aims to help alleviate food insecurity and food deserts within the city of Green Bay by growing healthy local food in the public park in a way that is sustainable, costs less money over time, and reduces maintenance for the Parks, Recreation & Forestry Department.
It is a pilot project in partnership with the city of Green Bay. If successful, it may be used as a model for turning other municipal parks into places where perennial food plants will be grown for free use by the public, as well as collected and distributed to those in need by local food pantry volunteers thus increasing availability of fresh, healthy, and sustainable foods for everyone in Green Bay.
