Dr. Barbara Johnson, 79, is getting her hands dirty with her gardening project on a recent December afternoon. She's joined by more than a dozen volunteers who are composting the ground at the Asylum Orchard.
The rows of apple trees are located in the predominantly Black neighborhood of Blue Hills overlooking U.S. Highway 71 off 48th St. in southeast Kansas City, Missouri. In this area, you really need a car to get to the nearest grocery store for fresh fruits and vegetables.
This orchard is within walking distance for more than 1,000 residents and is a source of free organic fruits, berries and nuts.
“Keeping grocery stores in Kansas City's minority communities has been a long struggle,” Johnson said.
As she gathers branches and applies compost, she reminisces about her childhood as a the daughter of a Black farmer in rural Tennessee.
It was during the era of Jim Crow and she said she learned to grow food at an early age. Shopping at a grocery store was not an option.
“None of that was for us, so the land was crucial,” said Johnson.
When she moved to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1961, Johnson was surprised by how many people of color relied on grocery stores. She wanted more people in underserved communities to be self-reliant, so she started working with The Giving Grove in 2013, the year it began.
Since then, she’s been helping grow apples, peaches, pears, and “food forests,” layered ecosystems that provide food from tall fruit trees to low-lying berry bushes.
The Giving Grove is a network of orchards and food forests founded in Kansas City, Missouri, by advocates who promote local food production and agricultural education by, and for, communities plagued by disinvestment and inequities.
A disproportionate number of non-English-speaking residents live in these communities but don't take advantage of the free food because of language barriers.
"These orchards are meant to address three key issues,” said co-director Erica Kratofil. “They address environmental issues, food access, particularly in areas that have the least access. And then they address issues of loneliness and bringing people together.”
Kratofil said immigrant and refugee communities are disproportionately affected by a lack of access to healthy food.
Earlier this month, Giving Grove announced it had received a grant of $1.3 million from the United States Department of Agriculture to expand its number of orchards. The grant will also fund the translation of educational materials in 12 different languages to improve access to the resources for non-English-speaking communities.
"In 2025, we will be working with our partners to identify which languages are needed most in Giving Grove cities," said marketing director Sarah Sikich.
Until now, most gardening tips and educational information have been solely in English. In Kansas City, more than 48,000 people, or 85% of the Latino population, live near a Giving Grove orchard.
But Kratofil knows there are many who don’t take advantage of them because the planting, cultivating and maintenance instructions are in English. She says the grant will allow these residents access to the resources without needing a translator on site.
Michael Carmona, 36, and Latino, is aware of the impact translated materials will have on his community.
Carmona grew up in a predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhood on Kansas City's Westside, where he said there were no community orchards or grocery stores.
“We had corner stores that sold what little fruits and vegetables they had,” he said.
Today, he is a community relations specialist with University of Missouri-Kansas City and a trustee for The Giving Grove.
He said he still lives in a food desert, and even though The Giving Grove provides the community access to fresh foods, Carmona noticed his neighbors were not taking advantage of it.
Westside Choice, a neighborhood initiative sponsored by the Housing Authority of Kansas City, found that 23% of the residents on Kansas City’s Westside said high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables were not available in their neighborhood, while 38% said they were unsure.
Eighteen percent of the residents agreed a community garden could improve the neighborhood.
“It’s more than just learning the language," Carmona said. “There is a need for that cultural awareness, understanding of other cultures.” He said he wants to see more orchard directors who look like him and understand his people's background, history, and struggles.
Tilth Alliance, a The Giving Grove affiliate in Seattle, has been testing the effectiveness of The Giving Grove’s English as Second Language materials. They report positive results and greater participation from immigrant communities in two orchards.
Over the last two years, 1,904 immigrants and refugee seniors in Seattle have received food and information about gardening in other languages.
Back at the Asylum Orchard in the Blue Hills neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri, Barbara Johnson is wrapping up her composting duties.
She’s delighted The Giving Grove is providing access to healthy food, gardening tips, and community, and is eager to see the investment address decades of racism and chronic health disparities.
“Every place there are Black, brown, and yellow folk who need that kind of stuff so that they can become healthy,” she said.
