The Giving Grow Reached Goal of 1M Neighbors Within Walking Distance of Community Orchards Nationwide
/
The Giving Grove has reached an ambitious milestone: 1 million people now live within walking distance of a community orchard or food forest in its national network. This milestone means increased access to a healthy calories, green spaces, and more opportunities for neighbors to grow stronger, more connected communities together.
The achievement belongs first and foremost to the hundreds of orchard stewards and community members who lovingly care for the neighborhood gardens across the country. Their work is helping make food access tangible — putting healthy food within reach while giving communities an active role in growing and caring for it.
What began in 2013 as a grassroots effort in Kansas City to make free, fresh fruit available to local neighborhoods, Giving Grove has grown into a national network of over 847 community orchards and food forests — and both the network and the orchards themselves are flourishing.
Since just last year at this time:
The number of trees has increased 33%
Orchard sites have grown 24.2%
Orchard stewards have increased 24%
Annual production potential has grown 28.6%
“Reaching one million people shows what’s possible when communities have the opportunity to grow something together and care for it over time,” said Erica Kratofil, Co-Executive Director of Giving Grove. “There is something quietly powerful about neighbors coming together to create something that will nourish their community for generations. This milestone is a testament to thousands of orchard stewards, volunteers and local partners who have made that vision real by imagining fresh food, green space and connection as part of every neighborhood.”
That movement is taking root right here through Food Well Alliance’s Orchard Program, an affiliate of the Giving Grove. In metro Atlanta, 105,200 people live within walking distance of a new orchard!
Since joining The Giving Grove in 2022, Food Well’s community has:
Planted 70 new community orchards where 2,540 fruit bearing trees and brambles are growing
Created the potential to grow 686,000 servings of fresh food annually
Established trees with the potential to sequester more than 4.4 million pounds of carbon over their lifetimes
The momentum is growing, and everyone is invited to be part of the movement to bring more little orchards to neighborhoods across the country. Visit www.GivingGrove.org to find a community orchard near you, sign up for updates, read stories from orchard stewards, or support the work.
