The importance of fresh food access is actively increasing by the day. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, approximately 54.4 million Americans live in low-income areas with poor access to fresh and healthy food. Lack of fresh food can result in chronic health conditions and diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, all of which can be threatening to one’s life. 

With this concern in mind, a brand new club has just begun at Charlottesville High School. The Gardenerds club was founded earlier this year by Sohie Ryang. Their mission is to increase accessibility to fresh food in Charlottesville through gardening. If you enjoy gardening, along with helping the community, this club combines the two. The club meets after school on Tuesdays in room C102.

“I think something that a lot of people don’t realize is that there are actually food deserts in Charlottesville,” Shared Sohie, the club president and current senior here at CHS. “The main goal is increasing the health of the community, as there are people who have to eat fast food everyday because they are not able to afford going to super expensive grocery stores that have fresh foods.” 

When asked what the motivation was behind starting the club, Sohie shared with KTR, “I’m taking Urban Farming this year, and we watched a Ted Talk by Ron Finley, and he talked about something called ‘Guerilla Gardening’. It was really inspiring.”

In Ron Finley’s Ted Talk about guerilla gardening, specifically in Southern Los Angeles, he says, “I’m an artist. Gardening is my graffiti. I grow my art. Just like a graffiti artist, where they beautify walls, me, I beautify lawns, parkways. I use the garden, the soil, like it’s a piece of cloth, and the plants and the trees.”

“He started growing fresh food on the median strips, like between the road and the sidewalk,” said Sohie. “Then I thought, why don’t we have more of that in these places? Why don’t we do something similar in Charlottesville? It was inspiring to see the impact he made.” 

Guerilla gardening is the act of gardening, or growing food and flowers, in neglected areas. This means reclaiming land for agricultural purposes. The idea of guerilla gardening has been around for decades, but the term has just become popular within the past couple of years. Unfortunately, partaking in Guerilla gardening is actually considered illegal, as it results in the trespassing of people’s property. 

“This club is organized by students that take initiative to create access to fresh food in the community, and we want to do it by building gardens in the community and working with organizations like Cultivate Cville,”  Sohie shared. While the illegality of guerilla gardening is limiting, the club has found other, progressive ways that will help increase healthy food access in the city long-term.

“I would recommend joining the club because you learn a lot about Charlottesville that you might not know, depending on what community you’re in,” said Hannah Cohn Somers, a current 12th grader and club member. “It’s a great way to do community service while also learning more about food production, food waste, and why there’s a hunger issue in Charlottesville as well as in the world. It’s also really meaningful to help people with food insecurity.”

You can join this club by attending meetings each Tuesday in Ms. Horne’s room, and you can keep up with the club’s happenings through its Instagram, @chs_gardenerds. Join to make a difference, and get your hands dirty!