WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 15, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The 5th and C Street Urban Farm in West Sacramento received a GRO1000 grant from The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and The U.S. Conference of Mayors to expand urban agriculture in the city and increase healthy food accessibility for area residents. Funding for the project is part of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company's national GRO1000 gardens and green spaces program.
Located in the Bryte-Broderick neighborhood of West Sacramento, the 5th and C Street Urban Farm transformed an abandoned lot into a bustling urban farm, which produced more than 7,500 lbs. of produce last season alone. By expanding the urban farm program to additional locations, 5th and C Street will help address the issue of public health by providing a healthy food source for the community. With the help of GRO1000, the completed expansion will have a mobile farm stand for produce sales and donations, a tool lending library and increased farm locations for beginning farmers to engage in urban agriculture.
"This grant marks a tipping point in our efforts to support the growth of urban farms in West Sacramento," said West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon. "With the generous support of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, we are able to expand our collaboration with the Center for Land Based Learning and other partners, creating more opportunities for beginning farmers to have access to land, while increasing residents' access to locally grown produce and beautifying our community."
The GRO1000 West Sacramento event at the 5th and C Street Urban Farm kicks off at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 15 at 317 5th Street, West Sacramento, California 95691. Area residents and youth will join volunteers, including ScottsMiracle-Gro associates, city officials, and GRO1000 national and local partners, in garden-related educational activities. In addition, one student involved in the 5th and C Street Urban Farm will be presented with the ScottsMiracle-Gro Give Back To Gro Youth Gardener Award.
GRO1000 is ScottsMiracle-Gro's commitment to support the creation of more than 1,000 community gardens and green spaces in the U.S., Canada and Europe by 2018, in conjunction with its 150th anniversary. To date, hundreds of community projects have received GRO1000 funding.
"Urban agriculture is transforming blighted property and increasing food accessibility in communities across the country," said Alex Hernandez, Vice President of Regional Sales, ScottsMiracle-Gro. "We're honored to work with the City of West Sacramento to support green space projects that will benefit its residents for years to come."
GRO1000 West Sacramento was made possible through the combined efforts of local partners and national partners including The U.S. Conference of Mayors, ScottsMiracle-Gro, Plant A Row for the Hungry, the National Gardening Association, the Garden Writers Association, and Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The GRO1000 West Sacramento event is one of several public installation events being held in the U.S., Canada and Europe in 2015. For more information, visit www.GRO1000.com and follow ScottsMiracle-Gro on Twitter at twitter.com/Scotts_MGro.
About ScottsMiracle-Gro
With more than $2.8 billion in worldwide sales, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is the world's largest marketer of branded consumer products for lawn and garden care. The Company's brands are the most recognized in the industry. In the U.S., the Company's Scotts®, Miracle-Gro® and Ortho® brands are market-leading in their categories, as is the consumer Roundup® brand, which is marketed in North America and most of Europe exclusively by Scotts and owned by Monsanto. In the U.S., we operate Scotts LawnService®, the second largest residential lawn care service business. In Europe, the Company's brands include Weedol®, Pathclear®, Evergreen®, Levington®, Miracle-Gro®, KB®, Fertiligène® and Substral®. For additional information, visit us at www.scotts.com.
About the U.S. Conference of Mayors
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are 1,210 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Find us at usmayors.org, on facebook.com/usmayors, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usmayors.
CONTACT: Su Lok
ScottsMiracle-Gro
Su.Lok@scotts.com
937-578-5169 (office)
937-309-5616 (mobile)
Ian Winbrock
City of West Sacramento
ianw@cityofwestsacramento.org
916-617-5326The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company
