Rosalind Brooks
Fo u nder and Executive Director, Vegas Roots Community Garden The challenge: Brooks, a Las Vegas native, vegan and former schoolteacher, had long been disturbed by the ever-growing childhood obesity rate — and the fact that local kids had little clue where their food came from or how to eat healthfully. She was particularly worried about young people in West Las Vegas, an urban “food desert” where residents had to fight for years just to get a grocery store. She believed they deserved more access to fresh produce, a stronger connection to the origins of their food and a greater sense of community. The solution: In early 2010, Brooks — who knew next to nothing about gardening — invested $3,000 of her own money to launch a community garden on five dusty, donated acres on Tonopah Drive near Bonanza Road. The land has since become something of an outdoor community center, an unlikely desert oasis lush with volunteers and fresh fruits and vegetables — watermelon, squash, strawberries, onions, tomatoes and more. There’s also a chicken coop, a playground and a walking path where visiting schoolchildren can exercise before getting down to gardening. (“They first have to do a lap around the track,” Brooks, 45, says.)
50 | Desert
Companion | NOVEMBER 2012
The kids love being outside with their hands in the dirt. “They’re naturally inquisitive and interested,” Brooks says. “They’ve never been exposed to growing their own food. They learn quickly and soon I have little workers to help me.” While the community has embraced the garden, it’s a constant struggle to stay afloat, she says. Fundraising for the nonprofit is always an issue. High water bills have threatened to sink the garden more than once. Vegas Roots’ main source of income comes from renting gardening plots. For $500 a year, residents and community groups can “adopt” their very own plot for planting crops. The fee includes soil, water, tools, seeds and a wooden sign to paint and personalize. So far, the garden includes about 30 such plots. Brooks says all the effort is worth it when she sees what grows inside the children who visit. “They hear, ‘Plant a seed,’ all the time,” she says. “Now they can relate it back to where it came from. They understand that if you plant something good, something good will come from it. They can carry that through their entire lives.” (vegasroots.org) — Lynnette Curtis