A group in Tulsa wants to feed more hungry people, and one way they want to do that is by growing their own food and getting help from the community.
Once the remaining donations are secured, Food on the Move plans to use techniques like hydroponics and aquaponics to help grow food. People will also learn how to grow their own food.
“We’re now going to teach students, all the way through adults, in North Tulsa and across Oklahoma, how to be the people who can run these systems, and how to start businesses to be future growers who can help provide sustainable business,” said Food on the Move founder Taylor Hanson.
The program is divided into four parts, starting with growing food and ending with selling and distributing it.
“It’s really a food court,” Hansen said. “It’s a local food park. Starting with growing things on urban farms, and eventually over the next few years we’ll be rolling out our food center as well as our market, our grocery store model, and eventually a community center.”
Food on the Move says the project will make the people of Tulsan healthier.
“People who live in North Tulsa and South Tulsa live 13 years,” said Kevin Harper, president and CEO of Food on the Move. “It’s all because of the food supply. Oklahoma spends $1.4 billion a year on health — a problem that’s directly tied to the way we eat because people don’t have access to healthy, fresh, affordable produce.”
Leaders want people to get involved in the project to help themselves and their neighbors.
“We want to engage the public because this is a community place,” Harper said. “They learn, they grow, and we build community. “
They don’t want anyone in Tulsa to go hungry.
“People should have rights, they have the right to eat healthy produce, eat healthy and stay healthy. This is just another step in making sure that happens,” Harper said.
Food on the Move hopes to kick off the project in the new year.For more information on this program, please visit food on the move
