Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens, Gerard Place celebrate partnership of providing healthy food for east-side community

Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens press release & photos

The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens and Gerard Place celebrated their ongoing partnership through their “Farm Garden” initiatives that provide healthy food for the east side of Buffalo with a community harvesting day on Wednesday, Aug. 26.

To celebrate the successes of the summer, seniors from Gerard Place's “Senior Circle” and Botanical Gardens staff, donors and volunteers came together to harvest the abundant produce and celebrate the “Farm Garden” that has provided for the community all summer long.

Since 2019, the Botanical Gardens and Gerard Place have held a longstanding, fruitful partnership surrounding their “Farm Garden” initiatives. Each growing season, the Botanical Gardens' team of horticulturists and volunteers grow, harvest and deliver hundreds of pounds of fresh produce that is donated weekly to Gerard Place, a local organization that provides a variety of food distribution and support programs for families in need in the Bailey-Delavan community in Buffalo.

To date, over 11,292 pounds of fresh produce have been donated to Gerard Place equating to over 68,293 servings of fresh produce – produce that’s used in Gerard Place's community kitchen, takeout meal programs, and cooking classes that empower and encourage individuals to experiment with the produce in new recipes and cooking techniques. This year, over 1,000 pounds of fresh produce have been donated already.

Images courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens.

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At the end of each growing season, seniors from Gerard Place are surveyed to better understand what type of produce they would like to grow or learn more about in their cooking classes. In total, 33 crops were planted, with some new vegetables that came highly requested like Ong choi and choi sum.

Seniors enrolled in Gerard Place’s “Senior Circle” visited the “Farm Garden” on Wednesday morning at the Botanical Gardens to see the growing vegetable garden they helped to design, and interact with the volunteers and staff who helped make this initiative possible.

"Gerard Place is so appreciative of the partnership with the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens,” a representative said. “The beautiful produce that we receive from them has a huge impact on the people involved in our programs. The seniors in our senior nutrition program learn how to cook healthy meals in our culinary kitchen using the produce, plus receive some of the produce weekly. We have a food distribution program twice a week that, in addition to the hot take-out meals, we pass out the produce to over 400 people. The 14 families that live on the Gerard Place campus also receive some of the produce and attend healthy cooking classes as well. The generosity and compassion of the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens has made such a big difference in the lives of the people we serve.”

Erin Grajek, president and CEO of the Botanical Gardens, said, "We are grateful for our wonderful partnership with Gerard Place, and we continue to be overwhelmed by the success and growth that our ‘Farm Garden’ partnership has made over the past several years. Our ‘Farm Garden’ program is the perfect example of how plants and food bring people together, and there is so much joy to be celebrated with our community. We are incredibly proud of our ‘Farm Garden’ care team that is dedicated to making a fruitful impact.”

With over 30% of Buffalo’s population facing food insecurity and the rising costs of groceries, the Botanical Gardens has been able to continue expanding the efforts of the “Farm Garden” spaces with support from funders, foundations and donors. What began as a small garden in 2019 has since transformed into two large garden spaces with more than twice as much produce, four dedicated staff members, four volunteers, and a more diverse and abundant selection of produce. The team has also been able to experiment with composting, irrigation systems, and crop cover to maintain high quality and efficiency.

The “Farm Garden” was made possible in 2019 by the Josephine Goodyear Foundation, PlantWNY, private donors, and has continued to be supported by the Urban Agriculture Resilience Program, Western New York Foundation, Lawley Insurance, Linde, and the Josephine Goodyear Foundation, and Greenhouse Megastore. Gerard Place received funding support this year from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation to support caregivers in the “Senior Circle” program for adults living in the Bailey-Delavan community. 

More about Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens: Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that welcomes all to enjoy its living plant collections, breathtaking conservatory, and educational programming. Opened in 1900, the Botanical Gardens is located within a park system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Support for the organization is provided by public funds from Erie County; the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; members; donors; and friends.

More about Gerard Place: Gerard Place provides the east-side community with a number of services and programs that are designed to empower individuals and families through education, employment, job training and food distribution. With 15 programs, it serves a population of people that ranges from their “Healthy Mom and Baby” program to the “Senior Circle.”