Farmers Market Innovation

Dallas Farmers Market adds first-of-its-kind garden that does double duty

The benefits of the teaching garden are twofold.

Photo by Marshall Hinsley

In its ongoing shift toward local growers, the Dallas Farmers Market will offer a new feature that's one-of-a-kind: a teaching garden that will both educate people on the benefits of growing and create a harvest that will feed the homeless.

The teaching garden is part of a program by the American Heart Association (AHA), in collaboration with numerous Dallas community partners, and it breaks ground on October 3, with a ceremony that day at 10:30 am.

According to AHA spokeswoman Marchelle Michel, it's the first teaching garden to be installed at a market.

"All of our previous teaching gardens are at schools," she says. "Many are at schools in lower-economic areas or in areas where there are not a lot of grocery stores. The Dallas Farmers Market said they were already educating people on food and saw the value in having an interactive tool where anyone could come and learn to grow."

The American Heart Association launched the teaching garden program in 2010 as part of a campaign against childhood obesity. AHA secures the funding and creates a curriculum that the schools can follow to their own degree.

There are five around North Texas, including one that just broke ground on September 25 at Northwood Hills Elementary School in Richardson.

Aimed at children in grades one through five, the classes teach how to plant seeds, nurture growing plants, harvest produce, and promote good eating habits. Lessons incorporate nutrition, math, science, and other subjects, all while in the fresh air and working with your hands.

Aside from the lessons about health and nutrition, the gardens also help kids be more physically active.

The garden at the Dallas Farmers Market will expand to teach all ages. Students and adults will maintain the space year-round, as it is a North Texas Food Bank partner garden for participants seeking volunteer opportunities.

Funding came from the Entertainment Industry Foundation, and Downtown Dallas Inc. will provide shovels, rakes, buckets, trowels, wheelbarrows, and other tools.

"This garden helps to fulfill our mission to ensure the Dallas Farmers Market is a community space rich with activity for our all our neighbors to experience and appreciate fresh, local foods," says Amanda Vanhoozier, director of operations at the market.

The actual site of the garden is located east of The Shed and is named for "Mama" Ida Papert, founder of the Dallas Farmers Market Friends volunteer organization. Each harvest will help feed Dallas homeless through produce donations to Family Gateway.

sustainability

Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

politics