24 Jul Community Garden Hosts Free Cooking Demo, Bringing Fresh Produce to Richmonders

A plant-based cooking demo was put on July 13 at one of Urban Tilth’s Richmond community gardens.

Story and photos by Natasha Kaye

On a cloudy Saturday morning, people who showed up to the Sixth Street community garden in Richmond were handed fresh fruit and a cup of chamomile tea from the garden, then gloves and trash bags to suit up and pick up trash and pull up weeds.

Urban Tilth, alongside the city of Richmond and Acterra, an educational outreach program centered around sustainable living, hosted a plant-based pop up cooking demonstration July 13 at the community garden. 

Founded in 2005 to boost access of local produce to the West Contra Costa Community, Urban Tilth has established seven school and community gardens throughout Richmond. Its garden at Sixth and Ohio streets occupies a block-long stretch of the Greenway trail and has crops of mint, tomatoes, yerba buena and more, all free for the community to use. 

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“One of the reasons that we are doing the workshops at the trail is to show people that this trail is safe and beautiful and we can learn from it as well,” said Arleide Da Santos, the Greenway coordinator for Urban Tilth. “You can learn, not just about your food but also about how to heal your body through healthy eating.”

After volunteers were finished beautifying the trail, the group circled around a table where Crystal Hernandez and Remy Rinn from Acterra hosted a live, plant-based cooking demo. They prepared a tasty carrot and tomato salad, pico de gallo, and a side of white beans for protein. 

Hungry volunteers filled up their plates and listened as Hernandez and Rinn explained the benefits of a plant-based diet not only for personal well-being but also the environment.

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“We know that healthy soil sequesters more carbon, and we want that carbon to stay in the soil and their carbon pools. One way we can do that and keep carbon out of the atmosphere is by eating everything that’s on our plates and wasting less food,” said Hernandez. “I see a lot of clean plates so that’s a really good thing.”

Hernandez also stressed the importance of eating locally. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, roughly 58% of methane emissions released into the atmosphere from landfills are due to food waste. The production and transportation of food also contributes to greenhouse gasses as many resources are spent to move produce quickly to make sure it doesn’t spoil. 

City staff members were present to remind volunteers of the two farmers markets in Richmond in Marina Bay every Sunday and at the Civic Center Plaza on Fridays. 

“When we are looking at our waste and our carbon footprint and the sustainability of our homes, it definitely starts with us and our kitchens first,” said Hernandez. 

In line with educating residents about ways to reduce their carbon footprints, Doug Bleakly from Sustainable Contra Costa had a station advertising the launch of the new BayREN CookSmart Pilot Program in which 100 residents from the county can receive free induction cooktops and compatible cookware. 

The goal of the program is to move residents away from natural gas which can release harmful toxins like carbon monoxide and other harmful pollutants into the home and environment. 

Though the July 13 cooking demo did not require any foods to be heated on site, Bleakly noted that the cooktops are easily transportable and encouraged residents, especially seniors and childcare providers, to apply to the program. 

As the day came to a close, volunteers were encouraged to bring leftover food from the demo home for leftovers and were also given apricots and plums that were harvested from another one of the Urban Tilth sites. 

One of the volunteers, James Wheaton, who is a Richmond native, said he found out about the pop-up from a postcard in the mail and was excited to see what Urban Tilth had in store for the day. 

“I’ve come out here before and got some food in the past, but it’s been a while,” Wheaton said. “I’m just trying to take care of myself, eat better plant-based foods that are going to help me. I am trying to get older; I’m already old enough, but I’m trying to get older.”