Community Garden Magazine Issue Eight April 2016 Community Garden Magazine Issue Eight April 2016 | Page 27

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is home to a thriving Latino community, making up more than 60% of the population.
Unfortunately, many local Latinos have limited healthy food choices in their neighborhoods, especially those
who live in low-income areas close to downtown. In these urban spaces, many kids grow up not ever seeing a
real carrot and never getting dirty helping grow plants in a garden. In downtown San Antonio’s Southtown
neighborhood, a group of green-thumbed neighbors banded together and worked with landowners and city
officials to seek a community garden that would bring healthier food options for their community. Their story
shows that although the road may be filled with bumps, bringing a garden into your community can offer more
than just fresh fruits and veggies—it can instill community pride and create lasting health changes.

Plants take in the sunshine at the Southtown Community Garden.
Source: Caesar Valdille

Salud America! The RWJF Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children is a national
program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The program aims to educate researchers, decision-makers,
community leaders, and the public in contributing toward healthier Latino communities and seeking
environmental and policy solutions to the epidemic of Latino childhood obesity. The network is directed by the
Institute for Health Promotion Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

For more information, visit http://www.salud-america.org.
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