The Giving Garden Participates in the Cook County Department of Public Health Food Summit October 5-6, 2018

The Giving Garden tour.

Co-sponsored by the Cook County DPH and Loyola University Health Sciences, the theme of this year’s food summit was “How to Make Good Food Widely Available and Cheap".

At the Pre-Summit Urban Farms Tour on the morning of October 5, participants saw two local urban farms, the Proviso Giving Garden and the OK Farm*, (a program developed by the organization Opportunity Knocks).  Both gardens were developed on land donated by ReUse Depot at 50 W. Madison Street, Maywood, IL

The participants heard each farm’s story, and how they support social and business enterprises that are making a difference to local communities and residents. Chris Epps led the Giving Garden tour.

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Tour at the OK garden

Opportunity Knocks is dedicated to providing opportunities and resources for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities so they may pursue their educational, occupational and social interests.

History of the OK Farm
The OK Farm was conceived in late 2015 as a way to give the Warriors a role in the local sustainable food movement by creating a ‘seed to jar’ experience with our Knockout Pickle production.  The idea was to plant, grow and harvest the key supply requirements in order to produce a locally grown and locally made pickle.   

​The Farm was launched in April through a land partnership with our friends at Reuse Depot and a tremendous amount of support from many others in terms of volunteer hours, landscape/garden supplies and equipment.  In a short period of time, we turned a 2,500 square foot field off Madison Street into lush, handicap-accessible urban farm.