News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
A Cookeville non-profit organization attempting to fight hunger through a new partnership, will host its first meeting this upcoming Sunday.
The Cookeville Food Forest and Foraging Path is an organization that has partnered with the city to plant trees and bushes in West End Park and Cane Creek Park. Founder Sid Bundy said the food forest will create habitats for wildlife, provide shade to address climate change, and provide edible foods for people to pick and eat.
“Prices have gone up and our salaries really haven’t matched those increasing prices,” Bundy said. “In particular areas like Cookeville and small communities, it can be a real burden to get some of that fresh food.”
Some of the fruits that will grow from these bushes and trees are apples, pears, pecans, hickory, chestnuts, blueberries, and raspberries. Bundy said the organization is fairly new and needs members who are knowledgeable in permaculture, agriculture, and social media.
“We desperately need help,” Bundy said. “There is just a handful of us who are working on this project right now, and most of us are more interested in the food and security part.”
Bundy said the organization was granted permission by the city to move forward with the project and received a $250,000 grant to buy trees and hire a professional designer.
“The funding is there, we are not gonna be raising funds,” Bundy said. “The volunteers who are a part of the food forest won’t actually be digging very many holes. We have the funding to buy the trees and plant them, what the city is giving us is they are giving us the land to do that on. They are not giving us the land they are just allowing us to plant these trees on their land.”
The organization will host its first meeting at West Side Grocery Sunday at 3pm. Bundy said she encourages anyone interested to attend.
