This maintains a local food ecosystem and fosters collaboration.“You get out what you put in,” Meyers said of CSA programs. Often, local farmers work with community partners within these programs. “There are so many more people who are going to food banks and who have lost their jobs and now need help that they didn’t need before.”Erie has many community-sup-ported agriculture programs, or CSAs, working towards the common goals of eliminating food deserts and increasing food access. “There’s an interesting opportunity to start growing year-round here and to get people healthier food but to also keep it within our ecosystem of Erie.”The need is especially great due to the pandemic.“The food insecurity problem has been exacerbated by COVID-19,” Meyers said. Of those 12, 10 are located in the city of Erie itself, which is where Mercyhurst’s Tower Gar-dens come into play.“Once the farmers’ markets stop in the summertime, your only access to fresh produce is what you get at the grocery store,” Meyers said. The long-term goal for the project is to use this program as a pilot to test tow-er gardens before implementing them in the program to fight a larger problem of food insecurity and food deserts,” Meyers said.Įrie County has 12 food deserts or areas with insufficient access to healthy foods like fresh produce. The goal is to use them on campus for students and staff to improve access to fresh and healthy produce. “Tower Gardens are vertical aeroponic garden structures and three of them were purchased through the Mercyhurst sustain-ability fund. Meyers is leading the Tower Gardens project with the support of Community Engagement and the Public Health department as part of Mercyhurst’s Cam-pus-Supported Agriculture initiative, which aims to decrease food insecurity and improve healthy food access in the Erie community. Though the weather outside is gray and dreary, it is easy to find some cheerful greenery around campus thanks to the new Tower Gardens project spearheaded by Mercyhurst graduate and Ameri-Corps VISTA volunteer Shannon Meyers.
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