Solutions for Food Insecurity: Soulful Seeds

This nonprofit has put down roots in its Nevada community to provide fresh food, education and support to those who need it most.

By Britney Bowman
Updated on May 23, 2023
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by Parker Peterson
Gardens established by Soulful Seeds on the Our Place Campus.

NThis Northern Nevada urban garden and nonprofit provides solutions for food insecurity, education, community, and more. Learn more about its initiatives in Reno, Nevada to serve and support those who need it.

In 2017, Earstin Whitten and his wife, Dee, took note of a neglected community garden on the hospital campus of Saint Mary’s Health Network in Reno, Nevada. They approached the hospital administrators and began restoring the health of the land shortly thereafter. Thus, Soulful Seeds was born. By 2018, Earstin and Dee had recruited a board of directors, developed a produce-distribution network to serve two of the highest-need census tracts (defined geographic regions used in census-taking) in the county, and built a network of community volunteers to help maintain the garden. Quickly, the two learned of a large plot of land the county wanted to use to support the residents of the Our Place Campus, a facility that provides transitional housing to unhoused women, their children, and pet companions. It took two years to work through the layers of government before Soulful Seeds could secure a sublease to manage the land, but it was successful, and the grassroots project has been developing ever since.

Today, supported by eight board members, one staff member, and more than 250 community volunteers, Soulful Seeds is thriving and growing on the Our Place Campus. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Brooke O’Byrne, executive director of Soulful Seeds, to learn more. Here’s what she had to share.

About the Northern Nevada Urban Garden and Mission

Britney: What was the mission of Soulful Seeds when it began, and how has that evolved or stayed the same over the years?

Brooke: From the start, we’ve provided healthy, sustainable, fresh food for our most vulnerable community members. Soulful Seeds was founded on the belief that food distribution won’t resolve food insecurity. We’ve carried out our mission with a vision of sustainability. Knowing that food security is tied to income and that healthy food access is connected to where you live, we’ve built our gardens in the middle of communities with the greatest needs and designed our programs to address multiple dynamics of food insecurity. We teach people to grow food and preserve and prepare the harvest, we provide basic health and wellness education, and we use our gardens to offer workforce-development opportunities that expand employment skills.

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