He wears a straw floppy hat, gray tee shirt, black shorts, and topsiders. His round face and easy smile belie his tenacity and vision. Bernie McBee has led an incredible mission to create a sustainable community garden in an economically disadvantaged area of Fort Pierce, Florida. With the support of the First Church parish, the community garden project, “Harvesting Hope & Seeding Solutions,” is up and running, generating 4500 pounds of produce this year.
For those of us with access to big box stores and corporate groceries, this might not seem like a big thing. However, the area around the church is a food desert.
The community garden launched in 2022 with three target groups in mind: senior citizens and individuals with disabilities who live in an adjacent high rise; a Hispanic church-within-the-church group; and food dispensaries at Sarah’s Kitchen and the Mustard Seed. Since then, another group, unhoused recipients of dignity showers on Saturdays, have been added to the list, and they take away personal bags of lettuces and other produce after each visit.
This community garden, now in its fourth year, is different from many others. It’s an example of sustainable agriculture, and efforts continue to expand the infrastructure so that year-round produce can be grown off-the-grid.
