Gentle World’s volunteers have always made it a priority to grow nutritious produce without the use of inputs sourced from animal farms and slaughterhouses, in order to demonstrate the feasibility of veganic growing systems, and to provide healthy foods to our volunteers and the visitors to our centers.
As part of our effort to educate about the importance of shifting away from reliance on all animal products, the garden at Gentle World’s Hawaii center has served as a veganic demonstration model for over 20 years, and has provided countless individuals with a chance to connect with the soil, and gain a deeper understanding of how food is grown. Free from blood and bone, fish/feather meal, and slaughterhouse/feedlot by-products, the Gentle World garden relies instead on composted plant material, EM bokashi, and locally-sourced garden-grade spirulina.
With the help of the many visitors who participated in our program in 2022, our garden is producing at a level we’ve never seen before! While we could easily sell any excess to the local farm store, our volunteers have decided to provide weekly donations to our local food pantry, giving Kohala families in need the opportunity to enjoy healthy veganic greens, including garden-fresh kale, one of the most nutritious foods on the planet.
Generally operating with minimal budgets and feeding a growing number of families in need of support, food pantries are obligated to make their money stretch as far as possible, so it’s rare for families making use of these services to receive fresh fruits and vegetables.
In the months of January and February, the Gentle World garden provided our local food aid organization with $800 worth of nutritious, garden-fresh veganic produce, for which they were very grateful. We hope to increase it and provide even more in the months to come.
If you would like to support this aspect of our work, please consider making a donation to help us with supplies and other expenses.
