We believe a stronger community begins… with just one seed (or tree).

Plant the Seed is a finalist to win a complete orchard to be installed by a professional arborist on the campus of Nashville International Academy. And you can help!

Here’s how:
1. Visit http://www.communitiestakeroot.com
2. Sign up; Edy’s won’t send you junk mail.
3. Go to “list by state tab”>>TN>>Plant the Seed, and then VOTE.
4. You can vote DAILY until May 31st when the first round of winners will be announced.

How we plan to make a difference with fruit trees

We are growing a healthy, welcoming community… one seed and one child at a time. In partnership with Nashville International Academy—the area’s only Muslim school—Plant the Seed utilizes garden education to help integrate Nashville’s new immigrants and refugees with U.S.-born youth, bringing together children from different backgrounds within identified food deserts—where the median family income is $19,000—to grow food and to grow as a community.

Most of our students are new immigrants and recently-resettled refugees—young people who were uprooted from their homeland, where often agriculture was a significant part of their lives. One Kurdish refugee student expressed, “I am back home when my hands are in the soil.” An orchard grant would not only grow fruit trees; it would also help us welcome the surrounding community, combat negative Muslim stereotypes and encourage positive cross-cultural exchange.

An orchard would allow us to:
• ensure long-term program sustainability;
• encourage fruit foraging among a food-insecure population;
• integrate fresh fruits into educational taste tests to “hook” young palates;
• incorporate harvests into classroom and community celebrations;
• “grow” youth leadership within diverse, under-resourced populations;
• train teachers, youth development professionals, youth and other community members in a workshop on orchard planting and care.

Thank you for helping to make easily-accessible fresh fruit a reality for many Nashville children.