Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Roots In the City: Growing More than Collard Greens in Miami

Some of the best collard greens that you will eat in the City of Miami were grown right here - in the Overtown Roots in the City garden - with compost from local restaurants. Yesterday, we launched a pilot composting program that will help reduce the waste going into our landfills and improve our community soil at the same time. The organic compost, also known as "black gold," is a rich, environmentally-friendly fertilizer alternative that the City will produce in bulk from waste collected from local restaurants. Volunteers and staff of the Roots in the City garden will use the compost and then sell their produce to local supermarkets.

When I toured the Overtown garden with Director and friend, Dr. Marvin Dunn, I remarked that it had been a long time since I had eaten collard greens. Now, after enjoying Dr. Dunn's collard greens (picked just yesterday), I join my staff in thanking him for some of the best collards we have ever tasted.
The Roots in the City project is another example of how residents, government and the private sector can work together to improve our neighborhoods, create green jobs and make a lasting difference for the environment.

The Miami New Times covered the press conference HERE.
For more information on the project, please visit the Roots In the City website HERE.
-Manny