Free orchards in Kansas City inspire a national movement
Kansas City students pick fresh jujubes from free community orchards planted by the Giving Grove organization.
The group has established fourteen thousand trees across eight hundred forty seven orchards in seventeen cities. Over one million people now live within walking distance of these free fruit sources for the community to enjoy.
The project began thirteen years ago near a closed school in the Waldo district. Marketing Director Sarah Sikich said this small start has since become a national movement for urban gardening and local food access. The original site now sits behind a construction fence while the school expands its own facilities.
Founder Kevin Birzer explained that the team provides expertise on tree selection and growth to maintain production. About one thousand seven hundred stewards across the country help care for these plots through training and support.
The initiative now operates in cities across the nation after receiving invitations from local gardening groups. Conversations are underway to expand the program into San Francisco, Minneapolis, and New York City soon to meet new needs.
“Planting fruit trees is something everyone can agree with.”