Tuesday, June 4th, 2024, 12 noon ET

Featured Guest Speaker: Rita Higgins, Director of Food Access and Innovation for the Marion Institute

It’s no secret that carbon dioxide levels today are the highest they’ve been in over 800,000 years. The primary cause of these increased levels is the burning of fossil fuels, especially coal, oil, and natural gas. The result, of course, is a sick planet giving rise to ever-increasing sick populations. Reading the statistics, it’s hard to imagine one individual making a measurable impact. But that’s exactly where the effort needs to start: in our own homes and backyards.

Turns out, the humble home garden, backyard landscape, and even those space-saving porch pots are a great place to help our planet and our health. According to the National Wildlife Federation, if every one of America’s 85 million gardening households planted just one young shade tree in their backyard or community, those trees would absorb more than 2 million tons of CO2 each year.

On a slightly larger scale, community gardens can also fight climate change while addressing the overlapping issues soil health, environmental health, and individual health. Frogfoot Farm, the Marion Institute’s newest endeavor, is a six-acre community farm designed to grow, farm, and harvest fresh, healthy produce for neighbors in need across Southeastern, MA.

In this BioBites, you will learn:

To recognize the signs of climate change in your backyard.
How to design climate-resilient landscapes.
The importance of planting native species.
Why soil health is vital to your health.
The link between vegetables gardens and nutritional security. … and more!

Please join us on Tuesday, June 4th, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. ET, as our guest presenter, Rita Higgins, brings home the steps we can take to increase our own health while decreasing the impacts of climate change, right in our own backyard!