With the funding support of the Georgia Healthy Communities Initiative, the Gwinnett Health Department conducted a "Faith Gardens to Healthy Food Access Workshop" in June at Covenant Fellowship International Church in Dacula.

Approximately 25 people from three churches, in addition to Covenant Fellowship International, were represented at the workshop: The Temple of Glory, Snellville United Methodist and Buford First United Methodist.  K. Rashid Nuri of the Truly Living Well Center for Urban Agriculture in Atlanta was the workshop leader. Nuri started the workshop by asking the participants what they wanted to learn. He then responded to all questions while using his experiences and the operation of the Truly Living Well Center as examples to illustrate his responses.

All participants were impressed with the current state of the garden. The variety and output of vegetables was considerable. Pastor Leonard Tate of Covenant Fellowship International recounted instances where women running past the garden stopped to talk with him and left with their hands full of tomatoes. He also recounted a man who came by with his two sons and asked if they could volunteer to help with the garden.

"This garden provides physical activity for our youth, and it teaches them about nature and the source of our food," said Randy Simonette from Covenant Fellowship International in the Gwinnett's Live Healthy in Faith Network. "Additionally, it is serving to connect our church to the larger Dacula community by its inviting visibility."

-Story by Ed Jones, Health Promotion Coordinator, Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale Health Departments