Tag: garden

Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, donate, Environment, Family, Food, Food Banks, Healing, Health, outdoors, Philanthropy, Sustainability

Table for All

Written by Alexis Carpenter

Katy Neusner steps in to help pack Sack Packs for children who may not have food at home to help sustain them through the weekend. Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Photo by Alexis Carpenter.

The warehouse lights flicker on as volunteers walk through the door and make their way to rows of stacked pallets and assembly lines. The scent of produce and cardboard boxes mingle in the humid atmosphere, and the sound of pop music fills the large warehouse. Volunteers begin to sort canned goods, bag fresh vegetables, and prepare boxes for distribution.

Yet, beneath this effort lies a growing crisis. The Chattanooga Area Food Bank, a lifeline for residents across 20 counties in Tennessee and Georgia, is dealing with significant funding cuts. A nationwide halt of $500 million in federal food aid, including the suspension of USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation funding, has resulted in the cancellation of multiple truckloads of food. These shipments are now absent from the food bank’s inventory, leaving bare shelves within the warehouse.

In the midst of the working warehouse is Katy Neusner, the Advocacy and Communications Coordinator of the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. As the organization works to bridge the gap left by the funding cuts, Neusner and her colleagues face a task of sustaining their mission amid dwindling resources.​

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Chattanooga, community, Daily Life, Environment, Family, Love

Generational Gardens

Written by Maddie Charnes

Walden Peak Farm is a newly founded farm venue on a piece of generational land with rich history. (Photo by Maddie Charnes)

On the grassy mountain side located 20 miles from Chattanooga, the land of Walden Peak Farm has continued to be a place of family connections and community since 1841. 

“Something I think about is the people that used to be here,” said Lucy Bowick, former owner and resident of Walden Peak Farm. “I never come out here and I don’t think about them. They’re my ancestors.” 

In November of 1841, a land grant was deeded to Edwin Pickett and his brother. As the brothers married and settled, a flourishing community began. Although the family thrived from generation to generation, life was not always easy living on the mountain

“Times were not always easy,” said Jay Welch, Bowick’s sister and former resident of the farm. “We had a coal stove when I was growing up, and it was often very cold. We learned how to be self-sufficient living on the mountain.” 

Living further from the city, the sisters said they often farmed for their food and had to make their own way.

“There’s a saying in our family that if you’re not willing to fight for the land then you’re not worth having it,” Bowick said. 

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