Milagro Allegro is a wonderful community garden in Highland Park. I had the pleasure of taking a tour last fall with the garden’s director, Nicole Gatto. The garden continues to thrive, offering educational programs, community work shops, seed and tree giveaways and more – a local resource well worth supporting. Now Ms. Gatto is about to embark on her newest project, LA Sprouts. From Ms. Gatto:
LA Sprouts, which has been in development over the last several months, will build four school gardens to host our after-school nutrition/cooking and gardening program aimed at reducing the risk of childhood obesity in youth. With my colleagues, I showed that our 2010 LA Sprouts pilot program was effective in reducing the rate of weight gain and blood pressure, in increasing intake of fiber and vegetables, and in impacting attitudes and motivations about healthy eating.
LA Sprouts kicks off this February at Monte Vista Elementary School on Ave 54 and Monte Vista in Highland Park, just a few blocks from Milagro Allegro. LA Sprouts will be funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health; Farmlab, a project of the Metabolic Studio, a direct charitable activity of the Annenberg Foundation under the direction of Artist and Foundation Director Lauren Bon; and the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council. Follow our progress at www.LASprouts.org.
I liked to thank Ms. Gatto for the work she does and her community support and to wish continued success to Milagro Allegro and LA Sprouts.
