Anderson, S.C. (WSPA) – The eastern part of Anderson has been known for many years as a food desert.
Gregory Burns, a resident, said: “There are a lot of homeless people here who can’t afford these kinds of things.
Many people in the food desert are stuck in a cycle of eating unhealthy and refined foods.
Zephaniah Smith said he knew what it looked like.
“I was in a family with severe food insecurity,” Smith said.
Smith said he grew up in a single-parent family and his mother struggled to put food on the table.
“You would go out for many nights without eating,” says Smith.
He says that his childhood experiences inspired him years later.
“The Cleo Bailey School continues to appear on the Internet. He’s just there and I have to do it.
Smith bought the Cleio Bailey School, located in the middle of Anderson East, and converted it into a community garden.
“By building this garden in a community. One, we are feeding the needs of the people. Two, we are mobilizing people as a community. Both the Anderson Outreach Community,” Smith said.
I want the community to grow this garden, so it not only eats healthy food but also becomes a lifestyle.
“There are educational institutions that come with it, and they actually get their own food into the production room,” he says.
Hopefully this garden will be expanded to the center to provide after-school care, classes and family support.