Mary's Garden

Mary's Garden is the story of a little girl who wants a garden in heryard. Her garden grows so well it gives more food than her family andfriends can eat. She is aware that there are poor people in her countywho don't have transportation. Sometimes, they have to take two orthree buses to get to a grocery store. Mary's garden expands to become an organic produce stand, and thenexpands again into a building with a vegetarian kitchen and dining room. People come from miles around to eat the delicious food that is servedthere, grown on the land nearby. The author is a member of the Bioneers, which stands for "e;biologicalpioneers"e; (www.Bioneers.org). Marika is learning about many projects tonaturally restore human health and the planet. At the 2004 BioneersConference, LaDonna Redmond spoke about the issue of bringing organicfoods and urban farms to poor local communities which have otherwise been left out of the picture. LaDonna's son had terrible allergies, and she decided to improve herfamily's nutrition to help him get better. She made the shockingstatement that, in her inner Chicago neighborhood, "e;It's easier to buy a38 caliber pistol than to find an organic apple!"e; She and her husbandstarted an inner city organic produce store as a result of thisrevelation. Marika decided to create an organic gardening project to blanket her county, the nation, and the world with organic, local sources of healthful food. She also formed a nonprofit organization, JOY OF LEARNING CENTERS (www.joyoflearningcenters.org) to teach about the relationship of good food to human health. The Project is called The Prosperity Project, and is described on the website. All profits from sales of "e;Mary's Garden"e; will be used to support The Prosperity Project. By buying this book, you will be investing in good health for yourself, your family and your fellow human beings world wide! Mary's Garden is designed to appeal to "e;children of all ages"e;, fromthe very young to the young adults and parents who might be moved tocreate a similar project. It's also an inspiration for people to createsimilar programs in their own area, with a flyer and photos showing howto get started. There's a coloring book called "e;Wiggle E. Worm"e; thatall children seem to love.