Programs

WaukGrow: Growing Food Forests in Waukegan, IL

Trees can be part of a solution to community challenges, including access to food.

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Waukegan, Illinois, the largest city in Lake County, boasts a beautiful public lakefront, well-used bike trails, and a rich cultural heritage from its majority Latinx population. Like many communities, it also faces challenges stemming from systemic disinvestment and injustice.

In Lake County, residents of Waukegan have the highest obesity rates, among other health problems, in part due to a lack of access to healthy and affordable produce. A significant number of residents live more than a half mile from the nearest supermarket. According to the Illinois Report Card for Waukegan CUSD 60, 64% of students receive free or reduced lunches across the school district with many low-income students relying heavily on the meals provided for them at school.

The Chicago Region Trees Initiative, The Morton Arboretum, and Faith-in-Place initiated WaukGrow, a planning project, working directly in collaboration with key stakeholders and community centers in Waukegan to build food security and resiliency by determining the feasibility of implementing urban food forests at houses of worship and local schools. While the project has come to a close key partnerships are still active in and around Waukegan.

 

This two-year planning project is focused on building relationships and assessing the needs and interests of the residents of Waukegan, IL, where persistent food insecurity and a desire for greater self-sufficiency have highlighted a need that CRTI can help to meet. 

Food forests are forest-like gardens made up of different plant layers (root, ground cover, herbaceous, shrub, understory, and overstory) cultivated for food production.  As with many urban agriculture spaces, traditional garden plots are often set apart from forested areas that have a more wild or negative connotation due to a lack of sight lines and perceived safety issues. The WaukGrow planning process will focus on determining how to transition traditionally less accessible green spaces into welcoming spaces for communal learning and producing food. Once the planning process is complete, we will begin implementing the community-approved plan.

The following helpful videos explain food forests and how to grow one:

What Is a Food Forest?” from the WaukGrow team and the Waukegan Park District (March 2022)

“What is a ‘Food Forest’? from The Morton Arboretum (April 2023)

 

 

A food forest plan guided by Waukegan locals

WaukGrow is a planning project with the goal of determining whether, how, and where food forests can be cultivated in Waukegan, IL, based on partnerships and feedback from Waukegan residents. 

All WaukGrow workshops will encourage dialogue with residents on the assets and challenges of Waukegan. The conversations and exchanges at WaukGrow workshops are critical to the food forest planning project, but to reach as many Waukegan residents as possible, we’ve also developed a needs assessment (En Español) that will provide further insights into how food forests could be incorporated into the existing culture of Waukegan. 

The needs assessment will be open to all Waukegan residents until summer 2023.

Are you a Waukegan, Il, resident? Fill out the brief needs assessment  (En Español) today!

The WaukGrow project is hosting eight free workshops through  2022 and 2023.

The workshops will emphasize collective and reflective dialogue in which all participants are equal partners in assessing opportunities for improving access to local produce, building food security, and increasing awareness about urban agriculture practices, resources, and opportunities in Waukegan. The eight quarterly community outreach, workshop, and educational events for houses of worship and local schools in Waukegan about food forests, their positive impact, and the importance of access to healthy food will include garden site visits.

Check out the upcoming and past workshops below. Workshops for 2023 are still being developed. Contact NBurgos@mortonarb.org or carla@faithinplace.org if you are interested in hosting or for more information.

Workshops

  • Workshop One: “Show Me The Green!” Hosted by Cool Learning Experience from First Baptist Church of Waukegan, this introductory workshop covered the basics of food forests and invited feedback and long range participation.
  • Workshop Two: “Asset Mapping” and Tour of Cristo Rey Gardens. Attendees reviewed maps showing hot spots in Waukegan for food insecurity, urban heat island, and asthma rates, then added local assets, such as bike paths, libraries, and food pantries to plot out where food forests might address some resident concerns while building off of existing resources. (October 2022)
  • Workshop Three: “Community Discussion and Plans for the CLC Urban Farm” Waukegan residents are invited to join us at the College of Lake County Lakeshore Campus to learn about their plans for their urban farm and to discuss concerns and hopes for food forests in Waukegan. Topics will include culturally-relevant food choices and resources needed to tackle food insecurity. (January 18, 2023)
  • Workshop Four: “Wild Things Conference Presentation.” Details TBD. Join us at Wild Things! (February 25, 2023)
  • Workshop Five. Tour of Prairie Crossing Agricultural Site (Spring 2023 date TBD)
  • Workshop Six. TBD
  • Workshop Seven. TBD
  • Workshop Eight. TBD

 

How do we keep our trees healthy?

A series of Virtual Tree Care Bundles–available in both English and Spanish–provide guidance on  topics such as planting, mulching, watering, and starting a food forest. 

Find them on The Morton Arboretum’s website.

 Who is involved in the WaukGrow project?

These partners have hosted and attended workshops, weighed in on the needs assessment, and lent their expertise and support to the project. We are always looking for more Waukegan-based partners! Contact nburgos@mortonarb.org or carla@faithinplace.org if you want to get involved.

Faith-in-Place: Empowers people of diverse faiths and spiritualities to be leaders in advancing environmental and racial justice, providing resources to educate, connect, and advocate for healthier communities.

The Morton Arboretum Plant Clinic: As a leading source of science-based advice about trees, plants, and landscapes, the Plant Clinic helps gardeners and landscape professionals throughout the Chicago region and the world have healthy, attractive, well-chosen plants.

Cool Learning Experience: Cool Learning Experience nurtures the well-being of the whole child, building healthy connections to family, community, and nature through dynamic, hands-on programs that combine place-based, environmentally focused, and socially relevant experiences.

Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep: A Catholic learning community that empowers young people of limited economic means to become men and women of faith, purpose, and service. Cristo Rey hosted the second WaukGrow Workshop and continues to work on the partnership.

Waukegan Park District: The Waukegan Park District is committed to providing parks, facilities, and leisure opportunities to a  culturally diverse population through leadership with community involvement, dedicated staff, and sound management. The Waukegan Park District spread awareness of food forests with a WaukGrow video segment shared widely in April 2022.