Article Content:<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2018You\u2019d never expect a garden to be here\u2019: New education center opens with ambitions to end food deserts<\/p>\n
Bella Mazzilli, Cronkite News
\nApril 1, 2026<\/p>\n
PHOENIX\u2014 When Nika Fort\u00e9 was living in a public housing development on the east side of Phoenix, she remembers having to make the arduous walk to the grocery store. She would gather her children together and make the long trek across the city to find fresh food during the swelter of summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was a single mom,” she recollect, “I would have to walk with my kids a mile and a half to go get groceries in July.\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Fort\u00e9 started Heart & Soil People\u2019s Garden in South Phoenix after her experience trying to find food for her family in what is known as a food desert among policy experts. The USDA defines them as poor areas of the country where residents of limited access to nutritious, fresh food. <\/p>\n
The garden recently unveiled a new Garden Education Center on Tuesday, allowing for Fort\u00e9\u2019s work to expand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Out of the 55 food deserts in Arizona, 42 of them fall within the lines of Maricopa County. City of Phoenix Vice Mayor Kesha Hodge Washington said more than 25 of those food deserts are in District Eight, her district. The vice mayor was in attendance for the ribbon cutting. She said the garden directly affects her constituents.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is [an] opportunity for us to address a problem, absolutely, and move it forward, and it’s through partnerships like this that we are addressing [food deserts],\u201d the vice mayor said.<\/p>\n
Access to healthy food has a direct correlation to overall indicators of health, including life expectancy. Dr. Daniel Wiese, senior scientist at the American Cancer Society co-authored a study about life expectancy and its relation to food and nutrition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThese results provide further evidence that a healthy diet is important for living a healthier and longer life,\u201d he said. \u201cLimited healthy food accessibility is a potential contributor to poor diet and has been associated with adverse health outcomes, including obesity and diabetes.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Journal of Urban Health, \u201cLimited healthy food accessibility is a potential contributor to poor diet and has been associated with some adverse health outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fort\u00e9 didn\u2019t start her life with dreams of gardens and beekeeping. But, when she found her green thumb, it stuck. She realized her passion for gardening when she started small — growing plants in buckets in her backyard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe garden, I actually was really good at,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Heart & Soil expanded onto neighboring property, creating the Garden Education Center. The Center was made possible by philanthropic partnership with the Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Local First Arizona hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate the partnerships.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fort\u00e9, founder and director of Heart & Soil People\u2019s Garden, went to Southwest Institute of Healing Arts to pursue an associate\u2019s degree in Mind Body Transformational Psychology. As part of her studies there, she found her passion for gardening and nutrition through an additional certificate program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She originally went to the Institute to become a life coach, but said her empathetic nature prevented her from being successful in that field. She found it \u201chard to shed people\u2019s stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fort\u00e9\u2019s work at Heart & Soil has grown to incorporate neighboring property, which Kimber Lanning said is vital to local health in the South Phoenix community. Lanning is the founder and CEO of Local First Arizona.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when you have children and they\u2019re learning where their food comes from, it\u2019s just a special aha moment where you just can\u2019t replicate that,\u201d Lanning said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Renee Parsons attended the event, dressed in a brightly colored floral dress. Parsons said she has a personal connection to the garden, having donated over one million dollars to support the garden\u2019s expansion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was first introduced to the garden was in April of 2023, so about three years ago, and I was inspired by the women that I met here, by the work they were doing,\u201d Parsons said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Phoenix Vice Mayor Kesha Hodge Washington, who represents the 8th district of the City of Phoenix where the garden is located, was also in attendance for the ribbon cutting. The vice mayor said the garden directly impacts her constituents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is [an] opportunity for us to address a problem, absolutely, and move it forward, and it’s through partnerships like this that we are addressing [food deserts],\u201d the vice mayor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fort\u00e9\u2019s smile never faded as she led guests around her garden.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to go to low income apartment complexes and help them start gardens,” Fort\u00e9 said.\u00a0 “Because when I was a single mom, and I lived there, it was always like, food or pay for transportation or a gas bill\u201d<\/p>\n
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.<\/p>\n
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![\"Carrots](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Heart_and_soil6-683x1024.jpg\")
Carrots plucked fresh from the ground at Heart and Soil People\u2019s Garden on March 31, 2026, in Phoenix, Ariz. Community members can plant their own choice of fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, and more at the people\u2019s garden and harvest the items for themselves. (Allison Kotzbauer\/Cronkite News)<\/p>\n![\"Community](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Heart_and_soil8-1-1024x683.jpg\")
Community members tour the established side of Heart and Soil People\u2019s Garden and on March 31, 2026, in Phoenix, Ariz.(Allison Kotzbauer\/Cronkite News<\/p>\n