Man donates thousands of pounds of food thanks to traffic island farm
Traffic island became small, sustainable farm
Traffic island became small, sustainable farm
Traffic island became small, sustainable farm
Former engineer John Fallon saw a unique farming opportunity in a simple traffic island.
"I was looking at it one day at three in the afternoon, it was full sun and I thought, wow, this is perfect," he said.
It was easy getting local municipalities on board, and the seed of was planted.
"I told them, I'm not taking any money out of this. It's all going to go to charity and I'm not going to pass it out to anybody else. And so they were happy with it."
Fallon learned to farm from his father and always donated the surplus to neighbors in need. The bounty from Beverly Farms Gardens goes to homeless shelters and food pantries.
I started thinking about how much food (I) really needed (in order) to donate year-round,” he said. “That's how it evolved into (a) bigger property.
Fallon keeps detailed records to continue to outdo himself: "Last year it was 3,500 pounds. I've already reached 7,000 this year," he said.
From May to November, Fallon is generally out here seven days a week. "There's about a thousand plants, ultimately, so it takes a while."
He occasionally gets help from volunteers, like college students who help with weeding.
"In the future, I hope to turn it into a classroom for these, for these departments, like environmental science and biology," he said.
Fallon believes gardens like his could be replicated anywhere to help not just those in need, but the planet, too.
"It's not good for the environment to try and grow everybody's food in one place like we're doing right now in the Midwest. So if everyone, if we had a lot of decentralized local gardens where we try and take care of our own, use our own resources, it's better."