At least 13% of DeKalb County residents face food insecurity, meaning they regularly do not have enough food or lack the right foods for a healthy diet, according to Heather Edwards, the executive director of DeKalb County Community Gardens (DCCG).  The non-profit is aggressively trying to change that outcome through programs promoting ways to meet food needs through local gardens and a collaborative distribution network.  DCCG was founded by DeKalb School teacher Dan Kenney in 2012 as a way to address hunger and poor diets through locally grown produce.  Today, DCCG provides produce to local food pantries, distributes goods to individuals and at various community awareness events, serves the fresh food needs of multiple non-profits, and makes multiple garden plots available to individuals to grow their own vegetables.

 

DCCG has several major programs they directly oversee.  Their Walnut Grove Vocational Farm near Kirkland gives young adults with special needs a chance to learn skills in farming and greenhouse care.  They have large tracts available for individuals and families to garden near Northwestern Medicine and the Kishwaukee YMCA.  Smaller plots can be found throughout the county for individual growers.  They have a Grow Mobile delivery system to bring fresh produce to food distribution events using a refrigerated truck.  Edwards estimates over 11,500 distributions made impacting 24,602 people.  DCCG opened the Genoa Food HUB in 2020 to offer services of a food pantry and provide space for meals and education on healthy food preparation.  Regular use of the food pantry has grown from 92 clients originally to 162 currently.  A DeKalb School District Partnership has resulted in gardens at all elementary schools and the district Middle School.  Student participation in tending the gardens is part of their standard curriculum.

 

Edwards says DCCG is always looking for ways to expand and involve more people.  She said plans continue to be developed for their CHEF Center in the Annie Glidden North area of DeKalb.  It will offer community space for events, mostly centered on food preparation, education, and distribution, in addition to year-round growing options.  Edwards also noted the DCCG was awarded a federal grant allowing them to work with 16 local qualifying farms to coordinate distribution of produce and meat products to their food network.  Anyone interested in renting a garden  plot or volunteering with DCCG should access their website at www.dekalbgardens.org.

July 7, 1880 – American engineer and inventor of the bread-slicing machine, Otto Frederick Rohwedder, is born in Davenport, Iowa.  His 1928 invention that gave standardized slices also boosted sales of the recently invented automatic pop-up toaster.

 

July 8, 1831 – The pharmacist who created Coca-Cola, John Pemberton, is born in Knoxville, Georgia.  He developed it after being wounded during the Civil War and intended it to be a substitute for morphine.

 

July 11, 1767 – Sixth U. S. President John Quincy Adams (the son of Second President John Adams) is born in Braintree, Massachusetts.

 

July 12, 1817 – American philosopher Henry David Thoreau is born in Concord, Massachusetts.

July 7, 1947 – The Roswell, New Mexico discovery of metallic and rubber debris leads to a series of conflicting reports and myths involving their possible extraterrestrial origin.  It prompts numerous Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) sightings.  Officially the debris is now believed to be from a secret U. S. military balloon that was launched to spy on Soviet atomic tests.

 

July 9, 1956 – Broadcasting personality Dick Clark  makes his first appearance as host of the show American Bandstand.  Clark hosted the show through 1988.  He is also known for hosting ABC’s New Year’s Eve TV broadcast from 1974-75 through 2005-06.

 

July 11, 1804 – Vice President Aaron Burr fatally shoots his long-time political antagonist Alexander Hamilton during a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey.

 

July 13, 1787 – Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance.  It establishes procedures for transforming territories into states to be considered equal to the original 13 (Illinois becomes one such state in 1818).