Up Your Fruit and Veggie Intake By Growing Them Yourself

At least that’s the message from the inaugural group of gardeners at Orem Community Hospital’s LiVe Well Garden.

Results from a survey of the group, which included 14 community members of all ages, showed the majority ate more fresh fruits and vegetables and less packaged or fast food as a result of participating in the garden. They also spent less money on food and became more physically active.

“We grew carrots and onions and cucumbers and green and red peppers plus three kinds of tomatoes,” said Dianne Leavitt, 50, one of the gardeners last summer. “And we grew chard, which was phenomenal.”

Leavitt and her husband, Lorin, live in northeast Orem and can’t grow a garden of their own because anything they plant gets eaten by deer. The couple visited their plot at Orem Community every day and enjoyed everything they were able to harvest.

“I became so much more conscious of what I wanted to eat. My approach to food in general kind of changed. Every day I was anxious to go see what was ready,” said Leavitt. For more on how the Leavitt’s felt about their garden experience, check out this video:

Most of the Orem Community gardeners decided to share the harvest and donated extra food to other people. They also found that being involved with the garden helped them care more about the environment.

Orem Community is the second Intermountain Healthcare hospital and first in Utah County to open a LiVe Well Garden. Community members and hospital employees are eligible to apply for plots in the garden each spring. Forty-five people have been selected as gardeners for 2016 and will soon be busy planting items they wish to harvest later this summer and fall.

“We’re happy to provide our neighbors and friends with the chance to learn about gardening and actually give it a try,” said Francis Gibson, Orem Community Administrator. “Gardening is an excellent way to begin incorporating fresh food into your diet and there’s nothing like the satisfaction of growing it yourself.”