Where to find food, gardening resources, nutritional health education in Anderson

Sarah Sheridan, Anderson Independent Mail
·4 min read

The city of Anderson has experienced abundant growth in the past several years with new businesses and improved green spaces peppering the busy downtown.

Walk a mile in just about any direction and the scene fades into a slower pace.

Neighborhoods frozen in time and untouched for decades showcase sidewalks in need of repair and houses aged by years of weather.

Homes surrounding downtown like along the Alphabet Streets or on East Whitner Street do not have much close access to affordable, nutritional food.

Dovie Morton has lived in the same white house on G Street for 70 years. She married her husband in 1950 and they moved in a year later to the neighborhood originally designated for mill workers.

New people have come and gone but the newest improvement in the neighborhood came recently with a garden.

Public gardens are on the rise in the city as surrounding communities confront the lack of fresh food accessibility and try to provide nutritional education.

Here are resources in Anderson to explore:

Explore community gardens

Here are public gardens around the city of Anderson to visit:

► Renaissance Academy on East Whitner Street

  • Renaissance Academy is an alternative educational program designed to promote academic and social development of students in grades 6-12. Staff at the school have been taking care of a garden behind the building for years while teaching students and reaching community members.

► Cleo Bailey Experiment on East Whitner Street

  • Formerly East Whitner Street School, Zeph and Whitney Smith bought the crumbling property and built a garden as the first step to reaching the community.

► LOT Project artisan gardens along Alphabet Street

  • The LOT Project operates two community gardens and is developing a third in the Alphabet Streets neighborhoods.

► United Way garden boxes throughout the city

  • The small boxes can be found sprinkled throughout the city at these locations: Anderson Interfaith Ministries on Murray Ave, Anderson Free Clinic on N Fant St, Developmental Center for Exceptional Children on W Franklin St, South Main Chapel and Mercy Center on S Main St, First Presbyterian Church on W Whitner St, Cancer Association of Anderson on E Calhoun St, Foothills Alliance on E Calhoun St.

'A big impact can be made with a garden': Raising nutrition awareness in city of Anderson

Grocery stores near downtown Anderson

Most of the city's development has been pushed northward through the years, Anderson City Planning Director Maurice McKenzie said, at the beginning of the year.

Grocery store locations reflect that with the heavier concentration northward and few or no close resources in much of the Eastside.

Westside

► Whitner Street Grocery

  • 511 W Whitner St, Anderson, SC 29624

► Save A Lot

  • 302 Pearman Dairy Rd, Anderson, SC 29621

Southern

► Food Lion

  • 2901 S Main St, Anderson, SC 29624

► Aldi

  • 624 Hwy 28 Bypass, Anderson, SC 29624

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Northern

► Publix Super Market at Anderson Pavilion Shopping Center

  • 1611 E Greenville St, Anderson, SC 29621

► Ingles Market

  • 1900 N Main St, Anderson, SC 29621

► European Market #6

  • 715 E Greenville St, Anderson, SC 29621

► Thomas Food Mart

  • 1604 Tribble St, Anderson, SC 29625

► Walmart Neighborhood Market

  • 2003 E Greenville St, Anderson, SC 29621

Services providing meals, support

► Hope Missions

  • 213 S Towers St, Anderson

  • Hope Missions started during the pandemic as shower trailers and grew into an organization providing basic needs while looking for specific ways to take the next steps toward housing.

► Second Harvest Food Bank

  • Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina provides education, advocacy, and partnerships to eliminate hunger by handing out food.

  • Through a regional distribution warehouse and branches that supply food and grocery items to charitable agencies, they serve a total of 24 counties including Anderson.

► Anderson Emergency Soup Kitchen

  • 306 W Franklin St, Anderson

  • The Anderson Emergency Soup Kitchen relies totally on volunteers and people who donate for their day-to-day work.

  • Those interested in volunteering can visit their Facebook page or come to the front door.

  • For normal volunteer hours, lunch is served from 10:45 a.m.-11:45 a.m. and volunteers can come from 9 a.m.- noon.

► The Lot Project

  • 302 W Market St, Anderson

  • Every Tuesday & Thursday evening, The Lot Project donates meals and basic needs. They also provide clothing and blankets on the First Friday of every month.

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Check out seeds from Anderson County Library

Residents can check out seeds from the Anderson Main Library, a program partnering with Anderson County Soil & Water Conservation District.

People can check out up to five packets of seeds at a time. Growing guides and other gardening resources are also available to check out.

The program is working to raise awareness about environmental sustainability.

Sarah Sheridan is the community reporter in Anderson. She'd appreciate your help telling important stories; reach her at ssheridan@gannett.com or on Twitter @saralinasher.

This article originally appeared on Anderson Independent Mail: Where to find community gardens around Anderson, nutritional resources