We believe that nourishment starts long before food reaches the shelves. It starts with soil, seeds, and sunlight, along with a shared commitment to deliver healthy, nutritious options to individuals facing food insecurity in Dublin.
In the fall of 2023, alongside the opening of the Pantry’s new facility, a community garden took root, made possible through a grant from OhioHealth. And thanks to the hard work of a team of Master Gardeners, what started as just a few rows of garden beds has quickly grown into a thriving source of fresh food.
A Source of Fresh, Nutritious Produce for Those in Need
Since opening, the purpose of the garden has remained unchanged: grow as much fresh food as possible for the pantry. And two of the Pantry’s Master Gardeners, Dana Kromer and Carolyn Abood, have been instrumental in making that happen. But what they’ve built isn’t a typical community garden. No one is renting a plot or taking food home for personal use. Rather, everything grown here is donated.
Each week, a team of 10 to 15 volunteers—many trained through The Ohio State University Extension Master Gardener program—plans, plants, and tends to the garden. From early spring bed preparation, checking irrigation and getting seeds started to maintaining and harvesting the crops, every step is done with purpose.
What comes out of the garden covers a wide variety, too: tomatoes, peppers, leafy greens, bok choy, eggplant carrots, onions, herbs and more. Once harvested, each item is lightly cleaned, weighed, and brought straight into the pantry. And there’s a lot of it.
In just its first year, the garden produced 650 pounds of fresh food. By the second year, that number nearly doubled to 1,200 pounds—a number they plan to exceed in 2026.
It’s Not Just About Food, It’s About the Right Kind of Food
Dana and Carolyn, both retired physicians, have found the work especially meaningful as they’ve seen firsthand how a diet low in nutrition affects the body.
“We realize how important it is to not just have food, but healthy food,” shared Carolyn. “Fresh produce is probably the hardest thing [for families] to access.”
Through the garden, they’re able to offer food that is grown from scratch, harvested at peak freshness, and thoughtfully selected to support health and well-being. It’s food that nourishes in a deeper way, which aligns with the Pantry’s larger goal to not just provide food, but provide food that sustains a life.
“Our goal is to grow as much as we can and be the freshest food the Pantry offers”, explained Dana.
More Than a Place Where Vegetables Grow
For those who work at the garden, the work they do feels much bigger than just growing plants. It’s starting with a seed and caring for it over the course of weeks or months so that it can feed someone in their community. It’s a reminder that even something can grow into something powerful.
At the Dublin Food Pantry, this is what “More Than Food” looks like. Not just distributing meals but growing them. Not just meeting a need but thinking about what kind of food is being provided and why it matters.
It starts with a seed, but it doesn’t stop there.
