Just like the seasonal crops she plants throughout the year, Margaret Duriez’s passion for community gardening — and nutrition advocacy — continues to grow.
Just in time for March’s National Nutrition Month, the latest project launched last week by her Fresh Rx Kids program — a subsidiary of the charitable Fresh Rx initiative she founded in 2018 — will expand the program.
Located at Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County’s Smith & Moore Family Teen Center in Belle Glade, the new offerings will include more classes in gardening, nutrition and food preparation, as well as onsite educational gardens, where young participants, under the supervision of both Fresh Rx staffers and Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County staffers, will get hands-on experience learning the joys and myriad health benefits of growing their own food.
Organizers are counting on the idea that once kids are exposed to hands-on gardening and develop a familiarity with new nutritional habits, they’ll share them with friends, family and others in the community. What’s so important about this latest expansion of the initiative is that it serves kids who lives in “food desserts” — that is, areas that are located more than 1 mile from grocers who sell fresh produce.
“We are thrilled to bring Fresh Rx Kids programming to a new location in Palm Beach County,” said Duriez, a West Palm Beach native and Palm Beach resident. “As a mother of five, I know firsthand that education and the introduction of wholesome foods at a young age are key to children forming healthy eating habits into adulthood. The expansion of Fresh Rx Kids will ensure more children in Palm Beach County have access to fresh, nutritious produce and feel empowered to make healthier food choices for themselves and their families.”
Jaene Miranda, president & CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County, explained that “the vision of our new Smith & Moore Family Teen Center was to create a space for teens to explore career opportunities while being guided by professionals who have firsthand knowledge of the industry.”
Miranda also believes that because the Fresh Rx Kids program will feature local chefs showing kids how to prepare the food they grow, and local growers showing them how to merchandise produce at local farmers markets, it can help set Boys & Girls Clubs members on potential career paths.
“We’re introducing them to agriculture, which is one of the top industries in Florida, while also touching on retail, nutrition and culinary careers,” she explained.
The youngsters who took part in the initial setup of the onsite gardens are certainly looking forward to what’s in store.
“I’m most excited about gardening corn, carrots and other healthy produce,” said SyNiyah West. “I’m also excited to learn more about the gardening process and to be able to watch the crops grow.”
Draaon Smith also is thrilled to get the opportunity to develop his green thumb: “I’m excited to actually start to farm. I think the program is going to help me provide for other people. Once I get the hang of this, gardening will be something I might teach my neighbors.”
Lifelong passion for family gardening
Duriez has always been passionate about sustainable community gardening. As a child she spent summers at the family’s small farm in Pennsylvania.
When she and her husband — whose family also farmed in his native France — embarked on growing their own vegetables after their oldest children (11-year-old twin sons) were born, it was supposed to just feed the Duriezes.
“When we started with just 10 rows of crops, this was a way to grow food for our own family,” she explained. “Then, when we got up to 35 rows, it became a way to grow food for our family, friends and loved ones. But it was just supposed to be a fun, sustainable pastime.”
As word spread of the Duriezes’ Lox Farms’ salads, greens, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers “we started getting calls from people asking us to sell them what we grew.”
And lo and behold, by 2016 the couple was running a “commercial-ish” enterprise.
But for Duriez, the goal with the commercial aspect of the farm had always been simply to generate enough revenue selling her crops to local restaurants and at local farmers markets to support the community gardening initiatives she’s most passionate about.
Recently, Duriez decided that running the farm and Fresh Rx — in between raising five children, of course! — had become too time-consuming, so she sold the farm and is now concentrating solely on Fresh Rx as an independent non-profit organization.
Over the years, the Fresh Rx program has donated food and gardening resources all over Palm Beach County — including helping cancer patients maximize their nutrition with its Fresh Rx Patient program, and giving away food to needy families during the earliest stages of the COVID-19 lockdown.
To support the expansion of Fresh Rx Kids and the organization’s other community-based programs, a few months ago Fresh Rx launched a selection of farm-to-table fine dining and meal delivery experiences. This gives local philanthropists several options to enjoy uniquely crafted, nutritious meals, all prepared by some of Palm Beach County’s most accomplished chefs.
The options are as follows:
1. Farm to Your Doorstep is a meal delivery service allowing individuals to order a four-course meal prepared by a Fresh Rx chef partner, complete with a seasonal cocktail elixir curated by mixologist Jules Aron. Each meal is delivered directly to one’s doorstep ahead of their private dinner party or gathering. The cost is $175 per person and requires a minimum guest count of four people.
2. Fresh Rx Supper Club is a monthly farm-to-table meal delivery service, allowing people to order from a rotating menu developed by Fresh Rx chef partners. Each meal delivery includes a four-course dinner for four, complete with a bottle of wine from Virginia Phillips and a Fresh Rx specialty item. The membership cost is $3,500 and includes one meal delivery per month. The program started in January and runs through May.
3. The Chef-to-Table Experience is a private fine dining experience prepared by a Fresh Rx chef partner in one’s own home. The package includes a four-course meal prepared with local and seasonal ingredients, as well as specialty cocktails curated by mixologist Jules Aron. Wine pairings by Virginia Phillips are also included. The cost is $500 per person and requires a minimum guest count of eight people.
Chefs participating in the program include Jimmy Everett of Driftwood; Michael Hackman of Aioli; Albert Molla and Pierangelo Badioli of Acqua; and Kent Thurston of Cucina Palm Beach. Fresh Rx’s farm-to-table in-home fine dining experience and meal deliveries are available to book through May and a portion of each package is tax deductible.
To learn more about all of the Fresh Rx programs, visit freshrx.org.