LAKE WALES, Fla. — The city of Lake Wales is addressing one of their largest food deserts — an area with limited options to buy affordable, healthy food — by starting a community garden.

The Florida Department of Health is granting Lake Wales $35,000 to fund the project.

“We were approached by the Florida Department of Health,” said Cheryl Baksh, the Lake Wales CRA specialist. “They did a census and they found that the northwest neighborhood had the highest number of residents with lack of transportation, food distribution centers and healthy food options.”

The funds will cover new trees for orchards, plants, seeds for produce, fencing and even gazebos.

The Boys and Girls club in Lake Wales northwest community will be the first to see the changes.

“I don’t care if you live in an apartment, penthouse or out in the middle of the woods. You can grow something,” said master gardener Gregory Massey.

Massey has been growing his own food since 2015 and said it was his health journey that led him to the soil.

“I had a heart attack and respiratory failure at the same time. I was on a ventilator for 14 days,” said Massey. “I had to make a change and that’s really why I started growing my own food. It's my zen."

Health complications like colon cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases have been known to impact the Black community more than others and while some of these ailments are hereditary, Massey says many of them can be avoided with better eating habits.

“You have to start early,” said Massey. “If a kid can learn to maintain a garden like this, that child will be able to take care of themself.”

Massey, who’s lived in the North west community for 36 years, said it’s time for a change.

“You get a sense of well-being when you see something you planted in the ground and it grows and starts to produce,” said Massey.  “It’s a great sense of satisfaction.”