New Port Richey is seeing the beginnings of a local food movement that is starting to have an impact on the production of produce for downtown residents. A community garden on Grand Boulevard, dubbed the “Grand Gardens,” is producing food that is now being consumed in the immediate area. Dell deChant, one of the founders of the garden, is calling this food “low mileage” because it travels a very short distance to the table.

Last month the garden was producing a large amount of okra, which was (and still is) available for sale at Rose’s Bistro Off Main, just a short walk down the road.

The new crop of sweet potatoes is making a dent in what deChant and many agricultural experts in New Port Richey are calling a “food desert.” A food desert is a geographic area that is not capable of making locally produced, nutritious, and healthy food available to residents without the use of an automobile.

Sweet potatoes, deChant notes, are a high calorie starch food with high nutritional value. These crops are also being produced at the Grand Gardens using “absolutely zero chemicals, fertilizers, or pesticides,” according to deChant. deChant is also believer in the nutritional value of sweet potato leaves, as well as the fruit, and encourages people to include the leaves in their cooking.

Other crops are also coming in at the Grand Gardens, including watermelons.

Grand Gardens is a community garden curated by Friendship Farms & Fare and hosted by Creative Institute of Dental Arts (Gary Gann and Steve DeMatos, proprietors). The Gardens are part of the New Port Richey urban farm network (FarmNet), which includes other community gardens, micro farms, and residential food-producing gardens.  Grand Gardens operates under the auspices of New Port Richey’s Urban Agriculture Ordinance.

The Gardens feature individual plots and larger community plots.  The individual plots are available to the public for a donation, and all plot holders receive shares from the community plots.  This summer, the Gardens have produced nearly 100 lbs of okra, dozens of eggplants, numerous peppers of various types (bell, scotch bonnets, and habaneros), and a wide variety of herbs — and one 17 pound watermelon!

The sweet potato harvest began on July 24 and will continue through mid-August.  Planners estimate a harvest of 100 to 150 pounds.

See below for additional nutritional information provided for sweet potatoes.

Sweet potato is one of the high calorie starch foods (provide 90 calories/100 g vis a vis to 70 calories/100 g in potato). The tuber, however, contains no saturated fats or cholesterol, and is rich source of dietary fiber, anti-oxidants, vitamins, and minerals than potatoes. Its calorie content mainly comes from starch, a complex carbohydrate. Sweet potato has higher amylose to the amylopectin ratio than that in potato. Amylose raises the blood sugar levels rather slowly on comparison to simple fruit sugars (fructose, glucose etc) and therefore, recommended as a healthy food item even in diabetes. The tuber is an excellent source of flavonoid phenolic compounds such as beta-carotene  and vitamin-A. 100 g tuber provides 14,187 IU of vitamin A and 8,509 µg of ß-carotene, a value which is the highest for any root-vegetables categories. These compounds are powerful natural antioxidants. Vitamin A is also required for the human body to maintain integrity of mucus membranes and skin. It is a vital nutrient for healthy vision. Consumption of natural vegetables and fruits rich in flavonoids helps protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.

The total antioxidant strength of raw sweet potato measured in terms of oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) is 902 µmol TE/100 g.The tubers are packed with many essential vitamins such as pantothenic acid (vitamin B-5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), and thiamin (vitamin B-1), niacin, and riboflavin. These vitamins are essential in the sense that the human body requires them from external sources to replenish. These vitamins function as co-factors for various enzymes during metabolism. Sweet potato provides good amount of vital minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and potassium that are very essential for enzyme, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism.

Sweet potato top greens are indeed more nutritious than the tuber itself. Weight per weight, 100 g of fresh leaves carry more iron, vitamin C, folates, vitamin K, and potassium but less sodium than its tuber.