Groundwork Guyandotte

Southern West Virginia

Local Foods Local People

Kenneth Goode

Project Coordinator

Summer 2014

Summary

In 2002, the Upper Guyandotte Watershed Association (UGWA) was established as a non-profit organization in Wyoming County for watershed projects, water monitoring, and other infrastructure related programs. In 2009, Groundwork Wyoming County was incorporated and worked closely with UGWA on watershed projects; recently, a merger between the two organizations is taking place to combine personnel and resources for a better, cleaner Guyandotte watershed and Wyoming County, WV.

Both organizations have a history of working with others in the county including several projects funded by state and federal agencies, private organizations and from donations from foundations. Some of the partners include: Board of Education, Economic Development Authority, Department of Health and Human Resources, WV Department of Environmental Protection, town councils, museums, churches and civic organizations.

Our Vision

Groundwork Guyandotte is interested in planning technical assistance, education, and other direct support for programs and projects. Our visualization of Wyoming County has always been one of environmental stewardship, and our goal is the protection of all the counties resources, both social and physical. Having that in mind, Wyoming County and nearby areas have been plagued with economic and social concerns that we, as a group, want to alleviate. Much of southern WV suffers from obesity and chronic diseases brought on by poor nutrition, lack of physical activity, lack of recreation areas, and unhealthy habits such as alcoholism, smoking, chewing tobacco, and binge eating with sugary foods.

A medical research paper published by lead author Cathy A. Coyne (et. al.) in September 2006 named Social and Cultural Factors Influencing Health in Southern WV: A Qualitative Study brought attention to the poor health environment in the Coalfields and the studies are showing that the trend is not improving. According to the 2010 US Census, 19.4% of people in WV are below the poverty level. Without adequate support, the conditions will continue to decline and the death rate will increase just like the population decrease from poor economic opportunities. Our goal at Groundwork Guyandotte will be to use all the resources we can to improve the conditions of these areas.

The Plan

Our proposal is to use support acquired to provide education, technical assistance, and hands-on-learning in the form of community gardens, farmers markets, food kitchens in unused buildings, revitalize downtown areas to further the comprehensive planning that will stimulate cultural/heritage tourism, recreational greenspace, and improve business conditions, and

ultimately protect our resources. Many cities have had success with implementing green industry standards, including one of our own, Williamson, WV. Williamson, through the efforts of many people, transformed a once dirty and poor coal town into a green city. We at Groundwork Guyandotte visualize this same approach to be implemented in Wyoming County.

1. Community Garden Park Plan – using old schools for community centers to provide access for growing food underserved youth (in school lunches) and families (providing plots to grow food for added income and healthy nutrition). Several sites already exist and have been accessed for further expansion and development. We also want to use this opportunity to build healthy, inclusive relationships between residents and create and /or expand on existing gardening and education workshops, usually at local WVU extension office. A ‘Green Team’ program is currently being developed in correlation with other environmental groups to train youth in environmental education and establish and grow friendships between themselves and the entire communities.

2. Revitalizing Down Town -- improving our downtown areas is also something that is on the planning and design table thanks to a collaboration between WVU Landscape Architecture and the local governments and citizens. A new idea of Pineville WV is taking shape in the form of using remediated space as open green park space for sports, recreation. The Castle Rock River Park Plan will develop an accessible recreation space with boats docks for kayak/canoes, areas for fly fishing, picnic spaces, rock climbing, biking and hiking trails, and stimulate a positive economic environment. The ‘Pineville Streetscaping Project’ is currently taking place and is changing the face of Pineville in the most positive way.

Challenges

Just like many locations in West Virginia, Pineville and the greater region isn’t without its challenges. Transportation in the area can sometimes be difficult due to the steep terrain, so many areas of the county wishes to develop the Guyandotte River for a blueway system, although limited, could improve transportation and increase tourism. The immediate challenge, along with many other places in the country, funding and support is hard to find. We at Groundwork Guyandotte believe that all avenues of support and funding should be accredited to southern WV for the redevelopment of the economy and environment for a more sustainable future. The steep terrain puts many properties in light shadows where the development of foods becomes problematic. A plan now is in the process of using all available land and using greenhouses for food support from difficult environmental factors. The struggling coal industry has put our area into a terrible recession and caused a host of issues, social, economic, and environmental. Many believe, like us, that to come out of this challenge is start developing green markets. Green communities and economies are much more sustainable and bring jobs back the area where we need them most. Green economies

are much cleaner and this supports an educational component to train the future generations of being proper stewards of the area we live. We are investing in the future.