A Millennium Gardens Community Food Bank is an organically grown vegetable garden, created and maintained by volunteer Animatic gardeners. The vegetables harvested from the garden are given away to community food banks and distributed directly to those in need.

Community food consciousness is a vital issue in our immediate future. Large scale agri-business, the genetic manipulations and patenting of crop seed. The incredible creation of programmed DNA sterility, the unbelievable issue of millions of children dying each year from hunger related conditions. All of these issues cry out for immediate community attention and viable directions and solutions.

Millennium Gardens are created to accomplish several objectives:

A. To provide fresh, organic produce to those who for one reason or another do not have the money to purchase enough food for their good health and sustenance.

B. To demonstrate a fundamental principal and practice of Animatism: That the provision of food and the opportunity to learn the skills of subsistence gardening should be freely offered and available to all human beings. That all people will be guaranteed basic daily nutritional requirements, gardening skills training, resources and encouragement to become the growers and providers of their own nutritional requirements.

C. To demonstrate that Animatic Artists are concerned, not only for the spiritual well-being of their community but also for the physical well-being of their community.

Does YOUR community have space for a “Millennium Garden”?

Although the garden project behind the Millennium Art Gallery was modest and short-lived (see “Awesome Inferno” – Animatic Happenings), we hope that our example will inspire other businesses to convert their back-lots and scrap land to more productive use. We hope that governmental bodies will see the wisdom of allowing raw urban lands to be freely offered to anyone wishing to establish a subsistence garden. And we hope that people in our community will think about their food supply and how important it is to keep community control over the practical knowledge and means of food production.

By allowing the production and distribution of food to be controlled by profit-driven corporations, who cannot have our best interests at heart, we participate in the continual instability of our social system, health and well-being. Learn about what you eat!

Why not plan to start a garden this spring and offer the produce freely to all? Your community will prosper, your spirit will be blessed and those with sustenance shortfalls will offer prayers of support for your good work.

Many thank yous to all of the Animatic volunteers who tended the garden and a heartfelt, extra big thank you to Janit Bianic who toiled and sweated her way through the initial, most taxing stages of the Millennium Gardens development. Her magic hands helped turn a back-lot of crusted, packed, garbage strewn dirt in to a fertile oasis of growth potential.