DURHAM -- Sima Pendharkar figures people who grow food might eat better food - and lose weight along the way.
So last weekend the third-year Duke medical resident took shovel in hand and joined a volunteer army in the Briggs Community Garden, just down the road from Durham Technical Community College.
On a crisp fall morning, they loaded dirt into newly hammered raised beds that will expand the garden to serve from 11 families to 31 or 32 - including, she hopes, obese and low-income patients of Duke University Medical Center.
"It is amazing. It's awesome," Pendharkar said as dozens of workers pushed wheelbarrows back and forth.
Obesity rates are rising, and type 2 diabetes and other conditions are spreading to children as poor diet and lack of exercise take their toll. The goal of the new garden program is to help people understand how diet and lifestyle affect their health.
Ten to 15 beds will be set aside for patients, and the rest will continue to serve local residents who will start paying a sliding fee now that water has been hooked up, said Michelle Wallace, Durham County horticulture agent.
The existing plots, some lined with lettuce and other cold-weather crops, had a rough first year. People had to lug water from home and compete with the deer. There's a fence now.
"It's an evolving process," Wallace said. "It takes a whole bunch of hands to make things happen."
Dirt as dark as coffee grounds steamed as Harrison and Victoria Borman, 8 and 9, and Isaiah Johnson, 9, loaded wheelbarrows for new beds. Their parents work for Home Depot, a partner in the garden along with N.C. Cooperative Extension, which owns the site, and SEEDS, a nonprofit community gardening program in Durham.
The home improvement company encourages its employees to volunteer for community projects. Workers from 11 stores participated Saturday.
"We all live locally; we're all connected," said district manager Joe Verdicchio, who lives in Cary. "We're not just some corporate entity that's taken over from small businesses."
Plus, "It's a lot of fun to do these things, too."
