Free fruit trees in food deserts help residents and their neighbors access fresh produce

Mario Dagonel works with trees in his line of work as a community engagement manager with the nonprofit TreePeople. He says a lot of our personal connections to trees start with a fruit tree.

For him, it was the lemon tree in his grandmother’s backyard, which yielded the juice for lemonade on warm summer days. Such an abandon was the harvest that his family always shared fruit with their neighbors.

That connection is even more important in the food deserts of Los Angeles, densely populated areas where residents lack immediate access to a grocery store that provides healthy food like fruits and vegetables at a low cost.

Focusing on food deserts

Last year, TreePeople distributed nearly 3,000 fruit trees to people who live in food deserts and who experience food insecurity — or those lacking access to a sufficient supply of healthy food no matter where they live.

“A million residents in Los Angeles County experienced food insecurity last year, most of which aren’t receiving WIC or CalFresh benefits, so it’s a huge issue,” Dagonel said.

Many of the communities that TreePeople engages with have more liquor or corner stores than grocery stores, which may be 4 to 5 miles away. TreePeople distributes both fruit and shade trees to communities such as Watts, Commerce, El Monte, Paramount, Inglewood, Lynwood, and San Fernando.

Dagonel said that while distributing the trees is not a one-stop solution, it helps curb grocery costs and create avenues for personal connection.

“I’ve heard so many beautiful stories about residents that have planted an avocado tree, and several years later that tree is producing so many avocados that they’re able to distribute some of those avocados to their neighbors because they can’t eat them all,” Dagonel said.

There are many different ways to “green” neighborhoods, and according to Dagonel, parkway trees aren’t enough.

“In our community forestry, the parkway trees are shade trees,” he said. “Those are planted in that grass strip in front of somebody's house. The fruit trees, that resident can plant them anywhere, in the front yard, the backyard, wherever they see fit.”

The variety of the fruit trees being distributed varies, but it includes avocado, cherry, peach, and pomegranate trees among others.

“We have a great relationship with a lot of local nurseries,” Dagonel said. “We want to ensure that we're choosing a tree menu that is going to be appropriate for the microclimate that that community is in and the soil type.”

TreePeople hosts their tree distributions in partnership with cities or community organizations and provides a sheet of care instructions in English and Spanish to residents who participate.

Participants at TreePeople's tree distributions

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Courtesy of Mario Dagonel

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TreePeople

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According to Dagonel, based on TreePeople’s grants, eligibility to receive a fruit tree depends on living in a certain set of parameters or a zip code. The fruit tree distributions are first come, first serve.

“We did a fruit tree distribution at St. Lawrence Church in Watts and gave away trees to folks in between masses,” Dagonel said, adding that eligible recipients could get more than one tree.

Planting is just the first step

Dagonel said TreePeople is on track to distribute closer to 4,000 or 5,000 fruit trees by the end of 2024. The vast majority of distributions occur from September to mid-June.

“Right now, we’re in what we call Tree Care Summer,” Dagonel said.

The first few years of a tree’s life are the most important, and TreePeople has to make a concerted effort to water and maintain the saplings. The parkway shade trees in Watts and Paramount, for example, require 15 gallons of water per week.

Volunteers needed

TreePeople doesn’t just want to plant trees and leave, Dagonel said, but rather build a strong connection with communities. They take down contact information at distributions and have residents sign a Pledge to Adopt form, cementing their agreement to care for something that will be in their life for decades to come.

Check out TreePeople’s volunteer calendar to participate in Tree Care Summer and help “green” neighborhoods that have needed it for a long time.