Raices Cultural Center Expands Offerings to Include Locally Grown Organic Produce

Raices Cultural Center has fulfilled its name another way, by putting roots down into the local soil, in addition to putting roots down in the local culture. 

Raices means "roots" and lately, the nonprofit group has been doing a lot of gardening in an attempt to further promote healthy, sustainable living.

Raices is a nonprofit organization that promotes music, education art and culture, as well as eco-culture, sustainability and healthy living.

Over the last year and a half, the organization, run by co-directors Francisco G. Gomez and Nicole Wines, has been tending plots of land around Middlesex County, cultivating a slew of organically grown produce.

Wines said that Raices has plots of varying size located in East Brunswick, Piscataway, and at Gomez's home. They also make use of plots on Cook Campus in New Brunswick, one of which Wines has tended since she was in college.

At the Cook campus plot, Gomez and Wines pointed out garlic, strawberries, lettuce, string beans, herbs, beets and tomatoes. A slew of other vegetables are distributed among the other plots, and harvesting has already begun.

Just this month, more than six pounds of lettuce was harvested and donated to the New Brunswick-based nonprofit Elijah's Promise, to be used in its soup kitchen and its community cafe in Highland Park.

Gomez said the organization added eco-culture to its focus about a year and and a half ago, in an attempt to bridge a connection between natural arts and cultural arts.

In addition to the gardens, Raices also offers programs in natural arts, including macrobiotics, foraging, and a skill share and study group that meets regularly to discuss topics like sustainable practices, green energy and gardening.

Wines says that Gomez and she are currently searching for a parcel of land in which they can do all their farming in one place. They try to visit at least one plot per day, but it entails a lot of running around to the different towns, she said.

For more information on the organic gardens run by Raices, call (732) 317-2649, or visit www.raicesculturalcenter.org.

Editor's note: Raices seeks donations for their community gardens, including seeds, gardening tools, and land. For more information, email raices@raicesculturalcenter.org.