San Antonio is one of the fastest growing cities in United States that is working very hard on sustainability collaborating across different organizations and communities. According to World's Population Review, it is the 6th largest city in United States. It is also one of the cities committed to Paris Climate Agreement and has a goal to be 80% carbon-neuttral by 2040 and carbon-net zero by 2050.
Gardopia is one of these organizations working on sustainability in San Antonio. I met Sherry in Pearl's farmers market about 4 years ago. I met her again as a teacher in gardening classes, two years ago. With her energy and enthusiasm in gardening and sustainability, I asked her if they could work with one of our UIW Brainpower Schools. We had a Season of Creation artwork raffle in October 2025, and Saint Anthony Catholic High-School won the raffle.
Six weeks before Earth Day, and we are getting ready to celebrate with you to care for God's Creation. In this article preparing for the big Earth month of April, we will know more about the greening of San Antonio and beyond given this year's Saint Anthony Catholic High School's community garden's facilitator, and teacher from the Gardopia, Ms. Sherry Lim.
Sr. Marylou: There are so many ways that people define sustainability. While some people find it hard to answer what does it really mean. It will be good to hear your thoughts on Sustainability.
Sherry: It is about thinking of future generations, reusing resources for the (sake of the) future. It is about how everything works in a cycle. For example, a soil can be used for 3 generations. Plastic has no cycle. Water has a cycle. Through sustainability, we are making sure that we have resources for the future.
Sr. Marylou: I am sure you are working on a lot of projects and programs, what are your top three programs or projects in Gardopia on sustainability?
Sherry: We have 75 schools in 10 districts of San Antonio that are in Learning Program. We are teaching them how to grow food organically. There are two Private schools and the rest are public/charter schools. These are mostly from the outreach from the Physical Education and Health Director of the District.
The director is invested in teaching gardening in every school. The classes include the teaching part and the gardening materials.
Sr. Marylou: It will be great if all the Catholic schools have sustainability in their curriculum or have these garden classes.
What is your second?
Sherry: We also have the Tree Canopy project with a half a Million dollar grant from the Hispanic Access Foundation. This program aims to distribute 1,000 trees for schools. Any schools can get 20 trees with 2 years of tree care from Gardopia. It also comes with 12 gardening classes, and irrigation for the trees. The Gardopia staff will check the tree every two weeks. As of now, we have three hundred trees planted and several community gardens.
This also supports any community garden.
Sr. Marylou: You make it easy for people. You check on these trees for two years plus they get the classes. If the organization is a school or if they have community garden, they can apply for this grant.
Sherry: Yes. That is correct…
Sr. Marylou: What is your third?
Sherry: You're going to love this. We also have the Agrihood. There is a property donated by a private individual. The New Braunsfels street has growing concerns where people live on the streets. The donor cares for the people on the streets. Gardopia plans to build tiny homes using shipping containers. The rent is going to be minimal with 6-8 members per house. The community will have a farm which the members will work on. The launching of this project depends on the permit that Gardopia is waiting for from the city.
We already have a model.
Sr. Marylou: That is exciting. This is the same concept of Dorothy Day's Catholic Worker House. Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day worked together. Peter is a farmer and put sustainability in the system by having a farm to supplement the Catholic Worker House. The people work on the farm and the crops from the farm supplements the needs of the community.
What about the support system for the people, knowing that there is a reason why people live on the streets? There are issues like mental health that needs to be looked into.
Sherry: The New Braunfels street has a lot of social services for the people. There are centers on this street that give away food, and schools have been converted to mental health clinics. There are centers that give toiletries, and clean clothes. During the freeze or winter, you will not see any person on the streets.
We also are in contact with Mark Wittig. He is a great resource and person. We work together in some projects.
Sr. Marylou: Definitely, the Town Twin has a lot of support services onsite... and Mark has a great plan for that community.
Knowing that sustainability is a huge endeavor, what international organizations are you connected with to keep your organization going?
Sherry: We are connected to United Way, CommuniCare, Spurs for funding, San Antonio Rodeo who gives funding to support school, HEB Foundation, School Garden Support Organization also supports our work.
We also partnered with Japanese schools so that their teachers can also learn how to grow food in school.
Sr. Marylou: This is interesting. Their teachers have to come here to learn something about teaching? Tell me more about it.
Sherry: Their teachers know how to teach but we teach the process of what we do in school which is growing the food in school and incorporating this into classes or curriculum.
Sr. Marylou: Are there any organizations similar to Gardopia?
Sherry: There are programs that supports sustainability for communities like Farm to School Program, and Peas in Austin
Sr. Marylou: Are there any conferences that are available related to these programs?
The Farm to School has a conference.
Sr. Marylou: What or who are your inspiration?
Sherry: I love listening to radio station with the host Bob Wester. I grew up with my mother turning on the radio station. She is not into gardening but I think she wants me to listen to something that I can learn from. He is an organic gardener. He teaches about it. He was the owner of Shades of Green. It recently closed.
Sr. Marylou: Is the station segment still available?
Sherry: Yes, I believe so. I also like the Chefs farm to table.
Sr. Marylou: What do you like to grow?
Sherry: Grow what you love. I grow dijon radish in winter, and also Napa cabbage. These are my favorites.
Sr. Marylou: Why people should work on sustainability?
Sherry: Everybody has a kind heart. It is human nature to care. If we destroy the future, it is not fair...
If people take time to care, to lessen the pain. We can do things like composting, saving rain water, growing plant. Everybody can do this.
Sr. Marylou: What about those in small spaces like apartments?
Sherry: People can still grow plants like hydroponics, pot gardening, and composting. People in small spaces or apartments can use vermi-composting and layer it with top soil. Then, they can use the soil on top of the container. The earthworms only want to be in the deep so the soil on the top can be used for the plants.
Sr. Marylou: What about those who are afraid of pests when composting?
Sherry: That is the purpose of the soil. Animals do not like to eat dirt. If people cover the compost with enough soil, it will not attract pests.
Sr. Marylou: Do you have any activities that you participate or connect related to Systemic Change?
Sherry: Apart from what we are doing? education?
Sr. Marylou: Yes (smile)
Sherry: Connecting with Food Policy Council. They educate on how to get involved. They tell you and advice on the laws. They will inform you on how to do actions and to bring leader to tackle how food is being tackled.
We are involved or connected with Idea East. They want every school to have a farm.
There is also work by Greenies, and ECO Centro similar to us.
Sr. Marylou: How is your team here in Gardopia? How many people are working in Gardopia?
Sr. Marylou: Thank you Sherry it was a pleasure to be with you. Thank you for what you all are doing.
Note that at some point of our conversation, we had a guest from the street and she wanted to have a sustainable bag. She was willing to wait and after our conversation, Sherry looked for a good bag to give. Sherry gave the bag that she needed after we found her. She knows the lady's story. The lady likes being around the area and around the garden.
With this conversation, we have learned how caring starts with forming young minds with practical ways to love nature, responsible parenthood and education system, using our hands to grow, educating ourselves and others, and building supportive and compassionate communities. We can all take time to care with these possibilities. We can take these possibilities into actions that make the solutions a reality.
The problem with Climate Crisis can be overwhelming and it takes all of us. We can grieve with what is happening. However, we cannot stop with grief. The children and future generations rely on our actions. And as George Henry Lewes says, the only cure to grief is action. One way of serving the vulnerable is by making responsible choices. If we choose sustainable and conscientious living where we think of people suffering before choosing an unsustainable products or practices such as single use plastics, and styrofoam, wasting food, throwing things without fixing or reusing, we will end up with more carbon footprint speeding up the carbonization of our planet. Similarly, if we learn how to grow our own food or we understand the heart of growing food, we care more about the planet and people as we know how everything takes time and we nurture what we care for. As we learn to care for our Common Home, we can move from a throw away culture to a culture of care.
"Ecological culture cannot be reduced to a series of urgent and partial responses to the immediate problems of pollution, environmental decay and the depletion of natural resources. There needs to be a distinctive way of looking at things, a way of thinking, policies, an educational programme, a lifestyle and a spirituality which together generate resistance to the assault of the technocratic paradigm." - LS 111
Suggested Reading:
https://www.gardopiagardens.org/
https://decarbonization.visualcapitalist.com/decarbonization-targets-for-the-largest-u-s-utilities/
https://www.ktsa.com/texas-gardening-with-bob-webster-on-demand/
https://www.earthday.org/action/
https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement
https://www.sa.gov/Directory/Departments/DRS/Community-Initiatives/Strategic-Plans/SA-Climate-Ready
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