The Og-woi FAQ

What is the Og-woi People’s Orchard and Garden?

The Og-woi project is about empowerment to enhance our communities by providing access to healthy food. Building community resilience means “feeding” our community in many ways. The Og-woi project concentrates on ensuring that community members not only have access to food but also have opportunities for learning through educational opportunities. The Og-woi has been lovingly maintained by volunteers, and the infrastructure that is supporting the project was created with community resources.

How did the Og-woi start?

The Og-woi was started in a neglected lot on the Jordan River Parkway in Salt Lake City with a fruit tree planting on Memorial Day 2020 as a nation-wide climate call to action to plant food in public spaces.  Volunteers thereafter returned each Sunday to plant and maintain the Og-woi.  Salt Lake City officials soon approached Og-woi volunteers, proposing to negotiate a formal agreement recognizing the garden.  In the subsequent years Og-woi volunteers invested countless labor hours and other resources, planting and tending to the garden and orchard. An extensive process ensued, including a Salt Lake City public engagement process in 2021 which led to an initial decision to uphold the Og-woi project, finding overwhelming support for the Og-woi through that engagement process.

Read more at the About page to learn about how the Og-woi originated and what the Og-woi Collective is.

Read what people say about the Og-Woi.

Is the food from the Og-woi free?

The Og-woi operates under a “Gift Economy” model.

A gift economy is a model where valuables are not traded or sold, but rather given without an expectation of anything in return – now or in the future. The Og-woi project is designed to educate community members about local food production and community resilience.

What are the murals about in the Og-woi?

The murals and other art in the Og-woi are all created by local artists. There is more information on the Art in the Og-woi page. Some of the art serves as memorials to local volunteers and activists. You can learn more on the Memorials page.

Did the City want the Og-woi removed? Why? (Spring 2023)

The Og-woi Collective received a letter from the Director of Salt Lake City Public Lands on March 21, 2023, that requested the garden be removed. Read more about what happened and why the letter was sent.

The next month was spent developing an alliance with Wasatch Community Gardens to help the Og-woi Collective in the process of negotiating with the City.The City then made it a requirement for the Collective to work with WCG through the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Process to formalize the garden to meet the city standards for community gardens. WCG has made it publicly known that it has no desire to take over the Og-woi or change its model of community gardening. The agreement entered into is a temporary one to help the Collective get through the CIP process. The order to evict was lifted on April 21, 2023 and a community engagement process was conducted, followed by a signed Memorandum of Understanding between WCG and the Og-woi Collective.

Is the soil safe for growing food at the Og-woi?

After the city conducted a soil test of the non-food planted areas of the Og-woi (August 2021) that revealed higher than normal levels of lead, volunteers established an expert advisory board and adopted ‘Garden Volunteer Safety Measures’, to address contamination issues that occur in the soil throughout the valley. (Note that the soil testing was *not* conducted in the areas of vegetable plants and fruit trees where the soil had been amended.).

During the year between those tests and the March 2023 eviction letter, the Og-woi Collective worked to ensure safety measures were being implemented for the safety of the community, including amending the soil. Raised beds were built and soil amendments have been implemented as a result of the research in the field about urban gardening prior to the eviction letter.

After the eviction letter was sent, and following the City’s guidelines for collecting soil samples (scroll down the page to read them), Og-woi volunteers collected samples from the beds and amended areas, sent them to a certified lab, and the results demonstrated that the soil in the Og-woi raised beds and amended soil in other areas of the garden are well within the acceptable limits for food gardening.

Read more about the soil consideraton concerns (scroll down the page).

See also the Og-woi Resource Padlet on Urban Soi and Gardening which includes the description of the Og-woi Collective Expert Advisory Board on Urban Gardening in Contaminated Soil.

Why do people say that the Og-woi is the cause of homeless camps along the Jordan River?

Homelessness is a systemic societal issue that is a result of many factors. Homeless camps along the river have been in existence for over a decade, long before the existence of the Og-woi. The camps increased during the COVID pandemic of 2020 when a moratorium was placed by the city to cease all camp abatement efforts, moving the unsheltered population around from place to place. This moratorium was enacted at the same time the Og-woi originated and remained in place for over a year. This was coincidental and not a contributing factor to the increase of homeless camps along the river. when the moratorium was lifted, homeless camps along the river decreased as the unhsheltered began migrating to other places.

A professor at the University of Utah conducted a study in 2022 for the Jordan River Commission that outlines the reasons for homelessness along the Jordan River. The Og-woi was not listed as a reason. Read the report here, “Drivers of Unsheltered Homelessness and Conservation along the Jordan River,Salt Lake County, Utah”.

Where can I learn more about the Og-woi and other resources?

Please visit the resources page to learn more about our resource Padlets.

How can I support the Og-woi People’s Orchard and Garden?

There are many ways to support the Og-woi! Visit the support the Og-woi page to learn more.