People On The Move: Gail Savina of City Fruit

Who are the people behind the urban farming projects cropping up all over the Puget Sound Region? What inspires them? What foods nurture them?

Urban Farm Hub is launching a weekly spotlight series to celebrate the amazing people who spend their days creating a healthier, more sustainable local food system. This week we’d like to celebrate the transformational work of Gail Savina.

In addition to being a lover of italian food, Savina coordinates City Fruit, a non-profit organization that promotes fruit as a community resource. Prior to this, she coordinated the Community Fruit Tree Harvest for Solid Ground, worked as a communications specialist for King County environmental programs, directed international health and nutrition projects, and recently received a certificate in Environmental Horticulture.

So how did you get involved in the local food movement?

I grew up in Wenatchee, Washington when it was the “Apple Capital of the World” and started working in orchards when I was 12.  After a forty-odd year detour, I’ve come back. It almost hurts–physically–to see fruit fall on the ground and rot, like it does in yards throughout Seattle. I became involved in coordinating the harvest of this fruit, which naturally led to looking at how to improve it’s health and quality. That was the beginning of City Fruit.

If you could change one thing about the food system…

I would put fruit trees on the urban ag radar screen.  There are already thousands of fruit trees in Seattle, producing tons of fruit.  Most of it is wasted. These trees don’t need to be planted, land doesn’t need to be acquired–we just need to steward what we already have.

What do you think about the adage “It’s not the food we eat; it’s our eating habits”?

I’m not sure about the difference between the food we eat and our eating habits. Where we go to shop, what we buy, what we spend, how we cook it — seems to me that these are all just habits.

Speaking of eating habits, what’s your vision of the perfect meal?

Good bread. Greek olives. Simple, clean salad with a little shaved parmesan and vinaigrette. Pasta–homemade pasta, with seasonal (light) sauce–asparagus or garlic or fennel or . . .  good wine along the way. A fruit tart. I like many small courses of light food.

If you were a goat, what phrase would be on the tip of your tongue?

“Where are those blackberry bushes?”

Related posts:

1. People On The Move: Community Organizer Cathy Tuttle
2. People On The Move: Sue Gibbs of Sustainable South Seattle
3. People On The Move: Becca Fong with Seattle Parks and Recreation

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