On a recent guided bike ride, I paused to eat a petite Alpine strawberry, scarf down a Chicago-hardy fresh fig and savor a handful of Concord grapes.
I didn’t travel overseas, visit the Midwest or head out to North East for this delightful experience.
Sampling fresh fruit was merely a bonus during the inaugural Emmaus Ministries Urban Bike Tour.
On Sept. 13, I joined 30 other cyclists for an 18-mile ride to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Emmaus Soup Kitchen. Since the Benedictine Sisters of Erie opened the soup kitchen in 1974, they have added a food pantry, Emmaus Grove Garden and Sister Gus’ Kids Cafe, now all under the Emmaus Ministries umbrella.
As we visited gardens growing culturally inclusive produce, watched infrastructure being erected for a cutting-edge hydroponics greenhouse at Joyce Savocchio Opportunity Park and marveled at Erie’s two “tiny forests,” we connected the dots for ways to alleviate food insecurity and improve the environment.
We also saw firsthand why safe biking routes must be a priority here — not just for recreational riders like me, but for Erie residents whose only means of transportation is a bike.