Yves Doumen knew coming to Springfield from Cameroon, Africa in 2017 he would miss the taste of home-grown produce from his backyard, but never expected his way of life would bring community back to Springfield neighborhoods.
From soil to plate, his community gardens are transforming lives and making produce greens accessible for anyone in the city to combat food insecurity. For Doumen, making the option for good food accessible is the heart behind Motherland Gardens.
“When you move to a new country you move with your culture, and food is part of your culture,” Doumen said. “So, with having this skill of producing my own food, the only thing I was looking for was space to produce it.”
Since 2021, Illinois Army National Guard (92Y) and founder of Motherland Community Garden, Doumen has been cultivating the Motherland Community Garden, a non-profit which targets areas primarily on the east side with high apartment/rent rates and difficult access to fresh produce in Springfield.
Doumen holds a bachelor’s degree in geography science from the University of Duoala and a bachelors of AG Business from Lincoln Land, on top of his title as an Illinois National Guard, which he uses to target food deserts, or urban areas where buying fresh food is hard.
Community gardens have been a popular form of cultivating food during hard economic times when food isn’t readily available to prices that fit all budgets.
Grocery prices have increased by 1.3% since December of 2022, according to the USDA, with overall food prices rising by 5.8% in 2023.