Two efforts which involve gardeners in their communities have been very effective over the last several years, and continue to provide both food and community spirit around the nation.
Plant a Row for the Hungry
This public service project was begun by the Garden Writers Association in 1995, in response to the fact that 1 in 8 households in the US experiences hunger or the risk of hunger (US Dept of Agriculture). By asking its members (and all garden writers) to plant an extra row of produce to help feed the hungry, the GWA hopes to bring awareness of the problem to its members and to provide a practical means of assisting in their local communities.
According to PAR, there are 84 million household yards and gardens in the United States. If each one grew one extra row of vegetables, and donated the produce to their local soup kitchens, food banks and service organizations, “a significant impact can be made on reducing hunger.”
PAR provides support and expertise to local committees that promote herb, vegetable and urban gardening at the community level. Without relying on any government funds, these gardens have donated over 14 million pounds of produce to local agencies and programs since 1995. This translates to over 50 million meals – not bad, for just planting a few extra seeds…
Fight Childhood Obesity by sharing the joys of growing one’s food with a child or a classroom
First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative to fight obesity in the US began with planting a vegetable garden at the White House. The Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 includes helping “communities establish local farm to school networks, create school gardens, and ensures that more local foods are used in the school setting.” Local schools and communities have followed this idea by planting food crops in inner city gardens and in school yards.
Imagine the impact on health and obesity with the transformation of urban yards into raised beds of lettuces, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and pumpkin? While not all urban soils are suitable any more for growing without tremendous time and money spent amending the dirt, raised beds can avoid the problem.
Dealing with Contaminated City Soils
After discovering that the soil in the 10-year-old West Newall Street Garden, in Syracuse, NY had been polluted by lead and arsenic (dumped there years before by city workers), gardeners have installed raised planting beds and shipped in new soil to prevent their crops from taking root in the polluted soil. At the Isabella Street Community Garden in Syracuse, workers laid down bed liners and brought in wood chips to cover the ground around the plant beds. West Newell Street Garden is now off-limits to children under 6, and children under the age of 2 won't be fed the food grown there.
Community efforts to compost enable neighbors to share the results among their individual plots. Mulch is often available for free from city departments of public works.
Children who are given the opportunity to grow foods from scratch usually benefit in a number of ways. Not only do they spend healthy hours in fresh air exercising their muscles, they practice their math skills and learn important science facts in the process. Many urban gardeners then sell their produce in neighborhood farmer’s markets, which gives the young entrepreneurs a chance to learn business skills as well as earn money for their schools.
Get More Information on Starting Your Community Garden
Community Garden.org will provide information on starting a community garden, including getting insurance and troubleshooting, tools for setting up record keeping, and more.
Use your talents, time, skill, passion and community spirit to share your love of gardening with your neighbor, your local schools, and your children with one of these projects and see the results bloom!
Barbara Bell - Suite101 has been my home away from home for over 12 years. I began as a writer covering antiques, collectibles and interior decorating, ...
