Are Community Gardens Obsolete?
Feb 4th, 2009 | By Matt Mayer | Category: Pints |
Ed from The Slow Cook (which is a fantastic site, you need to start reading it) asked a question recently. His idea is that community gardens have gone the way of the dodo bird and should be replaced by community CSAs.
I want to know what you think. Read the two posts and let me know what you think about Ed’s idea.
Picture courtesy of Ed’s site, The Slow Cook.
I think his idea is a good one, and we have some similar programs – Youth Farm is one, they use the former lawn of a closed elementary school near my house. They sell the produce, but pay the kids & staff. Some of the local churches have garden planners & volunteers who grow the food, then it is distributed – some to gardeners, some to hungry non-gardeners.
But I don’t think it should replace community gardens.
For one thing, the commitment required for a community garden is pretty small. It’s not hard to convince most cities & towns to run one – it’s about 2 hours of staff time per month (or it was, in the town I worked in) and the labor to plow & stake or build raised beds is usually done by a volunteer group. If the land was empty already it’s not costing the city anything and if it’s in a dodgy neighborhood there’s a lot of bang for the buck in terms of making things prettier and safer. A CSA is a lot more time and money on the sponsor’s part.
For another, the politics of a central planning committee are rife with drama. Who would be in charge? Would there be race or language issues? In a lot of neighborhoods the neighborhood groups are dominated by a specific clique of people. Will immigrants join a group that wants you to list your name and phone number and keep track of your hours? Will teenagers? I’ll tell you as a former volunteer worker that the internal politics of a group has a lot to do with whether people will stick with it.
On the other hand, for someone who wants to run it,it’s a great idea, like a time dollar program and a babysitting coop. Lots of groups want to do stuff like this – settlement houses, neighborhood organizations, churches, enthusiastic people who can get donations and grants and make it happen. Look at Growing Power in Milwaukee, or the immigrant-run gardens on empty lots all over. It just shouldn’t replace community gardens.
It’s not like there’s not a lot of wasted space to garden, in most cities, that you have to choose one kind of garden over another.
I think it’s definitely worth a try….it’d have to have the support of the community, obviously, but as incomes decline getting efficient access to local food will be a higher priority, higher than the opportunity to putter in ‘my’ garden.
But that said, like the allotment system in the UK, there’s something to be said about someone taking responsibility for a piece of ground, and benefiting from the fruits of their labors.
That’s my wishy washy response