I'm new to this list - only joined it a few days ago. I have not heard of this lawsuit. Could you direct me to a link about it?
Thank you.
Pamela Budge
************************************************************
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote on 9/3/2002
************************************************************
Friends,
Right now, as community gardeners wait to see what will happen to the 146
odd community gardens whose fate is being negotiated in the Attorney
General's lawsuit, this article appeared on page 2 of the NY Daily News (
the same paper that called community gardeners, "Garden Weasels" in a July
2001 editorial.)
As a community gardener who, as part of a garden community, delivers a
decent part of his excess food production to low income seniors on a
one-to-one basis and to a local food pantry, the proposed destruction of
community gardens, especially in low-income neighborhoods boggles the mind.
Mind you, much of our shortfall is based on economics, the 1400 miles most
food gets shipped in this country because of our truck based food
distribution system and the growing centralization and corporatization of
our agriculture.
But as a NYC community gardener, whose outdoor recreation feeds people, I
can only scratch my head at the pending destruction of citizen run open
green spaces in times that cry out for Victory Gardens.
Adam Honigman
Volunteer, Clinton Community Garden
New York Daily News
"Food agencies can't
feed all in need"
By OWEN MORITZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, September 3rd, 2002
New York has a hunger crisis, with food pantries and soup kitchens turning
away people who need meals, officials of New York's Food Bank said
yesterday.
Food Bank President Lucy Cabrera unveiled a survey showing that one in five
food pantries and one in six soup kitchens have been more likely to turn
people away since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
The survey further concluded that one in five people is turning to emergency
food programs "just to get by," and more than half are children and the
elderly, she said.
Cabrera said she was particularly concerned that "with the city's food
assistance programs at capacity long before Sept. 11, we don't see an end in
sight to the ever-growing levels of hunger."
Today, leading hunger experts will meet at the Marriott Marquis Hotel to
chart new strategies.
The Food Bank survey also noted that unemployment and homelessness in the
city are at their highest levels since the organization was founded 20 years
ago.
The Food Bank is the largest of its kind in the country. It provides food
for more than 200,000 meals served each day by more than 1,000 nonprofit
community food programs - including soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters,
low-income day-care centers and senior, youth and rehabilitation centers
throughout the city.
A canvass of the city's emergency food programs by the Food Bank found that
more than 80% of soup kitchens and food pantries reported an increased
demand for emergency assistance after 9/11.
Demand was especially high in Brooklyn and Manhattan, where 76.3% and 75.6%
of soup kitchens, respectively, reported medium or high levels of demand
eight months after the attacks.
Those boroughs, the Food Bank said, "experienced a severe and enduring
increased demand for food."
Also troubling the organization was a 25% dropoff in food donations since
Jan. 1.
______________________________________________________
The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to
To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
_____________________________________________________________
Global Virtual Desktop
Get your free Desktop at http://www.magicaldesk.com
