All, In Muskegon, Michigan -- an old industrial city on the West Coast of the state with high unemployment and higher rates of obesity and diabetes -- our community gardening movement has come to a kind of crossroads.
A number of true community gardens were established this year. By "true" I mean they came organically from the community and were not the projects of outside non-profits. These gardens have flourished as individual gardeners have taken up roles of responsibility. They have strengthened the community where they exist and spread positive energy throughout our entire community. People work in them to grow food for themselves and their neighborhoods, church members, extended families. Now, as these gardens overflow with fruits and vegetables an issue has emerged -- one I am sure others on this list have dealt with. Recently, conflicts have arisen as community members who have NOT participated in the work of the gardens have stopped by without prior notice -- often with numbers of boxes -- to harvest food. The community gardeners -- who to a person had not truly thought through their response to this foreseeable situation -- have insisted that the food of the garden belonged to the people who worked the garden. They were willing to share what they grew, but they wanted to be asked -- not ripped off. This situation is complicated by the existence in our community of a number of church-based gardens, established and operated by parishioners, who grow food and give it away -- often on unattended tables -- as part of their Christian duty. These gardeners are, for the most part, NOT involved with the community of hunger in meaningful ways. For them, the act of growing food and giving it away is akin to aid for Haiti or Pakistan. Though well-intentioned, these gardens do not contribute to community strength and resilience. I believe the community gardening movement is as much about building community as growing a garden. The true community gardens are amazing centers of community involvement and innovation. They need to be encouraged and supported. So my question is... "Do examples exist of agreements, informal compacts, or just plain established practice that address the dual needs of supporting community gardens AND feeding the hungry within the community?" I am NOT interested in Gleaners Trucks or other outside food aid solutions. The question is about how communities with limited resources address these dual questions themselves inside their community. We are discussing time banks as one potential process to organize community energy in an ethical way around the issues of food. But this is just at the beginning. I am asking for feedback from this list including (1) specific examples of systems and arrangements that deal with these issues, (2) the language of ethical behavior in these issues, and (3) ideas for innovation. I believe these issues are not peripheral to the local food revolution. But, instead, are at the heart of the changes we are seeking. I look forward to any guidance you may have to offer. Peace and good food, Chris Bedford Center for Economic Security #6543 Hancock Road Montague, MI 49437 231-893-3937 + 231-670-4817 (cell) [email protected] www.center4economicsecurity.org www.healthyschoolmeals.org www.chrisbedfordfilms.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20100906/14f6f1e9/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ 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 http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
