This one time on tv I saw this really interesting special being presented by the Sierra Club that was about the struggle to have garden spaces in urban cities. Most of the show focused on a few community gardens in New York City, and the fight the local community was wagging to keep their garden.
In a way I think this program, the community gardens, is a big step towards a better country.
The recent news stories about American Politics makes me think the country is becoming even more self centered and greedy. Health care reform is all but dead, and at best was weak to begin with. Edward Kennedy's seat in the Senate went to a Republican. The Tea Party movement national convention. This rise of new neo-cons, the neo-neo-cons.
Where I am going with this.....simple.
We are losing our sense of community as we all fight and scratch our way to getting ours. The statement, "It is a dog eat dog world." is very appropriate for our society right now. The community garden is an amazing simple, effective, and other wise beneficial solution to this greater crisis that is beseeching our society.
In the tv show I mentioned, the communities where the city wanted to tear down a community garden to make way for developers, the members of the community stood arms locked together in front of their gardens to protect them. This symbol of togetherness brought a community together, gave them fresh produce, increased the property values in the neighborhood, and got everyone to thinking about everyone else a little bit. We need a little more of this.
In interviews with members of the community they talked about how the gardens were so plentiful that not all the produce could be consumed by the community members and they actually had to give away large amounts of produce to local shelters or watch the food rot on the ground.
I have thought so many times about how starting community garden programs could do so much good. It still amazes me that this idea does not catch on in more places. Plant some broccoli. Plant some spinach. Plant some zucchini. Plant some tomatoes. Plant some squash. Plant some green beans. Talk to your neighbors about it. Save a little space for them the grow something they are interested in. Then watch as you all get closer, grow as a community with your plants, and celebrate the harvest of good friends and fresh foods.
Just something to think about.
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