Nice to see the Associated Press do a bylined story about how large cities are growing community gardens in as many vacant spaces as they can find.
Here’s the trend AP’s identifying:
In the grittiest, grimiest, most unlikely neighborhoods, in cities including Los Angeles, Detroit and Miami, volunteer farmers are growing food that provides not only for those who work the gardens, but also for neighbors, food kitchens and school lunchrooms.
How do they know? Well, LocalHarvest.org, has registered hundreds of new community gardens since 2008.
One city on the forefront of the trend is San Francisco, where Mayor Gavin Newsom has ordered “all city departments to identify unused land, including empty lots, rooftops, windowsills and median strips, that could be turned into community gardens.”
The volunteer/city-run Alemany Farm, a 4 1/2 acre organic farm, is one of its showcases.
It’s a bold social experiment that, if it succeeds, will be a win win for the city and a model for other urban (and suburban) areas.
Virtual Farmgirl 