Community Gardens
Community gardens provide an opportunity for apartment dwellers and others without open space of their own to maintain vegetable and flower gardens on publicly-owned land.
Not only does this allow residents to grow healthy food for themselves and their families, but it demonstrates community support for sustainable living and can reduce maintenance costs for municipalities.
Greensboro, NC operates several community gardens to add beauty to their parks and offer the community an opportunity to learn about and practice growing fresh, nutritionally rich produce.
​
Local government works with the Greater Lansing Garden Project to provide access to land, how-to education, free seeds and plants, tool lending, a networking hub and more so that all community members can have access to fresh healthy food through gardening opportunities.
Bloomfield, NJ's Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs Department oversees three Community Gardens. Raised garden plots are available for yearly rentals.
Resources
The American Community Gardening Association supports community gardening by facilitating the formation and expansion of state and regional community gardening networks, developing resources in support of community gardening, encouraging research and conducting educational programs.
Growing Gardens is a Boulder-based non-profit organization established in 1998 with a mission to enrich the lives of our community through sustainable urban agriculture.
​
References
[1] Drake, L., & Lawson, L. J. (2014). Results of a US and Canada community garden survey: Shared challenges in garden management amid diverse geographical and organizational contexts. Agriculture and Human Values, 32(2), 241-254.
​
[2] Carney, P. A., et al. (2011). Impact of a Community gardening project on Vegetable Intake, Food Security and Family Relationships: A Community-based Participatory Research Study. Journal of Community Health, 37(4), 874-881.