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BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH GARDENING

Community gardening is catching. Local communities are coming together all around the world, from mega-cities to small rural towns, to transform and revitalise their parks, vacant land and derelict sites into productive food gardens and vibrant meeting places. In Australia over the past decade especially, community gardens and city farms have been blossoming.

Community gardens are about growing together - growing local fresh organic food together, growing together as a community, and also growing together as individuals with this connectedness to place and people.

Bringing food production back to the local area and supporting small scale and domestic growers is a vital step towards creating sustainable communities. We all know that food is a fundamental need, yet most Australians have allowed themselves to become increasingly complacent about, and remote from the process of producing it - where it comes from, how it is grown, how far it has travelled, what impact the production, processing, packaging and distribution has had?

This separation fuels the industrial agricultural system, the demise of small farms and small rural communities, pollution, waste, ill-health etc. Since our existence is primarily dependent on food, we cannot leave it solely to the farming population - less than 3% who are overburdened with debt and responsibility to feed the other 97%. In the industrial food system, it takes about 10 calories to produce 1 calorie of food value, and it is not uncommon for a food to have travelled over 1000kms before it reaches our plates. This is totally unsustainable and we are all a part of this process - even those living in urban centres. Sustainable agriculture is the basis of a sustainable culture. So we either have to grow, support local growers or become involved in community supported agriculture systems.

As a community gardener, one becomes aware of the need to reconnect with the food we eat - nutritionally, environmentally and socially, and also the need to reconnect producers and consumers of food. Growing local fresh organic food together as a community is intensely satisfying work which brings meaning and benefit beyond the produce.

The involvement heightens the awareness of the issues surrounding food, bringing food production closer to home, creating the connection between producer and consumer, providing opportunities for people to learn the enjoyable act of growing nourishing food for themselves and others. The more local the food production, the less energy consumed.

Of vital importance too is the conservation of biodiversity and traditional varieties of seeds. Community garden projects make an active contribution in this regard in the development of edible botanic gardens, community seed banks and plant material exchange networks.

Community gardens are an open and accessible way for people of all ages, backgrounds, skills and abilities come together to engage in positive work. These gardens are places where everyone's contribution is valuable.

There are no two community gardens alike in Australia. Each reflects the unique character of the community which created it and it's particular needs. And they always change and develop to meet new needs.

Community gardens are an active and experiential learning environment - providing the space, the skills-building, the inspiration, and the support to become eco-literate (or ecologically literate).

In addition, these gardens are places where people get to know one another, share knowledge, skills and experience and learn how to work together in positive constructive ways.

Children love gardening.Community gardens provide urban children the opportunity to see how things grow, and enjoy foraging, picking the fruits, watering, exploring with the other children of all ages, and working beside the adults and making a productive contribution to the project.

Community gardens facilitate the strengthening of relationships within a community - between each other and between ourselves and the land. Having our hands in the earth and being aware of the seasons enables us to develop a far greater appreciation of the environment in which we live - being connected to the subtle changes which occur and becoming aware of the impact we are having. Once community gardeners start transforming public land - it is difficult (from personal experience) to not notice what is happening in other areas within the catchment.

There is not doubt in my mind that community gardening is one of the most accessible and effective ways of creating a vibrant and strong sense of community identity - regardless of whether you live in the middle of the city or a small rural town. The act of coming together to grow food and transform a piece of public open space into a vibrant community meeting place is a possible and very positive action for creating a sustainable and safe neighbourhood.

© Morag Gamble, SEED International July 2002