This past year has been exciting for urban farmers. It would seem as the combination of foodies and garden enthusiasts increases, so does the government’s leniency on what we raise in the cities. It’s not just limited to plants, but some cities are even allowing bees, rooftops covered in greens, and even chickens.
It’s not just in the Westernised cultures, either. Japan has 10 unique projects from honey bees to rice growing in Tokyo alone. They are ahead of the west, though, in that they have even been building vegetable gardens on the top of train stations for years that are rented out to gardeners.
With all these positive experiences, examples, and the drive for healthier living, you’d think that more cities would be jumping on the sustainability wagon. The problem is, not all cities have pushed for it. They don’t actively block it, but there isn’t a driving need for community gardens, green roofs sprouting veggies, or a relaxation on the rules to have small livestock, like chickens, or to have pollinators inside the city. I currently live in such a city where it just doesn’t occur to the lobbyists or government officials to push for it. It’s not apathy, per se, but it’s not really engagement either.
New weeds in a community garden stem from the government from the New York Times.
Still, I’d rather have Indianapolis’s level of apathy over New York’s refusal to meet people halfway. The people took it upon themselves to have community gardens in several open lots. At the time, they had approval and go ahead, but that didn’t last long. As of December, 2014 the people of Harlem and Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville and East New York are fighting to keep their gardens from the city that wants to build “affordable” condos and other rental units.
The problem seems to be a top heavy government that doesn’t communicate with the gardening coalitions of the New York City area. Community gardeners there are fighting an uphill battle to not only claim an empty patch of land, but also to keep it. The problem seems to stem from a lack of communication between all parties. The housing department had an inaccurate record of the gardening communities, and the gardening communities didn’t make sure the records were straight.
Still, the drama seems to go a bit deeper than just this. Robert Cornegy, who serves Bed-Stuy, could lose five gardens in his district. Yet, when Mr. Cornegy asked what the criteria was for a viable and appropriate gardening lot, the city had no criteria in place.
This strikes me as a situation where education and communication of government officials is very much needed.
So, what can you do about this in your city before it becomes a problem?
- Communicate regularly with those that matter.
- Educate everyone you come across about what you’re doing and why.
- Involve as much of the community as possible.
When we communicate with each other, especially those that can make our lives impossible, we open up doors that they might never have know they may have accidentally closed. This communication is the foundation stone of your community gardens and urban gardens that might toe the line a bit about what is permitted and what has just not been put in the books as forbidden.
The second piece of the puzzle is to educate everyone about what you are doing and why. This is an important step in the process because it severely reduces ignorance and fear that what is going on isn’t safe and healthy for the entire community. And, let’s face it, there are members of the community that are allergic to be stings and too many chickens have the potential to carry diseases. All these problems diminish, though, with education and steps to protect those that might be susceptible.
When you combine these two elements of communication and education, you’re naturally going to involve a larger portion of the community in which your community garden is rooted. Take it a step further by going out of your way to invite parts of the community to join you, especially schools for projects. This will help spread the love, joy, and good will of the urban farming projects around you.