I was reading a post over on Jeff McIntire-Strasburg’s blog Sustainablog called The 5 Best Cities for Urban Gardening. I encourage you to check it out because he does a great job at outlining the different cities and why they scream, “SUSTAINABLE!”
However, I took something else out of the blog post. In the third paragraph Jeff states:
“One way large cities are becoming green is through urban gardening. Community gardens help bring communities together. They do this by producing food specifically for those in need, hosting youth programs, and reducing crime rates.”
Urban gardening is more than fresh and organic veggies. It is more than sustainability and creating life in urban decay. It is fully about community development.
One of my favorite authors is Malcolm Gladwell. In “The Power of Context” and later “The Tipping Point”, Malcolm poses a theory to explain the phenomenon that occurred when the sudden period of intense cleaning and maintenance of New York City was able to slash crime.
It is extremely important to realize that an individual’s environment makes a huge impact to their well-being. An urban garden brings the community together and creates a beautiful landscape of life. That life helps curb turbulent tendencies in neighborhoods where hope is a luxury.
At Woolly Pocket, we encourage all people to investigate and build a sustainable future for our neighborhoods, schools, and communities.
