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Social dynamics around community gardens
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Community gardens are becoming more common and sought after by both residents and city officials because they provide a variety of functions within a community that society values. These gardens are often promoted as having economic advantages, providing health benefits, offering educational opportunities, and reducing food deserts. In particular, community supported agriculture theoretically could address inequalities about food security by increasing accessibility to fresh produce. However, whether community gardens actually promote food equity in the same way or if diverse socioeconomic areas share similar perceptions of these gardens is uncertain. The proposed research question is asking if community values are actually similar throughout …show more content…
Harvest gatherings, field days, and children 's activities are usually incorporated into the food system, while a sense of social connection and embeddedness is often seen. Nevertheless, this study challenges the notion that community gardens bolster the neighborhood community and reduce food access inequalities.
Gardens can use many different model structures, and each has the potential to promote different values. Yet the garden type does not make it any less of a community garden. Community means something different for everyone, and nobody can define what “community” actually is to the entire collective. These gardens may create a strong sense of collective ownership through joint activities. Some individuals support broader social and ecological struggles and believe that participating in community supported agriculture can help accomplish this
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Participants appreciate the perceived advantages that community supported agriculture has about food consumption-related problems. Often, participants note the fruit and vegetable quality as the main benefit of participating in a community garden. Many gardens are organic, and personal preferences are important factors. Some people state that food grown in community agricultural systems are healthier and even that the soils are less polluted. Producing food is the most common motivation shared by gardeners. By developing a greater interest in diverse fruits and vegetables (“produce portfolio”), community gardens may establish an introduction to other healthy foods if they incorporate a sharing economy or knowledge sphere and introduce novice gardeners to other nutritionally important
In “Called Home”, the first chapter of the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year in Food Life, Barbara Kingsolver presents her concerns about America's lack of food knowledge, sustainable practices, and food culture. Kingsolver introduces her argument for the benefits of adopting a local food culture by using statistics, witty anecdotal evidence, and logic to appeal to a wide casual reading audience. Her friendly tone and trenchant criticism of America's current food practices combine to deliver a convincing argument that a food culture would improve conditions concerning health and sustainability. I agree with Kingsolver that knowing the origin of food is an important and healthy benefit of developing a true food culture, but it is impractical to maintain that everyone is able to buy more expensive food. Kingsolver presents a compelling argument for developing a food culture, however this lifestyle change may not be practical or even possible for a poverty-level citizen. The following essay will summarize and respond to Kingsolver’s argument to demonstrate how “Called Home” is a model for novice social scientists.
Many in the U.S., today, try to eat well,balanced, meals to order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. They do so by purchasing their food at farmers markets or making their own meals, so their food isn’t processed or genetically modified. Even though people are trying to maintain health in order to live long lives, without medical complications, many don’t have the opportunity to pursue life like this. In “Research shows food deserts more abundant in minority neighborhoods,” the author, Kelly Brooks, portrays an anecdote and logical reasoning, from Kelly Bower’s research, to thoroughly describe the food deserts in poor minority neighborhoods and how this issue needs to be repaired.
Gardening is Finley's graffiti and art. He believes that the gardens are meant to be shared with all and used as a tool to educate and transform his community. The gardens help change and develop the lives and future of children and young people. He believes to make change, you have to focus on the community and change the composition of the soil. The people are the soil. Finley’s plans for the garden include getting people to grow their own food, open farmer's markets, and make healthy cafes out of shipping
Wendell Berry's book, Another Turn of the Crank, takes us well beyond the sustainability of agriculture as such. This is a book about community and, necessarily then, it is a book about economics. John Dewey wrote, "Natural associations are the conditions for the existence of a community, but a community adds the function of communication in which emotions and ideas are shared as well as joint undertakings engaged in. Economic forces have immensely widened the scope of associational activities. But it has done so largely at the expense of the intimacy and directness of communal group interests and activities." (Freedom and Culture, pp. 159-160) The context of the present discussion is the disappearance of agrarian communities throughout America and, hence, the death of agrarian culture. Forest culture has been another victim. Part of this story is about access to fresh, healthy foods and good local timber. But most of the story is about much more.
A community health assessment of the Hillside-Quadra area was performed and considered various aspects of the community, including the population, the socioeconomic environment, and health and social services. Personal communication with some of the residents determined that food insecurity is of major significance for many in the community. “Food insecurity exists within a household when one or more members do not have access to the variety or quantity of food they need due to lack of money” (Statistics Canada, 2015). Community kitchens (CK), are easily adapted to an IFK concept, have been implemented by two communities within Victoria (Appendix B; Personal Communication) and are capable of serving as a public health initiative that benefits the communities they serve (Iacovou et al.,
... as changing zoning and offerring incentives to attract farmers markets and supermarkets to food deserts. Cities can increase access by guaranteeing public transportation routes. And farmers’ markets can accept EBT (electronic benefit transfer), which would make it easier for those on assistant programs to have access to fresh local fruits and vegetables. Seattle area farmers’ markets are already doing this. Community gardens can be an effective way of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among residents. Cities can encourage this through zoning polices and grants.
"We all grew up in communities with grandmothers who cooked two, three vegetables that you had to eat. There was no ifs, ands or buts about it. But that's because many of our grandparents, they had community gardens; there was the vegetable man that came around. There were many other resources that allowed them to have access. So it's not that people don't know or don't want to do the right thing; they just have to have access to the foods that they know will make their families healthier ("Michelle Obama in Chicago," 2011). People who have options of vegetables and fish products in grocery stores eat better and will have better outcome on health (Edberg, 2007).
Farmer markets have always been around and a strong reason to believe that they will still be around long after our time. There are several reasons why this age old tradition still exitst today and revolves around a very common question, “What does a buyer find important when they are about to buy food to be consumed, or how the produce is grown/manufactured, processed, marketed, and distributed. Supporting farmer markets and ensuring fair trade among the dealer and the seller can help promote healthier lives while building stronger communities. There are several reasons to support a community’s farmer market event because buying true locally grown food can allows the buyer to have options to food that is picked fresh and tastes better than what is sold in the supermarkets. Another benefit to farmers markets is that the food is sustainable, flavorful, supports local farms, and also in some areas, part of the proceeds goes to the unfortunate within that community. With the addition of the food generally being more flavorful, locally grown food is adapted to the climate in which it was grown, and can remain fresh longer than that of an imported produce grown in a different climate. Final...
Meadows, H, Donella.. "Our food, our future." Organic Gardening. 01 Sep. 2000: 53. eLibrary. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Just as food insecurity and social agricultural movements are no longer limited to the Global South, so to have such movements extended beyond the borders of rural landscapes into urban settings across the globe (Dubbeling, & Merzthal, 2006, pp. 20, 21; De Zeeuw, Van VeenHuizen, & Dubbeling, 2011, pp.
Agriculture is the science and practice of producing crops and livestock. The primary aim of agriculture is to use the land to produce more abundantly to feed and clothe the world at the same time protecting it from deterioration or misuse. Humans had to improve agriculture as they became more dependent on food, creating a solitary evolutionary connection between plants and animals (Campbell and Reece, 2001). In this day and age, so many people have forgotten the authentic premises of survival. It is easy for some to believe that the grocery stores produce food and clothing is produced by shopping centers. These inaccurate presumptions are being made due to the lack of knowledge of how agriculture truly works. There are also significant differences in the levels of understanding between rural and urban communities.
Transition: We all know that save money is a major benefit for, but that is not all that gardening can do.
Groh, Trauger and Steven McFadden. Farms of Tomorrow Revisited: Community Supported Farms - Farm Supported Communities. Kimberton, Pennsylvania: Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association, 1997.
The final draft will be explaining the positive actions of organic agriculture that companies such as ‘Polyface Farm’ promotes for an awareness of natural grown and unconventional farming methods to open the public understanding for a healthier lifestyle. Various cases of organic farming reduce the risk of environmental impacts in agriculture due to climate change, depletes the need for genetically modified food inducing a nutritious diet which lessens health risks, and drives an opportunity for higher wages to unconventional organic farmers. The following five sources will propel informative insight on organic farmer’s earnings and experiences which supports environmentally friendly agriculture and the ecology of nutritiously grown food that
Would you enjoy having fresh, delicious, luscious vegetables to eat all summer long that cost you almost nothing? I know I would. Well, now you can have your veggies and eat them too. Try building your own vegetable garden. It can fit all sizes of yards and decks. You just need to pick the location and type of garden. Next, you will prepare the garden site and work the soil. Finally, you will plan the specifics and plant your garden. With some care and patience, you will be enjoying the fruits of your labor in no time.