RE: farm or garden?

H* A*

Kirsten:

Urban commuity gardens fulfill in spirit the function of the old unenclosed
"Common". Although the last so-called "Common" I can think of in the US is
Boston Common, it is really a park run and administered by the municipality.
A community garden in NYC is usually an empty rubble and garbage strewn lot
that has been abandoned for many years. The neighborhood takes it over in a
kind of defacto eminent domain action ( usually ignored at first by the
government, supported in the early stages because community gardens become
city property where sociopathic activities are abstained, and then
undermined when the surrounding area's property values rise.) 

The garden that I'm involved with most intimately (
clintoncommunitygarden.org) was the first community garden to be transferred
to the NYC Parks Dept. It is run and maintained by neighborhood residents
for the Hell's Kitchen/Clinton community at large. The Clinton Community
Garden  is also an organic garden with a bee hive literally 2 1/2 blocks
away from Times Square. Please check out our website and our links to ACGA,
Green Guerillas and other organizations. 

Best wishes,

Adam Honigman

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Kirsten Walter [SMTP:kwalter@abacus.bates.edu]
> Sent:	Tuesday, November 09, 1999 2:07 PM
> To:	community_garden@mallorn.com
> Subject:	[cg] farm or garden?
> 
> 
> Hey folks,
> 
> i was discussing community gardens as they deal with issues of social and
> environmental justice when my friend asked me how people within the
> community garden/urban ag. field distinguish between a farm and a garden.
> For example, could a large community garden be classified as a community
> farm or are there other components besides the scale? (such as ownership,
> use of the harvest, purpose of the garden/farm).  We were thinking about
> justice issues that tend to have to do with farming, such as pesticide
> use/exposure, farmworkers' rights, organic ag., CSA farms, etc.  Then we
> tried to think of justice issues associated with gardens such as poverty
> alleviation, social organizing, food security, community building, etc.
> 
> My questions for you are, what do you see as the difference between farms
> and gardens, especially community-oriented ones?  Also, what do you see as
> some of the justice issues surrounding the two?  Or, what do you see as
> the value of different types of community agriculture projects? I am
> working on this as a senior thesis and would love to hear your critical
> responses, as well as your inspiring ones.  Also, i'd love to see more
> discussion of some of the deeper themes of cg's to keep all of us engaged
> and motivated.
> 
> thank you so much, and i apologize for the lengthy note,
> 
> kirsten walter
> lewiston, ME
> 
> 		Hands on the Earth
> 	   we remember where the source 
> 		of our power lies.
> 			
> 			-Terry Tempest Williams
> 
> 
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