Community gardens are great!
An effective local action:
In communities, we need to become more sustainable for ourselves. One way we could do this is by providing ourselves the food we need. We could create local gardens and develop land to create more farms for ourselves.
Communities with successful gardens:
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Combat food insecurity, both in quantity and quality
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Build on the resources of cities, towns, and counties to deal with urban problems
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Fight climate change by reducing the distance food travels, and minimize the carbon footprint of food
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Boost the local economy
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Improve community health through better nutrition and increased physical activity
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Create social capital
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According to The Effect of Community Gardens on Neighboring Property Values, the opening of a community garden has a statistically significant positive impact on residential properties within 1000 feet of the garden, and that the impact increases over time. We find that gardens have the greatest impact in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Higher quality gardens have the greatest positive impact. Finally, we find that the opening of a garden is associated with other changes in the neighborhood, such as increasing rates of homeownership, and thus may be serving as catalysts for economic redevelopment of the community.”
Community gardens can mitigate some of the problems that plague urban areas. They can be a beneficial addition to many communities by increasing the availability of nutritious foods, strengthening community ties, reducing environmental hazards, reducing food miles and creating a more sustainable system. Social ties are important to the wellbeing of people in a community since they can bring positive health effects and community involvement. Community gardens allow for the creation of social ties and build a greater feeling of community.