Gardening for Change in the City

[marmar]

from The Nation:


emerging writers | posted July 23, 2007 (web only)
Gardening for Change in the City

Sophie Johnson


Marlene Wilx, a resident of the East New York neighborhood in Brooklyn, relaxed in the shade of her tent at the East New York Farmers Market and bit into a huge, bright-orange carrot on a recent sunny Saturday. "Would you believe I just pulled this from the ground an hour ago?" she asked, motioning to the half-acre community garden behind her. Wilx is one of fifteen to twenty community gardeners who set up shop on Schneck Avenue every week to sell locally produced fruits and vegetables. She's been doing it for nine years.

The East New York Farmers Market isn't just any old summer market; it's part of a multipronged, decade-old community venture called East New York Farms!, which endeavors to bring fresh, local, affordable food as well as sustainable living opportunities to the East Brooklyn neighborhood.

Local agriculture projects like East New York Farms! have become increasingly popular in the last few years as the effects of global warming grow more obvious. The fuel needed to transport foods across the country--or around the world--is a major contributor to America's enormous tally of carbon emissions, and buying locally means an automatically more energy-efficient way to eat. Farmers' markets and local food choices at grocery stores are popping up all over the place as a result: New York alone has upwards of 400 farmers' markets statewide this year--about fifty more than last year.

Nationwide, groups are looking beyond the environmental benefits of local agriculture, and major social change is beginning to sprout from some local foods initiatives. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070730/johnson