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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Additional pressure on food availability

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: Liz <liz@allslash.org>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Additional pressure on food availability
  • Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:05:34 -0500

At 12:33 PM 12/12/2007, you wrote:
And these are the communities that are in the most need for the community
gardens, school gardens and victory gardens. That is the most important
piece to the puzzle IMHO.

I think urban communities are wonderfully served by community and school gardens, and not just from the food. It's a way to teach kids where food comes from, and how to value the work that goes into producing it.

The elderly widows and widowers up in the hollers of West Virginia aren't going to be helped much by community gardens, unfortunately. They aren't able to travel to help with the gardening, if nothing else. Many of them are one episode of illness, or one fall, away from being bedridden in a run-down nursing home. There is a community gardening model that would help them, but I haven't seen it practiced anywhere. It's called "set aside a plot for Great-Aunt Mary and Great-Uncle Joe, work it for them, bring them down the mountain to see it growing, and take the harvest back to them."

Perhaps the end of cheap oil will make people realize how essential it is to foster the communities they have, and take the extra steps to protect the vulnerable members, but it didn't happen much before, and I think it's unlikely to happen now. Aunt Mary and Uncle Joe will be fending for themselves in most places. Sorry, that's bitter, I know. I just see so much of it.

Liz in SW VA
http://life-as-a-spectator-sport.com




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