In last week’s blog post I talked about my experience attending Spartanburg’s MLK Walk As One. This blog will conclude my Spartanburg MLK Unity Week coverage with my experience participating in MLK Day of Service, which was coordinated through United Way of the Piedmont. Converse University sent students to a number of different sites for MLK Day. These sites included HALTER, Ruth’s Gleanings, SPACE, First Steps, St. Luke’s, Greer Relief, Habitat for Humanity, the Period Project, and Keep OneSpartanburg Beautiful.
The site I chose to go to was the Keep OneSpartanburg Beautiful site, where we were preparing a lot to be turned into a community garden for the Liberty Heights neighborhood over on the southside of Spartanburg. The lot was donated by Oak & Ave Property Group to the Liberty Heights Neighborhood Association. The lot is located at 157 Bomar Avenue. This site will soon be transformed into the southside’s fourth community garden, which is very important due to this part of Spartanburg’s status as a food desert.
I believe that community gardens will be integral to the future of the southside. They will hopefully allow the southside to, in the words of southside community activist Toni Sutton, go from a food desert to a food oasis. We have tried throwing money at grocery store chains that do not care about the folks here, and that did not work. I am not saying that that was not worth trying, but we have to start thinking about more sustainable solutions. We need to start betting on the people of Spartanburg. These community gardens will give residents access to healthy food options, and they serve as sustainable and self-sufficient solutions to the food desert problem in my opinion.
The folks on the southside deserve more accessible employment options, more reliable public transit, safer ways to get to other parts of the city, and more opportunities for community. These community gardens are steps in the right direction that will hopefully help lead the south side to more health and wealth equity.
Mr. Ceej Jefferson, of the Oak & Ave Property Group, spoke with Toni Sutton via a Facebook video and talked about the possibilities for this lot. He envisions a stand that can serve as a small farmers market, like the Hub City Farmers Market on the northside. He speaks of the way this lot will be open to all but will especially enrich the southside.
Listening to him speak cannot help but make me proud of the work that we did for MLK Day of Service.
The benefits of community gardens
There are many benefits to community gardens. Community gardens, unlike home gardens, promote social trust and cohesion. Rather than a focus on individual gardening, the neighborhood community has a stake in the community garden. While personal garden obviously has its benefits, the social benefits of community gardens cannot be understated. A study conducted in Denver, Colorado from 2006 to 2007 found that community gardeners actually consume fruits and vegetables 5.7 times a day. This is higher than home gardeners (4.6 times a day) and nongardeners (3.9 times a day).
The community garden can lead to healthier habits, which in turn lead to more equitable health outcomes. These community-oriented gardens can give neighbors more opportunity to work alongside one another. Obviously neighborhoods that are walkable and full of community gardens will result in happier and healthier residents than neighborhoods situated next to massive four lane roads, with no sidewalks or gardens in sight.
In closing
There are many other studies that connect the presence of community gardens, and green space generally, to lower stress levels, better communal cooperation, and various other health benefits. Humans thrive when we have access to nature. It is even better when we have ample opportunities to directly experience nature, whether that entails gardening or sitting under a shade tree.
Throughout the twentieth century, there was a long-held American belief that the city is an urban jungle and nothing green can grow there. We know this is not the case. Cities allow humans to live with each other in community, while the more rural suburbs result in the natural world being pillaged further. Cities allow for us to use resources more conservatively, as we are closer together. Cities do not have to be divorced from the natural world. Cities can be connected with greenways and bikeways. Cities can be full of trees and parks. City neighborhoods can hold beautiful community gardens that allow residents to grow food for each other.
I am excited to revisit the Liberty Heights community garden in the years ahead. I hope to see ripe fruits and vegetables being picked by children. I hope to see benches and a farmers market stand and a little free library. I hope to hear laughter and conversation and community being deepened. I hope that this is not the last community garden I get to help create.
Until next time,
Liv.