Benefits of Community Garden 2010
Download as PPT, PDF
4 likes2,659 views
The document outlines several benefits of community gardening including: increasing a sense of community through organization and bringing people together; preventing crime by providing opportunities for neighbors to meet and watch the neighborhood; offering cultural opportunities for diverse groups to work together and exchange traditions; providing educational opportunities for youth to learn about food, business, and the environment; and improving health by increasing access to healthy foods and green space. Community gardening also creates green space, beautifies neighborhoods, and can increase property values.
Benefits of Community Garden 2010
- 1. The Benefits of Community Gardening Community Organization Crime Prevention Cultural Opportunities Education Food Production Health Green Space
- 2. Community gardens increase a sense of community ownership and stewardship.
- 3. Community gardens bring people together from a wide variety of backgrounds including age, race culture and social class.
- 4. Community gardens build community leaders.
- 5. Crime Prevention Community gardening is recognized by many police departments as an effective community crime prevention strategy.
- 6. Community gardens provide opportunities to meet neighbors and build block clubs.
- 7. Community gardens increase eyes on the street.
- 8. Cultural Opportunities Community gardens allow people from diverse backgrounds to work side-by-side on common goals without speaking the same language.
- 9. Community gardens offer neighborhoods an access point to non-English speaking communities.
- 10. Community gardens offer unique opportunities for new immigrant families who tend to be concentrated in low- income urban communities to: Take advantage of the experience of elders to produce a significant amount of food for the household. Produce traditional crops otherwise unavailable locally. Provide inter-generational exposure to cultural traditions. Offer a cultural exchange with other gardeners. Learn about block clubs, neighborhood groups and other community information.
- 12. Community gardens offer the opportunity to teach youth about: Where food comes from Practical math skills Basic business principles The importance of community and stewardship Issues of environmental sustainability Job and life skills
- 13. Community gardening is a healthy, inexpensive activity for youth that can bring them closer to nature and allow them to interact with each other in a socially meaningful and physically productive way.
- 14. Health Benefits
- 15. Studies have shown that community gardeners and their children eat healthier diets than do non-gardening families.
- 16. Eating locally grown food reduces asthma rates because individuals are able to consume manageable amounts of local pollen and develop immunities.
- 17. Exposure to green space reduces stress and increases a sense of wellness and belonging.
- 18. Green Space
- 19. Community gardens add beauty to the community and heighten peoples awareness and appreciation of living things.
- 20. Community gardens filter rainwater, helping to keep lakes, rivers and groundwater clean. Community gardens restore oxygen to the air and help reduce air pollution. Community gardens recycle huge volumes of organic waste back into the soil.
- 21. Community gardens provide a place to retreat from the noise and commotion of urban environments.
- 22. Community gardens have been shown to actually increase property values in the immediate vicinity where they are located.
- 23. Credits PowerPoint presentation by Lisa Nunn Benefits of community gardening gathered from: www.gardendallas.org www.commmunitygarden.org Photos courtesy of Elaine Evans, Kamil Bialus and Lisa Nunn