Gardenarium

One of the stories featured on Morning Edition today was about a nonprofit organization in Detroit that has begun to plant community gardens on foreclosed or abandoned properties to help offset rising food costs and reconnect community members in struggling areas. The food is free to any community members who may need it, and whatever remains gets donated to local food banks. Pretty cool idea.

The organization, called Urban Farming, hopes to create similar gardens in other parts of the country hit hard by the awful housing market. This, along with movements to increase community supported agriculture, local eating, and like-minded pursuits may significantly shift the way we think about food in this country.

Increasing self-sustained food growing efforts, community connection to local resources, and a sense of responsibility with regard to where we buy, how we prepare, and what we eat has become more and more important as the economy tanks and the weather gets worse.

One idea Andy and I want to look into: hydroponics. You never know what's going to happen with your growing season - particularly if you start getting hit with record-breaking temperatures, unexpected tornadoes and earthquakes, or anomalous flooding.

I think the reason the Urban Farming story has stayed with me all day is because of how much hope it gave me. I love that there are people in this world who can walk into at tragedy and create something productive and inspiring... who can connect people feeling scared or alienated and find a way to move forward.

Ingenuity can feel like a miracle in the right circumstances. And sometimes, I think we'll need a few of those in the next few years.