Community Orchards and Gardens: A Growing Affair!

Give a man a fish. Teach a man to fish. Stock the pond for all. – Inter-Faith Food Shuttle

A “growing” affair

Picture a few parks, parking lots and sidewalks nearest to your home, work, or school. Now imagine fruit trees in place of the existing ornamental trees. Think about seasonal tree ripened fruit like, sweet figs, crunchy apples, juicy pears, thirst quenching oranges, tart pomegranates. Your mouth is watering. Maybe you skipped breakfast, or lunch. You reach up, pick one for now and one for later. Sounds great but how could that work? Glad you asked!

How it works

Publicly or institutionally maintained areas provide grounds that are already landscaped, watered, and cared for. Plumbing is already in place for drinking fountains and small wash stations can be installed nearby. Maintenance crews would use safe and compliant pest control. That reduces harmful pesticide exposure to humans and pets. It also reducing pesticide runoff. Planting fruit trees in place of ornamental trees would still provide shade and beauty. The edible resource is the ultimate benefit.

image of an urban garden — making use of decommissioned train tracks

Where it works

Public and neighborhood parks
Community gardens and orchards
Campus gardens and horticulture plots
Shopping and inner-city parking lots
Youth clubs
Parks and recreation facilities

image of a community garden with a large cityscape in the background — cityscape community gardening

Why it matters

Communities adopting and implementing this concept might be more open to urban gardening and promoting gleaning at nearby farms. It addresses the two main reason for food insecurity; the lack of income and access to healthy food. The model fosters community cooperation, and contributes to a beautiful, cleaner and more functional environment