So what does Occupy Wall Street have to do with community gardening? Many of my posts have stressed the importance of social sustainability and how community gardening groups are testing grounds for how to organize a group to make decisions and to get the work of community gardening accomplished. The occupiers at Liberty Park say they are using modified consensus to make decisions. This is a very practical way to make decisions as everyone has a say but just 1 person can't hold up making a decision. Both this movement and community gardening are showing us how to organize and make decisions where everyone's voice can be heard.
Occupy Wall Street is also space based. The group is occupying a public space to use for what they see ( and I agree) is an important purpose. Community Gardeners also occupy underutilized city spaces to create neighborhood amenities, grow food and improve their communities. If I might suggest what the overriding message from the occupiers could be is just that the dollars that are in the hands of the 1% be used so that this energy can be focused to create neighborhood amenities, grow food and improve their communities.
The community gardeners often ask for more space for more gardens. The Occupy Wall Street folks are saying that they are running out of space in Liberty Park and are looking to expand to other parks in the city. That will be an interesting next step. I am curious how that will play out.
One excellent clue about what can be done may be happening in one of my favorite gardens, Drew Gardens in the Bronx which recently began a project with the International Rescue Committee to give refugees a chance to grow foods from their homelands, to interact with others in their position and improve their lives. An article today about ethnic farmers markets also included a reference to Drew Gardens .
What it comes down to is that everyone wants a productive life. How that will happen and what it will look like is still to be determined. Looking at community gardens may give us a few clues.
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