Urban Sustainable Gardening Benefits Everything Local

Urban gardening is exploding all around the globe and it is having a tremendously positive impact on many aspects of people’s lives.

True, the US is lagging in this field, but we are catching up rapidly, especially in Chicago. It seems like a natural human evolution back to our origins and a rejection of corporate produced foods.

Here are some of the biggest benefits that I see in the growth of this movement.

1. Healthy Food, duh!

More and more people are rejecting processed food and choosing to eat the way are bodies are supposed to. I admit, I slip up and eat some crappy food sometime, but since making this change in my life, I am happier, have more energy and just enjoy life in general a lot more.

2. Decrease in Food Prices

When we create gardens on rooftops and local gardens, we have to ship in less and less food. The price of shipment does not become translated to us. Since roof gardens also absorb much of the sunlight, the buildings need less energy to cool as well.

Also, this is a simple supply and demand issue. The demand is staying relatively steady, or are predictable with the growth of populations, but local supply grows and prices drop. Good news for the many people who are struggling.

3. Aids and Sustains the Environment

In the case of organic sustainable gardening, these practices replenish the soil, filter out pollution and limit the toxic mass agriculture which adds pollution to the Earth.

4. Enhances the Community

Local gardens get people together and forges stronger communities. Also, the healthier food makes a happier population, which is something that the politicians can appreciate, too. I don’t know why they aren’t pursuing this harder. Oh yeah, they are mostly corrupt and don’t care about us. How did I forget that?

5. Raises People Out of Poverty and Empowers Them

When communities begin to control their own food, they start to take back their basic freedoms. Food control by power is one of the biggest ways that they attempt to keep us down. This seems like another reason why it has been suppressed for so long.

So, as you can see, I am all for a full push towards urban, organic, sustainable gardening. Like I said, this is exploding already, so look up your communities local efforts and put the heat on your local government to fully implement these practices.

I live in San Diego, and it is shameful to look around the east part of downtown. This is where many homeless are concentrated because of the shelters.

What is ludicrous to me is seeing them sleeping all around fenced in empty lots. All it would take is for those land owners to open up their lots for above ground sustainable gardens. They could invite the homeless to learn gardening and maybe sell some of the food.

These would be above ground plots so that if they sold their land in the future, the raised beds could simply be moved. I could see that locals would be happy to help bring each of their skills to bear and donate time, supplies, tools, and seeds. Seems like this would knock out many problems at one time. The homeless could also protect the gardens by staying around them.

Feel free to share these ideas and/or make them your own and improve them. Have a good one!

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