‘V’ is for victory and vegetable
Community garden blossoms to fight recession

By Scott Nicholson

The idea of a “victory garden” stems from a wartime effort by several Allied countries, undertaken when traditional food supplies were limited due to rationing and lack of equipment.

Matt Cooper contemplated the plowing of the Leola Street Community Garden back in 2006. File photo

Now the idea is becoming relevant once again as a “war-on-recession” idea, as the high cost of food and transportation, along with rising unemployment rates, have left some wondering where their next meal is coming from.

Tom Philpott, who helps operate the educational organization Maverick Farms and works as a respected blogger on national food issues, said the time is ripe for more community and individual growing of produce.

Philpott said that, nationally, community-scale gardening is becoming more popular, though there are are few civic-supported efforts.

“In this economy, most things are declining in sales but the small-scale seed industry is booming,” Philpott said. “Both home gardening and community gardening is on the rise. It’s the same movement that’s been going on for a while, with people investigating where their food is coming from and asking questions about it.”
Philpott is active in promoting local-food networks, as well as community supported agriculture efforts, in an attempt to create localized economic growth and a connection between farms and consumers.

“This economy is so dismal that the engines for the economic growth of the last 10 years — real estate and construction — are in decline right now, and I’m not sure tourism is going to grow,” he said. “As these models build on speculation unwind, there’s real potential for new models and potential for people to reduce their own food bills. If serious gardeners got together and sold surplus, it can actually generate some economic activity.”

Matt Cooper, who helped launch the Leola Street Community Garden in Boone, said the project is about to enter its fourth season. In the first couple of years, there were 20 garden beds, and last year that doubled to 40, with room for about 10 more plots this year.

“We’re on an acre of land, and we’re actually going to be building four raised beds for the handicapped this year,” Cooper said.

The first workday is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with another on March 18.

The town of Boone provided use of the public property, and also provided a grant to help sustain the project. “Everything is positive,” Cooper said. “Last year was the year everything totally increased, and people are definitely waking up. As far as expanding in the future, I definitely see more (community gardens) and hope to see it expand across the county. I’d like see gardens at Todd Island Park and the Valle Crucis Park.”

CSAs, home gardens, farmer’s markets, and efforts to get local produce into schools and restaurants have created momentum that could lead to more gardening. Food stamps can also be used to purchase seeds, which can help fill the gap among hunger-fighting agencies that have seen dwindling resources and donations.
Cooper said the majority of Leola Street participants are gardening for the pure satisfaction of growing things. “Maybe half the people recognize the economic benefit,” Cooper said. “A lot of people are joining to be a member of something, just like sports and music, to meet people, socialize and share knowledge. Everybody is welcome to the work days. Everything is free except the garden space.”

Philpott said the food-movement consciousness is shifting because of increased education, awareness, and an examination of the systems that have led to food contamination, widespread pesticide use, and produce that is shipped from such distances that it is picked before it reaches its prime nutritional value.

“People are redefining economics a little bit. It used be ‘How can I make a bunch of money?’ And access to healthy food is rising in people’s priorities. To me, community gardening is an encouraging trend, because people are taking some responsibility for feeding themselves,” he said.

Philpott said New York City has a department in the parks department that oversees and supports community gardens, providing equipment and workshops. He said such models can make sense economically, but they are also civic assets in the same way that parks are.

“It’s got to be something that people want,” Philpott said. “You can’t go into a neighborhood and expect people are suddenly going to start gardening. It’s got to come from the community.”

Maverick Farms helped launch a broader Community Supported Agriculture project, with local farms selling 50 shares, with participants helping provide the growers with start-up and operational funds while spreading around some of the risks.

“To see the potential, all we have to do is look back at history,” Philpott said. “We’ve all heard of the ‘Victory Gardens’ of World War I and World War II. Basically, everybody got busy and started gardening. Between a third and a half of the produce in the country was grown in these gardens.”

Cooper said while some churches have launched community gardens, Boone is one of the few municipalities that is a partner in such a venture.

Cooper said anyone interested can call him at (828) 773-5893 or visit www.leolastreetgarden.org.