Denver Urban Gardens

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Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) is a non-profit organization that supports community gardens in Denver, Colorado in the United States.

Contents

Background

Organized urban communal gardens have existed since the 1890s. Denver was one of the first cities in the country that organized cultivation associations. [1] Community gardening's history in Denver includes ties to the victory gardens planted during World War II with the encouragement of Mayor Benjamin Stapleton and the Mayor's Community Garden Program in the 1970s under the direction of Mayor Federico Peña. [2]

History

DUG was formally incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 1985. The gardens were the brainchild of Chris Cordts a Colorado State University Extension Agent and others after being inspired by the efforts of a small group of local gardeners in Denver's Northside. The gardens were initially started to give a small group of Hmong women a place to garden. From this idea, the original three gardens were formed: the Shoshone Community Garden, the El Oasis Community Garden and the Pecos Community Garden. Many women from the lineage of this original garden group still participate today. In 2001, DUG was formally adopted as part of the city's comprehensive plan, which now provides a framework for regional gardens throughout the city. [3]

Organization

Denver Urban Gardens offers neighborhoods resources for community gardens, including ongoing technical expertise with:

DUG stewards 192 community gardens across six counties in the Denver Metro area, as well as an urban community farm in Aurora in partnership with Project Worthmore. The organization also hosts multiple educational offerings throughout the year, including backyard Learn to Compost workshops in partnership with Denver's Climate Action Sustainability and Resilience (CASR) department. DUG is supported by municipal, county, and federal grants, as well as grants and donations from charitable foundations, corporations and individuals. Gardens are established primarily in low to moderate-income neighborhoods.

Populations Served by DUG

67 community gardens are school-based. Most school-based gardens can be used by teachers, parents, students and neighbors which builds a connection between schools and the surrounding communities. In the Garden to Cafeteria program Denver Public Schools students grow fresh fruits and vegetables in school gardens which can be used at lunch service. [4]

Individuals and families may participate by choosing a community garden. [5] DUG gardeners are responsible for planting, watering and harvesting their own plots. Gardeners must use organic gardening methods. A small annual fee is required which can be waived for those who demonstrate need. DUG offers free seeds and plants to those in need through their Free Seeds and Transplants program. DUG provides compost and water to gardeners. Shared spaces (pathways, flowerbeds, sheds) are cared for by all gardeners. Volunteer garden leaders and steering committees handle the day-to-day operations organizing community workdays and potlucks.

20 community gardens serve specific communities and are not open to the public. Examples include churches, refugee populations, food banks, individuals with disabilities and residences for seniors. [6]

DUG also offers support to community gardeners in the form of seeds, compost, gardening materials and equipment, funding, garden planning and construction, classes, and community events. [7] 22 of DUG's community gardens are located at Denver schools.

New garden development

Approximately 20 new urban gardens are planned each year. [8] DUG partners with community members to choose projects with the greatest potential for meaningful community impact and sustainability. [9] Individuals and/or groups can request the development of a new urban garden by request a New Community Garden Information Packet and completing an application. The land used for urban gardens is either owned by DUG or is leased long-term. Since health and environmental concerns are paramount to DUG, samples of existing soil from each new garden is collected. Soil is tested for characteristics (pH, salts, lime, soil texture, organic matter and nutrients) as well as potential toxicants (arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium and silver). [10]

Research: Health and Community Impact

DUG and the Colorado School of Public Health (CSPH) have worked together since 2004 on a community based, participatory research initiative called “Gardens for Growing Healthy Communities (GGHC)” in order to understand how community gardens support healthy living. A conceptual model developed by GGHC describes community gardens as an ecological place, a social place, a cultural place, an individual place, and a healthy place – demonstrating the meaningful and multiple domains impacted by a community garden. Research conducted through GGHC is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Health Protection Research Initiative, the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, and the J.R. Albert Foundation. [11]

A population-based survey led by Dr. Litt of CSPH in 2006 and 2007 examined the relationship between fruit and vegetable intake, social involvement, neighborhood attachment, perceived neighborhood aesthetics and home and community gardening. 436 residents from households (all households were located within 1 mile of a community garden) and community gardens across 58 block groups in Denver were randomly selected to participate. Results showed that individuals that participated in community and home gardens reported higher fruit and vegetable intake than did non-gardeners. Specifically, 56% of community gardeners consumed fruits and vegetables at least 5 times per day, compared with 37% of home gardeners and 25% of non-gardeners. Physical activity was also positively associated with fruit and vegetable consumption as was higher levels of social involvement and more positive perceptions of neighborhood aesthetics. [12]

Another GGHC study led by James Hale interviewed 67 gardeners from 28 Denver urban gardens to explore gardeners' tactile, emotional, and value-driven responses to gardening and these responses influence health. Gardeners described the contrast between the traffic, noise and pollution of the city with the silence, nature sounds and cool of the garden. They explained how growing their own food led to improved enjoyment of vegetables, and increased quantity and diversity of vegetables consumed. Also, gardeners spoke of gardens increasing their leisure-time physical activity in biking and walking to the garden and then in the planting, raking, digging and other garden chores. Finally, many gardeners described gardening as a therapeutic experience, where they were able to work through mental pain and express emotions in a healthy way. [13]

A third study conducted through GGHC examined the social processes involved with community gardening. The results showed that gardens offer social opportunities, a non-threatening way to participate in a group, the sense of safety and security even in a garden located in a dangerous area, encouraged friendship, and mutual trust. The gardens promoted constructive relationships and enhanced conflict resolution skills among diverse members of the garden. The study concluded "place-based social processes found in community gardens support collective efficacy, a powerful mechanism for enhancing the role of gardens in promoting health." [14]

Future of DUG

Denver Urban Gardens seeks new ways for the gardens to reach deeper into communities and increase positive impacts on health, community building and environment. Replacing empty lots with a bountiful harvest creates community pride. As more people find that growing their own food is one of the easiest ways to improve individual, community and environmental health. DUG was awarded a $70,000 grant from the USDA People’s Garden Grant Program in 2011. [15] They were one of 10 programs selected from a pool of 360 applicants. The goal of the program is to give people in underserved neighborhoods access to fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables. Denver Urban Gardens will play a growing, long-term role in improving health and serving as a local and national model for food security. They will continue to work with the Colorado School of Public Health on an ongoing basis on other research projects, e.g., doing individual health studies with new gardeners. The impact on people’s health has been huge, according to the studies that they’ve done with CSPH for the past 6 years. People report feeling healthier which leads to behavioral changes. Community gardens can serve as a sustainable and inexpensive intervention in improving public health.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gardening</span> Practice of growing and cultivating plants

Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits, and herbs, are grown for consumption, for use as dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban agriculture</span> Practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around urban areas

Urban agriculture,urban farming, or urban gardening is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around urban areas. It encompasses a complex and diverse mix of food production activities, including fisheries and forestry, in cities in both developed and developing countries. The term also applies to urban area activities of animal husbandry, aquaculture, beekeeping, and horticulture. These activities occur in peri-urban areas as well, although peri-urban agriculture may have different characteristics.

Biointensive agriculture is an organic agricultural system that focuses on achieving maximum yields from a minimum area of land, while simultaneously increasing biodiversity and sustaining the fertility of the soil. The goal of the method is long term sustainability on a closed system basis. It is particularly effective for backyard gardeners and smallholder farmers in developing countries, and also has been used successfully on small-scale commercial farms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organic horticulture</span> Organic cultivation of fruit, vegetables, flowers or ornamental plants

Organic horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest management, and heirloom variety preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community gardening</span> Type of horticulture and food production

A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plot and the yielding or the production of which belongs to the individual. In collective gardens the piece of land is not divided. A group of people cultivate it together and the harvest belongs to all participants. Around the world, community gardens exist in various forms, it can be located in the proximity of neighborhoods or on balconies and rooftops. Its size can vary greatly from one to another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Botanic Garden</span> Botanical garden located in Illinois, USA

The Chicago Botanic Garden is a 385-acre (156 ha) living plant museum situated on nine islands in the Cook County Forest Preserves. It features 27 display gardens in four natural habitats: McDonald Woods, Dixon Prairie, Skokie River Corridor, and Lakes and Shores. The garden is open every day of the year. An admission fee has been approved to start in 2022, not to exceed $35.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban horticulture</span> Science of growing plants in urban environments

Urban horticulture is the science and study of the growing plants in an urban environment. It focuses on the functional use of horticulture so as to maintain and improve the surrounding urban area. Urban horticulture has seen an increase in attention with the global trend of urbanization and works to study the harvest, aesthetic, architectural, recreational and psychological purposes and effects of plants in urban environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Food desert</span> Area that has limited access to affordable and nutritious food

A food desert is an area that has limited access to affordable and nutritious food. In contrast, an area with greater access to supermarkets and vegetable shops with fresh foods may be called a food oasis. The designation considers the type and the quality of food available to the population, in addition to the accessibility of the food through the size and the proximity of the food stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greening</span> Process of incorporating more environmentally friendly behaviors or systems

Greening is the process of transforming living environments, and also artifacts such as a space, a lifestyle or a brand image, into a more environmentally friendly version. The act of greening generally involves incorporating more environmentally friendly systems into one's environment, such as the home, work place, and general lifestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden-based learning</span>

Garden-based learning (GBL) encompasses programs, activities and projects in which the garden is the foundation for integrated learning, in and across disciplines, through active, engaging, real-world experiences that have personal meaning for children, youth, adults and communities in an informal outside learning setting. Garden-based learning is an instructional strategy that utilizes the garden as a teaching tool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community gardening in the United States</span> Overview of the type of horticulture in the North American country

Community gardens in the United States benefit both gardeners and society at large. Community gardens provide fresh produce to gardeners and their friends and neighbors. They provide a place of connection to nature and to other people. In a wider sense, community gardens provide green space, a habitat for insects and animals, sites for gardening education, and beautification of the local area. Community gardens provide access to land to those who otherwise could not have a garden, such as apartment-dwellers, the elderly, and the homeless. Many gardens resemble European allotment gardens, with plots or boxes where individuals and families can grow vegetables and flowers, including a number which began as victory gardens during World War II. Other gardens are worked as community farms with no individual plots at all, similar to urban farms.

Phat Beets Produce is an American food justice collective focusing on food justice in North Oakland, California, started by Max Cadji and Bret Brenner in 2007. Their programs include weekly farmer's markets, free produce stands, youth gardens, community supported agriculture programs, food and social justice workshops, and previously, a kitchen and cafe cooperative. Cadji helps residents have access to nutritious food by coordinating between farmers, institutions, and low-income communities to utilize empty land for urban gardening.

International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, also known as IIRR is a non-profit organization that helps empower rural communities by making them self-sufficient. By offering programs across health, education, environment and livelihood, its goal is to have rural communities take charge of their own success. The organization has delivered programs to more than 40 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America and directly impacted the lives of over 5 million people as of 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foodscaping</span>

Foodscaping is a modern term for the practice of integrating edible plants into ornamental landscapes. It is also referred to as edible landscaping and has been described as a crossbreed between landscaping and farming. As an ideology, foodscaping aims to show that edible plants are not only consumable but can also be appreciated for their aesthetic qualities. Foodscaping spaces are seen as multi-functional landscapes which are visually attractive and also provide edible returns. Foodscaping is a great way to provide fresh food in an affordable way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban agriculture in West Oakland</span>

Urban agriculture in West Oakland involves the implementation of Urban agriculture in West Oakland, California.

Gateway Greening is non-profit organization based in St. Louis, Missouri that works to educate and empower the community through gardening and urban agriculture. The organization operates demonstration and community resource gardens and an urban farm, hosts lectures and education programs, and supports school and community gardens throughout the City and St Louis County, Missouri.

The Food Justice Movement is a grassroots initiative which emerged in response to food insecurity and economic pressures that prevent access to healthy, nutritious, and culturally appropriate foods. It includes more broad policy movements, such as the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

Illène Pevec is an author, journalist, children's activist, and educator who works in developing youth gardens at schools and community centers. Based in Carbondale, Colorado, Pevec serves as the program director for Fat City Farmers, a local food education program in Basalt, Colorado. She is a multinational citizen and has developed youth gardens in all three countries. Pevec authored Growing a Life: Teen Gardeners Harvest Food, Health, and Joy, a book that integrates her work in US community youth gardens with observations from other disciplines to generate a better understanding of the positive effect mentored urban gardening can have on youth development.

This is a list of food desert issues and solutions by country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School garden</span>

In a school garden, school children are set to work cultivating flower and vegetable gardens. The school garden is an outgrowth of regular school work. It is an effort to get children out of doors and away from books. It is a healthy realism putting more vigor and intensity into school work.

References

  1. ↑ Lawson, Laura (2005). City Bountiful. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. pp. 17–22. ISBN   0-520-23150-3.
  2. ↑ "The Underground News: A Publication of Denver Urban Gardens". Vol. 15 #1. Winter 2010.
  3. ↑ "The Underground News: A Publication of Denver Urban Gardens". Vol. 5, #3. Spring 2000.
  4. ↑ "Garden to Cafeteria" . Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  5. ↑ Find a Community Garden
  6. ↑ "2012 Active Community Gardens". Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
  7. ↑ "Denver Urban Gardens - About DUG". Archived from the original on 2010-05-07. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  8. ↑ "Starting a Community Garden" . Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  9. ↑ http://www.dug.org/faq/building-a-new-community-gardens/i-think-my-neighborhood-or-school-could-use-a-community-gard.html%5B%5D
  10. ↑ "Growing Community Gardens: A Denver Urban Gardens' Best Practices Handbook for Creating and Sustaining Community Gardens" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 27, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Gardens for Growing Healthy Communities".
  12. ↑ Litt, J; Soobader, M.; Turbin, M.; Hale, J.; Buchenau, M.; Marshall, J. (2011). "The influence of social involvement, neighborhood aesthetics, and community garden participation on fruit and vegetable consumption". American Journal of Public Health. 101 (8): 1466–1473. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2010.300111. PMC   3134498 . PMID   21680931.[ permanent dead link ]
  13. ↑ Hale, J; Knapp, C.; Bardwell, L.; Buchenau, M.; Marshall, J.; Sancar, F.; Litt, J. (2011). "Connecting food environments and health through the relational nature of aesthetics: Gaining insight through the community gardening experience". Social Science & Medicine. 72 (11): 1853–1863. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.03.044. PMC   3114166 . PMID   21596466.
  14. ↑ Teig, Ellen; Amulya, J.; Bardwell, L.; Buchenau, M.; Marshall, J.; Litt, J. (2009). "Collective efficacy in denver, colorado: Strengthening neighborhoods and health through community gardens". Health and Place. 15 (4): 1115–1122. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2009.06.003. PMID   19577947.
  15. ↑ O'Connor, Colleen (November 10, 2011). "$70,000 USDA grant to Denver Urban Garden will continue work to slake city's food desert". Denver Post.
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