Imagine waking up in the morning and walking out your door into your garden and picking fresh berries for breakfast. Harvesting fresh lettuce and veggies for a salad for lunch. Coming home after a long day picking fresh herbs on your way in and cooking them with fresh veggies from your own backyard. Sound good? Would you give up your lawn for this? I would!
Lawns use way more energy then they are worth. People spend time, money and resources taking care of their lawns that they barely use. If we could encourage people to grow gardens instead of lawns it would solve many problems. Our resources would be going into food production which would provide healthy produce, connection to the food cycle and if built strategically allow for soil health and regeneration .
As we live in a city where many live in apartments or condos, I propose that the city makes it easier to build community gardens without having to jump through so many hoops. Every person should have the rights to growing their own food, and I know we have the public land to accomadate this. Community gardens provide food for the entire community, for those with the means to feed themselves and for those without. They act as example to the collective whole that growing your own food is possible and build strength in this collective as these gardens promote sharing and a way for people to contribute.
I also propose that we teach sustainable gardening as a mandatory subject in schools and we allow and encourage for schools to have gardens that the students can eat from. Our youth should spend more time learning about food production as food is an integral part of life.
Growing our own food individually and as a community will save the city money as they may use less resources to maintain (if planted sustainably. Ex. no monoculture, water alternatives etc..) and they can help to feed those in need which avoids using tax payers money for food banks etc... Sharing the knowledge of food production with our youth will give them tools to be more sustainable and therefore may result in less reliance on the system for future generations.
The connection to the earth that gardening and cultivating our own food provides is immeasurable. When we feel connected to the earth and to our food we will treat it with more respect. Our intentions will be more pure and we will want to take care of the earth that provides us with so much.
Having the ability to have an abundance of food would relieve the fear of going without. I believe that when we are not in fear of not having enough we are less likely to overconsume and more likely to give back. We would be less likely to steal or cheat. We would be more likely to want to help.
So here you have just one example of how to make this world a better place. Now, lets take action!!!
In light and love,
Kym Chi
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