Boston’s community garden program supports fresh food, environmental benefits
“By connecting more people with their food, I think we help to build a movement of thoughtful food consumers and eaters.”
By Avery Bleichfeld
Bay State Banner
Jan 31, 2024
Excerpt:
The Boston Food Forest Coalition obtained the land for Dambreville’s Edgewater Food Forest through the city’s Grassroots Open Space Program, a municipal effort that provides open land and funding to support the creation and development of community gardens, urban farms and food forests in the city. The program, directed at low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, opened its annual applications for funding this month.
“The Grassroots Program … is really supporting the city’s vision for a more resilient, a more healthy and more connected city,” said Theresa Strachila, who manages the Grassroots initiative.
Goals for how much food an individual project can produce vary. The program doesn’t aim to feed the whole city — food from a community garden can only go so far — but the spaces can mean increased access to healthy foods for individuals and families, as well as broader impacts like building community connection and resilience, said Strachila, who uses they/them pronouns.
“The city and food consumption is a part of a complex and really big food system, and we need a lot of food,” they said. “We definitely can’t grow all of that food in the city, but for individuals and families, access to a growing space can help to decrease food costs in the growing season, especially for fresh produce, and can also increase the quality of the food that folks are able to consume.”
