Community Gardening: a Powerful Piece of the Sustainability Puzzle

Erin Anderson
100108128
RECR 3993 Explorations
December 10, 2013

Introduction
How does one small plot of land growing vegetables in an urban or
rural setting have such a widespread and lasting effect on individuals
and the community as a whole? How do the small organizations in
charge of these gardens make such a difference and influence
movements beyond their daily work? Why are community gardens so
beneficial to the community and how do they do it? After spending a
summer working with the Vermont Community Garden Network in
Burlington, Vermont on nearly a daily basis, these questions were
answered for me through first-hand experience. My summer as an
intern with the Vermont Community Garden Network provided me with
insight into the intricacies of non-profits and community gardening as a
means to encourage social and environmental change. Community
gardens are a small, yet powerful piece of the movement toward a
more sustainable future, and through my hands-on experience in the
summer of 2013 with the Vermont Community Garden Network, along
with research conducted since on the history of community gardening,
the benefits for individuals as well as the community as a whole, and
how the organization and others like it are making such great strides in
community building and sustainability, it is clear that community
gardens should be utilized by more communities to harness and build
on all of their positive benefits.
Background

Community gardening is often seen as a contemporary movement

stemming from the transitions toward local food and sustainable urban
settings across North America in cities where the population supports
or suits these changes. While community gardening is going through a
revival and is gaining popularity, the background and history of
community gardening goes back to the late 19th century in North
America (University of Missouri Extension, 2009) and as far back as the
early 19th century in many areas of Western Europe (Grayson, 2002).
The idea of community gardens started as industrialization and
urbanization changed the landscape and social structures in both
Western Europe and North America (Grayson, 2002), which suggests
that we have an inherent connection to the planet. As both parts of the
world were undergoing drastic changes as working and middle classes
developed and land was occupied by urban environments for industrial
purposes, plots were saved for community gardening, and the
purposes started to differ between Europe and North America
(Grayson, 2002).
While both places experienced industrialization of the landscape
during the 19th century, community gardens began to develop and gain
different meanings in the two locations. Europes shift from a primarily
agrarian to increasingly industrialized landscape led to the
development of green space in the new urban centres as community
gardens became a place for the working class to relieve the new

stressors created by city environments and continue to grow their own

food, as they had for centuries before (Grayson, 2002). While there
was a similar presence associated with community gardens in North
America, the gardens slowly acquired differing purposes. As
community gardens developed later in the 19th century than in Western
Europe, the North American community gardens became a source for
the education of unemployed workers and helped ensure that the
adolescents in newly urban environments gained solid work ethics for
their future in the industrial factories (University of Missouri Extension,
2009).
In the early 20th century both Europe and America saw the need
for increased food production as the urban areas grew at an
unprecedented rate for the time (University of Missouri Extension,
2009), increasing the demand for community gardens to expand to
ensure that the growing populations in both areas were fed. As
Grayson (2002) states, the European and American gardens required
the growth as a way to supplement food sources during the economic
downturn of the Great Depression in the 1930s to relieve economic
stress (University of Missouri Extension, 2009). During this time
community gardens were even run and supported by the state to aid
the unemployed and promote education of domestic food production
(University of Missouri Extension, 2009). Community gardens

continued to grow and evolve in the early 20th century; they grew and
acquired another set of purposes during World War II.
Now known as Victory Gardens, a new role for community
gardens spread across both America and Western Europe during WWII
as a way to continue to produce local food as federal agricultural
funding was increasingly being spent on the war efforts (University of
Missouri Extension, 2009). Resources that would typically be directed
to transportation in order to deliver food across North America were
also being redeployed for the war efforts. Uncertainty of supply and
increased prices when crops were available and encouraged people to
continue to grow their own food in community gardens (The National
WWII Museum, n.d.). These gardens also produced food for the soldiers
overseas through canning of the vegetables, and the canned produce
was also saved for the non-growing season months to avoid food
deficiencies (The National WWII Museum, n.d.). For the citizens at
home during the war, community garden work and efforts allowed
them to feel connected and useful during WWII (The National WWII
Museum, n.d.), when it was easy to feel helpless. During uncertain
agricultural times, the gardens also served as an important source and
supply of nutrition. These gardens did make a huge difference during
the war and spread quickly across North America. According to The
National WWII Museum in New Orleans, At their peak there were more
than 20,000,000 Victory Gardens planted across the United States,

with similar efforts also occurring in Canada and Britain. The effect that
these gardens had on the food supply and morale of those at home
and fighting overseas was immense and is an example of the
importance of community efforts in a garden. At a time when the
strength of a community was under threat, these gardens were a
meeting place, local food source, morale-booster, and aid to the war
efforts overseas. Unfortunately, after the war ended many of these
gardens were forgotten and the movement weakened until the 1970s
in America (University of Missouri Extension, 2009).
The community gardening movements renewal in the 1970s was
preceded by a few decades of changes in agriculture as the Green
Revolution created higher levels of food production and
environmentalism began to gain supporters. The 1950s and 1960s
were a time for agricultural recovery following the war, As with all
wars, World War II severely disrupted agricultural production (Perkins,
2010). With food production down after World War II, many people
around the world embraced the technological changes that
accompanied the Green Revolution.
The Green Revolution was created and implemented throughout
the middle of the 20th century as a way to increase crop yields and
introduce new varieties of staple crops to aid the rapidly growing and
hungry populations in developing nations (Green Revolution, 2013).
The Green Revolution also utilized advances in pesticides and fertilizers

to help the new strains of wheat and rice flourish for the countries in
need of more food (Green Revolution, 2013). While the originator of the
idea, Norman Borlaug, received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work
(Norman Borlaug, 2013), the Green Revolution became controversial as
it created problems for organic or small-scale farmers.
While higher yield crops helped many in need of food, the
widespread use of chemicals on crops during the Green Revolution was
not always accepted. Today many are fighting against agribusiness and
corporate farming and the Green Revolutions reliance on pesticides
caused distrust and criticisms from the growing numbers of
environmentalists in the 1970s (Perkins, 2010). While the Green
Revolution is a way to feed growing populations in developing nations
and can be considered an important environmental effort, others would
argue against the widespread use of chemicals on crops. Many were,
and still are, concerned about the negative effects on the environment
as well as the food being the provided to people around the world.
Genetically modified foods are heavily disputed today and in 1970,
when environmentalism was growing around the United States, people
began to shift back to organic and local food movements, including
community gardening (University of Missouri Extension, 2009).
After a period of decline for community gardening following the
war, there was a revival when concern for the environment spread
through many Western societies. In the United States and many other

developed nations, cities began to reacquire community gardens as a

way to cope with urban life in densely populated areas as a way to
spend more time outdoors and learn to become more self-sufficient by
growing vegetables for personal use (University of Missouri Extension,
2009). These community gardens were also used for communitybuilding purposes more than ever before. Community was created
through these gardens as they were shared among people living in a
neighbourhood together. For the first time, community gardens were
being used as a way to help rebuild neighbourhoods and they created
programs to combat the issues often faced in urban environments such
as poverty, at-risk youth, and immigrant populations (University of
Missouri Extension, 2009). After the shift toward environmental
awareness in the 1970s, community gardens became more than a
means of food production and turned into an educational, communitycentred project to battle the issues of the late 20th century in urban
areas.
Community gardening has evolved over the course of the 20th
century and became a well-known, widespread community
development initiative and environmental movement in the 21st
century. The industrialization of the West created the need for
community gardening, and World War II fuelled the movement through
the creation of Victory Gardens. The raised awareness of
environmental degradation, paired with local food movements as well

as community development efforts, have popularized community

gardening into a staple in many cities or communities for various
reasons, whether it is to be more sustainable, build community, or offer
residents an opportunity to be outdoors after finishing their office job.
Community gardens have become such an important aspect of modern
city life that there are associations in many countries to bring groups
together and represent community gardening and its importance for
community development and environmental awareness. The United
States and Canada are represented by a bi-national organization, the
American Community Gardening Association. This is a non-profit group
that offers resources to community gardeners while also promoting
gardening in the two countries (American Community Gardening
Association, n.d.). The movement is so strong that many groups
represent community gardening on a smaller scale in the United
States, as well.
As a result of the latest rise in popularity of community
gardening, garden sites are appearing all over the United States. In the
small state of Vermont, there is a perfect mix of factors to create one
of the most aware and sustainable when it comes to food states in
the union (Strolling of the Heifers. n.d.). These factors include a surplus
of agricultural land as well as a strong passion and interest for local
food and its associated educational possibilities. Vermonts most
prominent gardening group, The Vermont Community Garden Network,

provides residents all over the state with the resources to start or
maintain their own community gardens through workshops,
educational programs, and partnerships with other local, sustainabilityminded groups to create an extensive and impressive network that
comprises the entire state. The Vermont Community Garden Network
(VCGN) was started by a core group of people who came from the
Burlington Department of Parks and Recreation program, Burlington
Area Community Gardens (BACG). There was a long process with many
changes and steps before the organization became the VCGN, but each
step was important in the growing and expanding process. This
program of the department oversees twelve different garden sites
throughout the City of Burlington, Vermonts largest city (Garden Maps
and Site Info. nd.).
The BACG was successful in starting many gardens across
Burlington but lost funding from a major sponsor in the 1980s, which
caused financial struggles for the group until they decided to assign
the management of their gardens to the City of Burlington in 1986
(Flint, 2007). Following several years of economic battles and changes,
the people behind the BACG decided to regroup and created a plan
outlining the next five years of their project and the direction of the
group for the future (Flint, 2007). Stemming from this reorganization,
the members of the BACG wanted to return to their roots and bring

gardens to areas that were in high demand for a community garden

(Flint, 2007).
In 1992, four of the BACG board members created a community
garden in the New North End of Burlington, which they called Friends
of Starr Farm Community Garden, which allowed them to start fresh as
a new group after financial issues. Following this success, the group
expanded to include more areas in Burlington (Vermont Community
Garden Network. n.d.). The accomplishments of the group led to the
creation of Friends of Burlington Area Community Gardens or FBACG
(Vermont Community Garden Network. n.d.). From this group, which
supported several new gardens for the area and educational programs,
the next step was a large one when it became a formally recognized
non-profit (Vermont Community Garden Network. n.d.). Becoming a
non-profit organization encouraged even more growth and recognition
in the City of Burlington, and allowed for a more formal staff structure.
Jim Flint, one of the four founding board members from the BACG
program became the Executive Director (Vermont Community Garden
Network. n.d.) and is often credited with starting the project, as he has
been with the group since its establishment and went on to start many
other important initiatives involved with their community gardening
projects. From 2003 to 2013 the group was known as Friends of
Burlington Gardens until their most recent title change (Vermont
Community Garden Network. n.d.). In a move that reflected the

growing reach of the organization and its involvement with activities

that stretched across the state, in 2013 the group took on the name
that it currently holds, the Vermont Community Garden Network
(Vermont Community Garden Network. n.d.). Now, as the VCGN, the
organization has created partnerships with many schools, local-food
and health groups, and the City of Burlington to provide people across
the state with educational programs and resources to garden or benefit
from local farming through farmers markets and community supported
agriculture (CSA) groups (Vermont Community Garden Network. n.d.).
The VCGN was able to grow and flourish due to the infrastructure set in
place by the City of Burlington, the passionate board members,
including Jim Flint, and the nature of the residents of Vermont who
value sustainability, local food, and a solid community.
Vermont is unique in many ways; it is the type of place where
community is strong, people are interested in becoming more selfsufficient in order to help lower their carbon footprint, and the state
has extensive policies in place to restrict development to protect the
land, leaving enough space, even in semi-urban environments, such as
Burlington, for gardening. With an involved and eager community in
Burlington, the VCGN started the Community Teaching Garden (CTG) to
teach adults in the area the basics of growing their own organic
vegetables while also building community. The CTG is how I became
involved with the VCGN. The CTG takes on interns each summer to

help the lead teacher, who until very recently had been Jim Flint, one
of the founders, facilitate the classes, and aid the non-profit with its
busiest season of the year, which spans from the late spring to early
fall.
The organization allowed my internship to be tailored closely to
my interests. I became the documentation and communications intern
for the summer. My interests in community, writing, and photography
were utilized, as my main job for the summer was to update the CTGs
blog and send out emails about the periodic potlucks throughout the
summer. I worked closely with two other interns and through the
combination of our varied interests, the three of us were able to
support the CTG classes, activities outside of classes, and other
events. The other communications intern was studying filmmaking and
used his skills to film lessons, and together we worked closely on
different interview projects for future use and distribution by the
organization. The third interns interest was nutrition and I worked
closely with her to ensure that her nutritional information for different
vegetables throughout the summer had photos to complement the
material. With such a small non-profit organization, having three
interns helped cover the various needs for the CTG class over the
summer, especially with the organization running two separate classes
for the first time to match the growing popularity and need for an adult
gardening class in the area.

On a daily basis the internship involved putting the events and

lessons of the week into words for the students and people involved
with the CTG to have access through the blog. With two sessions of
classes, one group meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays and the
other group meeting on Thursdays and Saturdays, there was lots of
information to document each week, whether it was academic from the
lessons or fun through story sharing or cheerful photos. Denise Quick,
the lead teacher for the last few seasons, has extensive gardening
knowledge that goes beyond what actually occurs in the garden, and I
would summarize her lessons, often with supplemental information
from the class textbook, The Vegetable Gardeners Bible by Edward C.
Smith, and other information. Students often were not able to take
notes as lessons occurred in the garden, so the summaries were a way
to provide them details that they may have forgotten since the lesson.
My weekly blog posts also included photos of the entire community
gardens progress throughout the season as well as photos from
individual plots when there were exciting additions. The blog was one
of the most engaging and rewarding aspects of the internship, and I
worked on it from May until mid-August.
In addition to the blog project, my internship also involved
attending VCGN meetings, contacting students about potluck events,
and volunteering with partners of the VCGN. All aspects of the
internship offered me valuable experience in communication and

people skills, professionalism, gardening, photography and writing, and

gave me a close look at working with a non-profit organization. Several
of the roles I performed and elements of the work I did through my
internship may have lasting effects on the VCGN as they continue to
grow and use technology to reach a greater audience.
The CTG blog started during the 2012 season and I continued to
update it through the 2013 season with occasional posts by one of the
other interns to provide nutrition information about the vegetable of
focus for the week. The blog was part of an effort for the VCGN to
become more up to date with a more technology-centred society. After
a much needed website facelift, the VCGN updated their website this
summer to be able to reach a greater audience, offer their followers
more convenient access to information, and keep up with other groups
social media standards. The blog is more than just a way to stay
updated with the changing Internet and technology; it is also, for the
most part, for the students. The students used the blog to stay current
with the lessons of the week and upcoming events, but it was also
exciting and rewarding for students to see themselves and their
gardens featured on the blog. Seeing their own faces and progress
marked on the blog helped people feel connected and attached to the
growing and evolving community that they created at the garden with
the help of Quick, and the two full-time staff members of the VCGN,
Jess Hyman and Libby Weiland. The VCGN is very focused on the

community part of community gardening and works to keep the

students connected to the organization and CTG beyond their initial
involvement. As a non-profit they will also always be looking for
donations and I hope that former students remain involved and support
the organization and activities of the passionate, hard-working full-time
staff.
Another aspect of my internship that was part of the larger
picture of community building and connecting people to the
organization for life, was interviewing past students of the CTG.
Conducting formal interviews with past students that I had never met
was one of the most challenging and intimidating parts of the
internship for me, but upon reflection, it also turned out to be the most
exciting and rewarding. In an unanticipated way, this experience
taught me several important and basic research methods that will be
helpful for thesis work and the rest of my life.
I first created a survey that I sent out in waves to several years
of the classes to ensure that I did not receive too many responses at
once (See Appendix B). The list of contacts from the CTG went back to
its start in 2002 and included over 100 names. Many of the emails
bounced back as they were school or job provided addresses that were
out of use after ten years. Despite many of the contacts being out of
date or unreachable, I received nineteen responses with about eight
responses indicating that they would be interested in participating in

an interview and after sending out emails about conducting interviews

there were five responses to actually meet or talk over the phone (See
Appendix D).
The survey doubled as a way for the VCGN to obtain some simple
statistics regarding past students experiences with the CTG and
organization. The survey also allowed those who were interested in
being part of a formal interview to put their names forward. After
receiving some positive responses, I met with two individuals and
conducted a phone interview with the third person about their
experiences with the CTG and VCGN when they were students, which,
for some, was quite a few years ago (See Appendix D). We also
discussed what they have done for their communities or to spread the
community garden movement. The interviews were a great way for the
organization to reach out to past students and show they are still
interested in their lives and garden ventures while also providing them
with new promotional information for the future on their revamped
website. Not only did the VCGN benefit from the interviews, but I also
gained invaluable experience and had a great time hearing their
stories while the interviewees enjoyed reconnecting with the VCGN and
sharing their successes since their graduation from the program. For
some, the class led them to pursue or discover their passions while
others started new community gardens and helped spread awareness
for community gardening.

The VCGN is an important aspect of the history and evolving

presence of community gardens in North America as it connects people
across the entire state to promote organic gardening, food security
issues, and educational programs for students of all ages who are
ready to make sustainable choices for a better future. The VCGN
incorporates urban and rural environments across the state to tackle
the issues surrounding food and the movement to become more selfsufficient and aware of local food options. There are countless benefits
for both the community and individuals that are associated with
community gardening that should be considered to ensure that the
future is more sustainable.

Analysis
The positive effects of community gardens are unique and strongly
beneficial to communities, individuals health and happiness, as well as
to the promotion of sustainability efforts. Often, community gardens fly
under the radar of many community residents but once they are
brought to ones attention, the benefits and importance of their
presence are clear and persuasive. The benefits of community
gardening can be divided into three overarching areas: education,
community health and awareness, and personal health.

I experienced the educational dimension of community

gardening this summer through my work with the CTG. Adults learned
the basics of organic vegetable gardening and one woman even
brought her very interested five-year-old son. People also learned not
only from Quick and the guest speakers who attended, but they also
learned from each other through the formal presentations that they
were encouraged to do at the end of the summer on a topic of their
choice, but also through the simple, yet always interesting and flowing,
conversations that occur while weeding. Students often came to class
with some pieces of information on the lessons topic that they learned
while conducting their own research out of curiosity and interest. I also
witnessed, first-hand, the level of awareness and care for the
environment rise up for many over the course of the class, whether it
was offering their cars for carpooling, deciding to ride their bikes on
nice evenings, or attending events that were connected to the VCGN
through their partners. The students in the class gained a greater
awareness for community, sustainability, and local food by simply
signing up for and attending the summer-long class that offered each
of them numerous benefits.
Aside from what I directly observed in the classes and heard from
the past students that I interviewed, there are many researched and
proven benefits that are associated with community gardening that
connect to education. Gardens are being built and implemented all

over North America at schools of all levels. The educational and social
benefits associated with school and community gardens are widely
accepted and appreciated by the diverse community members.
Experiential learning is often hard for schools and teachers to keep up
with and school gardens offer a new way for students to learn firsthand and outside of the classroom. Outdoor learning has also been
proven to help children and adolescents relieve stress. A survey of
young adults in the United States stated that 90 percent of youth feel
that spending time outside has helped with stress relief (The Nature
Conservancy, 2011). Teachers, parents and students are all supportive
of the idea of more time spent outside and during the school day
(Hammer, 2012) and the benefits directly relate back to the classroom.
As Karen Hammer states in her article, Kids and dirt behind school
garden trend for The Globe and Mail, Research suggests that
contact with nature improves attentiveness, retention of curriculum
and emotional development. Gardens also fit neatly into the latest
pedagogical trends, including experiential and play-based learning.
Public school no longer has to fit into the old-fashioned, classic
curricula that, aside from adapting to new technology changes, has not
been adjusted much to match the diverse needs of children and
adolescents who are losing their connection to nature, which, through
school and community gardening, can be incorporated into their
learning.

Sustainable education practices are becoming more common in

all levels of education, and school gardens are a large piece of this
shift. Many children are spending less time outside because they have
numerous technology-based distractions, which also absorb the
attention of the parents. But if children are introduced to the wonders
of the outdoors at a young age, they are more likely to appreciate
nature later in life and practice sustainable choices (The Nature
Conservancy, 2011). The Nature Conservancys recent survey of young
people, ages 13 to 18, came up with alarming results, stating that only
ten percent of those surveyed said they spend time outside each day
(The Nature Conservancy, 2011). While there are many factors that
contribute to this, such as school, extracurricular schoolwork, and
living environment, many of these young people interviewed are
probably spending too much time absorbed in technology.
Sustainability and environmental appreciation can easily be taught
through more time spent outdoors; community initiatives such as
school gardens can be a valuable source of necessary outdoor
experiences. In Burlington, the VCGN partners with the Burlington
School Food Project to help implement gardens at schools across the
city and ensure that the students have healthy food options.
A unique example of improvements in education and
sustainability for children can be seen through the Sustainability
Academy at Lawrence Barnes in the Old North End of Burlington.

Located in an economically and socially struggling part of the city, the

Old North End is also one of the most diverse and innovative
neighbourhoods. The Sustainability Academy was transformed from a
previously troubled school, Lawrence Barnes Elementary School, into a
magnetic school that now has a waitlist for kindergarten classes each
year (Fallows, 2013), which is a total switch from just a few years ago.
The schools focus on incorporating sustainability into the curricula of
each grade level, starting with kindergarten, is at the forefront of the
movement of schools toward curricula that include lessons in
sustainability and environmental awareness. The Sustainability
Academy has made such great strides in sustainable teachings and
social initiatives that the school was featured in Atlantic Monthly as an
example of the benefits of sustainable schools. The school has a major
focus on their gardens throughout the year for use as an outdoor
classroom, composting lessons, and provider of healthy, organic food
choices for the cafeteria (Fallows, 2013). The school sets a good
example for its students who will grow up with a greater understanding
about sustainability, recycling, and gardening, as well as for others in
the community, and other schools around the country who are trying to
replicate the methods of sustainable teaching and garden work.
While teaching children in schools about the importance of
sustainability, food awareness, and natural systems is incredibly
important for the future, another equally vital benefit of community

gardening is the effect it has on the community and outdoor space in

that community. The positive effects for a community include increased
levels of interest in the community, cross-cultural relations, alternative
uses of the land in urban areas, and sustainable actions spread
through the community by residents.
Just as extracurricular activities often encourage students to gain
a stronger sense of pride for their school or university, community
groups or initiatives have the same effect on residents of cities and
towns. These positive results are being seen all over North America, A
survey of community garden program coordinators in upstate New York
found that 51% of coordinators reported that the garden improved
residents' attitudes toward their neighbourhood (Alaimo, Reischl, &
Allen, 2010). The combination of a new network of people and
becoming connected to a new, focused community within the larger
community helps individuals feel more attached to and prideful of their
area and the other people they share it with people they may have
not met previously. Community gardens are encouraging spaces that
suggest positive emotions for those who participate or even simply
pass by the space.
Being part of a community garden has many different meanings
for those involved, but typically it connotes an idealized space of
coming together among people and between people and nature
(Pudup, 2008). People are able to build personal relationships in a

natural, enjoyable setting that is separate from their typical

surroundings at work and inside. Community gardens often bring
together a diverse group of people who chose to become involved on
the basis of any one of a multitude of reasons. This was clear over the
summer through the CTG with the assorted group of people who came
together for class each week. There were a wide variety of interests,
careers, and ages. Surprisingly, there was also a good balance of men
and women; typically the women outnumber the men at the VCGN
events and CTG classes. The staff at the VCGN have recently noticed
that with the community gardening movement growing and continuing
to gain popularity, the gender gap seems to be shrinking. People were
more willing to volunteer within the community and with the VCGN
after attending class and making connections in the class with other
students and the staff members. Students were also always willing to
help out their garden neighbours when the plots needed weeding or
watering. The bonds created over the summer were strong and clearly
will last past this season and I also witnessed this through the
interviews of former students. All three of them discussed the people
they spent the summer with and one even remains in frequent contact
through Facebook and email with the friends he made in the 2008
season he spent with the CTG (See Appendix D). Community gardens
are a healthy, cost-effective way to encourage the growth and
strengthening of a community. I saw how the CTG and VCGN offered

students an opportunity to learn from each other, and created a new

community, taught students about sustainability and self-sufficiency,
and raised awareness about the needs of the greater community. For
the students, it was a unique experience that will indirectly reach the
rest of the community.
Observing the positive effects of community gardens often
evokes images of a strengthened community, and many of the
outcomes are associated with the community as a whole, but it is also
important to acknowledge the personal benefits, as well. The majority
of the students in both classes at the CTG this summer spent their
days in offices working at computers. Many of the students frequently
remarked that the highlight of their day was coming to the garden and
it was considered a great way to end a long workday. The classes took
place in the evenings at the end of the workday when the sun was
setting and, despite the mosquitoes, everyone enjoyed the time
outdoors and indirect exercise that accompanied gardening. The time
at the garden was a great way for busy adults with full-time jobs and
families to fit in some time outdoors, to exercise, and relieve stress at
the end of a workday.
Beyond what I saw first-hand this summer at the CTG,
professionals in the medical field are looking into the short- and longterm benefits of community gardening on personal health. The overall
health of community gardeners has been reviewed and found to be, in

general, higher than others in the community who do not participate in

community gardening activities. Obesity and body mass index were
recently studied by a group of academics and community garden
organizers in Utah who looked at a sample group in Salt Lake City.
Their findings are part of a trend toward better health and wellness
among those who spend time outdoors in community gardens. The
results of their survey may promote the implementation of more
community gardens in the area or across the United States,
The health benefits of community gardening may go beyond
enhancing the gardeners' intake of fruits and vegetables.
Community gardens may be a valuable element of land use
diversity that merits consideration by public health officials who
want to identify neighborhood features that promote health
(Zick, Smith, Kowaleski-Jones, Uno, & Merrill, 2013).
The work done by this group suggests that community gardens are a
positive, low-cost influence on communities on an individual level.
Residents will benefit from community gardens for many reasons, but
the health benefits are enough to gain support from community
members. In this study, the group found that, Both women and men
community gardeners had significantly lower BMIs than did their
neighbors who were not in the community gardening program (Zick,
Smith, Kowaleski-Jones, Uno, & Merrill, 2013). Community gardening
allows residents to enjoy time outside together while fitting in light
exercise and building a garden that will benefit the entire community.
More research is being conducted around the world about the
benefits of community gardening to prove its cost-effectiveness for

financial and social reasons to encourage municipalities in North

America and around the world to continue creating community
gardening opportunities for residents (Zick, Smith, Kowaleski-Jones,
Uno, & Merrill, 2013). The benefits of community gardening are clear to
individuals once they are a part of the process and movement, and I
was fortunate enough to witness the wonders of community gardening
this summer through my internship.

Reflection
My internship with the VCGN was a busy addition to my summer that
provided me professional experience, gardening experience, and
awareness for local food. The internship was a valuable experience and
I am so grateful for the opportunity and the amazing, passionate
people that I was able to work with at the VCGN as well as the diverse
group of students I met through the class this year and from previous
years through the interviews. My positive experience can be attributed
to the passionate staff members at the VCGN who oversaw my
internship while teaching me about the importance of community
gardens and the basics of organic vegetable gardening. The staff
members allowed me to combine my interests in photography and
writing, and in sociology, with the tasks that they needed to be
completed over the summer. Writing and photography were the most
common features of my daily work with the organization as I spent

each week preparing the blog posts for the students and promotional
use of the VCGN. Additionally, I was able to expand on my interests in
how people interact with the environment and community
development by being a part of the classes each week and helping
Quick with lessons and community building.
Another aspect of the internship that allowed me to look at the
community part of the garden work being conducted through the CTG
was the interviews of past students. This piece of the internship taught
me valuable lessons in research methods that will frequently be
incorporated into my schoolwork and professional life. I was able to
observe the community building that occurred at the garden through
the interviews with the garden alumni who were all overwhelmingly
enthusiastic about their time with the CTG and looked back fondly on
the time they spent with the VCGN or still spend with the
organization.
One of the most important benefits of the internship that I did
not realize until more recently was the direction it offered me in my
school and career plans beyond my undergraduate degree in
Environmental and Sustainability Studies. Working as a
communications intern, and combining my interest in people and the
environment, showed me that there are ways for me to keep working
with my interests while also fighting for changes in attitudes toward
the environment. Also, it is possible to find a graduate program and

eventually an environmentally-centred career that continues to fulfill

these interests for me. This internship showed me that working in
environmental communications will allow me to fit all of my passions
into one career while pushing for greater environmental awareness and
helping the movement for a more sustainable future.
The positive aspects of my internship outweigh the more
negative aspects but there were still parts that I would have changed.
The negatives were mostly unrelated to the actual organization and do
not stem from any grievances that I have about the VCGN. Due to the
nature of my internship, which took place at the garden in the
evenings, communicating with the full-time staff members who worked
regular hours in the office was a little difficult and having my own day
job often prevented me from visiting during business hours when we
may have been able to have conversations in person, rather than
through email or over the phone, as we frequently did over the
summer. The schedules and logistics between my other job and the
internship often prevented these meetings as well, but I am grateful
that the VCGN were flexible and allowed me to have a paying job for
the summer in addition to the internship. I do not have many
complaints about my time there and I am so grateful for the many
positive benefits that came from my summer with the VCGN. I have the
utmost respect for everything that the organization does for the
community and community gardening movement.

The VCGN and other groups that devote themselves to

promoting community and sustainability through gardening are doing
an amazing job. Non-profits such as the VCGN are promoting and
teaching sustainability through alternative modes of education, which
is disguised as simply an enjoyable time outdoors. Adults sign up for
the classes knowing that they are going to learn the basics of organic
gardening but they gain so much more than they anticipated. The
VCGNs CTG encourages adults to make more sustainable choices in
their daily lives by giving people a compelling reason to spend more
time outdoors each day and promotes sustainable modes of
transportation by connecting people from similar parts of the city and
surrounding area to carpool or bike to the garden together.
The VCGNs educational efforts for children in the area help
encourage sustainable life choices at a young age and through exciting
teaching methods, such as the school gardens at the local public
schools. Through the VCGN, I volunteered for a day at a local middle
school where the activity was a morning spent outside preparing the
schools garden for the upcoming season. A typical garden workday
was turned into a fun, educational activity with kids playing in the dirt
and adding compost to the garden site, building seed bombs to take
home to their gardens, eating wood-fired pizza for which some of them
made the dough, and reshaping an overgrown garden on the sites
edge. The VCGN, with the help of the Burlington School Food Project

and the Healthy City Youth Farm, which grew out of a program of the
VCGN, taught the students at the school about local food sources,
eating healthy options, spending time outdoors, and how to start
gardens at their own homes all through fun activities that the teachers
also loved.
Other organizations can learn from the VCGN and their efforts to
help the movement toward a more sustainable future through their
dedication to their small piece of the sustainability puzzle, community
gardening. The VCGN teaches about sustainability, communitybuilding, and local food through alternative education that does not
come across as educational, but instead as an enjoyable activity that
draws them away from technology, encourages more time spent
outside and urges them to consider the weight of their actions on the
environment. The VCGN and other community garden networks
promote green space as an aspect of city planning and zoning. They
also offer workshops and lessons in organic vegetable gardening, teach
children and adolescents about local food through school gardens,
promote individual and community health, and encourage crosscultural relations and sustainable transportation choices all of which
positively influences the individuals living in the community in various
ways (American Community Gardening Association, n.d.). The positive
outcomes that affect residents are often indirect and they spread
quickly.

Organizations such as the VCGN are able to aid the sustainability

movement through their alternative modes of education, workshops
and programs, volunteer work, and campaigns because their options to
help the community are easy to attend, inexpensive and enjoyable.
People are not going to make sustainable choices if they do not think
that the choices will be easier than the way they are currently living
their lives, and they will often not be willing to spend more money than
they currently do unless they are able to see both short- and long-term
positive effects. Learning to grow your own organic vegetables has
immediate, beneficial results related to health and wellness and cost
as growing your own vegetables can be cheaper and healthier than
many grocery store options. If people associated with the VCGN are
unable to grow their own vegetables, they are often more likely to
purchase local, organic choices through CSAs and local farmers. This
cuts down on energy and transportation costs to help the sustainability
movement through community gardening efforts. In general, people
prefer convenience and low cost, which the VCGN offers to people
living in Burlington and across the state. By giving people the
opportunity to support local agriculture and the chance to learn the
basics of organic gardening themselves, the VCGN and other
organizations are helping improve awareness about sustainable life
choices and actions. Other organizations can learn from this by offering
educational methods that do not come across as dogmatic or preachy

and still engage residents to learn why sustainable choices are

beneficial. Other groups can also do this by ensuring that the choices
are clearly beneficial to residents, potentially cheaper, and more
convenient.
The VCGNs efforts in sustainability are admirable and often
underappreciated and I am so grateful for the time I spent learning
from them and witnessing the positive direct and indirect effects of
community gardening on individuals and the area. Community
gardening has, historically, been as or more important as it is today;
though the reasons and purposes have changed through times of war
and peace, the central mission has remained the same. Community
gardens benefit the community and individuals with better food
options and overall wellness for the area and people. The benefits of
community gardening today are clear and well-researched, and the
effects reach gardeners and community members of all ages through
education, heightened community caring and awareness, and personal
health. It is thanks to organizations such as the Vermont Community
Garden Network that people around the world are being exposed to the
beauties of gardens, local food, the outdoors, personal wellness, and
sustainable lifestyles often without even realizing it. I look forward to
remaining in contact with the VCGN and their future endeavours across
the state, and I hope to see organizations like the VCGN and their CTG

spread across not only the United States and Canada, but also the rest
of the world.

References
Alaimo, K., Reischl, T.M., & Allen, J.O. (2010). Community gardening,
neighborhood meetings, and social capital. Journal of Community
Psychology, 38(4), 497-514. Retrieved November 9, 2013, from
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20378
American Community Gardening Association. (n.d.). American
Community Gardening
Association. Retrieved October 21, 2013, from
http://www.communitygarden.org/about-acga/
American Community Gardening Association (n.d.). Research.
American Community
Gardening Association. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from
http://www.communitygarden.org/learn/resources/research.php
Fallows, D. (2013, October 9). Vermont Report: Shaping the Soul of a
School. The
Atlantic. Retrieved from November 9, 2013, from
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/vermontreport-shaping-the-soul-of-a-school/280455/
Flint, J. (2007, March). 35 Years and Still Growing: The History of
Burlington Area

Community Gardens. Friends of Burlington Area Gardens, 4.

Retrieved December 10, 2013 from http://www.google.ca/url?
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Garden Maps and Site Info. (nd.). Garden Maps and Site Info. Retrieved
November 8,
2013, from
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ardenMapsandSiteInfo.cfm
Grayson, R. (2002, October 11). Looking back, a brief history of
community gardens.
Home. Retrieved October 13, 2013, from
http://communitygarden.org.au/2002/10/11/looking-back-200/
Green Revolution. (2013). In Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from
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Hammer, K. (2012, May 4). Kids and dirt behind school garden trend.
The Globe and

Mail. Retrieved November 9, 2013, from

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/kidsand-dirt-behind-school-garden-trend/article4104894/
Norman Borlaug. (2013). In Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/74242/NormanErnest-Borlaug

Perkins, J. (2010, August 10). Green Revolution. In The Encyclopedia of

Earth. The
Encyclopedia of Earth. Retrieved December 10, 2013, from
http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/153125/

Pudup, M.B. (2008, May). It takes a garden: Cultivating citizen-subjects

in organized
garden projects, Geoforum, 39(3), 1228-1240. Retrieved
November 9, 2013 from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001671850700
1005
Strolling of the Heifers. (n.d.). Strolls 2013 Locavore Index ranks states
in terms of

commitment to local foods. Strolling of the Heifers. Retrieved

November 8, 2013, from
http://www.strollingoftheheifers.com/locavore-index-2013/
The National WWII Museum | New Orleans: Learn: For Students: WWII
at a Glance:
Victory Gardens. (n.d.). The National WWII Museum | New
Orleans. Retrieved October 13, 2013, from
http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/forstudents/ww2-history/at-a-glance/victory-gardens.html
The Nature Conservancy. (2011, September 6). Kids These Days Why Is
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Network. Retrieved November 8, 2013, from

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(2013). Harvesting
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103(6), 1110-1115.

Appendix A:
Community Teaching Garden Blog

The blog is a way for followers of the VCGN to remain connected

to the Community Teaching Garden and for current students to watch
their progress or gain supplemental information to the lessons. I
updated the blog each Friday with the weekly updates and photos. The
entries I contributed started on May 6th with Preparations for the
Community Teaching Garden and ended the week of August 12th to
17th with Goodbyes and Gorgeous Veggies. My posts were
accompanied by a few cooking and nutritional entries completed by
nutrition intern, Liz Berman.
Link:
http://communityteachinggardenvt.wordpress.com/

Appendix B:
Survey Text and Questions
Hello past Community Teaching Garden students. We hope this email
finds you well and continuing to garden. Thank you for taking the time
to complete this survey. The purpose of this survey is to gain a sense
for where past Community Teaching Garden students are after
completing the course since it was founded. The survey will only take a
few minutes to fill out and will help us shape future programs and see
how far the positive outcomes from the class can reach thanks to
dedicated students.
Thank you for your time and dedication to the Community Teaching
Garden over the last 10 years.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Your name
Contact information
What year did you attend the Community Teaching Garden?
How many years were you a part of the Community Teaching
Garden with the Vermont Community Garden Network (formerly
Friends of Burlington Gardens)?
5. How many years have you been gardening?
6. Since completing the Community Teaching Garden course, how
do you continue to garden?
a. I have a personal garden at home.
b. I have a community garden plot.
c. I sell my vegetables as a form of income.
d. I do not currently garden.
7. Looking back on my experience with the Community Teaching
Garden, the thing that has stuck with me the most is...

8. Since your time with the Community Teaching Garden program,

how have you continued to use your gardening knowledge?
(Please select all that apply.)
a. I have used my gardening knowledge in my own personal
garden.
b. I have used my gardening knowledge in my job.
c. I have used my gardening knowledge to teach a family
member or friend about gardening.
d. I have used my gardening knowledge to volunteer with a
community, school, or neighborhood garden.
9. Anything else you would like to share related to your experience
with the Community Teaching Garden?
10.
Are you willing to speak further with someone from the
Vermont Community Garden Network (formerly Friends of
Burlington Gardens) about your experience with the Community
Teaching Garden and how it has influenced what you are doing
now? We hope to use these conversations to help us better tell
the story of the Community Teaching Garden on our website,
Facebook page, and blog.

Appendix C:
Individual Interview Questions
1. Name?
a. Where you live?
b. Occupation?
2. How much time do you spend gardening?
3. What is your previous experience with gardening?
4. What is your connection to the VCGN and the CTG?
5. How did you hear about the CTG or become involved with the
VCGN?
a. How many years were you gardening with the CTG?
6. What did you gain from the CTG?
a. Gardening skills and knowledge?
b. Sense of community?
7. What are your fondest memories?
8. What do you remember growing in your plot?
9. Do you still grow these vegetables today?
10.
What was the effect of the garden on your sense of
community?
11.
How did the class shape your view of food and community?

12.
Since completing the course, how have you been able to
share your skills and knowledge of food and gardening with the
greater community?
13.
How would you describe your experiences with the CTG to
someone interested in taking the course?

Appendix D:
Interviews

After the interviews were conducted I compiled the responses

and themes into blurbs to be featured on the Vermont Community
Garden Networks updated and revamped website, which debuted in
the fall.
Mike Lange Interview
The Community Teaching Garden brings together a diverse group
of people with varying backgrounds and interests. As former student
Mike Lange describes it, the unique group of people who join the class
each year are drawn to it for varying reasons that have a personal
connection for each individual: Maybe it is the time spent outdoors, the
meditative manner of weeding, a connection to new people, or access
to fresh food that makes them proud.
You get a shared something but even the way they share it is
variable, Lange said. Seeing and feeling how the community
functions is part of the fun for me.
For Lange, the garden meant fresh food to fuel his love for
cooking, and a new community with people who shared a new identity
at the Community Teaching Garden.
After being away from the Community Teaching Garden for three
years, Lange looks back on his time with the Vermont Community
Garden Network as positive and memorable for reasons that can best
be attributed to the people involved and the energy they brought to
class each day.
Langes first experience with gardening was with the Community
Teaching Garden and he built on this experience, the formal and
informal lessons learned, as well as the natural connection to both the
land and people, to start the Champlain College Community Garden. In
experiencing first-hand the positive effects of a community garden,
Lange, who is a professor at Champlain, wanted to share his growing
knowledge of gardening and community-building with students at
Champlain. He is hoping the garden can become a part of the
curriculum for programs such as Environmental Policy at the college.
He wanted to offer them the opportunity to experience a gardening

community and the satisfaction of growing their own food, just as he

did for the first time with the Community Teaching Garden.
The Champlain College Community Garden is in its third season,
and as Lange says, it is equal parts garden and community. He
shared that starting a new community or garden takes countless hours
of work, but with the energy present at the Community Teaching
Garden for community and vegetable growing, the task became less
daunting and more attainable. Langes time with the Community
Teaching Garden was valuable not only for his own growing (of
vegetables, friendships and knowledge) and his experiments in the
kitchen, but also for the students, staff, and neighbors of Champlain
College who are able to experience the benefits of a community
garden for themselves.
Lange took what he gained from the Community Teaching
Garden and created a beautiful new community at Champlain College
that will only continue to spread the positive effects of a community
garden to others in Burlington and beyond.
Nick Meltzer Interview
Reflecting on his time learning to garden with the Vermont
Community Garden Network at the Community Teaching Garden in
2009, alumnus Nick Meltzer recalls meeting friends that he still
connects with today, growing carrots and sweet potatoes, while also
gaining inspiration to pursue his passion for food systems in graduate
school. His background in science and engineering mixed with his
interest in community and food accessibility as well as his open mind
at the Community Teaching Garden allowed him to follow his passions
while also spreading the Community Teaching Gardens mission all the
way to Eugene, Oregon.
While at school in Eugene, where Meltzer is studying food
systems and community planning, he has been able to volunteer with
local schools to spread awareness and teach about food security in the
hopes that learning about food will become a necessary part of science
classes and curricula.
Not only did Meltzers experience at the garden help lead him to
pursue his passion and share his knowledge with young students in his
community, but it also pushed him to work for the Winooski Valley Park
District at the Ethan Allen Homestead site while living in Vermont
before attending graduate school. Gaining experience in the exciting
and supportive environment provided by the Community Teaching
Garden had a lasting effect on Meltzer that has had a positive ripple
effect on his communities in both Vermont and Oregon.
The short answer when asked what he wants to do when he
graduates is, Save the world, and when he achieves this goal,

Meltzers time with the Community Teaching Garden can be added to

the list of experiences that helped him along the way.
John Peckham Interview
While it was five years ago that John Peckham took the
Community Teaching Garden class through the Vermont Community
Garden Network, he speaks about the unforgettable experience that
helped fuel lifestyle changes and the direction of his life. Peckhams
enthusiasm for the environment and gardening with the Community
Teaching Garden class is clear as he talks about taking the class with a
great group of people that he remains in contact with today, and the
knowledge gained surrounding gardening, and quality, local food.
Peckhams lifestyle changes were emerging around the time he
enrolled in the class but he attributes the summer with the Community
Teaching Garden as the push he needed to make positive, lasting
changes for himself. As he began growing his own vegetables, eating
better and more sustainable food became an option. Also, his preexisting appreciation for the outdoors was amplified by the time spent
outside all summer at the Community Teaching Garden. Peckham says
that the Community Teaching Garden pushed him to pursue his
interests through higher education in Keene, New Hampshire where he
is finishing up his Masters degree at Antioch University New England.
The positive change that Peckham will pass along to the rest of the
world through his degree and his dedication to sustainability has
endless possibilities for reaching communities, schools, and gardens.
While the Community Teaching Garden provided him with
changes to benefit his own life, Peckham also took what he learned to
aid others in their pursuits for a more sustainable lifestyle and future.
Before beginning his studies Peckham was instrumental in starting the
Taft Corners Community Garden in Williston where he was able to
watch the garden and community grow over the course of three years.
Peckham also helps his family members keep up with their garden by
offering his knowledge gained in the Community Teaching Garden
class, which he says helps validate the experience he had with the
Vermont Community Garden Network.
Peckhams passion for community, gardening, and the
environment shine through. It is clear that he has found his passion
that will continue to be rewarding for himself for the rest of his life
while also creating positive change that will spread far beyond the
Community Teaching Garden, through gardening, community-building,
and sustainability efforts.