Submitted by Tommy Tepper

As a part-time community gardener at the Joyner Community Garden in Asheville, North Carolina, I am writing this piece to add to A Growing Culture’s scope of global food production. Food is the essence of every culture and it is the commonality of us all, no matter who you are. This is not just in terms of large farms, but also backyard gardens and community gardens. These types of garden systems should be held in the same regard as all other food production systems. All of us are trying to simply reinforce the vital importance of knowing what’s in your soil, knowing what, in fact, is on your plate or in your hands when you are eating. The fact that many people don’t seem to know how their food got to them or all that went into making the product just makes no sense to me.

I am very blessed to live in an American town like Asheville where there are many community gardens and so many backyard gardens. Some even have fishponds, ducks, goats, and chickens, but what really is important and good to know is that the word and the message keep on spreading from one person to the next. People walk by the Joyner Community Garden all the time, asking, “how did you grow that?” or, “what kind of vegetable is that?” Or, even, “why are you guys and girls here all the time?” The point is that people can‘t help but notice the flowers, the bees and butterflies; that for some reason on this city street filled with houses upon houses, there is this rather small parcel of land with a garden with lots of things growing. Even if it is just the neighborhood mail carrier deciding to plant 4 tomato plants at his house or a new neighbor getting her hands dirty at the community garden, all these things spread wings and that, to me, is the whole point.   Read More