May 15, 2009

COMMUNITY GARDEN TO SPROUT ON CENTRAL AVE.

RAHWAY – Mayor James Kennedy has announced that the City will be creating its first community garden on Central Avenue – across the street from Berzinec Park – this summer to encourage locally-grown, sustainable agriculture.

“As food prices rise and food safety concerns grow, more people are looking to community gardens as sources of food and a way to conserve natural resources,” said Kennedy.  “We have the available land that hopefully will attract an abundance of enthusiastic gardeners.”

According to the American Community Garden Association, community gardens bring numerous benefits to a neighborhood and municipality.  A community garden:

• Improves the quality of life for people in the garden
• Provides a catalyst for neighborhood and community development
• Stimulates Social Interaction
• Encourages Self-Reliance
• Beautifies Neighborhoods
• Produces Nutritious Food
• Reduces Family Food Budgets
• Conserves Resources
• Creates opportunity for recreation, exercise, therapy, and education
• Reduces Crime
• Preserves Green Space
• Creates income opportunities and economic development
• Reduces city heat from streets and parking lots
• Provides opportunities for intergenerational and cross-cultural connections

The National Gardening Association, founded in 1973, estimates America is home to 1 million community gardeners, and another 4 million Americans are interested in community gardening.

Community gardening in Rahway can be traced back centuries to the plots tended by early European settlers.  During World War II, “Victory Gardens” sprouted throughout the City as residents worked together for the war effort.  Last summer, students at the YMCA of Eastern Union County Rahway Branch tended their own community garden behind the YMCA on Campbell Street with the help of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County.

“It is estimated that estimates that much of our food travels an average of 1,500 miles just to get to our dinner table,” said Kennedy.  “What’s even more astounding is that the production of the food needed to feed a family of four, including packaging and distribution, releases up to eight tons of carbon dioxide annually.”

Registration for the 2009 Community Garden season, which runs from June 15 through October 15, is now underway and is available for only $25 per plot and $15 for senior citizen's.  Participants are also required to provide at least 4 hours of service per week to maintain the garden while it is in season.