Council encourages development of Community Gardens on County-owned land

May 10, 2010

Summary

Improving public health, increasing local food supply, and promoting community building

Story

The Metropolitan King County Council today took a step toward establishing “neighborhood farms” with its unanimous adoption of legislation calling for the creation and management of community gardens on county-owned land throughout King County. The legislation is part of a broader Council goal to create “Safe, Healthy, and Vibrant Communities.”

“Interest in community gardening has surged throughout King County as people recognize the health, environmental, and financial benefits of fresh, locally grown produce,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips. “This legislation addresses the greatest barrier to expanding community gardening—finding available land in urban areas—by allowing suitable public property to be gardened by the community.”

“I’m excited about this,” said Council Vice Chair Jane Hague, the prime sponsor of the motion. “Community gardens offer a great opportunity to promote public health. They foster a viable link between environmental awareness and community viability. We have several in District 6 and they’ve proven to be very popular.”

“For those populations with health disparities, who do not always have access to nutritious food, community gardens provide fresh produce and plants as well as the opportunity for outdoor exercise, satisfying labor, and a connection to the environment,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson, Chair of the King County Board of Health. “Community gardens also provide a catalyst for neighborhood and community development and help create opportunities for intergenerational and cross-cultural connections.”

Community gardens are a way for people who don’t own land, including apartment-dwellers, to produce fresh, local, organic produce at a very low cost. Community gardens are also a source of local produce for the wider community—in 2009 the Interbay P-Patch donated over 5000 pounds of produce to the local food bank. In the city of Seattle, over 2,000 people are on a waiting list for P-Patches.

A 2008 study found that the County owns more than 2,000 parcels of land in urban areas. Of these unused parcels as many as 84 may be fit for siting community gardens. The adopted legislation calls for the development of a plan to create and manage the gardens. The plan would be developed in conjunction with an advisory council made up of representatives from Public Health-Seattle & King County, Washington State University, King County Agricultural Commission, food banks, gardening organizations, schools, and homeless shelters.

The legislation mandates the County Executive present a garden implementation plan to the Council by November of this year.