The good food movement is alive in Buffalo. A significant increase in the number of gardens and farms is expected this year and more people are working together to help make it happen. If history is our guide this movement is just getting under way. Growing food is a natural response to the economic and social environment we are in. Buffalo has a rich agricultural history that will guide the reemergence of agriculture and gardening in the city.
Enabling people to grow food will help restore our most broken communities. As noted in the Western New York Heritage Press, about farming during the depression of the late 1800s, "The concept did not resolve economic or social problems or alleviate prejudice against immigrants, but it provided Buffalo's poorest citizens with the ability to feed themselves." (http://wnyheritagepress.org/photos_week_2009/potato_gardens/potato_garde...)
Today, both farms and gardens provide a source of fresh, nutritious produce for families that otherwise have little access to healthy food. They also provide places of community that help to heal deep divisions in our neighborhoods.
Gardeners, community organizations, local businesses and local government are working together through Buffalo Growing to meet common goals and to create infrastructure to support more gardens and urban farms in the future. This blog will serve to document this effort and to highlight opportunities to participate in events and workshops related to gardening or agriculture.