From Vacant Lots to Urban Gardens
A berry garden now sits at the center of Richmond, CA, an area known for its high crime rate. Once a month, Latino and African American families -- often people who live just a few blocks from each other but rarely had a chance to meet in the past -- gather at the garden and have a barbecue. The garden is the work of Urban Tilth, one of the dozen or so groups at the center of Richmond's urban garden movement. Built by community members, often young people, it's tended in part by students and teachers from a nearby elementary school. But there's more than food and land at stake here: it has become a community gathering space. "What's really important is the food we grow and the time we spend investing in people," says Doria Robinson, Urban Tilth's executive director.
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