Community Garden Bill
May 28, 2009
COMMUNITY GARDENING BILL FILED FOR DAVIDSON COUNTY
Access to healthy food a primary concern
(Nashville, TN)--Councilman Jason Holleman (District 24) filed a bill today that would expand the number of zoning districts permitting community gardening in Davidson County.
The bill defines community gardening as “a group of individuals growing and harvesting food crops and/or non-food, ornamental crops, such as flowers, for personal or group use, consumption, or donation.”
Current law prohibits community gardening as a primary use of lots in residential districts, which means that neighbors who join together to use a vacant plot of land to grow vegetables for themselves or for donation to a food bank or church are in violation of the zoning code, even when they grow on their own land or with permission from the land owner. Furthermore, current law prohibits growing fruits, vegetables, or flowers for sale in all of Nashville’s urban services district.
A group of community gardeners, local food advocates, and countywide community members worked with Councilman Holleman in shaping the legislation, including the Food Security Partners of Middle Tennessee, Nashville Urban Harvest, Edgehill Community Garden, Earthmatters Tennessee, and Friends of the Nashville Farmers’ Market. Concerns were varied -- the lack of access to healthy, affordable food in Nashville’s urban neighborhoods, the county’s dependence on food from other states and countries, and the need to support more “green” entrepreneurial activity in Nashville -- but the message was the same: zoning laws have not kept up with Nashville’s changing needs.
Kate Lassiter, of Nashville Urban Harvest, helped found a community garden in West Nashville where volunteers grow food for sale to community members through a Community Supported Agriculture Subscription program. Shares in the program are subsidized for low-income families to increase access to fresh and healthy food. Lassiter states: “This is an important first measure in many ways. In addition to increasing access to fresh and nutritious food, the community gardening bill also encourages economic stimulus that has potential benefit for individuals and families living in Nashville. The use of neglected space for food production is a creative way to encourage local business ownership and increase revenue in Davidson County.”
LaShawn Morrow, 16, is a member of the Edgehill Family Resource Center Youth Advisory Council and is active with the Edgehill Community Garden. Currently youth involved with the garden raise food to give away to community residents, particularly seniors on a fixed income. The Edgehill Youth Advisory Council would like to grow some food to sell at a nearby farmers’ market to raise funds for the Community Garden. Morrow states, “Giving away the food is good, but we need to be able to raise money so we can buy more seeds and supplies for the garden. Being able to raise some food for sale would allow us to give more food back to the community.”
The bill would not allow residents to raise livestock in the city; nor would it allow community gardeners or commercial community gardeners to operate farm stands in residential areas.
Holleman’s bill is currently being co-sponsored by ten other members of the Metro Council: Kristine LaLonde, Emily Evans, Erik Cole, Mike Jameson, Bo Mitchell, Megan Barry, Jerry Maynard, Sandra Moore, Erica Gilmore, and Darren Jernigen.
