Entrepreneurial Community Gardens: Growing Food, Skills, Jobs and Communities
1999
Market gardens have gained attention as ways to enhance community economic development, increase community food security and employ local residents. These gardens are promising vehicles for providing job training, life skills, educational opportunities, improving the quality of life and forming creative collaborations in local communities. This study describes conditions under which they prosper or fail, and provides comparative data to help new garden projects judge their own capacities. Personnel at 27 entrepreneurial gardens were interviewed by telephone in 1997 and 1998. Five of the most innovative and "successful" gardens in California were selected for in-depth case studies. The report includes a comparative analysis of the 27 entrepreneurial gardens, five case studies and extensive appendices with urban agriculture and gardening contacts, an annotated contact list of entrepreneurial community gardens, business development resources and funding opportunities for job creation and training in urban agriculture. University of California ANR Publication 21587. 110 pages. Authors: Gail Feenstra and Sharyl McGrew (UC SAREP), and David Campbell (California Communities Program). Price: $10.00