Urban Farming Produces So Much More Than Vegetables
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About a month ago, Michigan House Bill 6458 was introduced to specifically exclude urban farmers from the Right to Farm Act. An action in support of urban farmerscreated by my colleague Brittany Shoot struck a chord with me. As I signed the petition, I realized I needed to share with the rest of you why it's so important.
I'm the co-founder of Long Island Food Not Bombs, an organization that shares food and other necessities weekly with thousands of people in the NYC/Long Island metro area.
I know when many people think of Long Island they think of rich towns and yacht clubs but what really exists underneath it all is extreme poverty, tent cities, persistent racism and discrimination. Many people don't know about the routine hate crimes, the "beaner jumping" and the lynching of Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero.
On top of all the social divisions where I'm from, poverty doesn't help. So that's why I do what I do. Part of Long Island Food Not Bombs is about sharing the basic necessities people need, like a week's worth of groceries, clothing, a hot meal or school supplies. The other part of Long Island Food Not Bombs is about bringing people together, creating solidarity and confronting social ills like racism.
That's where urban farming and the petition to support it fit