European Allotment Gardens

What is the problem being addressed?

Allotment gardens help reduce a community's dependence on imported food that is grown using water and fertilizer intense practices. It also provides the community with increased access to affordable food that is both fresh and healthy.

How does this city address the problem

Allotment gardens can be found in almost every town across Great Britain, and are very common across all of Europe. They may be run by local governments, non-profit organizations, or simply a small group of community members. These gardens, depending on size, can be rented out to community members, and or local farmers. This food is much more sustainable than imported produce.

How is this specific to Meadville?

This is relevant to Meadville because while there are multiple options for locally produced food in Meadville, those options are not accessible and or affordable for the entire community. Meadville already has the MARC community garden, which rents small plots of land to community members, but there is a lot of room for growth. Through allotment gardens, community members of all socioeconomic status will have the access to sustainably sourced, healthy food. These gardens also provide a wealth of social benefits that help the community work towards some of the other goals outlined on this website.

• Local allotment farms allow people to grow their own food very cheaply
• Facilitates stronger sense of community
• City initiative to start these gardens in communities all around Dublin- “dublin community growers”
• Some gardens have been taken over by other organizations, and individuals
• Meadville could take advantage of all the farmland that surrounds it by implementing programs like this. They could run allotment gardens on roofs of local businesses

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