Why this website?...

Community gardening improves the quality of life for people by providing a catalyst for neighborhood and community development, stimulating social interaction, encouraging self-reliance, beautifying neighborhoods, producing nutritious food, reducing family food budgets, conserving resources and creating opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapy and education.
sketch of a Boston community garden

With this website I am trying to gain a higher level of understanding among city dwellers in Boston, that the creation and use of community gardens will make the city more livable. These people should be willing to put in time and effort to make a difference for themselves, their children and their neighbors and, at the end, the city itself.

"With the invention of the automobile, refrigerated trucks and modern sanitation systems, the urban dwellers became increasingly alienated from the land, to the point where most have no idea how their food is produced or where it comes from beyond the freezer case. In many inner-city areas, neighborhood supermarkets are pulling up stakes, leaving entire communities dependent on high-priced convenience stores." (www.sierraclub.org)

Community gardens springing up from abandoned lots could provide food for urban food pantries, these labor-intensive gardens could provide healthful produce along with badly needed jobs.
Community gardens typically grow multi-crops rather than mono-crops, so the need for pesticides does not occur.
The urban farmer who grows the food knows the supply and demand of people and restaurant owners in the city. He/she is also well situated to profit from shifts in consumer tastes. And the produce does not require shipping like "regular" produce so it's FRESH.
At the grocerystore, you are not only disconnected from the food system, your money also goes out of the region.

These items mentioned above would provide the people a Sense of Community; they find it at their community garden, in their neighborhood and their farmers markets and ultimately: in their city!