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Green Beginnings

I was very young when I moved from San Francisco to Atlanta, but the time I spent in California had a huge impact on my family.  My family had a community garden plot and we would spend many long days taking care of the garden and eating our fresh produce.  I still can remember walking everywhere with my mom and visiting all of the local stores with fresh and organic food.  This start has influenced my dad to start a community garden in Atlanta and my mom to become a Master Gardener.  For me it means eating extremely healthy and being conscious of my impact on the environment.  John Ferris describes community gardens as areas that the community actively supports and their impact includes improvement of  “urban regeneration” by creating green space that can be used for recreational purposes and food growing (Ferris 562).     

San Francisco California is one of the few areas in the United States that is environmentally conscious in almost every aspect of life.  My family was very involved with the community garden that we were a part of in San Francisco.  “Community gardens are now recognized to be an international phenomenon, and urban gardening is widely seen to be a way of improving local food supplies as well as leisure and recreational activity” (Ferris 560).  These gardens are extremely powerful because they have the ability to feed the hungry, teach someone a new skill, help the environment and raise awareness about our footprint.  Community gardens in urban areas are especially designed for individuals who live in apartments or have very little yard space.  In areas like the San Francisco bay area there are many abandoned lots that are often transformed into prosperous gardens that serve as a gathering place for the community.  This spirit of community is what inspired my father, Kevin McCauley, to start a community garden in the city of Atlanta. 
   

Even though my family moved to Atlanta, on the other side of the country,  the lessons that we learned in San Francisco about being green we have carried along with us.  My dad started his own community garden that is now very successful and there is even a waiting list to get a plot in the garden.  He is also a very instrumental board member for the Blue Heron Nature Preserve near our home.  My mom met many rigorous requirements to become a Master Gardener.  She even landscapes occasionally for friends and neighbors.  Consciousness for the environment is even clear in the way that she cooks because my mom and dad are vegetarian and cook with many home grown vegetables and other organic foods.  All of these parts of our daily lives were directly influenced by our time in San Francisco and the rich diversity of green space that included leisure gardens, school gardens, pocket parks and ecological restoration areas (Ferris 561).    

Living in San Francisco has made an enormous impact on my families life and will continue to influence generations to come.  It was in the bay area of California that my family began to grow interest in our effect on the world around us.  We participated in the local community garden and ate at the local organic restaurants and grocery stores.  Even after we moved to Atlanta our mission to make a positive impact on the environment continued.  Our environment is a vital resource that we must learn to cherish.  Community gardens allow individuals to get in touch with nature and learn about different plants and our role in the state of the world.    

Works Cited: 

Ferris, John, Carol Norman, and Joe Sempik. "People, Land and Sustainability: Community Gardens and the Social Dimension of Sustainable Development."Social Policy & Administration 35.5 (2001): 559-68. Print.