Urban agriculture is an important community activity that can contribute to community development, environmental awareness and benefits. They also include decreasing greenhouse gas emissions associated with food transport and improved air quality associated with the air filtration capacity of vegetation.

Other benefits include:

• positive social interaction
• opportunities for learning and skill development
• health
• exercise
• wellness, and
• access to fresh local food

In line with these values, community gardening refers to a piece of land gardened collectively by members of the community, usually in partnership with a non-profit society.

EnviroPlan envisions a “future where our families can eat healthy, local food, and enjoy clean water, clean air and clean soils”. Community gardens are a valuable contributor to this vision: allowing the community to grow their own local produce and food products, as well as the intrinsic environmental value of increased greenspace such as air and water filtration or soil health and stability.

Today, our food system is characterized by large centralized points of production, distribution, and processing in countries all over the world. A shift towards local food production, even on small scales as part of a more sustainable food system help us to increase our resiliency in the face of increasing uncertainty.

This is the main driver behind a goal of supporting sustainable food and agriculture. The target associated with this goal is that “all residents have access to space to grow food”.

Growing and processing food locally further connects us to the land, reduces energy and emissions associated with food, and can provide local employment. More than just the growing of food, this goal also relates to the food system as a whole:

• processing
• distribution
• celebration, and
• waste recovery of food.

In a sustainable food system, we become more knowledgeable about where our food comes from – including growing it ourselves, or helping local farmers and local restaurants to prosper from their work.