Sarah Riegel

Witherspoon 318
9201 University City Blvd.
Charlotte, NC
November 11, 2014
Charlotte Guthrie
Wallace H. Kuralt Centre
301 Billingsley Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28211
Dear Miss Guthrie:
My name is Sarah Riegel. I am a student at UNC Charlotte. I have been involved in an extended,
research-based inquiry project this semester. My focus of inquiry has been if and how
community gardens can provide supplemental nutrition to residents of low income food deserts,
and how these gardens influence community identity.

Comment [1]: audience for text

Comment [2]: purpose of composition

Finding solutions to this issue of access to fresh fruits and vegetables is imperative, especially
considering the nations increased obesity rates. In UNC Charlottes 2010 Mecklenburg County
Community Food Assessment, Elizabeth Racine et al. found that rates of premature death due to
heart disease and diabetes were greater in Mecklenburg Countys census block groups without a
full service food store than those with access to at least one full service food store (Racine,
Elizabeth, et al., n.p.).
Through this process, I have discovered the potential of community gardens to provide
supplemental nutrition for all of Mecklenburg Countys residents, including those in food
deserts. The CDC actually lists community gardens as a preventative measure regarding food
deserts (Community Center, n.p.). A study in Flint, Michigan demonstrated that adults who
participated in community gardens or lived with someone who participated in one ate, on
average, 1.4 times more fruits and vegetables per day than those who had no connection to
community gardens (Community Food, n.p.). Community gardens also encourage members to
partake in physical activity. Rushelli Luna, founder of nonprofit, Make a Green Noise in
California, explains that community gardens increase familiarity with produce, so that people are
more likely to prepare and consume them (Blackmore, n.p.). SNAP benefits may be utilized to
buy seeds and produce-bearing plants in order to grow ones own food, though stores that sell
seeds and accept EBT may still be difficult to access for some (Apple, n.p.).
Community gardens have also been shown to have a positive impact on the community. The
same nonprofit, Make a Green Noise, makes it its mission to renovate an abandoned lot with
every community garden they plant. Similar renovations have been executed in many other
communities (Blackmore, n.p.). Frances Kuo and William Sullivan found in their study that
incidence of both property and violent crimes decreased with the increase of vegetation around
inner city apartment buildings (Kuo, Frances, et al., p. 12-13). This can be extrapolated to
include community gardens. One study done by Vicki Been and Ioan Voicu showed that

Comment [3]: not sure if coma is needed,

may want to rearrange the sentence

Comment [4]: what are SNAP benefits?

Comment [5]: what is EBT? I'm not sure if
maybe Charlotte Guthrie knows what SNAP and
EBT are so it will make sense to her, but it is
unclear to outside readers (or maybe i'm just
uninformed for not knowing what that is)
Comment [6]: good way to show contrast

community gardens tend to raise the values of property within 1,000 feet of the garden
(Community Food, n.p.).
I have been able to correspond with nine leaders, representative of a total of seventeen
community gardens in the Mecklenburg County area. Excluding one garden, all of the gardens I
received information for reported strong ties between their members and volunteers. Nadine
Ford, representative of Little Sugar Creek Community Garden, even went so far as to call their
members family. She also writes that the gardeners dont believe this area has food deserts
since there is public transportation, and feel it is another way to classify the have and the have
nots (Nadine, n.p.). This demonstrates a great comradery, which transcends socioeconomic
class lines, forged by working in the garden together.

Comment [7]: good way to do primary

research and inject yourself in the project

There is great variation among the seventeen community gardens in how much of the food grown is
donated, supplements the growers diet significantly, or serves as the product of a recreational
activity. However, Aleatha Kieffer wrote that multiple gardeners had commented about their ability

Comment [8]: this paragraph's font is smaller

than the rest

to afford fresh produce. She explained that one gardener shared a personal story about being
on SSI and not able to afford fresh produce, and that she believes that her health has improved
as a result of her involvement in the community garden (Kieffer, n.p.) Even the way plots are
divided, if there are individual plots, differs from garden to garden. Many of the gardens donate some of
their produce to various shelters, food pantries, or food banks. While this is most certainly an admirable
contribution to food justice efforts, much of this donated produce may only go to feeding those outside of
the communities in which these gardens exist. While this is not concerning for gardens in affluent
neighborhoods, low income residencies located in food deserts could be missing out on affordable
produce.

In addition, many of the representatives I communicated with reported high demand for plots in
their gardens, many of which have a waiting list every season, which means many people cannot
benefit from growing their own food. Other gardens are maintained primarily by volunteers
rather than people who are growing food to supplement their own diets. While this is by no
means a bad thing, it again demonstrates how community gardens may not be meeting the needs
of all those in the community. There was also one garden that reported a lack of interest in
renting plots in the garden, despite forecasts of high interest based on a prior survey (Tempest,
n.p.). While this could just be a lack of interest, the prior results of the survey suggest that this
could stem from an inability of some to work in the garden themselves. This garden was also
located in a food desert with low income and low access in a radius greater than one mile, the
highest measurement the USDA lists on its Food Access Research Atlas.
So how can Mecklenburg Countys community gardens better serve its population most at risk of
hunger? I believe I have found a viable solution. There have been suggestions made for
volunteer-based community gardens in New York City to be equipped with EBT readers so that
people in food deserts can buy the produce grown in the gardens. I would like to propose
something similar for Charlotte.
If the Division of Social Services in Mecklenburg County could obtain funding, it could equip all
of the community gardens in inner city, low income neighborhoods located in food deserts with
the technology to accept EBT. This would work well for all those gardens that donate part or all

Comment [9]: missing word here?

Comment [10]: I like how you start off strong

with the positive then kind of gradually slide into
the few downfalls of what is implemented in this
area. Then immediately use that to tie into your
purpose of bringing a card reader into the
gardens.

Comment [11]: I like how state all of the

information out front and now you are applying it
to Mecklenburg County

of their produce to food pantries and shelters. People from the community could visit the gardens
during regular hours of operation to buy fresh produce with their FNS or SNAP benefits.
When I was in high school, I volunteered in a small, church-run pumpkin patch. In recent years,
the pumpkin patch has acquired an iPad and a credit card reader to make transactions easier.
Because I have witnessed this, I am confident that similar technology could be easily
implemented in these gardens. All that would be needed is a tablet device and a credit card
reader that could accept EPT benefits.
This would help all those people located in food deserts who are put on the waiting list because
demand at their garden is too high, and all of the people physically unable or lacking the time
necessary to work in the gardens themselves. For example, this would allow the single mother
who is going to school to get a degree, working part-time, and still cannot make ends meet
provide fresh, healthy food for herself and her children, though she lives in a food desert and
does not have the time to travel across town to buy produce or work in a community garden
herself.
I truly believe that this is a viable method to improve access to healthy foods for those living in
low income food deserts. As such, I implore you to consider advocating for funding for this
endeavor. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Comment [12]: Good connection here to your

own experiences.

Comment [13]: EBT?

Comment [14]: I like this example too and

how make this topic relevant.

Comment [15]: I like this example because its

very relevant, but its kind of a wordy sentence
and I got caught up on it for a second. Maybe
try splitting it up or rewording it so it's more
clear?

Sincerely,

My Sources

Comment [16]: It's very clear and easy to tell

where your sources come from :)

Apple, Emily. Using Community to Grow Low-income Communities Out of Food Deserts.
Next New Thing. The Roosevelt Institute. April 4, 2012. Web. Nov. 3, 2014.
<http://www.nextnewdeal.net/using-community-grow-low-income-communities-outfood-deserts>.
Blackmore, Willy. The Surprising Solution to Urban Food Deserts (Hint: Its Not More
Supermarkets). TakePart. Participant Media. Feb. 20, 2013. Web. Nov. 3, 2014.
<http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/02/20/why-supermarkets-arent-answer-ourneediest-communities-0>
Community Gardens. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC. June 3, 2010. Web.
Nov. 3, 2014.
<http://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/healthtopics/healthyfood/community.htm>.
Community Gardens. Food Security. Womens Board of the University of Chicago. 2012.
Web. Nov. 10, 2014. < http://foodsecurity.uchicago.edu/research/community-gardens2/>.
Kieffer, Aleatha. Re: Sarah Riegel - Community Garden Questions. Message to Sarah Riegel.
Nov. 7, 2014. E-mail.
Kuo, Frances E., and William C. Sullivan. Environment and Crime in the Inner City: Does
Vegetation Reduce Crime? Environment and Behavior 33.3 (2001): 343-267. May 2001.
Web. Nov. 11, 2014.
<http://www.outdoorfoundation.org/pdf/EnvironmentAndCrime.pdf>.
Mecklenburg County Community Gardens. Mecklenburg County Fruit and Vegetable
Coalition. Mecklenburg County, NC Health Department. July 2014. Web. Oct 26, 2014.
<http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/HealthDepartment/MCFVC/Documents//Com
munityGardenList.pdf>.
Nadine, Ford. Re: Sarah Riegel - Community Garden Questions. Message to Sarah Riegel.
Nov. 3, 2014. E-mail.
Racine, Elizabeth, Qingfang Wang, and Christina Wilson. Mecklenburg County Community
Food Assessment 2010. UNC Charlotte. Sept. 17, 2010. Web. Oct 15, 2014.
<http://ui.uncc.edu/story/mecklenburg-county-community-food-assessment-2010>.
Tempest, Brett. Re: Sarah Riegel - Community Garden Questions. Message to Sarah Riegel.
Nov. 3, 2014. E-mail.