Kansas City Paradise Gardens
- Food Not Lawns Kansas City Sweet Potato Project at Hillcrest Community Center
October 28, 2009 Kansas City Missouri
Can we imagine what the future for Kansas City urban agriculture might be? As we seek to modify our cities zoning regulations to meet the new realities of life in the 21st Century let’s not constrain ourselves. Let our imagination and creativity fly us to new visions, visions of our city as a Paradise Garden.
Here are visions I see…
Food Forests in Parklands.
What if groups like Food Not Lawns or Urban Permaculture groups like Kaw Valley Permaculture had agreements with the Park Board to plant nut trees, edible understory plants, and food crop beds like sweet potatoes in city parklands?
Urban Farm Corps…
What if these and other groups built sustainable community gardens on abandon city lots? What if these groups trained and managed a corps of urban agriculture experts in our neighborhoods. What if these growers farmed our city? From front and back yards, discarded urban lots to passed over fields in the river and stream bottoms. What if these Food Forest plots and yard gardens were harvested by the Urban Farm Corps and sold at local markets and through food coops? What if this created both a sustainable local food supply and jobs growing food for our community?
Paradise Gardens…
What if these food plots became gathering places in the neighborhoods and children came to learn where their food came from. What if neighbors and families spent time together in their Paradise Gardens instead of sitting in front of the Tube?
What if we turned Kansas City into a Paradise Garden? Can you dig it?
Squash Father