Cover Letter 

Community Gardens has been my main topic that I have been focusing on for the majority of the semester. From interviewing my own sister about it to going in and observing one, I think that I am pretty informed on the topic. Therefore, I intended my essay to be a way for people to understand the great things that gardens can bring to individual lives and the lives of the community these gardens are in. Working on this essay was kind of a difficult process for me since I had to look back at all of my previous work in this course and find a way to incorporate it in my essay. Especially my field observation since most of this essay contains information from that specific piece of work. My main idea while writing this essay was to basically nitpick information from my previous works while also incorporating secondhand sources to prove my research question. As I wrote this essay, I learned most about myself that I have a problem writing new pieces of work without references to old ones. For example, for the field observation essay I constantly found myself looking back at Emily Wu work to find a specific way to write my work. However, for this assignment I did not have that luxury, and being used to doing work that way, I had a somewhat difficult time writing the research essay. That being said, something that I would want to improve upon would be the narrative that I am trying to convey. As I wrote this essay, I sometimes felt that I was saying the same things over and over again and not really relaying any new information that has not already been said. Other than that, a Course Learning Outcome that I felt that I have achieved would be formulating and articulating a stance through my writing. Although I feel like I can improve upon my narrative, I have no doubt that I was very clear on what my stance was in my essay. Thus, this is my experience with the research  assignment.

Samuel Thomas 

11/21/23

Writing For The Social Sciences 

Gardens and The Studies of Their Communities

As humans, we naturally crave and yearn for the love and companionship of others. Whether that crave be satiated through family, friends and its derivatives, we as humans will always find a way to quell this craving. As I found out, one of the many different ways we are able to deal with this craving is through Community Gardens. Community gardens, as I found, are one the best ways for individuals to connect and bond with each other. Although these connections being found in community gardens are great, there are many people who do not expose themselves to even the idea of community gardens. These people who do not even think of participating in a garden may have this very question forming in their mind: what good even comes from these gardens?  This very thoughtful and reasonable question aimed at someone who strives for people to join these gardens is one that is easily answered through multitude of research and the very people who worked in these gardens. 

The good that comes from these gardens are not always the ones that are tangible. The connections and bonds that these people create as they plant and take out weeds are something that they can never replace. The sense of familiarity that these individuals give off as they are in these gardens are no different than the ones you give off when you interact with your own friends and families. In Jardin De La Familia on 171st in the Bronx, the garden that I have visited and observed, I had interacted with a woman who had identified herself as the purple lady because of her love of purple flowers. I came across this woman as I was conducting a field observation for further research on Community Gardens. I approached her mostly because of her interesting look of being mostly dressed in all purple and also her having an aura of being a de facto leader of the garden. 

In this interaction, she stated,  “This garden is a safe space for everybody, really the only one in this community. For people like us, if it’s not here, it’s out there in the streets. I protect this garden as a way for us to come together and make something that’s for everybody.” As stated before, the good that comes from these gardens are not always tangible, thus proven by the purple lady’s statement. In her own way, she cares for everyone by protecting this garden so one day they can connect with everyone as she had.

Lavender Plant That Gave The Purple Women Her Famous Name 

The connections that are made from these community gardens are one that helps bring vitality and vibrancy into someone’s life. This vitality and vibrancy that these gardens provide leads to individuals having better mental health and stability than they had before joining the garden. According to Nugrahanin Sani Dewi’s article , “Community Gardens as Health Promoters(2017)”, it states “Community gardens also enhance social relationships between members by giving a sense of belonging  and improving healthy behaviors . In addition, community gardens may provide therapeutic experiences, with volunteers recommending this activity to reduce stress(Dewi,2017).” Those who are struggling with their mental health and unable to find healthy ways in order to deal with their poor health could always find some sort of comfort just outside their backdoor. Furthermore, based on the article by Tarsila Lampert, “Evidence on the Contribution of Community Gardens To Promote Physical and Mental Health…(2021),” It states that researchers argue that mental health benefits should be added to the list of services provided by gardens and natural ecosystems. It further argues that human contact with nature has been growing in interest over time because of the increase of positive health outcomes it provides such as better temperament, less stress, and having a sense of community for those who enter those spaces( Lampert,2021).

 These gardens that could be found all over NYC, are communities that will accept any and everyone, and people who do not have the best lifestyles can simply walk in and feel accepted.  Accepting and understanding the health these gardens bring to your life explains the many great things that come from these places. Understanding the great things that community gardens bring to your life cannot only be explained by just looking at the gardens and the people in them. Looking into these secondary sources, I wanted to find concrete evidence of my claims as some people can be skeptical when it comes to first hand sources. As shown in the source, great things can happen if you just let them enter your life.

Now let’s talk about the tangible. Gardens in various communities around NYC provide an increase in the health of New Yorkers, especially those who come from poor neighborhoods where they struggle with public health. People who come from these poor neighborhoods are more likely to not be able to afford to buy fresh vegetables and fruit from their local supermarkets. Community Gardens provide a way for these neighborhoods to have a viable source in consuming healthy and hearty foods. For example, in Joel Wolfram’s article, “A Green Oasis: What Community Gardens Worth Saving?”, it states, “ Residents in the majority of black neighborhoods experience high rates of obesity, diabetes, and death caused by hypertension. The community members involved with Green Valley( a Community Garden in Brooklyn) are well aware of these grim realities, and see the garden playing an important role in addressing them.” To prevent people in poor neighborhoods from declining in public health, community gardens have many healthy alternatives that are available to the public such as basil, tomatoes, collard greens. Eggplants, thyme, etc ready and available for the public use. 

The inclusion of gardens being able to provide these sorts of foods also helps to deal with the fact that there are no other health alternatives in the majority of black and brown neighborhoods. Many of these places are considered food deserts, meaning that they have very limited access to nutritious food and are surrounded by the majority of bodegas and fast food restaurants as their main consumption. Having these community gardens in these places throughout the city can help deal with this significant problem and provide great alternatives for people to eat. Gardens also improve the quality of life of people living in these neighborhoods, as people are continuously eating vegetables and fruits, they will begin to be more vibrant and have more energy which could also be used to maybe improve other qualities of life in their neighborhoods. 

Percentages Of People living in Food Deserts 

In conclusion, the question of what good comes from these gardens is one that is answered by the quality of life that it provides the people who participate in it. From being an agent that helps relieve stress, to a great source of nutritious foods, community gardens are a place that supplies nothing but good things for the communities they are in and will continue to do so as long as they are there. 

References 

Dewi, N. S., Komatsuzaki, M., Yamakawa, Y., Takahashi, H., Shibanuma, S., Yasue, T., Okayama, T., Toyoda, A., Shimonishi, H., & Sasaki, S. (2017, January 5). Community gardens as health promoters: Effects on mental and physical stress levels in adults with and without mental disabilities. MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/1/63 

Lampert , T., Costra , J., Santos, O., Sousa, J., Ribeiro, T., & Freire, E. (2021, August 6). Evidence on the contribution of community gardens to promote physical and mental health and well-being of non-institutionalized individuals: A systematic review. CCNY Libraries . https://web-p-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=b1edc908-8e71-4959-867f-9c072d6d931d%40redis 

Wolfram, J. (2016, December 16). A green oasis: What makes community gardens worth saving? while researchers amass evidence of benefits, advocates develop new strategy to prove their value. CUNY Academic Works. https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gj_etds/149/