GrowMemphis
Turning Vacant Lots into Thriving Centers of the Community
GrowMemphis is a collaborative effort between the Mid-South Peace and
Justice and three low-income communities in Memphis. The mission of
GrowMemphis is to create productive and educational urban community
gardens that provide fresh healthy food for low-income areas, and empower
people to develop and enhance their own communities. These Gardens will
provide a local food source for those in need and will empower a future
generation with the important knowledge of sustainability and our connection
with the Earth and with the community. Community gardening is the
tool for communities to address local issues and create opportunities.
The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center has partnered with Heifer International,
whose goal is to help end world hunger and poverty
through self-reliance and sustainability, as well as the Assisi Foundation
and Grace St. Lukes Church. Our first garden was created in the Orange
Mound community in 2002. Until recently, Orange Mound has been the center
of our efforts, while we have continued to coordinate with other Memphis
and Mid-South community garden efforts throughout the Mississippi Delta.
The project consists of a two-year plan that will support three initial
neighborhood gardens. The three pilot communities are Midtown
North (Hollywood
Springdale,) St. Augustine Parkway Gardens and Orange Mound. We plan to
address food security awareness, place “livestock” in our gardens
(worms and chickens), and network garden efforts in a cooperative consensus-based
model. One of the goals is to allow sale of the produce in local farmers’ markets,
thus promoting entrepreneurial sustainability and community pride.
Members of the neighborhood and surrounding communities are invited to
participate on every level of the project. These include development, training,
direct gardening, community outreach, special needs (access), and vocational
education. Volunteers are welcome from any age group, from early childhood
to the elderly. Directors and volunteers within the program will coordinate
the activities of new volunteers and will provide the necessary training
and assistance to make the time spent rewarding and productive.
We are all looking forward to a wonderful season of self growth and growth
of our communities. Please join us in this movement turning vacant lots
into thriving centers of community!
If your community is ready
to join this movement please contact
us soon. Planning for these gardens
needs to start now so that you can be ready next spring.
Lead and the Orange Mound Community
Environmental racism is a serious problem facing many urban, low-income,
minority communities. The Orange Mound community in Memphis, TN, is a predominantly
African-American community, with about 11,700 of the 14,800 people (www.census.gov,
1990 data) in the community of African-American heritage. This community
fits the criteria for environmental racism, specifically regarding community
wide levels of lead.
The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, as part of its human rights framework,
feels that environmental justice is a human right and wants to integrate
lead advocacy into the actions we take as a grassroots, community-oriented
non-profit organization. Advocacy, research, and education are synonymous
with our ideology and also represent what needs to be done regarding lead
awareness in the Orange Mound community. We planned to teach community
members about lead hazards, symptoms of lead poisoning, and general information
about environmental justice issues, but this training was going to come
after we had established our garden. However, once we discovered that there
was lead in the youth community garden we began to think about the community
wide implications of high lead levels in the community, in people's homes,
and in children's play areas. We realized that although information exists
about lead and lead poisoning, this information is potentially not easily
accessible to all community members. It is also possible that community
members may know where and how to find information on lead and lead poisoning,
but may not realize that they are indeed at risk and should be concerned
about it. We feel that it is our implicit responsibility to provide the
Orange Mound community with factual, easily accessible information on lead
and its hazards: research; to raise awareness about lead and its hazards
in the community: education; and, to represent a voice and an outlet for
expression for the community regarding lead issues: advocacy.
Lead found in the Orange Mound Community Garden, by Jessica Skyfield
June 2001
The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center realized that a soil test for
lead in the Orange Mound Youth Community Garden was necessary before actual
gardening began since lead can damage children under six's central nervous
system and development. Lead is a heavy metal that can be found in the
paint of old homes, leaded gasoline, in car batteries, and in other possible
sources.
A and L Laboratories tested soil from the garden plot for lead in February.
When the results came back in late March, the soil tested at 70-300 lead
parts per million (ppm). The Environmental Protection Agency recommends
that children not be exposed to leaded soil above 400 ppm, but A&L
Laboratories told the Peace and Justice Center that lead soil levels above
10 ppm can be dangerous.
While there is obviously conflicting information about acceptable lead
levels in soil, the fact that the soil at the Josephine garden plot is
near the threshold level alludes to the need for caution in proceeding
with the garden.
The Orange Mound Youth Community Garden on Josephine is delayed until
more information about lead can be obtained. The Peace and Justice Center
and the Orange Mound Covenant Neighborhood Cultural Enrichment Program
are in the process of testing other lots in the area for their soil lead
levels. Once these results come in, the Center will know more about how
they are going to proceed.
The lot on Josephine will either proceed as a garden plot or something
will be done to remediate the levels of lead in the soil.
While the Peace and Justice Center is waiting, they want to advocate for
and educate the community about lead and its hazards. As the first step
in the education and advocacy campaign, the Center urges that children
under six be tested for blood lead levels.
Since the soil in and around the Orange Mound area has slightly high levels
of lead, it is worth getting your children tested for this reason alone.
Add to this the fact that many of the homes in Orange Mound are older and
thus may have lead-based paint in them, having your children tested is
imperative.
Lead poisoning can cause loss of hearing, lower IQs, delayed mental development,
poor attention span, and speech and language handicaps, especially in developing
children under the age of six. Lead poisoning can result in headaches and
stomachaches in your child, but it can also have no symptoms. Please, have
your family physician test your children for blood lead levels or attend
a testing by the
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