What the garden organizers say: Results from the 2011-12 American Community Gardening Survey

Background/Question/Methods

What is the extent and character of community gardening in America today?  The last national survey of community garden organizations, conducted in 1996 by the American Community Gardening Association (ACGA), revealed important findings on diversity of garden types, land tenure issues, and losses and gains of gardens in particular cities. In the absence of more recent data, this survey continues to be referenced by scholars and media even though we can anecdotally see changing priorities (i.e. addressing community food security, nutrition, obesity, etc.), new collaborations with institutions and service providers, and approaches to land tenure.  By surveying garden organizations today, we have an opportunity to compare results to previous studies while also getting a better sense of the contemporary issues and challenges.

Results/Conclusions

In 2011-12, the Department of Landscape Architecture at Rutgers University and the American Community Gardening Association conducted an online survey of community gardening organizations in the U.S. and Canada. The presentation will be the first presentation of results. The results will show trends in opportunities and challenges associated with land tenure, leadership, gardening practices funding opportunities, and more. A specific issue is the recent exponential growth in interest in gardening and the attempts at the local level to fill the demand while also addressing sustainability. This paper provides a context – from the garden organizers’ perspective – of many of the issues addressed by other presenters in this session.