groundbreaker
farm to table
Las Milpitas:
G rowing
by Lee
Allen
Veggies
and
F riendships
A fertile parcel of land on the Santa Cruz River
near Tucson does more than grow food; it
brings people from all walks of life together with
the common goal of working in a garden and
producing delicious, healthy food together.
T
anned by the Arizona sun, Chris Lowen strolls by
wearing his wide-brimmed hat and dusty brogans that
have kicked a lot of dirt. The dirt in question comes from a
community garden on Tucson’s southwest side, an urban
farm that teaches neophytes how to grow green thumbs—
and their own greens.
“We’ve got 50 families planting 4x20-foot plots today and
80 square feet of garden will feed a pretty good-sized
family,” says Lowen. “But it’s not just about growing food,
it’s also about the people connection, the camaraderie, as
well. A handful of people in a neighborhood that know how
to grow their own greens doesn’t build community resil-
ience, but if you have a lot of people who are connected with
each other by common interests, they share those skills and
work together for food production and other things import-
ant to a strong community, like dealing with hunger issues.”
Despite living in a land of affluence, hunger issues are
prevalent for many people. The latest US Department of
Agriculture figures show more than 50 million households
described as “food insecure,” meaning at times during the
year, they were uncertain of having or unable to acquire
enough food to meet the needs of all their members. One
local survey indicated that 70 per cent of those who use the
community farm have monthly incomes of $2,000 or less.
108
groundbreakers