This is not impossible.
Amy Seek
READ MORE ABOUT:
When I asked Daniel Bowman Simon why he started the City Hall garden project, his simple answer was: "Because nobody else was doing it." That's about a basic a reason to engage in activism as any. Who is Daniel Bowman Simon, you wonder? Well...
In February 2010, he launched the People's Garden NYC a petition campaign "respectfully requesting that Mayor Bloomberg plant a vegetable garden tended by school kids at New York's City Hall." (A month later he also launched People's Garden NYU, a similar campaign requesting that New York University President John Sexton allow students to plant a vegetable garden behind NYU's Silver Towers.)
WATCH VIDEO: Bea Wildered: Urban Jungle
In the summer of 2009, Daniel was an Adamah Jewish Environmental Fellow, a leadership program centered on organic farming and before that, he founded TheWhoFarm, a traveling, bus-based initiative that visited schools and farmers markets across America collecting signatures for a petition that respectfully requested the new White House residents start a vegetable garden. "That initiative gained favorable coverage in the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, on NPR, MTV, and in countless local media outlets and blogs," Simon explains."The campaign was ultimately successful and First Lady Michelle Obama proclaimed it 'one of the greatest things I've done in my life so far," The garden is what Mrs. Obama says led her to launch her Let's Move initiative!"
The People's Garden at City Hall?
My Conversation With Daniel Bowman Simon
Planet Green: I gave the readers a brief intro to your work. Wanna add anything else?
Daniel Bowman Simon: Prior to TheWhoFarm, I spearheaded marketing and policy efforts at The Gaia Institute and ran programming on a green roof of an elementary school in the Bronx. I was also a US Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines, focused on Business Advising for Youth Development.
PG: What's the status of your efforts to create a City Hall garden? Who's on board? What are the most pressing obstacles?
DBS: Henry Ford put it so nicely when he said ''obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.'' With continued focus on gathering petition signatures we have gathered about 4,000 signatures. Our challenge is getting enough people on board so that Mayor Bloomberg knows this is something that many people in the city would like to see a vegetable garden growing right at the front steps of City Hall. It is appealing to people because the petition request is oriented towards educating our youth, public service, feeding the hungry, environmental restoration, and beautification. Because this is a respectful request to literally change the landscaping, as opposed to changing a law or getting a person on a ballot, there is no magic number. But certainly, the more the merrier. And the City is certainly starting to pay attention. I think they like the idea, in fact!
PG: How's the petition drive going?
DBS: The main petition gatherer is yours truly. People can sign online or on paper, and I carry a clipboard everywhere I go. People can also download a blank petition PDF that they can print and use to gather signatures by clicking the volunteer link online. There are students, parents and chefs who've helped gather signatures. Candle Cafe, The Green Table, and The City Bakery have offered to keep clipboards on their counters as well. With more time in the day, we can have petitions being gathered at many other locations and events.
PG: What about practical concerns?
DBS: There are a few elements within the project that require specific talents or knowledge. The awesome Annie Novak of Eagle Street Rooftop Farms in Brooklyn and longtime garden educator has volunteered to help put together implementation plans. So when the Mayor gives the green light, we can help them implement the garden with planting plants and design elements that will do justice to this important and highly visible public space. We have dozens of people emailing us offering to volunteer in the garden when the time is right. And more people emailing every day just saying "how can I help?"
PG: If Planet Green readers are inspired by your work, what would you suggest to help them get started on creating a cleaner, greener culture?
DBS: At the end of her wonderful book, Hungry City: How Food Shapes Our Lives, Carolyn Steel points out that there is no need to start big. Individuals can start a one-pot garden, something which London has done a great job of promoting. One Pot Pledge can help guide novices with this, as can a trip to the farmers market, where some farmers sell seedlings which have already made it through the often treacherous germination phase. If you don't have a free windowsill, you can even grow food on your walls using products produced by companies like WoolyPockets. Maybe the number one tip though, is to help initiate and support a school garden at your local school. The First Lady and First Gardener Michelle Obama's White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity Report to the President was just released. The report confirmed that school gardens are an important piece of the solution in raising a healthier generation of kids in America, and indeed around the world.
PG: Any last words?
DBS: My favorite toys as an infant were frozen brussel sprouts. Now they are my favorite vegetable to eat and grow.
You can follow Daniel on Twitter @TheWhoFarm and @gardenNYC.
Plant These Links
A Co-op Grows in Brooklyn: The Lefferts Farm Community Food Co-op in the Crown Heights Community (Interview with Karen Oh)
Youth Rock Climbing Team Finds Community On and Off The Wall
