#and have a veggie garden and a beehive and worm farm

[clearskiiess]

g o D im Yearning rn

[taylordownard-spatialdesign-blog]

Urban Farming- Kelmarna Organic City Farm

Food is such a crucial component to our health, well-being, and survival not just as individuals but in terms of our communities and environments as well. Our world has developed immensely over the past hundred years which in turn has dramatically affected our relationship with food. The Kelmarna Gardens is an organic city farm that was curated in the hope to reestablish the communities prospects with food, therefore promoting a healthier relationship with food, the environment and each other. The farm is an open space for all to enjoy with community gardens, animals, beehives, worm farms, various fruit and vegetable plants and compost making, encouraging sustainable living. Through visiting the Kelmarna Gardens it became very abundant of the effect that urban agriculture could potentially have, not just on our health but on our world. Urban agriculture is the means in which food is grown and shared with the city. As humans, we have a responsibility to take care and give back to the land not to destroy it. The land was once all we had, we were reliant on it for all our resources in order to survive and now we are completely dismissive of its well-being,  ignorance is not the same as ignoring.

The relationship we have with food in today's society can be summed up by ‘we eat it, we consume it and then it's gone’ (Andrew, Collingwood Kids Farm). Being at Kelmarna raised concerns of my own diet, raising questions as to what actually is inside our food? The majority of people have become routine to the modern society systems of food, we are continuously tempted by the easier and faster options of food especially within an urban environment, which has had an ongoing effect on our health and obesity rates. On the opposite side of the spectrum to obesity is malnutrition also a disease that is continuously impacted so many people and communities. How can it be that 1/3 of our food ends up in the rubbish but yet above 10% of our population is undernourished? So we don't have a problem with the production of food, we have a problem with the distribution of it. These issues exemplify the dysfunction within our human race, which is why I believe Kelmarna is such a positive and plausible step in the right direction. By starting small and engaging just with Auckland city and its citizens, people are gathered, connecting and sharing.

Like Kelmarna Gardens Ron Finley from South Central LA noticed there was a problem in his community. He describes his hometown as ‘liquor stores, fast foods, vacant lots… a food desert… home of the drive through’. Finley's neighbourhood was the epitome of the effects of the present food system. The accessibility to healthy food in South Central that hadn't been exploited by pesticides was virtually nonexistent, so Finley decided to plant a food forest on the berm outside his house. His garden became a means of education especially within the children in the neighbourhood, teaching them how food can influence us and giving them the opportunity to actively transform their own community. Such a simple act of planting veggies on the side of the street has grown to even bigger aspirations for South Central with plans of developing the many vacant lots into urban farms. Kelmarna Gardens and Finley’s garden both stem off the same virtues in revitalising their communities health, relationships, and land. These small acts of gardening may not save the environment right now but they could very well be the catalyst to a sustainable future.

One of Kelmarna’s objectives is to educate the community on food being a common good, not a commodity. In order for us to progress towards a sustainable way of living we have to re-consider food as a human right and in hindsight hopefully producing a new model to growing food owned and operated by citizens. Kelmarna is more than a community garden it's a place of gathering and relationships, an education resource where people can come for healing, acceptance, and reconnecting to our food and communities. A big part of Kelmarna Gardens is their partnership with schools and kids. Engaging their morals and beliefs with kids is in my opinion, a crucial part of the well being of our future. An interesting point that was raised during our time at Kelmarna was “We don't want our kids to think that apples grow with stickers on them”. In order for us to stop the cycle of food being categorised as a commodity, we must educate the children of the communities as well. The sustainability of Kelmarna is completely reliant on the active engagement of community support and involvement from all ages.

Kelmarna Gardens was such an amazing experience not just in the sense of the good they are doing for the community but also when relating back to my practice of spatial design. The whole atmosphere of the gardens was completely tranquil. It passes on a notion of appreciation for the beauty of our land and really articulates a sense of purpose and belonging. Urban farming is a way to address the problems of our city while also connecting to earth and nature. Just imagine if every town in New Zealand had their own community food gardens or every house had a food forest on their berm, these simple and small acts hold so much potential to benefitting our future. Through our time here on earth it's about time we learned that nature is the boss, so we should be working with her not against her, for the health of the environment, the community and ourselves.