Bountiful Harvests In the Heart of Newark, New Jersey ...
... Are you sure you took the right exit off the Parkway?
We're sure. And, in addition to bees, there were chickens, loose and running all over the place at 9 AM in the morning. We actually took Amtrak and the longest 1.5 mile cab ride in the history of time. But board member Marsha McLaughlin and I finally did make it to the Greater Newark Conservancy on August the 29th to learn more about that organization's work.
The Conservancy believes that the future holds a greener Newark, where vacant lots are replaced by community gardens and city streets are lined with flower barrels. They envision a skyline dotted with solar collectors, wind farms and green roofs similar to those they have constructed on their property. It is a bold vision that the organization is slowly making a reality and, in the process, serving the diverse needs of community members for healthy food, pocket parks, job training, and fellowship.
Image: Greater Newark Conservancy citybloom.org
While the demographics and the geography of the urban part of Baltimore County that NeighborSpace serves are, in many ways, a stark contrast to the landscape in Newark, we share some of the same challenges when it comes to high numbers of people being food insecure, many people struggling to find living wage jobs, and large numbers of disconnected youth. Few people in our county know that across the nation, food insecurity in suburbs grew by 65 percent between 2002 and 2012. Over 13% of Baltimore County's population is food insecure, meaning that they have limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods, typically because other expenses for shelter, transportation and health care have to be paid first.
Another surprising statistic for many people is that Baltimore County has the third highest number of disconnected youth in the state, trailing only Baltimore City and Prince George's County. Youth aged 16 to 24 are deemed "disconnected" when they leave school before graduating and "disconnect" from the labor force. There are 11,735 youth who fall into this category in Baltimore County.
The Greater Newark Conservancy has made a name for itself in acquiring land for community gardens, developing programs to teach local residents how to grow healthy food, and engaging youth in entrepreneurial ventures to make and sell products derived from food that they help to grow. They are among several organizations we will learn from over the next year as we explore how to take land we may acquire in the future and use it to work in partnership with other nonprofits to address the foregoing problems of food insecurity and discconnected youth in Baltimore County.