Park Place Community Garden: The Value of a Community Garden

If you have followed our non profit over the past couple of months, you know that we are in Phase I of our Community Garden Project in Park Place (Hampton, VA). There are some obvious benefits of having a community garden, but there might be some you don't readily think about.

We would like to share the following benefits with you (courtesy of Greenleaf Communities):

• Increase access to fresh foods
• Improve food security
• Increase physical activity through garden maintenance activities
• Improve dietary habits through education
• Increase fruit and vegetable intake
• Reduce risk of obesity and obesity-related diseases
• Improve mental health and promote relaxation
• Gardens in urban areas are positively correlated with decreased crime rates
• Vacant lands can lead to crime which can detrimentally impact the health of residents
• Residents in areas with high crime rates may experience cardiovascular disease and mental health disorders
• Gardens can improve economic opportunities by training volunteers and selling food at farmers’ markets

We can't think of a better place for us to launch our first community garden that the food desert of Park Place in Hampton, VA. We invite you and your family to help us make a difference and even consider purchasing your own plot (see below).