Community Rallies to Save Beloved Asheville Garden Facing Threat of Closure for Playground
A community garden in the city of Asheville could be uprooted soon, but a group of locals is working to save the Southside Community Farm, saying they depend on it in an area with limited access to fresh produce.
A Haven in the City
If one takes a walk through the rows of plants growing at Southside Community Farm, they might not notice the neighboring city which surrounds all sides of it. Making one’s way through the rows of growing plants, the smells of so many types of fruit, vegetables, and herbs join together to greet visitors, and those plants are grown by the community for the community. It even has a fully stocked fridge.
“We plant and we grow and we stock the refrigerators, and we feed the community,” Cotton said. “Anyone who needs food, wants food — comes in.”
Fighting for Fresh Food Access
Southside Community Farm is located in an area of Asheville where access to fresh, healthy food is almost nonexistent. “You have to get on a bus or in a vehicle or walk miles to get healthy food to bring back into the community,” Cotton explained.
The garden has been in the area for 10 years. It’s three-quarters of an acre in size and it offers a lot more than one might think. “As a person whose family was traumatized by farming back in the times that we were enslaved, this place allows us to have a healing. It allows us to be on a farm, to be in the field and help heal the trauma that comes from what we experienced.”
Possible Threat of Closure
Recently, the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville (HACA) announced it might transform the land into a playground. “If people didn’t have this, I don’t know what they would do,” said Kendra Ledford, another farm user. About the possible change, Cotton had this to say: “I implore them not to. It’s a place where food is growing but it is also a place for community.”
The community has even come to depend on the herbs grown at the farm for health. “That’s silica. So that is good for your hair, your nails, your skin, your bones, and some people are using it in the treatment of osteoporosis,” Cotton said.
