Once a desolate lot, the quarter-acre plot on the corner of 12th Avenue and 4th Street has blossomed into Gainesville’s Giving Garden, where diverse hands of the community come together to sow seeds of change.
Founder Meg Boria-Meyer was inspired to transform the abandoned parking lot into an urban garden in May 2021, as food insecurity was exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. What was once a site for crime and litter stands today as a flourishing oasis of organic food, which she now proudly refers to as a “community watering hole.”
Through regenerative farming practices and unwavering volunteer support, the Giving Garden has been donating about 3,000 pounds of organic produce to local food-insecure households each year.
On Saturday, Feb. 3, the garden sowed new seeds in collaboration with local organizations GROW HUB and Working Food to host its first Food Community Tour. The immersive experience celebrates local food while raising awareness and funds to support the garden’s mission of ensuring equitable access to quality food.
Based on her belief that “food is medicine”, Boria-Meyer uses the garden as a resource to provide horticulture education for traditionally under-resourced communities, empowering them with skills and the confidence to grow their own food.
As Florida continues to rapidly urbanize, fostering community self-reliance in food production has the potential to combat food insecurity and promote sustainable food practices.
According to a 2024 study on urban agriculture, 57% of the global population resides in urban areas, projected to increase to 68% by 2050. With this expected addition of 2.5 billion new urban residents, the study emphasizes that urban agriculture presents a critical opportunity for advancing global sustainability by building resilient communities through engagement and empowerment.
During Saturday's Food Community Tour, a diverse array of individuals including at-home gardeners, local policymakers, garden neighbors, students, and many more came together to uplift each other and learn more about the importance of Gainesville’s localized agriculture.
The concepts of engagement and empowerment are at the core of the Giving Garden's mission as they use education to support a community that “uplifts itself from within.”
Gainesville resident and Food Community Tour attendee Michael Shields said GROW HUB’s system and mission were his inspiration to grow his own food, building 24 raised metal gardening beds in his backyard.
“The garden grows me,”Shields said.
Attendees like him embody the importance of empowering community members to participate in localized agriculture. He passionately shared his belief that
“having a relationship with your food source is vital, not just for your wellbeing but for the community’s ecology.“
The Giving Garden emphasizes that quality food shouldn’t be exclusive to a specific income bracket and actively cultivates self-reliance with community volunteer days, culinary workshops, Community Supported Agriculture programs, and free food markets for UF Health Shand’s Pediatrics Clinic patients.
The garden regularly sources nutrient-rich organic soil from local composting business, Beaten Path Compost. It also partners with Working Food for access to seeds that grow regionally adapted crops while minimizing the environmental footprint associated with material transportation.
Through these partnerships, the Giving Garden serves the wider community and creates a “closed-loop” system where all nutrients and organic matter material are cycled back to the soil that they grew in.
“Trust that small-scale efforts to steward the land are not only achievable but the ripple effects are profound,”said Boria-Meyer.
Sources
Photos by Ryan Smolchek: ryansmolchek@gmail.com
Meg Boria-Meyer: Contact@gainesvillegivinggarden.org
Michael Shields: mshields@leadershipmonroecounty.org
Giving Garden website: About. Gainesville Giving Garden. (2021). https://www.gainesvillegivinggarden.org/about
2024 study on scaling up urban agriculture: Qiu, J., Zhao, H., Chang, NB. et al. Scale up urban agriculture to leverage transformative food systems change, advance social–ecological resilience and improve sustainability. Nat Food 5, 83–92 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00902-x