A.C.T.I.O.N. Greens the Bronx
Posted in Learning Experiences on July 26 2012, by Matt Newman
As the community outreach arm of The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Green-Up is invested in the future of our Bronx neighborhoods, providing horticultural advice, technical assistance, and training to the growing urban gardening movement here in the borough. It’s this very program that earned the NYBG the prestigious National Medal for Museum and Library Service in 2010, as given by first lady Michelle Obama. Through workshops and certificate programs, as well as harvest festivals, BGU is still building on that honor, working tirelessly to bring community gardeners together through the sharing of information. And so far, it’s working. Just ask the newly-minted gardeners of the A.C.T.I.O.N. group!
It stands for Activists Coming to Inform Our Neighborhood, and it’s an apt description for an outfit looking to identify and tackle environmental and social justice concerns at home. After four dedicated seasons of tutelage under our BGU horticulturists, these 21 teens returned to their south Bronx neighborhood with useful new tools in hand, ready to paint Hunts Point green. They did it not only through classroom learning, but hands-on activities in the soil, learning the ins and outs of a food system under increased scrutiny in areas such as the Bronx. Now they’re able to look past the supermarket produce aisle, turning to shovels, wheelbarrows, and plenty of elbow grease to tackle the issues in their own garden plots–from seed to harvest.