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Showing posts from October, 2023

Disabled Gardening, Part 1: How NOT to Make a Community Garden Accessible

As inflation drives up food prices and emergency COVID benefits expire, more people are looking for ways to take food production into their own hands.  For those without land or sunny windowsills, community gardens are a fantastic resource. My town has one just a few blocks from my apartment. For a small fee, I could rent a plot large enough to grow hundreds of pounds of food and potentially cut my grocery bill in half.  There’s only one problem: the garden is not accessible to me. In fact, it’s inaccessible to most disabled people.  Before you compose an angry letter on my behalf, please understand my intention isn't to call out or lead a protest against this particular garden or organization, which is why I haven’t included any identifying photos or information.  I hope to speak to the coordinator personally to address specific issues, but regardless of the outcome, I want to draw attention to the problems likely to arise at  any  community garden that doesn’t make accessibility