Social Justice Gardens - Jackson Elementary

Top 10 best things about volunteering with Social Justice Gardens:

1. Learning gardening skills (learning how to garden!)
2. Interacting with families and community members
3. Working with kids
4. The joy and pride gained from planting something and watching it grow
5. Being outside
6. Tasting fresh garden vegetables
7. Learning and doing something about food injustice 
8. A sense of connection with the environment and community that surrounds you 
9. Watering plants! 
10. The opportunity to meet new people

Social Justice and Relationship Building through Food:

The Social Justice Gardens project has one major goal: to bring community members and schools together, through food. We work collaboratively with a team of parents, teachers, school administrators, and university/high school students to create community-classroom gardens. These gardens are acts of resistance, in which community members reclaim public land as a space for congregating, relationship building, and food production. They are educational; teachers, university and high school students use these gardens to learn about nutrition, environmental justice, math, and earth science. And, they are spaces made by the community for the community. We are lucky to have partnerships with a number of organizations including the Bennion Center, Wasatch Community Gardens, the Mestizo Arts and Activism Collective, and Adelante. However, we do not see our work as service. Our work is part of the struggle for historically marginalized communities to gain access and opportunity for a higher education, healthy food, and beautiful neighborhoods. We participate in this multifaceted/multi-faced work in a small way by providing space, supplies, and support for horticulture at Jackson Elementary and Mountain View Elementary.

Why I volunteer:

   Volunteering in any context offers a slew benefits to those not only receiving the help, but for the volunteer themselves. Any person who has participated in volunteer work as extensive as projects through the Bennion Center or as small as offering to care for a neighbor’s yard while they’re away knows how extensive the effects of volunteer work truly can be. Though I know I’m guaranteed the warm feelings of helping out a person or project, the volunteer experience is more far reaching than one could ever attempt to predict.

   I volunteer because I never know just what I’m getting myself into. At the garden, the Co-Directors and their volunteers meet with people of all backgrounds, all ages, and even a diverse range of their own intentions for the gardens. The Bennion Center crew encounter obstacles and triumphs perpetually. This kind of collaboration is rewarding and fulfilling, and I couldn’t think of a better way to get that thrill from working with people than while helping out a great program.

 - Dyana, volunteer

A Day in the Life of a Volunteer:

   My day at the garden starts early: 9 o’clock, a daunting time for the night owl that I am.  To my surprise, I love volunteering and gardening in the early morning.  The early sun’s warmth, the earthly smell of homegrown vegetables, and the realization that my day has started with a purpose usually leave me with an indescribable feeling that lasts throughout and brightens my day.

   A volunteer at the Cougar garden encounters lots of quirky tasks -one task being tomato harvesting.  It is challenging to harvest tomatoes in the garden without consulting our resident “tomato-whisperer” Sena.  A master, Sena will show you the tricks to finding and harvesting elusive small cherry tomatoes.  When there is nothing left to harvest, everyone engages in mini tug-of-wars with the plants as we winterize the garden by uprooting the wilting crops.  Squashes are the worst with their vines, strong and prickly, deeply rooted within the soil.

   Of course, the day is not complete without the most important part of the garden: the families of Jackson Elementary.   Volunteering in the morning, I get to meet and talk to many parent gardeners.  Learning more about the community I am serving and knowing that I contribute to the garden’s overall impact are also rewarding aspects of my day.