This cut is being voted on today! For more information please contact the author: liat.racin@kcl.ac.uk
The New York
Community Garden Coalition (NYCCGC) – together with City Council Members,
non-profit organizations and dozens of community gardeners- rallied against
proposed cuts to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) on the steps of
City Hall Tuesday, April 5th. These cuts threaten to severely
undermine and even eradicate numerous programs including GreenThumb, which according to the NYCCGC’s
Board of Directors’ President, Karen Washington, “is the the lifeline for New
York City’s community gardens.”
The US House of Representatives’ proposed
2012 budget would do away with the remaining 2011 CDBG budget, and drastically
reduce it by two-thirds in the future. For GreenThumb, this budget cut may mean
that it will lose 60% of its total funding – or in the worst case scenario – it
may even cease to exist altogether since it fully depends on CDBG for funding.
“These proposed cuts are coming at a time
when more people don’t know where to get fresh or healthy food,” declared Just Food’s Executive Director, Jacquie
Berger, during the rally. “We can help grow that food here in New York City’s
community gardens, and Greenthumb has been here to help us.”
CDBG is one of the longest continuously run
programs at the US
Department of Housing and Urban Development. Despite the program’s modest
budget of around $800,000 in 2011 – which represents less than half of 1% of
the city’s current $200 million allocation – GreenThumb has managed to provide
educational and material support to nearly 600 community gardens in NYC.
NYC’s community gardens are often situated
in the most economically disadvantaged, marginalized and greyest areas of the
city. They not only provide communities with green spaces, but they also help
to supply fresh, organic food to individuals who may otherwise have little or
no access to it. Based on Farming
Concrete’s calculations (a community-based research project), NYC’s community
gardens grew the equivalent of over $1 million in fresh produce in 2010 alone.
During the rally, City Council Members
Melissa Mark-Viverito
,
Letitia James, and Jimmy Van Bramer vowed solidarity
in defending GreenThumb, as did various other organizations such as
East New York Farms!
,
the Citizens Committee for New York City, and the
Manhattan Lands Trust.
If you are a resident of New York, please tell our elected officials that
GreenThumb is an important CDBG funded program by urgently calling and emailing:
Sen. Chuck Schumer
757 Third Ave, Suite 17-02
New York, NY 10017
www.Schumer.Senate.gov
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
780 Third Ave, Suite 2601
New York, NY 10017
212-688-6262
www.Gillibrand.Senate.gov