What a great idea to bring the community together, I don't know why we don't have something so cool and organized here. Incredible!
So lovely Frank's story, imagine the knowledge that man had after living 90 years! I love talking to elderly people, they always have some great wistom to share.
How does the garden work? The city provides the space? How can a person get a plot?
It is actually a local nonprofit organization that runs it. They find land around town that isn't being used and ask the owners (sometimes the city, sometimes a private owner) if the space can be turned into a garden space. The organization then sets up the garden and the watering system and provides basic garden tools. People apply to garden there on a first-come first-serve basis. Once it is full, people are put on a waiting list and when a spot opens up, someone from the waiting list is selected.
You rent the garden for a yearly fee (currently 40 dollars a year, plus a 20 dollar deposit in case you abandon your plot and they have to clean it up) and then you can do whatever you want with the plot. The group that runs the program also puts on multiple free classes and workshops throughout the season to teach people about gardening and cooking.
The group also runs a couple of farms around the city that you can buy 'shares' in and have food from them delivered to your house regularly. In addition to this, they set up gardens at local schools to grow produce to supplement the school's lunch programs.
They are a pretty cool organization. The organizations name is Garden City Harvest. You can learn more about the whole thing here: https://www.gardencityharvest.org
This interests me A LOT, I'm so glad you've shared this. It seems super organized, I don't know if brazilians as a whole are prepared to have something so nice.
It's a great way to produce healthy, clean food, without having to pay loads of money for it at the supermarket (they might not like this). Also having this at school gives the kids the opportunity to learn something new, and the resposabilities it requires. Win, Win.
As I read about the project i'm already picturing many areas in my city where this could be explored.
This project should echo through steem, everyone should think about this.
It looks organized now, but it started with just a few people and one garden site. Everything has to start somewhere.