Community members, including a retired UNM professor, aim to turn this garden into a greenhouse and farming training center in the future, said Lauro Silva, president of the Mountain View Neighborhood Association.
“This project is really important for the community,” Silva said. “We are facing a lot of environmental and health problems due to the zoning policies of the Albuquerque city.”
The neighborhood hosts two Superfund sites — severely polluted areas that require long-term efforts to remove hazardous materials. These include a location where a railroad and a General Electric jet-engine plant polluted the land and groundwater with solvents and creosote, according to High Court News. The area near Second Street and Rio Bravo Boulevard has been zoned for manufacturing since the 1970s, according to members of the community.
“Community gardening is a way to bring the community members together, fight environmental problems and train our younger generations in irrigation and planting organic food,” Silva said.
Many community members have been participating in the project.
“They have been loaning gardening equipment like tractors; some help in setting up the irrigation and the planting,” said Amzie Yoder, co-chair of the Mountain View Neighborhood Association. “This is for the whole community, and the whole community will be invited to participate.”
The association is sponsoring the project, and Bernalillo County is collaborating with the association by providing a grant, Yoder said.
“The Bernalillo County Water Authority has been really cooperative,” he said. “The garden has been established on a part of the land that is not (in livable condition) by the residents. It’s not in use, so the water authority offered it to the community for the community garden and sustainability project.”
Silva said the community gardening project will not only help fight environmental hazards, but will also provide a healthy space in which community members can spend their time.
“Our younger generations do not have playgrounds to play in, so in the garden they can spend some quality time and also learn how to plant organic food,” he said. “The garden will promote healthy dieting among the community members.”
Silva said manufacturing industries tend to be established in areas full of low-income people and ethnic minorities.
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He said he has been fighting against the environmental injustices that lead to health disparities among these low-income, racially diverse communities.
“(The) community garden is a part of our mission to fight environmental problems and reduce health disparities,” he said.
Sayyed Shah is the interim news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @mian fawadshah.
