Creating a resource for determining health risks in urban agriculture sites – lessons from our experience at EAT South, Montgomery, AL

Community gardening in urban areas is increasingly appreciated for its many potential benefits: access to nature and fresh produce, opportunities for physical activity and social interaction, and stress relief. Yet space suitable for gardening is difficult to find ; gardens may not be a part of urban planning, and there is strong market competition for open space. This can mean that sites available for gardens are unsuitable or undesirable spaces, including spaces associated with present or past industrial or other uses and environmental contamination.

Despite potential for contamination, there may be little to no information available to community garden groups regarding which environmental risks and hazards they should look for, who is responsible for scientific testing for such hazards, what are sampling and testing procedures necessary for appropriate and credible results, who can help interpret results, and who is responsible for acting on those findings.

The project team’s experience in the last year with E.A.T. South in Montgomery, AL, will provide a documented example of the challenges faced by one garden with multiple reasons for wanting more information about the hazards present at a site and from the food grown there. This project will provide examples of parties responsible for different forms of assessment and oversight from the federal to local levels and of organizations and forms of expertise that can provide support to community garden groups.

The report will include documents, images, and testing results, comments or advice from experts who have been supportive in this process, and the project team’s  and other community members’ reflections on this experience and lessons learned.

For other organizations or communities interested in the multiple benefits of urban food growing, this project would serve as a guide for replicating these efforts. Through the example of our experience and with information sourced with the support of TEX volunteers, this project will offer other urban gardeners ideas of appropriate questions to consider, how to find additional information about the land, and resources that exist to help community groups ensure the safety of our gardens and gardeners.

Timeline and Milestones

Because most of the relevant materials are in hand, the project is anticipated to be completed by June 15, 2025. The team will need time to organize and assemble the report, as well as time to interview garden members and record their own reflections.

Anticipated timeline:

Community Leads

Caylor Roling is E.A.T. South’s Farm Director. With twenty years of experience in urban farming and community organizing, she teaches gardening classes for all ages, grows plants for school and community gardens, and harvests food for food pantries.

She is also a breast cancer survivor and wonders if exposure to chemicals at E.A.T. South contributed to her illness.

Amanda Edwards is an urban farmer and Director of Composting at E.A.T. South. She brings years of experience, having worked for market farms and farm-to-table restaurants in the area. She is passionate about building community and teaching others about the wonders of compost and soil life. Her favorite thing to do is build compost piles around the farm through the Community Compost Program.

Community Science Fellow

Daniela Soleri – As an ethnoecologist my research uses methods from social and biological sciences to document and investigate people’s knowledge and management of their crop plants and foods. In different ways, this research asks: Through respectful collaboration, how can researchers support communities’ own efforts to construct food systems that reflect valued food and cultural traditions while adapting to 21st century challenges including growing social inequity, agrobiodiversity loss, high prevalence of diet-related noncommunicable diseases, migration, and the climate crisis? More here:  https://people.geog.ucsb.edu/~soleri/

E.A.T. South is a small nonprofit that works in partnership with Montgomery Parks and Recreation to deliver garden-based education programs for all ages. Since 2016, the small staff at E.A.T. South built a community around the farm of people from many walks of life – former and active duty military, retirees, survivors of traumatic injuries, college interns, formerly incarcerated people, stay-at-home moms, IT professionals, and others came together to learn about gardening and produce food for area food pantries.