Does It Take a Perfect World to Share and Collaborate?

    In the urban city of Andernach, Germany, citizens are encouraged to plant and tend to fruits and vegetables anywhere possible. Plants like the old city walls and fill the city with lush greenery. It is a beautiful community involvement plan that brings the citizens of Andernach together with a common purpose despite everyone's individual backgrounds and roles in society. It boosts the responsibility of everyone involved in the community because the citizens aren't only responsible for planting the fruits and vegetables, they are also responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the plants. In a way, this initiative gives the citizens of Andernach a common ground, which is often an unusual concept in society today. 

   Not only does the edible city provide a sense of community for the people of Andernach, but it also helps the citizens appreciate and understand where their food comes from. Society today is often disconnected from where our food comes from and how it is prepared for us. This project gives Andernach an education on how fruits and vegetables grow. It educates on the seasons and how vegetation reacts to weather patterns and changes. This knowledge is priceless and is incredibly grounding for the modern person. 

    Cultivation is also another learned skill. The labor and time often associated with harvesting food should be recognized more. With the citizens of Andernach harvesting, as they need food, it gives them a sense of respect for what they see in the grocery store. 

    Since the implementation of the edible city plan, the citizens of Andernach have had healthier diets with more readily available and fresh foods. The city grows many different types of produce with its best produce being walnuts, chestnuts, almonds, artichokes, potatoes, chard, cabbage, carrots, beans, fruits, berries, and herbs. 

    To spice up the community events, Adnernach highlights new fruits or vegetables every year. This is a celebration of the city's efforts and a promotion of their efforts. 

    Now, let's take this quaint city's efforts and put it in an American city and see what happens. Does the community garden for small towns, that the US often sees, work on a larger scale? Are the citizens of an American city able to put their differences aside and share the produce grown through the edible city? Is there enough public space for this model to work in the US? 

    Each city would most likely have a bit of a different answer to each of my questions, but most if not all would respond with a "that would be great in a perfect world". That perfect world that I reference isn't too far out of reach for the US. In fact, it's efforts like the edible city that would change the polarized and negative community atmosphere and makeup often associated with the US. 

Sources:

Andernach – the edible city - metropolis. Accessed October 3, 2023. https://use.metropolis.org/case-studies/andernach-the-edible-city.

“The Edible City Andernach: Urban Green-Blue Grids.” Urban green-blue grids for resilient cities. Accessed October 3, 2023. https://www.urbangreenbluegrids.com/projects/the-bible-city-andernach/.