Perspectives on Peace: Transforming Tomorrow
Perspectives on Peace: Transforming Tomorrow is the podcast hosted by The M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence that seeks to inform & inspire a better future.
We are based in Rochester, New York and seek to cover topics that are vital to our community and serve as the launching point to transform tomorrow. We attempt to do this in a way that feels authentic & inclusive.
Join us as we investigate perspectives on peace so that we can work on transforming tomorrow!
About The M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence:
The M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence (MKGI) is a nonprofit that equips people to use nonviolence to create a sustainable and just world for all.
MKGI collaborates with local organizations, academic institutions, students, and committed peacemakers in these areas: Nonviolence Education, Restorative Practices, Environmental Sustainability, & Racial Justice.
We prioritize programming for people between the ages of 12 and 24. We offer training in skills such as Nonviolent Communication, meditation, cultural humility, de-escalation and experiential interconnectedness.
By serving as a physical manifestation of Gandhian principles and Martin Luther King’s Beloved Community, the Gandhi Institute seeks to advance the cause of peacemaking regionally and beyond from within a neighborhood challenged by poverty and violence.
Perspectives on Peace: Transforming Tomorrow
Perspectives: On Community Gardening with Chris Widmaier
Ever wondered how a simple garden in a vacant lot can transform a community?
Today, you'll uncover the multifaceted magic behind community gardens with our special guest, Christopher Widmaier. Chris, an educator and the driving force behind Rochester Ecology Partners, shares his inspiring journey from teaching science to fostering vibrant community hubs through gardening. Listen as he recounts how these educational projects blossomed into powerful spaces for collaboration, connection, and community growth.
Christopher delves into the deeper role of community gardens, from uniting neighbors and students under a common vision to enhancing urban biodiversity. He highlights the organic networks that naturally form among garden participants and sheds light on the support from organizations such as the Urban Agriculture Working Group and the Taproot Collective.
Whether you're interested in urban agriculture, community building, or just love a good transformation story, this episode offers valuable insights into the profound impact of community gardening beyond just food production.
Learn more about Rochester Ecology Partners!
Welcome to Perspectives on Peace Transforming Tomorrow the Gandhi Institute podcast. My name is Aaron Thompson. This mini episode is focused on community gardening in Rochester and on the community gardening movement more broadly. For my guest today we have Christopher Widmeyer, who I will have introducing himself voluntarily. But Chris is an educator, formerly teaching science here in the Rochester City School District. He's an entrepreneur. He is also founder of Rochester Ecology Partners, an organization I'm proud to serve on the board of, by the way. So I've got Chris for a few minutes today to talk about community gardens, and Chris welcome.
Speaker 2:Thanks a lot, aaron. That introduction covered things pretty well. The only thing I'd add is my connection to community gardening is through my teaching starting up Gardening in a Vacant Lot through the CITES program as an educational garden with a variety of partners, which led me to get connected to other community gardens and see all of the different ways that that looks, and so I'm excited to share a little bit more about that. Two of the different formats that are out there.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Thank you for adding that context, chris. So you kind of shared what your entree was into community garden. Is this your first formal experience rolling up your sleeves and being involved in community gardening?
Speaker 2:I would say it is. It was something that I really wanted to incorporate into my teaching the gardening and growing food and, with the partnership with the Rochester Education Foundation at World of Inquiry, we were able to think about what a garden for the school would look like, which then led us to these vacant lot gardens, which has a more community-based aspect to it than, say, putting some garden beds on the schoolyard and things like that, which then opened up a lot of really interesting opportunities to think about how we can engage the neighbors and how the youth that were at the school could play a leadership role, and then how we connect to the other gardens in the neighborhood and build that community of people that are growing food and learning about where our food comes from, and then also learning about how community grows out of these gardens. And that's the part that's the most, you know, I really enjoy that piece of it so there's kind of so some threads here.
Speaker 1:There's a learning and kind of the teaching, maybe even co-teaching thread, this community building. You know, what do you see as the function of community gardens or what is their potential? What function do they serve?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that the biggest thing that they do is they bring people together around a common purpose and a shared vision, and it's really hard to put together a garden by yourself and it takes a lot of work. So the only way to be successful is to come together with people to make it happen and, through that no-transcript, share their stories of how the garden has impacted their lives. I also think that there's that element of it that people start to see that there is nature everywhere and that they can cultivate nature, especially in the city, but not necessarily. I've talked to people about their community gardens in Pittsburgh and Penfield and around the quay. All have very healthy community gardening opportunities, and so I think that's another piece of how do we cultivate nature, not just from a food perspective, but just from biodiversity and having life all around us.
Speaker 1:In your experience, is there much communicating that goes on between the folks who are working in maintaining these gardens? There are like a network there or is it kind of siloed active?
Speaker 2:I think there's some natural I'm trying to use different language than like an organic network, because it sounds real punny but it is. It is. There's an organic network that I've seen grown around the gardens in the Marketview Heights neighborhood. You know, just through reaching out to the neighbors, as we started the garden and then have continued the relationships. There are just kind of very informal natural relationships that form there. But then I know there are the Urban Agriculture Working Group.
Speaker 2:I know that the Cornell-Quabard Extension has done some things to kind of cultivate community. I know that the Cornell Cooperative Extension has done some things to kind of cultivate community, and then the Tabroot Collective is another organization that's working to bring people together that are doing community gardening by having classes and offering technical assistance, and so I think that people are finding the help where they need it and where they can get it. And I think that you know there's always room for both. There's room for formal networks and formal organizations. I think that you know there's always room for both. There's room for formal networks and formal organizations, but then there's also room for just that. Hey, I do this and you do this too, and let's learn from each other.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. What are some of the challenges that people encounter? Getting community gardens going or maintaining?
Speaker 2:I think it's one, that it's a lot of work.
Speaker 2:I think that you know that people aren't familiar with gardening and farming specifically and get excited about it Rightly, it's a fun thing to do, but then really it's a lot of work and I think that's an important lesson that all this food we eat takes a lot of work to get to our tables, and so I think that's one longevity of it is.
Speaker 2:Another thing that people come across is that it's fun to do for a season or something, but if you're really going to invest the hours and hours to put a garden or a farm together, then you have to think about five years, 10 years, 15 years. You know from now what's going to be happening with that garden if you're really trying to have a significant impact. But at the same time, that's where the structures come in of. You know, are they plots that people take year to year, and if somebody doesn't want it, somebody else can pick it up, or if there's an organization that manages, you know all of the maintenance that allows people to just come in and have the fun and grab some food. I think that people learn a lot about all the different ways that can be structured, but you need to think about it.
Speaker 1:Sure, what's your vision or hope, both for the garden?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you know the Rochester Ecology Partners has recently got involved with the Griffin Garden, which was the project of World of Inquiry that we started up and is still World of Inquiry is still a partner in the garden and that we build relationships in ways that challenge a little bit about what we all think of each other and that allow us to share different perspectives.
Speaker 2:And so that's one of my hopes for this garden is it's a place where people can share those perspectives and we're finding ways to bring people together in a way that creates peace. A good example is the Gandhi Institute funded a mural that is in the garden through the Youth Healing Hates grants and we came together with some police officers from the Rochester Police Department and state troopers and had community circles where we talked about our own thoughts and feelings about crime and policing and things like that, and then painted this mural together and put it up in the garden and had a meal, and it was a great experience that helped me understand a little better what the perspective of the police officers were and hopefully help them understand the perspective of the children at the school and even the teachers that were part of the project. So things like that are, you know, my greatest hope for what these community gardens can help us accomplish.
Speaker 1:Oh, we greatly appreciate it. Folks like you in the community Rolla, chris Lee's committed to these green spaces for growing community. If you will, chris, any last points that you would want people to know about as they consider maybe their own involvement or are thinking about getting involved with community gardens. Any last points that you would want to share with them? And also, if folks want to reach out to you and you know, the community garden that you're involved in or Rochester Ecology Partners, what's the best way to do so?
Speaker 2:I think that a final takeaway is just that, if you're considering getting involved in community gardening, to really start with that question of who can my partners be in this that there's lots of ways that you can work together with other people, and whether it's that you find a friend and you're like, hey, let's start a garden together, or you go out and find a garden that's already started, you know places like 490 Farmers are always looking for people to get involved, and I know Gandhi Institute's got a garden and you invite volunteers to come. So really, how can we find the people that are trying to do this too and get to know them and work together with them, work together with them? And then, if people want to get involved with the Griffin Garden on North Union Street, where we could use volunteers and people to help grow the food there and also just come and hang out and have a good time, we have that, so they can reach out through the Rochester Ecology Partners website or through my email cwidmeyer, w-i-d-m-a-i-e-r at rockecologyorg.
Speaker 1:Beautiful Chris. Thank you so much for your time making the insight. Hope it's a fantastic rest of the day for you, all right.
Speaker 2:Thank you very much, aaron, for the chance to chat with you about this and share these thoughts with other people. I look forward to hearing more. It's a pleasure. Take care, all right, thanks.
