Jason Donati has dreams and aspirations for a green, more communal city and he’s throwing his efforts behind the Urban Gardening Initiative to plant community gardens where vacant land resides.
Donati is the president of Muncie Delaware Clean and Beautiful, and he has wanted to build community gardens since he returned from his stint with AmeriCorps.
“When we see these vacant green spaces scattered throughout Muncie, we think it’s a great opportunity and potential to rebuild our community through growing food and getting people to come out of the house,” Donati said.
Along with Donati is a team of volunteers and Ball State students led by Scott Truex, an associate professor of urban planning. They are all committed to a green Muncie realized through the community garden project.
A community garden is a place where a member from a community can rent a plot of land and garden, Donati said.
Truex said Muncie is capable of leading the country in community gardening.
“Both the production and preservation of food is an integral part of Muncie’s story and both of those are huge economic development catalysts that could be used in economic leverage to have a big impact here,” he said. “I think there’s a huge opportunity here.”
Truex believes the connection with food changed when TV dinners and two wage earners became common in households.
“It’s much easier to open a can and throw it in the microwave,” he said.
Bryan Preston and Lindsey Helms, a couple who has managed the Muncie community garden behind the Maring-Hunt Public Library for years, enjoy sharing the gardening experience and hope to spread their passion with the community.
“I think it’s just something fun to do, it doesn’t cost money and it brings people together,” Helms said. “It’s a great way to learn.”
Preston and Helms lived in Chicago, where they cultivated their gardening spirit. Preston said gardening was something they kept in mind when they moved down the street from the library.
“We moved to the neighborhood partly because there was a garden,” he said. “In a sense, the garden kind of moved us there.”
Currently, UGI has 11 gardens that are part of its organization spanning across 1.75 acres of land. Donati said the process is still in an informal stage, having no paid staff and a low budget.
UGI plans on hosting an urban agriculture symposium in the spring but doesn’t have an official date. The symposium would consist of Ball State professors coming to speak and organize activities, student help, a keynote speaker and an all day workshop centered on helping educate the general public about urban agriculture.
Truex said he wants the community to attend the event and talk to students to see the different strategies used, have discussions and find some connections with people in certain districts.
“This is not a Ball State effort. This is an UGI effort,” he said. “We’re just going to have support and play a role because we can. I’ve got young people who are passionate and are interested.”
While the biggest setback UGI faces is funding, more involvement and interest can generate grant money, Truex said.
“I like to think that the symposium will be a big stepping stone in getting support,” he said. “Getting that first grant is usually the toughest. Grant agencies fund success.”
Until grant money does become available, places like the Muncie community garden will set the example of what UGI’s vision could be.
“I think here, it still hasn’t caught on. People haven’t realized the importance of it yet,” Donati said. “They don’t think that it’s a real thing yet.”
The next step for UGI is overcoming obstacles and getting the community involved.
“There’s no reason we can’t be a stellar example of a small Rust Belt city learning how to survive within its boundaries and its realm and making it a true local economy and local food system where we all support each other,” Donati said.
