Thanks for your interest and involvement in our local food movement.  I am pleased to announce that today the Metropolitan King County Council today took a step toward helping promote urban agriculture by unanimously adopting legislation calling for the creation and management of community gardens on county-owned land throughout urban King County.  I was proud to sponsor and vote in favor this legislation.

A Council-requested study recently found that King County owns more than 2,000 parcels of land in urban areas, and as many as 84 unused parcels may be fit for siting community gardens.  The adopted legislation asks the King County Executive to develop a plan to create and manage gardens on these unused parcels, in conjunction with an advisory council made up of representatives from Public Health-Seattle & King County, Washington State University, the King County Agricultural Commission, food banks, gardening organizations, schools, and homeless shelters.  The garden implementation plan should be complete by November of this year. 

As you know, interest in community gardening has surged throughout King County as people recognize the health, environmental, and financial benefits of fresh, locally grown produce.  Community gardens are a way for people who don't own land, including apartment-dwellers, to produce fresh, local, organic produce at a very low cost.  Community gardens are also a source of local produce for the wider community-in 2009 the Interbay P-Patch alone donated over 5000 pounds of produce to the local food bank. 

In the City of Seattle, over 2,000 people are on a waiting list for P-Patches.  This legislation addresses the greatest barrier to expanding community gardening-finding available land in urban areas-by allowing suitable public property to be gardened by the community.   

Thanks again for your interest and involvement in this issue.  I appreciate your work!

Sincerely,

Larry Phillips, Councilmember
Metropolitan King County Council, District Four
King County Courthouse
516 Third Avenue, Room 1200
Seattle, WA 98104-3272
206.296.1004
larry.phillips@kingcounty.gov

For more information:  http://www.kingcounty.gov/phillips
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