Architecture Commons^™

Community Gardens To Fight Urban Youth Crime And Stabilize Neighborhoods, Art Mccabe

Education Faculty Publications

Chronic poor health within inner cities is usually the result of prolonged exposure to a multitude of health disparities. These disparities, are exacerbated by poverty, high unemployment, crime and youth violence. In many cases, these factors increase neighborhood instability and civic disengagement. Community garden programs can strengthen civic engagement and foster neighborhood stability, while simultaneously cutting down on youth violence. Community garden programs address the accumulation of health challenges in many ways and provide curative building blocks to deal with poor nutrition, obesity, diabetes, psychological disorders, and deficient growth of infants, substance abuse, civic detachment and suicide rate. Urban agriculture …