Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Cultivating An Opportunity: Access And Inclusion In Seattle's Community Gardens, Alice K. Opalka

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the social dynamics of community gardens and their participation within them in the contemporary food justice movement in Seattle, Washington. Community gardens are seen as solutions to myriad urban and environmental problems, such as food deserts, community empowerment, urban greening, environmental education and sustainability of the food system. Three case studies of Seattle organizations, the P-Patch Program, Lettuce Link and Alleycat Acres, provide a basis for analysis of the purported benefit of community empowerment as a function of organizational structure, history and policies. City government support, flexibility, and a critical outlook towards the processes of inclusion and …