Tuesday Farming & Serving!

City Natives Garden aims to preserve the native plants and grow food for the community. As the city is becoming more industrialized, there aren't many plots of land reserved for these native plants and for gardens. It was really neat to see the residents' gardens at Victory Garden, and similarly, the Natives Garden provides small plots of land to people who lack gardening space at home. The Natives Garden location we visited is mainly used for educational purposes and to plant small fruits and vegetables. The place was definitely different than what I expected it to be. I've never visited a place that grows food before. I was a little disappointed that we had to weed, but I enjoyed planting the tomatoes. The annual event, where the gardeners sell plants, veggies, teach about gardening methods, and host perennial exchanges, sounds like a great opportunity for residents to meet other people from their community and share tips and planting experience. The place definitely seemed like a great effort to encourage people to be more involved in the environment. I'm not sure how well-known these gardens are, but I'd like to know if they exist in other big cities like Washington, D.C.!

My experience at the Long Island Homeless Shelter greatly differed from that at the Women's Lunch Table. There were a lot more staff, and the facility was larger. The food, disappointingly, was also highly processed. It consisted of a pasta entree, 2 slices of bread, and a fruit. It didn't seem to be very filling, as all the trays I washed were cleared. Toward the end of the dinner, I felt bad decreasing the number of scoops per person-- it didn't seem like there was enough food to go around. another thing that surprised me was how enthusiastic and appreciative the staff were. I went in expecting them to be indifferent or annoyed when we made mistakes, but they were very encouraging and grateful for the help. They also encouraged us to engage in conversation with guests to make them feel a little more special and loved. The guests seemed nice and also appreciative of our efforts. Today's experince only strengthens my viewpoint that homeless people are humans just like us. They have needs, just like us. They deserve to be treated the same way everyone else is treated.

--Theresa