ABSTRACT
Friday morning is seemingly a busy time for the community of gardeners at A Garden for the Resident, a municipal urban agriculture allotment located not far from the center of Rishon LeZion, Israel’s fourth largest city. Dozens of people wander around their plots, griping about the broken water pipe, heat, humidity, mosquitoes and the current political situation. By the end of the summer there is very little to do, so they pass the time in the shade under lavish vine pergolas drinking black coffee and eating fresh grapes, before returning home to attend to weekend chores. A kilometer westward, in the neighborhood of Ramat Eliyahu (also belonging to Rishon LeZion), the Ethiopian community’s garden is closed and empty; activity is restricted solely to Monday and Tuesday afternoons. These two urban agricultural sites represent the growing interest of individuals,
communities, grassroots organizations, municipalities and state institutions in the establishment of edible gardens throughout Israel. In a recent survey, the organization Community Gardens in Israel identified more than 300 community-based gardens, all involved to a certain degree in growing edible produce (https://israelgardens.blogspot.co.il/2009/06/blog-post.html). These gardens include allotments, community gardens within public institutions, community gardens on private or public lands, therapeutic gardens, urban community farms, municipal nature sites and community forests. Compared to results of a survey conducted in 2004, in which we located
approximately two dozen urban agricultural sites throughout the country (AlonMozes & Amdur, 2005), the tenfold increase reflects various social, economic and cultural tendencies that have developed over the past ten years in Israel. Among affluent communities, these include the adoption of a “green agenda”, an increase in the consumption of healthy foods and an inclination to belong to a community. Among the poorest communities (especially among immigrants), it reflects a decrease in food security and nostalgia for the community’s agricultural past. For both communities, it reflects the adoption of urban agriculture models from around the world. This chapter focuses on two case studies of contemporary urban agriculture in
Israel, representing two extremes of the current practice. While A Garden for the
Resident reflects a grassroots initiative of an affluent community, the Ethiopian Community Garden represents a municipal initiative to support the poorest community of new immigrants in the same city. While the projects differ in terms of scale, organization and labor practices, they are similar in terms of produce and, to some extent, in the manner in which they benefit their participants. The chapter consists of three parts: the first discusses the historical roots of urban
agriculture in Israel; the second surveys the contemporary state of affairs; and the third elaborates on the two case studies. The research is based on on-site observations and interviews with gardeners and stakeholders. The results are compared with a previous survey that we conducted in Rishon LeZion between the winter of 2004 and the spring of 2005.
