Friends of community gardens need to raise a crop of ruckus about funding cuts

By MIKE HENDRICKS
The Kansas City Star

A year ago, City Hall was urging Kansas City Community Gardens Executive Director Ben Sharda to convert more weed-choked urban land to food production.

Now, the same bureaucracy threatens to ax the subsidy that for 25 years has helped keep the nonprofit group afloat.

“The ironic thing,” says Sharda, “is that Cauthen was talking about more community gardens on vacant lots that the city has to mow.”

Of course, former City Manager Wayne Cauthen is no longer calling the shots. And judging by pending staff budget recommendations, no longer is it a city priority to help poor and low-income people grow their own food.

Which is why there should be a crowd of angry gardeners at today’s Housing Committee meeting. Sharda asked for a show of support in hopes of restoring what amounts to more than 10 percent of his budget.

Among those planning to testify is City Councilwoman Beth Gottstein, who argues that her council colleagues should reject the staff’s short-sighted recommendation.

“Every other city of our size or bigger is doing everything it can to nourish its urban gardens and urban farmers,” Gottstein said.

What with the lousy economy, public interest is on the rise. While promoting our vegetable gardening how-to book at home and garden shows last month, my wife and I heard people say over and over that while they wanted to grow their own food, they couldn’t garden at home for one reason or another.

Why not a community garden? That was our suggestion. They’re sprouting all over town, and one reason for that is Sharda’s organization.

Besides providing garden space on properties it owns or controls, KCCG helps others start group gardens.

Unfortunately, the same forces sparking demand have taken a toll on the group’s finances. Kansas City Community Gardens’ main benefactors — charitable groups and foundations — have less to give.

“We went in the hole big time last year,” Sharda said.

Meaning that city funding is more important than ever. It amounted to $39,000 last year, Sharda said. Among other things, it pays to rototill gardens in some of the poorer parts of town.

What’s odd is that the pot of federal money that the city funding came from is even larger this year than last.

So why did city staff cut Kansas City Community Gardens entirely from its budget?

Housing and Community Development Director Shirley Winn refused to discuss it when I put the question to her Tuesday.

Maybe the folks attending today’s meeting will have better luck getting an explanation.