MISSION STATEMENT:

 

The mission of the Dunwoody Community Garden is to:

·         provide an inviting, friendly, and accessible setting for community gardening and related social and educational exchange;

·         promote the health and economic benefits of locally and naturally grown food and contributing to its production;

·         instill in ourselves and our children habits of healthful nutrition and physical activity, and values of responsible stewardship of our natural and other community resources; and

·         reach out to and support community members who are struggling with economic adversity

Goal 1: To strengthen community

Objectives -

·         Provide an outdoor setting for social interaction, education, and recreation around the theme of self-sufficient food production

·         Enhance the appeal and value of a public recreational area by modifying and utilizing green space in a functional, sustainable, and environmentally friendly manner

·         Connect people with diverse interests and backgrounds

·         Support locally grown produce

·         Reduce family food budgets

·         Create partnerships with  service-minded groups, such as local business, Boy Scouts and faith-based organizations

Goal 2: To reduce risk of preventable disease (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, cancer) with a focus on health and wellness

Objectives -

·         Produce  locally grown, affordable, and nutritious food

·         Promote gardening as an outlet for healthful physical activity and stress reduction

·         Establish healthful eating and routine physical activity as lifelong habits

 

Goal 3: To commit to sustainable eco-friendly practice and education

Objectives -

·         Adhere to principles of organic gardening

·         Conserve resources through active recycling (e.g., onsite composting and vermiculture and use of rain barrels)

·         Include formal and informal training and information exchange

·         Encourage and facilitate participation by local youth groups, school groups, and children of garden members in all stages of garden preparation, maintenance, and sustainability

Goal 4: To engage in charitable giving and other efforts to promote social justice

Objectives -

·         Assign ten percent of the cultivatable garden to economically stressed families  whose membership and active communal participation will be welcomed and underwritten by the garden community

·         Designate an additional ten percent of the cultivatable garden for food production by the collective garden membership to be donated to a local charitable organization for distribution to its clients*

·         Establish a channel for voluntary harvest-sharing by garden members with the designated (or other) charitable organization*