WE NEED YOUR STORY!

The Life Sciences Department at Riverside City College is repurposing the established space formerly known as the RCC Urban Farm to be a Botany Laboratory. Despite administration assurances, we are still deeply concerned that the original mission and purpose is going to be lost. Therefore, we are advocating for a written commitment from the Life Sciences Department to a long-term vision for student/community involvement.

SPROUTING LIFE IN OUR COMMUNITY

The garden's primary purpose was always about fostering a sense of community. The new garden administration has already implemented stricter rules about how and when students can engage the space. Individual permissions must be now approved by the garden administrator and student interns can longer work independently, as they must be supervised now by the administrator. This means, access will be contingent to work schedule of the garden administrator, and thus, access to adequately maintain a plot will be limited. The department indicates openness to constructive input from students (past and present) and the community.

While plants are essential—botany is important—so is sustainability: the birds, the insects, and the connections among and between people and their environment. Programming these connections is crucial at the community college level, an ecology of support, friendships, and belonging. For the Life Sciences Department to understand the impact this space has had on past and present students and the community, we urgently need to promote discussion.

YOU CAN BE THE DIFFERENCE! POST YOUR STORY IN THE COMMENTS

• Describe your personal experience with this garden community or any feelings about developing a sense of community in general.
• Describe activities inspired by the garden community (e.g., the Riverside Food Coop using a plot to discuss local food, the Riverside Garden Council, Wood Street Green Teams, and Trinity Lutheran Church’s seed donations, etc.
• Please describe how the garden community impacted you and give specific suggestions for how that sense of preserving this community for the future.