[Regarding “Uprooted? Community Members Fight for the Future of Southside’s Urban Farm,” May 8, Xpress:]
In a time when local food is essential, a discussion about growing food or paving the land for a playground is senseless.
It takes a time for trees to grow and thrive. Fruit trees require specific care and devotion. Disrupting trees when they are a source for regeneration indicates a disconnect to life and nature.
Kudos to the beautiful people successfully stewarding the land. When you are intimate with growing food, you understand the depth and wisdom of nature. How nature freely gives. Not just fruit, but look at all those seeds. Maybe Housing Authority of the City of Asheville CEO and President Monique Pierre has a few things to learn. Disrupting a piece of land that represents life is risky.
True, children need to get offline and outside to play and socialize. Wouldn’t it be nice if the children were encouraged to get exercise by getting their hands in the soil, weeding and planting, and harvesting food? Witnessing a tiny seed grow into food can forever change the trajectory of a child’s life.
Let’s not forget that growing food is a labor of love. We need more love for nature, more food abundance, more heart in decision making and less concrete. Let Southside Community Farm thrive — and don’t look back.
— Tricia Collins
Burnsville
