{"id":604,"date":"2016-04-15T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T16:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cugs\/?p=604"},"modified":"2016-04-15T13:00:33","modified_gmt":"2016-04-15T17:00:33","slug":"week-13-food-security-in-cape-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cugs\/2016\/04\/15\/week-13-food-security-in-cape-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 13 Food Security in Cape Town"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In Cape Town many families, primarily low-income families, do not have access to nutritious food. I visited the Oranjejezicht City Farm, which is a small scenic farm in the middle-class suburb of Oranjezicht. Before the land was converted it belonged to a family and was a farmland. The municipality then purchased the land in 1948. It was then being misused and drug deals and homeless people were occupying the space. To decrease this type of usage, the city transformed the land into the Oranjezicht City Farm in late 2012 and early 2013.<\/p>\n

The non-profit project working in the garden is called OZCF (Oranjezicht City Farm). They celebrate local food, culture and community through urban farming. The location is stunning, on one side is a beautiful view of Table Mountain and on the opposite end is a view of the dock and the ocean. They barely have three years since they started, but they sell the small amount that they grow to the community at the waterfront on Sundays. The organization wants to expand and be able to provide more fresh food services to the bigger Cape Town community.<\/p>\n

The garden emphasized the importance of people growing their own food. Genetically modified fruits are not healthy for the body. The body needs nutritious fruit and it is better when people learn from where their food is coming from. Farmer Mark is the main farmer of the field and he shared his insight on the connection people automatically have to nature. Farming is a skill many people in cities do not learn. Nature itself is peaceful and communities need spaces like public gardens. People from the community maintain the plants and they get to share a space that builds a stronger sense of community.<\/p>\n

Next to the garden is a primary school. The organization wants to work and collaboration with the school to educate the students about farming. The school would then extend with the garden and it will give the school direct access. Students will work in the garden and help expand and maintain the garden. Not only does the garden serve a function for the community, but also it has a larger purpose where it can benefit future generations.<\/p>\n

Green urban spaces are important to add into communities. Public gardens can revitalize unused land in low-income neighborhood and bring people together. Also, the community will have access to fresh fruit and vegetables. Farming is needed in the city and people should be knowledgeable when it comes to growing their own food. Communities will benefit greatly in the long run and they will have access to fresh food at public spaces. Communities will become stronger and people will take agency in what they grow and eat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  In Cape Town many families, primarily low-income families, do not have access to nutritious food. I visited the Oranjejezicht City Farm, which is a small scenic farm in the middle-class suburb of Oranjezicht. Before the land was converted it … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1271,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cugs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cugs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cugs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cugs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1271"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cugs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cugs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":606,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cugs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604\/revisions\/606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cugs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cugs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cugs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}