CLINTON – Sustainable Clinton, the fledgling organization evolving from a year-long series of programs sponsored by the Clinton Franciscan Center for Active Nonviolence and Peacemaking, will offer a vision for the future this Sunday afternoon.
Beginning at 2 p.m. on July 31, Sustainable Clinton will present options for establishing a community garden.
“The idea for establishing a community garden grew from the discussion at our last Sustainable Clinton gathering when we held a public forum on the whole issue of sustainability,” explained Laura Anderson, coordinator of the Center and convener of Sustainable Clinton. “It is one of the ways that ordinary citizens can be directly involved in improving the quality of our common environment.”
The Sustainable Clinton programs are held monthly at The Canticle, home of the Clinton Franciscans, at 841 13th Ave. N. They are free and open to the public. Their purpose, according to organizers, is threefold: to raise new ideas on promoting sustainability and caring for all of creation, to gain new information through programs featuring speakers expert in various aspects of ecology, and to devise means – such as community gardening – for working toward sustainability.
According to the American Community Garden Association website (communitygarden.org), community gardens are flourishing in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Waterloo-Cedar Falls, and Sioux City as well as in cities in states neighboring Iowa. Many provide produce for local food pantries as well as food for local families who use the free plots to supplement their grocery shopping. Others send produce to area farmers’ markets.
“There’s no end of ideas about how a community garden could benefit Clinton,” stated Anderson, who has been working with a small group of those who attended last month’s forum. “Our ‘committee’ will have some concrete ideas to present to hopefully get us started on this project.”
“There is also no end to possible options for improving our community’s sustainability,” she added. “Community gardening is only one way we can take action. We know from the forum that folks are concerned about air and water quality locally and nationally. And high on the list is sustainable agriculture. We will also be talking on Sunday about what information we need to proceed on those issues.
“We hope lots of folks – expert gardeners and would-be gardeners – will join us on Sunday and get in on the ground floor of this exciting project and make a difference in our community,” said Anderson.
For more information call 563-242-7611 or visit www.clintonfranciscans.com/Sustainable-Clinton.html.
