Draft mission statement

Carrboro Community Garden Coalition

Mission:

CCGC is a non-profit organization whose goal is to access land for education, and other resources necessary for community members to grow food in environmentally sustainable ways as a means to creating a just world where locally grown, high quality, safe food is available to all.

Purpose: Our purpose is increasing sustainable urban food production and community involvement in 5 ways by:

1. Teaching people how to grow food;

2. Locating and securing in trust and managing land;

3. Increasing access to resources, skills and local knowledge.

4. Creating spaces where community members share tools/land/seeds/, skills, inspiration and cultural awareness.

5. Modeling replicable and financially viable programs and practices.

Main values:

1. Community/Local Food (Sovereignty, self-determination, freedom, autonomy, independence)

We value locally grown food produced in a small scale sustainable way. We believe that bountiful amounts of safe food can be grown in and around the municipality of Carrboro using simple, sustainable methods and renewable resources. We value sustainable growing practices as essential to our responsible participation in the restoration and preservation of our city's ecosystem.

2. Interdependence & Community Engagement

We believe that social interdependence is an important part of any community and that it can be strengthened through gardening. When people work together in the garden they connect with the land and its natural cycles, and with each other. We believe that gardening is fun, creative, inspiring, and captivating. It has the power to bring us together and keep us active.

3. Promotion of Sustainable Gardening

We believe in growing food using sustainable practices. It is our responsibility to look for and create solutions to environmental and food access issues.

4. Empowerment We value the self reliance that growing one's own food teaches and the generosity and collaborative skills that are learned through growing food for others.

Whomever controls the food controls the people.

6. Education

We value teaching and learning through growing food, a process that includes planning, co-creating, skill sharing, and working together. We believe that these skills can be used to solve problems in the world around us.

7. Openness/inclusiveness/receptivity

We believe that to share common ground is valuable. We believe that to create a common space for all people to work and share in the abundance of nature is equalizing, humanizing, and humbling.

8. Abundance & Beauty

9. Equality / Social Justice / Humanism

We believe that social justice, economic security and equality are strengthened when community members have access to land for the purpose of growing food.

10. Bridging community and town government

We believe that a community garden on town property creates a new kind of connection between citizens and their local government.