PRESS RELEASE 

FOR IMMEDIATE ADVISORY: Friday, August 3, 2012 

PRESS CONTACT: 415-554-4829, Mindy.linetzky@sfdpw.org

NATIONAL COMMUNITY GARDENING CONFERENCE ONLY A WEEK AWAY 

Register for “cutting edge” conference coming to San Francisco August 9th

San Francisco, Ca. – Though the hotel rooms are filling up fast, it is easy to register for the 2012 American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) Conference. San Francisco and Bay Area residents are invited to join hundreds of passionate individuals from across the country engaged in all aspects of contemporary gardening, urban agriculture and greening.

The 33rd annual conference, which is held is a different city each year and for the first time in San Francisco, will include state-of-the-art, hands-on workshops, movies in the Conservatory of Flowers, an address by Mayor Lee, and guided tours to the Bay Area’s distinctive urban community gardens.

“San Francisco is honored to be selected to host this year’s ACGA Conference not only because we have so much to offer on the subject of cutting edge community gardening, but because San Francisco and the Bay Area can inspire folks with our ground-breaking and much emulated environmental practices, and with our approach to engaging the community and utilizing green space,” said Mohammed Nuru, Director of the Department of Public Works.

Each year, the country’s most dedicated community gardening devotees make the trek to the ACGA Conference to network, exchange ideas and learn about best practices and the importance of transforming public spaces into functional, shared gardens.

“The last time we were in Northern California was our 1983 conference, held nearly thirty years ago in San Jose,” said Beth Urban, Executive Director of the American Community Gardening Association. “Historically one of the strongest supporters of urban agriculture in North America, the Bay Area has a deep tradition of community gardening that goes back to the days of World War II and community-led victory gardens.”

This year the conference will be held on Thursday, August 9th through Sunday, August 12th, at the Hilton Financial District at 750 Kearny Street. For details and to register for the conference, a link to the 2012 ACGA website can be found at sfdpw.org.

A sampling of workshop topics includes:

• Activating Rooftops! Cultivating a food forest, laboratory of learning, and an oasis in the heart of San Francisco's Tenderloin 
•  Community Gardening Goes to College: Engaging College Students and Professors in Community Projects
• From the grassroots to the nation: The community gardener’s political voice in pesticide reform
• One Size Does Not Fit All: A Critical Look at Urban Agriculture and Community Garden Planning in American Cities
• Starting A Community-Based Seed Library
• Sowing Seeds of Love: Turning the cycle of violence into a cycle of Life

Tours range from City Slicker Farm’s community gardens in Oakland to a San Francisco Thriving Gardens Bike Tour to the University of San Francisco Kitchens and Farms and much more in between.

A community garden can be defined as any piece of land gardened by a group of people, and can be urban, suburban, or rural, and can even be dedicated to "urban agriculture" where the produce is grown for a market, according to the ACGA. Their benefits include improving the quality of life for people in the garden; they provide a catalyst for neighborhood and community development; gardens beautify neighborhoods; produce nutritious food; can create opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapy, and education; can reduce crime; and can create income opportunities and economic development.

The ACGA is a bi-national nonprofit membership organization of professionals, volunteers and supporters of community greening in urban and rural communities whose is to build community by increasing and enhancing community gardening and greening across the United States and Canada. ACGA and its member organizations work to promote and support all aspects of community food and ornamental gardening, urban forestry, preservation and management of open space, and integrated planning and management of developing urban and rural lands.

DPW is responsible for the care and maintenance of San Francisco’s streets and much of its infrastructure. The department cleans and resurfaces streets; plants and maintains City street trees; designs, constructs and maintains city-owned facilities; inspects streets and sidewalks; constructs curb ramps; removes graffiti from public property; and partners with the diverse neighborhoods in San Francisco to provide stellar cleaning and greening services.

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