MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Manatee County has a goal of installing more community gardens in neighborhoods.
The county says it’s needed to provide more food accessibility and to help the community in other ways as well.
Research has shown that people who work in community gardens feel safer. Some research even suggests that community gardens have the potential to reduce crime.
Mack Lessig describes himself as a “busy bee” — buzzing about Manatee County’s community gardens.
“I administrate the gardens. I take their paperwork, process paperwork, but I also serve as an administrator. I teach a great deal,” he said.
Lessig has been the garden specialist in Manatee County for six years now, tending to all of the county’s community gardens twice a week like the one in Elwood Park.
“It’s plants and people. I like bugs, love bugs. I’m a biologist and an entomologist, so I love all living things,” he said.
He’s had a green thumb since he was just four years old. Now, he’s turned it into what he calls his dream job.
“Gardening was one thing that got me on the right path. From an individual perspective, gardens saved me. It also helped me with mental health,” Lessig said.
Just like it’s helped him, he says community gardens have the power to help others.
“Researchers think there are several factors involved with a reduction in crime, and they could be seen — how I’m phrasing it — could be participation in the garden, just the sheer act of being present, the perception,” said Lessig.
According to a study done by the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, places that have green spaces showed a significant reduction of violent crime by 30 percent and reduced people’s fear of going outside by 58 percent.
“I think there’s something to be said. There’s some kind of relationship going on between the development of a public space, either green space and community garden, and how the neighborhood perceives itself, health or crime,” he said.
The link between crime reduction and community gardens is a topic Lessig has been researching for months, finding his own studies from Hort Technology.
“When they talked to the gardeners, so anecdotal evidence,” he said. “The community gardens have a positive influence on neighborhoods. So this is me quoting this particular paper. Residents reported neighborhood revitalization received immunity from crime and the neighbors emulated gardening practices they saw at the community garden.”
Lessig plans on doing his own research into the topic, citing a scholarly article from University of Toronto Press Journals as he looks for ways to grow an even safer, stronger community.
Manatee County officials say it costs $150,000 to install community gardens.
Currently, the county is planning on building four community gardens in Bennett Park, John Marble Park, Sylvan Oaks Park and Alderwood Park.
The process for the next garden will begin this summer and complete this fall.
Julia Hazel
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