ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Those living in Albuquerque’s International District will soon have access to a community garden where they can get fresh locally-grown produce.
Bernalillo County celebrated the start of a new project Tuesday night. Recently the county purchased a vacant lot on 317 Wyoming Blvd near Copper for urban agriculture. “Local food is important. Food is medicine. Our open spaces and parks are medicine for the community,” said Planning Manager for Parks and Recreation with Bernalillo County John Barney.
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The county purchased the lot for $400,000. They hope to bring fresh food and improve overall health in the area. “It’s so much more than just a community garden. It’s about creating a space where our residents can come together, learn, grow, and thrive,” said Bernalillo County Commissioner for Dist. 3 Adriann Barboa.
The land is commercially zoned and the county said they will start developing it next week by adding new fencing. With community input, some of their ideas include adding shade, stormwater infrastructure, and an outdoor classroom. They hope by March of next year to start planting seeds for their garden. “We’ll be putting in raised beds and other kinds of facilities in next year and again it will all be based on our community’s input,” said Barney.
Last year, big box stores like Walmart and Walgreens shut their doors in the International District leaving the community in a food desert. A new supermarket has since opened in the area, but locals said having a community-based open space that can provide more access to food and also help the environment is crucial.
“There’s a lot of studies that it improves your mental health. There’s also studies that it lowers the surface temperature of its surrounding area and then also filters out a lot of pollutants and stuff like that and it makes it less dusty,” said Zia Martinez, with Project Feed the Hood, a food justice initiative.
Money for the project comes from local and state funding.
