Montgomery Victory Gardens Brings Local Agriculture to Brookside Gardens

Gordon Clark knows “unsustainable” is not a just a buzz word. Quoting Michael Pollan, he says, it means something that, sooner or later must collapse. And Clark wants everyone to know, the current international, industrial food system, is unsustainable.

That unsustainablilty and what Montgomery County can do about it was the main thrust of Clark's talk to attendees of Green Matters Friday afternoon at .  He is the project director of Montgomery Victory Gardens , a non-profit organization that promotes local agriculture in Montgomery County. Most of MVG’s work involves encouraging and organizing those who want to grow their own food. Colesville Patch in October.

During his short, but wide-ranging speech, Clark focused on the negative aspects of industrial agriculture.

“Yes, there is a massive increase in agricultural yield, but else have we gotten?” he asked.

According to Clark, industrial farm practices are destroying the soil, as well as biodiversity, spreading disease among food, driving farmers out of business and even spreading hunger.

While it seems counterintuitive, Clark said that when weather events and diseases effect a single major supplier of food like wheat or bananas, prices jump and are passed on to consumers whose budgets are already stretched. Montgomery County’s own statistics on “food instability” over the past few years have increased.

Clark also detailed MVG’s attempts to lift de facto ban on food gardens on MCPS property 

With the help of Valerie Ervin, worksessions were held to discuss the possibility of opening up food garden applications to MCPS property. Then on Feb. 26 of last year, Dr. Jerry Weast submitted a memo that outlined why growing food would not be allowed. Clark and MVG continued to push, and submitted a letter to MCPS in support of food gardens that 30 organizations signed on to, including the County Commission on Health.

After a bit more back and forth, MCPS now will entertain applications for both container and in-ground gardens, although Clark said that containers would be more likely to be approved at first. 

For Clark, growing food is not only a healthier way to approach a diet, but an actual life-changer.

“Growing food radically changes what we think the pace of life should be,” he said, adding that growing food connects you to natural cycles.

What is MVG’s ultimate goal though? Clark is hoping for a different kind of bounty.

“We would love to that so much local agricultural going on in Montgomery County that we can’t even keep track of it.”

Wheaton Patch's other coverage of Green Matters this past Friday: