Positioning: Relevant & Compelling

Community gardens are often described too narrowly. Many people still see them as quaint, small hobby spots, when in reality, they do so much more. Strong positioning helps community garden leaders describe the full value of their work in a way that inspires support, funding, and long-term investment.

Why this matters

A community garden is not just a place to grow food. It is also a place to grow connection, belonging, and local resilience. When gardens are framed only as food-producing spaces, folks tend to focus on limitations while their broader value gets overlooked.

Community gardens contribute in three powerful ways, by cultivating food, community, and climate resilience on a human scale.

FOOD

• Grow clean, nutritious, delicious, accessible, self-determined, culturally-relevant food. 
• Food is a throughline and connection to our ancestors and our history and promotes intergenerational sharing. 
• Access, skills, and resources to grow one’s own food is a basic human right.

COMMUNITY

• Create community by bringing neighbors together, reducing isolation and loneliness, while building a sense of shared ownership. 
• Intergenerational bridge building
• Crime reduction
• Contact theory
• Community gardens as a "Third Place"
• A remedy to combat the "Epidemic of Loneliness" we are all experiencing

CLIMATE

• Urban and peri-urban-dwelling Individuals can take positive climate action every day in their neighborhoods  
• Engaged, knowledgeable, and inspired community gardeners are part of the solution - they are the spark!
• Community gardens generate enhanced biodiversity, soil health, carbon capture, rainwater runoff reduction, temperature reduction, and increased humidity
• The network effect is significant

When community gardens are positioned this way, they stop sounding like hobbies and start being understood as critical neighborhood infrastructure.

What great looks like

Strong positioning is clear, consistent, and expansive. It helps people understand that community gardens cultivate food, community, and climate resilience, all at once. It gives leaders language that resonates with funders, policymakers, partners, and the public.

Where gardens struggle

Some gardens describe themselves in limited terms. Others know their work matters in deeper ways and have not yet found the right language to express it. That can make it hard to attract support, communicate impact, and build momentum.

What to start doing now

Review how you talk about your garden on your website, in public materials, in grant applications, and in everyday conversations. Make sure your language reflects the full value of the work, not just one part of it.