Community gardening has a long history all over the globe, dating back earlier than even Roman times. There is an extensive history of community gardening in the USA also.
From the late 1800's through WW-II including the Great Depression, people have relied on gardens in yards and empty lots to feed the hungry and provide useful work for the unemployed. I have seen statistics that stated 44% of all fresh vegetable production in the USA during World war II was produced by over 20 million Victory Gardens.
It is time to consider the use of these techniques as part of the domestic Social Welfare programs, as a supplement and support of the Food Stamp program.
In the Depression-era in California, some interesting local economics occurred. Two organizations called the UCRO and the UXA employed millions in a "credit-for-hours-worked" form of local economies. Additional information can be found here: http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1464 . Coupled with Relief Gardening and the Obama economic platform, there is a good possibility of starting something refreshing and less prone to ggreed and fraud in the US and elsewhere.
Historically, however, the business and political classes have wotked to undermine such efforts through economic policy of the State. This needs to be guarded against and prevented. The use of such programs, integrated with Federal programs to rebuild infrastructure, could well spell a faster and more secure economic recovery in the U.S. - which could then lead to a global recovery.
Some of the opportunities present in today's environment that were lacking during the Depression are the advent of the Internet, complete with wide-open and fast-reaching social media. Public discourse and information-dissemination is no longer one-way, far from it.
It may be possible to create an entirely new global economy that values innovation and labor while limiting incentives to get greedy and take more than a given party needs.
Dan
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