Native Americans were known to use every part of the bison after they killed it — the skin, the meat, the bones. Now San Francisco’s mayor, Gavin Newsom, is taking that idea and implementing it in his city. In an effort to bring fresher, locally grown produce to the city’s denizens, especially low-income ones, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the mayor is proposing using everything from median strips to empty lots to windowsills to build community gardens and farms.
“We have an eating and drinking problem in the United States of America,” Newsom said in the Chronicle. “It’s impacting our health, and it’s impacting our economy.”
Especially for those residents who can’t afford $7 raspberries from Whole Foods, the plan would provide more fresh produce options. Growing it locally on that street island would also decrease the city’s reliance on food imports, which would help reduce costs. Newsom envisions the gardens as a place where those in the local community can work to plant and grow the food they will eat.
Already, across the Bay in Oakland, six local farms operate a model that Newsom would like to emulate. The farms, run by a small nonprofit staff alongside volunteers, turned a former junkyard into a place that now provides fresh, homegrown food to area residents on a sliding scale.
So, who knows? Next time you’re stuck in a traffic jam on the 101, you might be able to pick your groceries on the highway’s shoulder. As Bay Area commuters well know, you’ll certainly have the time.
Photo courtesy of Voyou Desoeuvre, via Flickr.