Expands the powers and duties of the office of community gardens

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1: Adds a new Ag. & Markets Law section 31-f to establish legis- lative findings that community gardens provide significant health, educational, and social benefits to the general public, especially for those who reside in urban and suburban areas of this State. Community gardens help to provide low cost nutritious and fresh foods to the general public, especially to the disadvantaged and poor; promotes health and healthier lifestyles by encouraging better eating habits and increased physical activity, fosters the retention of open spaces in urban areas of our state's cities and villages, provides inexpensive community building activities, helps to reduce the incidence of crime, and engenders a closer relationship between urban residents and nature and their local environment.

Section 2 & 3: Amends Ag. & Markets Law section 31-g to expand the types activities that the Office of Community Gardens may pursue. In the definitional section, it expands what types of activities are considered to be "garden" activities, expands the definition of "municipality", and adds a new definition for "state agency" to reduce the verbiage in this Article 2-c.

Among the new types of activities that the Office may participate in, if the Office wishes to do so, are the following:

- To assist groups that wish to establish community gardens, the Office can help to develop a single recommended application form to request a state agency or municipality to use certain vacant lands for community garden purposes.

- Assist community garden groups in their activities and encourage the better coordination of activities between such groups and school garden programs and local voluntary food assistance programs, such as food

pantries and soup kitchens that provide food for the poor and disadvan- taged.

- Encourage better communication between and sharing of resources between community garden groups and the New York Kids Week Program provided for under the Ag. & Markets Law, and individual farm-to-school and school garden programs. The purpose of this section is to make a better connection between the activities of community gardens and the educational activities of already existing school programs, if such schools wish to do so.

Section 4: Amend Ag. & Markets Law section 31-i to include municipal vacant land in addition to state agency controlled vacant land.

Section 5: Adds Ag. & Markets Law section 31-j to authorize the Commis- sioner, if he or she wishes, to convene a Community Gardens Task Force. The membership of the Task Force can include appropriate state agencies, existing community garden organizations, and various municipalities to solicit input and representation into the activities of the task force. The task force can look into encouraging the establishment and expansion of community gardens, encourage cooperation between community gardens and voluntary food assistance programs, and increase the benefits provided by community gardens.

Justification

The legislative findings contained in section 1 of this bill outlines the many social, economic, health, educational benefits that are provided by community gardens to young and old alike. See section 1 of this bill which outlines such benefits and the justifica- tion for this bill.

Article 2-C, that established the Community Gardens, was first enacted in 1978. It was then re-codified with other sections of the Ag. & Markets Law in 1986, but with few changes made to this article with regard to the powers of the Office of Community Gardens or the activ- ities that could occur within community gardens. This bill updates Arti- cle 2-C to better reflect the current needs of the community garden movement and the activities that may be conducted by the Office.

With New York's, and the nation's current economic troubles, it is important to update the state's Community Gardens Law to better reflect New York's current economic conditions and needs. First, land use laws and practices within city, village and suburban areas have changed and community garden activities need to be better integrated with such current land use laws, policies, and trends. Second, New York needs to promote self-help activities that can enhance our communities with regard to providing better and more healthy foods for young and old alike, encourage more physical exercise to increase overall physical well being, provides community residents with a forum in which to participate in community activities, and encourages the use of the read- ily available vacant lands that currently exist in many urban and village centers. The enactment of this bill is long overdue.

Prior legislative history

S. 4906 - Senate Finance, Passed Assembly

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

January 1st of year in which it shall have become law.