Bayside Breaks Ground with Community Partners in First-of-its-Kind Garden Project
/“This community garden will be so much more than just a beautiful green space in the community or an educational hub to address food insecurity in Linda Vista. This garden will be a model for many other communities throughout the city to grow food locally and sustainably.”
Photo credit: Some photos by John Cocozza Photography. Ariel footage by Avery Cramer.
On Saturday, December 16, 2023, Bayside Community Center and several community partners, including San Diego Parks Foundation, officially broke ground on the first-ever community garden to be developed in an existing city of San Diego park. This project is the first to make use of a 13-year-old policy that allows for public space, such as local city parks, to support community gardens.
The Director of the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department, Andy Field, commented, “This transformative project will bring about food opportunities for many who need it and also will demonstrate how easy it is to garden within your own community.”
Amy Zink, Bayside’s Environmental Learning Center Program Manager, who was recognized during the ceremony for her leadership in the community, explained, “Gardens like this third-of-an-acre space are an important part of addressing food insecurity because they allow for more produce to be grown locally. They also serve as a training-ground for residents to learn skills that can be used to continue growing their own food at home or on-site.”
Regarding Amy, City Councilmember Raul Campillo, added, “There’s nobody who makes more food, brings more people together, [or] teaches more children about this part of the miracle of gardening than you.”
Mayor Todd Gloria also remarked, “This has been a community-led effort and it takes an organization that has the trust of the community to be able to do that. Bayside Community Center has been doing hard and important work in this neighborhood for a very long time.”
Regarding this historic project, Kim Heinle, Bayside Community Center’s Executive Director, concluded, “This community garden will be so much more than just a beautiful green space in the community or an educational hub to address food insecurity in Linda Vista. This garden will be a model for many other communities throughout the city to grow food locally and sustainably.”
As reported by Times of San Diego, “Bayside Community Center, a Linda Vista community-based nonprofit with a 90-year legacy, will operate and manage the Linda Vista Community Garden when completed next year. The Linda Vista Community Garden was previously housed onsite at Bayside Community Center from 2011-2017. The center has been working to find a new home for the garden over the past six years.”
Read more news coverage of this event provided by Christy Simeral writing for Fox 5 San Diego and Roma Chang writing for Hoodline.