Local government leaders are in a unique position to promote healthy eating and active living in their communities by supporting community gardens. Community gardens are places where neighbors and residents can gather to cultivate plants, vegetables, and fruits and, depending on local laws, keep bees and raise chickens or other livestock and poultry. Community gardens can improve nutrition, physical activity, community engagement, safety, and economic vitality for a neighborhood and its residents and provide environmental benefits to the community at large.

NPLAN has created a set of complementary model land use policies to help communities create and preserve community gardens. Supportive land use policies, like zoning ordinances, can help to create community gardens and ensure their long-term ability to operate on a site.

You can also download NPLAN's Establishing Protections for Community Gardens: A Fact Sheet for Advocates.