The use of subversive tactics to change notions of land ownership may not seem like something that would have a reason to catch on in this country. Why would anyone care when any kind of food imaginable can be obtained in one trip to the grocery store?

However, guerilla gardening is taking hold in many industrialized nations to demonstrate exactly why we should care about the land and be involved with how it is used.

The term “guerilla gardening” was coined in the 1970s when activists and gardeners in New York began turning neglected urban spaces into community gardens.

Now it’s a movement that’s gaining speed in Europe and North America as well.

The activities of these rogue horticulturalists are varied. Some sneak out to public areas in the middle of the night to seed herbs and flowers in unused patches of ground surrounded by concrete.

Others are serious agriculturalists who brazenly make use of land owned by companies but that is not being used and create entire local food communities around their efforts.

The goals of these tactics can vary, but they all tie back to the idea that food should be a communal effort.

We should look at our neighbors face to face and create something that will sustain our community together. In doing so we would all gain a new kind of independence.

Guerilla gardening is an incredible kind of activism because it helps people stop being such passive consumers and begin to start to pay attention to the where and how behind the things they buy.

In an era of peak oil, it’s also crucial to learn to stop relying on genetically modified food that’s been carried across the country by using massive quantities of oil.

The fact that everyday individuals are showing this kind of interest in their community’s land is getting dialogue started about issues like who should own the means of food production and who should have the ability to decide what we, as a nation, eat.

It also raises questions about how far removed we really are from the things that show up on our dinner tables.

Guerilla gardening can point out how we don’t seem to know very much about what we eat and teach us why it’s important that we do know.

The extent to which individuals, families, and local communities should or could be involved in food production gets a new and much needed focus through guerilla gardening.

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