The following story was written as one of the creation expressions explaining the values that drive people to garden in cities. It was written by a participant in the "Social Ecologist Perspectives on Urban Agriculture" workshop held as part of the 2006 World Social Forum in Caracas.

What a horrible day! I’ve been engulfed in car exhaust all day and because I’ve been working overtime, I have no time to go to the supermarket. I’ll have to eat junk again.

Interestingly, I saw my neighbor eating in her garden.

These grey and dark cities full of cement and closed doors hunch my shoulders, bow my head, extinguish my heart and I don’t know who to share experiences with or care for.

One day, walking in the street eating an apple, I discovered a black thing in its nucleus. Never before had I seen something like this, I don’t know what it is, its taste is strange. I have the intuition to plant it…

A couple months later, I had forgotten about the thing and one day I discovered a tree where I had planted it. This very green tree was like a jewel in a sea of darkness. From this day forward, my life will never be the same. I didn’t think that I could turn a grey city into green.

Starting that day, when I discovered that from something so small, something with so much life could be born, inside of me a tree of hope was also born that will stay with me forever.

Now, I want to share my experience with the people who still live in the underworld. I want people to be aware of this new world of possibilities.

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Posté par mthom le Mar, 23/05/2006 - 2:48pm.