Green Spaces: An Urban Necessity
A city dweller comments on the importance of having green spaces in cities and Berkeley Student Farms’ gardens.
(Courtesy of Isha Smith)
Oakland, CA — When you’re living in a city, it can be hard to find spaces to connect with the land and nature. Urban gardens and farms are amazing and vital green spaces for city folk to escape to.
Before I had even moved to the Bay Area, I remember coming to Berkeley to visit my sister. One of the first places I visited was a Berkeley Student Farm on the corner of Virginia and Walnut street.
It certainly made a lasting impression on me with its windchimes clinking and the fresh smelling rows of medicinal plants.There, I got to harvest fresh kale and mustard greens while meeting and connecting with many interesting people.
Oftentimes, urban green spaces are few and far between. It’s wonderful to me that only a few blocks away from the business of downtown Berkeley is a quiet garden — where you can pick fresh produce or just hang out. People living in cities always seem to be on the go. Green spaces like these remind me to take a minute to slow down and just be.
Isha Smith (they/them) is a student writer and photographer living in Oakland, California.
Edited by shaylyn martos