Hailed as stewards but legally squatters, longtime community gardeners say they need help staying grounded.

As poor neighborhoods became victims of decades of disinvestment and abandoned buildings were left to crumble into filth-laden lots, community members stepped in. Amid the trash and violence they built gardens, quietly becoming stewards of these forgotten stretches of land.

But, legally, they were squatters.

One in three Philadelphia growing spaces is located in gentrifying areas and the once nearly worthless land has become valuable to real estate developers. “With rising land values, the city’s community gardens are under threat,” said Councilmember Kendra Brooks.

Land insecurity along with the city’s obstructionist land policies and a lack of financial resources are the top of mind concerns facing community gardeners, according to those who testified Wednesday at a hearing organized by Brooks.

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More than 75 people turned out to give input on how to improve the implementation of the city’s year-old urban agricultural plan, Growing From the Root, which is a blueprint for building the city’s urban agricultural support system over the next decade.

There are an estimated 450 active agricultural spaces in the city, totaling about 130 acres of land — about the size of 100 football fields.

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The plan was launched last year and is led by Department of Parks and Recreation. Susan Slawson, commissioner of Parks and Recreation, said the purpose was to “outline the resources, policies, processes and programs necessary to sustain urban agriculture as a permanent use in Philadelphia for future generations.”

Some in the agricultural community, including Martha Griffin, executive director of Millcreek Urban Farm, said they were underwhelmed by the first year’s progress.

The plan, she said, has “not been fully embraced,” and after a year it still has a long way to go to show progress.

There’s no community growing space without land.

When the land is not owned by the gardeners it becomes extremely vulnerable to development pressures or to sheriff’s sale if it is tax delinquent and taken.

According to the Philadelphia Garden Data Collaborative, the city has lost about 140 known garden farms since 2008. About 75% of these community growing spaces were insecure because the neighbors didn’t have legal title to the property.

“Over the past five years, working closely with community members, my office succeeded in protecting over 90 parcels of community garden land from the threat of sheriff sale,” said Brooks, who successfully advocated for the city to purchase more than $1 million in liens from U.S. Bank for 91 parcels of community gardens.

“Once a garden is gone, it is gone for good, along with all the community benefits it provides.”

“It is vital that the Philadelphia Land Bank, Redevelopment Authority, and Department of Public Properties work in partnership with NGT and other urban agriculture organizations to untangle these complicated title issues,” said Jenny Greenberg, executive director of Neighborhood Gardens Trust (NGT), a land trust for the preservation of community gardens and shared green spaces, naming the city’s land-holding agencies.

The Land Bank, which manages the acquisition and disposition of privately owned and tax-delinquent vacant properties, was roundly criticized at the hearing for its long wait times and lack of dedicated greenspace staff.

Brooks said there will be a City Council hearing on May 22 on legislation allowing the Land Bank the priority bid to acquire community gardens and ultimately transfer them to community gardeners. Greenberg has been nominated to be a Land Bank board member.

“It’s also important that we can secure funding to purchase gardens from developers that acquire garden land, when we have no other pathway to save them,” said Greenberg.

One source of funding for urban agricultural is the Philadelphia Food Justice Initiative (PFJI), a program run jointly by Reinvestment Fund and the city’s Department of Health.

Since 2019, the fund has awarded $2 million in grants to 27 grantees, an average of $74,000 each, said Sara Vernon Sterman, Reinvestment Fund’s chief program officer.

“There is a great need for more resources to support this important work.”

However, during the fund’s last request for proposals, it received 79 applications for a total request of $6.1 million. It funded nine projects for a total $556,600, or an average of $62,000 each.

“There is a great need for more resources to support this important work,” Sterman said.

“The Food Justice Initiative should be funded more robustly so that many more groups can benefit,” said Kim Jordan, co-executive director of the Philadelphia Orchard Project (POP).

Brooks agreed. “We must commit $1 million to the Food Justice Initiative in this year’s budget, increase funding for the Department of Parks and Recreation, and reform the Land Bank to prioritize the needs of those who have been caring for these spaces for decades.”

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