Main image: iStock/John Braid
Sierra Club’s Nearby Nature initiative connects people to nature close to home by engaging youth and communities to explore, enjoy, and protect public parks, waters, trails, gardens and other green spaces in and around urban areas. The initiative is empowering young people to explore the role school and community gardens play in improving access to healthy foods and nearby greenspace, supporting environmental education, strengthening communities, and protecting our environment. Follow our multi-part blog series as we explore gardens.
Introducing Sierra Club’s Los Angeles Garden Intern Mireya Arizmendi de Haddad, an interview
During the fall academic semester, Sierra Club’s Nearby Nature initiative will work with interns in Baltimore and Los Angeles to learn about and support community and school gardens. We’ll be introducing our Garden Interns over the next few weeks and after that, you’ll get to hear directly from them as they begin to do their own blogging, sharing highlights of their experiences getting their hands dirty, meeting new people, learning about the connections between food and the environment, and identifying some of the challenges and opportunities facing communities in Baltimore and Los Angeles. Hopefully, they’ll also get to try some delicious local veggies. Read on as we introduce Mireya Arizmendi, the first of three Sierra Club Los Angeles Garden Interns, through a short interview. Welcome, Mireya!
Q: Mireya, we are so excited to be working with you this semester to explore community and school garden projects in Los Angeles. Tell our readers what inspired you to apply for the Sierra Club Los Angeles Garden Project Internship?
A: My determination to improve the health and living conditions of others as well as protecting the environment inspired me to apply for this internship.
Q: Have you ever worked in a garden before?
A: Yes.
Q: Tell us what that was like for you. What did you draw from your experience? What do you hope others will gain from working in the gardens?
A: I grew up in Mexico and my father taught us how to farm the land. He would always tell us that the land is sacred and alive. When my family came from Mexico to South LA in 1990, we continued to grow vegetables on the rooftop of our apartment building. After this transformative experience, I became interested in protecting and advocating for the environment including the well being of my community. Therefore, I started to volunteer with non-profit organizations to help people start their own gardens and became a master gardener graduate from the University of California Cooperative extension volunteer training program. Nothing gives me better satisfaction than to see other people conquer and achieve health-enhancing behaviors in their daily lives, but also organize endeavors to protect the planet we live on. From the bottom of my heart, I hope others gain similar experiences from working in the gardens.
Q: Tell us about your favorite place outdoors.
A: My two favorites are the San Gabriel Mountains and community gardens because both nurture our families, help us build strong communities and make us better citizens of the world.
Read our previous post: Nearby Nature Gets Gardening: Part 1