“But you know,” Litt said in our phone interview, “at the
end of the day I’m not even sure whether it needs to be gardening.” “Really?” I asked, surprised. “What we’ve found in our studies is that neighborhood
beauty is strongly related to phenomena like collective effi- cacy, which in turn relate to self-reported health,” she told me. “If you don’t think your surroundings are beautiful and worth engaging with on a daily basis, then you won’t go outside, move, connect with others, or be active. The bot- tom line is that it’s all about aesthetics. A public park or a wildlife refuge might have a similar positive effect.” I considered Jill’s point. Nine months earlier, the Canal
Garden site was barren and uninviting, no place for a gathering. But now it’s a hub of activity, with each garden member telling me how much he or she valued the land’s beauty. Frenchy called it his “retreat,” Marina referred to it as her “temple,” and Raquel, who devoted her plot to teas and herbs, called the garden her “farmacia hermosa” (beautiful pharmacy). Rosa, a gardener who also works at
60 · LAND&PEOPLE · SPRING/SUMMER 2014
Picante, credited the attractiveness of the restaurant’s new neighbor for drawing in more customers. For my part, I saw all kinds of beauty in the Canal Community Garden: the multigenerational, multiethnic collaboration; the storytelling, shared meals, and recipes; the physical labor in the sunshine; the kindness to neighbors; the counseling and support; the volunteerism, the connection to cultural traditions; and the sense of pride about what was being grown. As a physician, I believe that any space that can encourage these things is as worthy an investment in public health as a pharmacy or clinic. Canal gardener Marina has her own take on the connec- tion between community gardens and public health. In her day job, she’s an outreach worker for Covered California, California’s new medical insurance marketplace. “This should be a covered mental health benefit in our
new insurance plans,” she said, her hand sweeping over the garden plots. “Everyone should be able to come to a place like this.”
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