Wasted Space

 Lawns have become a staple of the American household, from suburbia to the country the idea of having a green weed-free yard is a prevalent part of a box it seems you must check to live up to the American dream. But is this notion without unfound concern? Some places due to the water-intensive nature of lawn grass have started to pay people to ditch it for other alternatives such as rock landscaping. "Southern California is paying $2 per square foot of grass pulled out" Which has happened a lot out west including watering bans for turf lawns during droughts, which have been particularly bad over the last few years.

 https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/19/us/california-drought-lawns

Not only is turf grass bad with water consumption it also is bad in terms of wasted space and fertilizer use. In the United States, turf grass occupies over 2% of the total land area a number higher than the land area corn covers. A number close to a million square miles. For many people especially in suburban areas, the competition to have the best-looking lawns are a feat that requires mass amounts of chemicals to keep the yard weed free and the desired type of grass growing. In this effort turf grass is also the number one user of fertilizer by land area. This type of fertilizing is even worse for the environment than even crops. As using fertilizer on grass is usually in areas close to roads, sidewalks, and other impervious materials that allow the fertilizer to escape often into storm drains and other water systems.

One of the biggest pollutants from lawn fertilizers is the pollutant phosphorus which is a number indicated in the middle of your normal fertilizer analysis numbers. Which followed by nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

“Excess nitrogen and phosphorus cause an overgrowth of algae in a short period of time, also called algae blooms. The overgrowth of algae consumes oxygen and blocks sunlight from underwater plants. When the algae eventually die, the oxygen in the water is consumed”

https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/effects-dead-zones-and-harmful-algal-blooms#:~:text=Excess%20nitrogen%20and%20phosphorus%20cause,in%20the%20water%20is%20consumed.

 

Not only is the fertilizer a problem but having a monoculture of one type of plant, especially one that doesn’t flower can wreak havoc on pollinators such as butterflies who require nectar to survive. It also kills natural plant and animal species which are ripped out due to them being nothing but “weeds” even though they are important for pollinators and other animals to live.

 

Wasted Space

As mentioned earlier turf lawns take up vast amounts of space in America along with the destructive use of fertilizers, wastes a lot of valuable farming space. One statistic that might shock you is on only .44 acres of land a person can grow all the fruit and vegetable caloric needs for an entire year. If you were to grow even just a month’s worth of food, could you think about the number of trips you could save going to the grocery store? Not only this would reduce your carbon footprint involved in driving to the grocery store this would also lower the carbon footprint from huge trucks and boats that carry fruits and vegetables from other countries to the United States. One thing though that is a barrier to a lot of people, particularly in suburban areas which today is where most Americans live is regulations on simply growing your own food on your property. City codes along with rules in communities prevent anything other than grass to be grown and a neat short yard from being present on your property. For some, this could come even in a form of a civil misdemeanor for simply growing food on your own properties which racks up fines and potentially foreclosure if you don’t follow city ordinances. Only two states have passed right-to-garden laws to supersede city actions which often follow the lines of no structure over a certain amount of square feet on your property such as small greenhouses and other farming structures. For many, the laws are even more strict in neighborhoods with Homeowners associations, with there being no ability to even grow ground crops without being fined in even your backyard. These actions vastly hamper many Americans' ability to be food-stable. 

"In the spring of 2011, Julie Bass installed several raised beds in the front yard of her suburban property in Oak Park, Michigan. Bass quickly learned that her gardening efforts, intended to teach her kids about growing their own food, had provoked the ire of her city. Bass was cited with a civil misdemeanor for not planting “grass, shrubs, or other suitable live plant material.”

https://civileats.com/2022/08/20/two-states-right-to-garden-laws-local-food-community-nutrition-security-illinois-florida/

 

 

Being able to grow your own garden does more than even being able to reduce your carbon output it can also provide more food security. Places in Detroit where houses once stood groups have taken up and turned into urban gardens creating places that can grow food for the community garden and bring residents together to help the community as a whole and help create a sense of a common goal between people. These gardens have turned places nothing more than urban sprawl into local, low carbon emission, free sources of food for communities.

"Detroit, labeled a “food desert,” was a major motivation for Blunt to enter the agricultural field. “People deserve fresh food,” Blunt says, “I believe good nutrition can help people reach their potential.”

https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2019/11/05/food-community-detroit-garden-agriculture

 

 

Even though Detroit is a metropolis with a population of a million people Detroit has found the land to do this on, and I think these actions would be even easier to make happen here locally in Murfreesboro. So, what can we do? For one I think we can start off with the idea of using raised gardens in our backyards along with using planter pots to be able to grow small things of fruits and vegetables. One thing about raised gardens is the cost and labor of making one. I have made one myself for a landscaping client. It required first building the structure out of 2 x 10 x 20s which are pretty expensive pieces of lumber. Then it included the large effort of wheelbarrowing dirt from the road where I had delivered dirt to the backyard and then shoveling it back in. This might not be the most ideal because of the cost and labor but it’s a starting point for what we can do now. The next step I think we need to make is to petition city leaders and even landowners like homeowner associations to use land that isn’t being used for anything except decorative turf. Huge swaths of land currently dot Murfreesboro between the sprawls. Places like common areas in neighborhoods are prime places for community gardens. These places have intentionally been left alone to allow places for water to drain and can sometimes be as big as communities themselves. These areas would be great places to plant acres of crops that could sustain the communities they surround. And lastly, I think we need to petition cities to allow us to grow food crops normally in the ground like people do around the world. Many homes in Murfreesboro are on around at least a quarter-acre lot which would provide enough fruit and vegetables for someone for half a year. In many Eastern European homes, the idea of having a lawn is a foreign thing as for many of those homes they are simply fenced around to establish their property lines with their neighbors then the entire yard is planted with fruits and vegetables.

 

 

Americans have the resources to become more food stable on their own and protect the environment by increasing plant diversity. We just must make gardening more accessible and teach about the value of growing your own food.