Community gardening efforts blossom in New Brunswick as the newly-formed New Brunswick Community Gardening Coalition expands its collaborative mission to share resources, build neighborhood ties, and promote food security throughout New Brunswick, NJ. In her final semester as an undergraduate at Rutgers University, studying all things politics, policy, and planning, Alena D’Auria dug deeper into the gardening coalition’s goals and growth and traced the successful community development strategies at play.
Alena’s research interests include community development initiatives pertaining to equity, accessibility, and value-added production within low-income neighborhoods. After graduation, Alena moved down to Atlanta, GA to expand upon these interests and pursue her Masters in City and Regional Planning. A full-blown “foodie,” she hopes to one day open her very own community café and raise awareness around issues of food security in urban centers.