Anti-Racism Resources

P-Patch Anti-Racism Statement

The P-Patch Program is committed to achieving racial equity and dismantling the institutional racism that has prevented people of color from fully participating in our program. We believe that we each have a responsibility to make our gardens more inclusive and welcoming to all. This requires us to commit to addressing racism and all forms of injustice in our communities and center people most impacted by systemic racism: Black, Indigenous, and People of color (BIPOC).

Here are a few examples of how P-Patch Program is committed to becoming an anti-racist organization:    

• In 2020, we adopted new plot assignment guidelines that emphasize priority placement of underrepresented communities in our gardens. From January - July 2020, 45% of new gardeners across the program were placed from these priority groups.         
• Staff have written our annual workplans to shift our time and resources toward BIPOC communities.         
• We updated key program documents (Safety TIP Sheet, Sharing Abundance TIP Sheet) to reflect alternatives to calling 911 and to encourage a more compassionate response to food theft, people experiencing homelessness in the gardens, and mental health emergencies. 
• We are partnering with internal city departments and external facilitators to offer free anti-racism trainings to P-Patch gardeners. 

This work may look different in each of your gardens, but we encourage you to begin (or continue) these important conversations and learning amongst your garden neighbors, and with support from P-Patch staff if needed. We hope you'll join us in this important work to build an anti-racist P-Patch Program. Start here with our playlist of anti-racism training videos.

Here are some examples of actions you can take:

• Ask for input at your gardener gathering meeting and other meetings or work parties for how to be more inclusive as a garden.     
• Develop group agreements for making decisions and resolving conflict (staff can provide examples).       
• Take a training through P-Patch Program (or other organizations) and share learnings with your fellow gardeners.       
• Commit to listening deeply, inviting, and valuing everyone's participation and engagement through an anti-racist lens.       
• Read books or articles to educate yourself and promote discussion on topics such as implicit bias, privilege and power, and structural racism in the food system. 
• Create a land acknowledgement for your garden to recognize the Duwamish and Coast Salish tribes whose land we occupy, and practice sharing it at the start of each gathering.  
• Consider supporting the Duwamish tribe by paying Real Rent.  Learn more about the indigenous communities whose land you are on: https://native-land.ca/

Online Resources

Reflection: Where is your responsibility in creating a more inclusive (and Anti-Racist) garden space?

Invitation: Share a learning or resource with someone from your garden or try a new way of engaging with fellow gardeners, community members, and neighbors.