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Creating an Edible Dialogue for Peace: Community Gardening, Horticulture, and Urban Fruit Tree Orchards

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The Psychology of Peace Promotion

Part of the book series: Peace Psychology Book Series ((PPBS))

Abstract

This chapter examines the psychological benefits of “green” space environments and how sustainable programs provide greater opportunities for positive intergroup contact that can also help establish community resilience and empowerment. In this chapter, James Kelly’s (American Psychologist 21: 535–539, 1966) ecological analogy is discussed, and how green space environments and community gardens can provide opportunities for the development of interdependence, adaptation, recycling of resources, and succession. Additionally, in this chapter also discussed is how communities may reduce violence and conflict through the implementation of programs that support superordinate goals (i.e., healthy foods), interdependency, and increased positive contact. The chapter concludes by providing several examples of how the application of environmental stewardship and green space programs (i.e., “The Sandy Hook Victory Gardens” and the “9/11 Living Trees Memorial Project”) can help teach the natural and organic principles that promote peace and resilience in communities that have been impacted by tragedy.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Metropolitan State University, St Paul, MN, USA

    August John Hoffman

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  1. August John Hoffman
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Correspondence to August John Hoffman .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, Nigeria

    Mary Gloria C. Njoku

  2. DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Leonard A. Jason

  3. Department of Professional Studies, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA

    R. Burke Johnson

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Hoffman, A.J. (2019). Creating an Edible Dialogue for Peace: Community Gardening, Horticulture, and Urban Fruit Tree Orchards. In: Njoku, M.G.C., Jason, L.A., Johnson, R.B. (eds) The Psychology of Peace Promotion. Peace Psychology Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14943-7_17

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