1. This should be addressed to Eric Trout

The “Guerrilla Gardener” video was a captivating look inside an inner city problem in South Central L.A. In the video, Ron Finley discusses and explains some of the issues that he sees going on within his community. He speaks about the amount of fast food restaurants that are abundant throughout his neighborhoods. But also the lack of stores to get fresh produce to have a healthy meal. He makes light of his situation and takes a small patch of land that the city requires him to maintain. He uses this land to grow a garden and openly invites his neighbors to use the food if they need it. The city issues him a ticket for the garden and ultimately he fights for the right to grow the food he wants. His story reaches many people including city officials and he is eventually allowed to grow the garden on his property. Mr. Finley doesn't stop there, he continues to grow gardens and starts a movement to better the youth and his community.

Within these issues we see the government step in and try to stop someone doing something good for a neighborhood simply because it’s against policy. “Environmental problems have risen up both the policy-making and business agendas to become an issue of vital importance. One potential route out of the seeming dichotomy between industry and the environment is that of sustainable development.” (Gibbs & Hooper, 1996). I think there has been concern over the years involving enough environmental problems like global warming and rising sea levels, that government agencies have taken notice and have started to regulate policies in a more positive direction. But I think sustainability is something that needs to be pushed. Mr. Finley speaks about this in is video. He says that the efforts must be sustainable. They have to be renewable or they die. There must be an emphasis on raising environmental efficiency, for example reducing the environmental impact of economic activity. And addressing individual parts of the economy, such as firms or sectors, or new construction development emphasising a holistic approach to the environment.” (Gibbs & Hooper, 1996).

So how can policy help to fix something like this? Looking at environmental concern, its possible to turn this into a competitive advantage to the city. Policies aimed at reduction and elimination of pollution and prevention and recycling can help the cities. Making or changing policies that improve market incentives for companies that adhere to achieving these standards can stimulate the right growth. “The right policies can stimulate investment, add innovation and competitiveness rather than stifle them.” (Gibbs & Hooper, 1996).

References

Gibbs, D., & Hooper, P. (1996). Sustainable development and corporate environmental strategy.. Greener Management International, (16), 78.

2. This should be addressed to Pearl Watson

In the video "Guerrilla Gardener", Ron Finley talks about how he was so tired of seeing his community go to waste because of the large number of empty lots and fast food restaurants being thrown up all over the city. This is when he decided to make a huge step in changing his community for the better by starting a garden on the piece of property in front of his home. This caused some issues, but it also made more people want to get involved and start their own gardening and also begin to eat better. He also mentions how it is important for the children to learn the importance of gardening also so that they can carry on the tradition and even pass it down to their own kids or grandkids (Finley, 2013).

Community gardening would help the population because it will actually help with better and healthier eating habits. It will also help the children in today's society to know and understand the importance of growing your own food and how healthy it is. Most children like to play in the dirt anyway, so this would not only be a learning experience for them, but it would make it fun for them as well. If community gardening started to happen all over the world, there would be a lot less people getting diagnosed with numerous of health problems that eventually come from eating unhealthy foods so much. Community gardening will also bring everyone closer together and make it a lot easier to get along with the neighbors in a community (Allan, 2012).

Allan, D. (2012, May 3). Don't start a veggie garden to save money [On-line]. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-allen/dont-start-a-veggie-garde_b_1473974.html

Finley, R. (2013, February). A guerilla gardener in South Central LA. Retrieved from: https://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_ga…