Sunday, May 12, 2019

Urban Foraging: Learning How to Look and Listen Again



Hello, sweet, sweet friends. Welcome back to the blog!


For part of this week's presentation, we will be focusing on Urban Foraging! Woo!

This past week we all got a taste of what foraging is like, and how to identify a few plants that are from the area. How exciting!

 I know after learning bits and pieces on the farm, my whole view of the seemingly random  weeds and un-nameable plants that I grew up with shifted entirely (thanks for the weeds segway, Amy!). Shortly after, on my various walks about the Vine neighborhood, I took on a renewed interest in the strange ruffled leaves of this plant, and the long tendrils of another. What's its name? How did it get here? Can I eat it? (very important)

I felt the faintest sense of pride when I could finally identify the early spring growth of Motherwort in someone's front yard, or when I found wild garlic hidden in the tall grasses bordering the sidewalk of Davis. Look at me-- a real forager! (ha) 

Aside from jokes though-- this was a poignant moment. It was one of the first times that I had been able to see beyond the blur of green in the city and understand that within that blur exist individual plants with various uses and special powers. These plants weren't out of place, nuisances, or only useful as ornamentals, but live thrive here as much as we do. 

And thus, we come to the presentation.

In a more technical sounding definition: "We regard urban foraging as the practice of harvesting or gathering raw biological resources (fungi, plants, parts of plants, invertebrate and vertebrate animals, and fish) within urban and peri-urban settings primarily for direct consumption, decoration, crafts, barter, or small-scale sale. Following Poe et al. [11], urban foraging can include wild or domesticated species in managed or unmanaged and private or public spaces." (https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/10/1884/htm)

Urban foraging takes on a variety of forms and is done all over the world for an innumerable about of reasons-- ranging from sustenance, commercial activity, or crafting. And it's all right there, under our noses! Here's a fun, short video to prime you all, and check out the varying reasons why people are embracing the practice:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7k3P5CUtrU 

Even though all of this is made to sound cool and fun, there are some profound issues that come up with the practice of urban foraging. Specifically around the issue of legislation. Many of the rules and regulations that guide foraging of any kind are seeped in White Supremacy and Capitalism. Here's an online article that speaks on the issue of National Parks 'allowing' Indigenous peoples to collect traditional plants: https://reason.com/2019/04/06/complicated-rules-for-foraging-arent-hel/

And if you're interested, this is an article that outlines the impact of legislation on non-white bodies in the US, and details the other detrimental ways the law is used to regulate people, 'nature', and the food we eat. 
https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2740&context=ulj

If you're looking for a more local twist on legislation, here's a new one on morel hunting in Michigan:  https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2015/04/holdholdstate_puts_ok_stamp_on.html

Secondly, urban foraging is a difficult endeavor. There are so many things you need to stay attuned to in order to safely, and sustainably forage. You have to know the story of the land that you're on, you have to know if the plants get sprayed with chemicals, you have to be cognizant of where you find plants and how to take it. You have to make sure you leave some for others, or enough so that it can continue to propagate. 
Here is an article reviewing some rules surrounding a good practice of foraging: https://chestnutherbs.com/foraging-for-wild-edibles-and-herbs-sustainable-and-safe-gathering-practices/

Finally, I know I've shared this piece, or read this piece with many of you, but it is a favorite of mine: 
http://whereareyouquetzalcoatl.com/mesofigurineproject/EthnicAndIndigenousStudiesArticles/Simpson2014.pdf 

In this, Simpson shares with us the understanding that the land keeps us as much as we keep it. Foraging in all spaces is privy to these kinds of understandings. As I mentioned before, understanding the green in the city was a weird, cognitive shift for me. It is so important for us to realize that all land spaces are connected and need to be stewarded. We can't just ignore one once it is 'too far gone' (too developed), we have to take care of all that is around us. Urban foraging is a part of this process of getting to know the land around us, and understanding how we can take care of it and the people on it.

For class, please take a look at the links I provided above and answer the following questions:
 1)  Before this class, did you ever hear about or practice foraging? Share your experiences, if you want!! 

2) What is your relationship to green spaces in cities? How do you feel as though you can interact with them, what are some of the rules you know that guide how you treat green spaces at home?

3) Of the above readings/ videos, what do you want to learn more about? What intrigued you? What disturbed you? 

4) How do we feel we can apply Simpson's lessons to practice better relationships with the land-- especially in urban spaces? 

Also, barring bad weather, I would like us to all go on a little 'scavenger hunt' around campus to figure out what's here, what it's called, and what it can be used for. Stay tuned, and dress for the weather!

18 comments:

  1. 1) Before this class, did you ever hear about or practice foraging? Share your experiences, if you want!!
    My foraging experience was basically gathering wild onions from my yard for my mom to eat (I didn't like onions at the time). She told me at one point that I shouldn't gather too much because she could only eat so much (a little bit o' honorable harvest lesson). I also transplanted many into my "garden" in the woods. The first year there weren't many plants, but the next there was a huge patch where I'd replanted some (whether that was due to my planting skills or not is debatable...but there were a ton!)

    2) What is your relationship to green spaces in cities? How do you feel as though you can interact with them, what are some of the rules you know that guide how you treat green spaces at home?
    I love green spaces in cities. However, I have a suspicious relationship with "fake" greenery. Natural trees, plants, etc. look beautiful, but if it's too manicured, I like it and also don't like how artificial it seems (but even sculpted plants are plants!). I think of when I was living in Budapest and the parks and streets seemed so full of plants and trees growing semi-wild (although I bet many were planted at some point). I liked the "wildness" within a city atmosphere--not much like the sickly trees and flowers that I've seen struggle in Chicago!

    3) Of the above readings/ videos, what do you want to learn more about? What intrigued you? What disturbed you?
    I liked the idea of urban foraging (especially in a place that seems so city, like LA), but I wasn't sure how I felt about so many of the classes on foraging costing money. I understand that people have to make a living, but it just didn't quite settle in a restful way.

    4) How do we feel we can apply Simpson's lessons to practice better relationships with the land-- especially in urban spaces?
    I think simply going outside often (even when the weather is bad...even though I don't follow that very well...) is the best way to remember and learn from nature. Noticing nature in all of its forms in all spaces is key to beginning to learn more about the world we live in. And foraging is a great way to remind us that ultimately the earth produces the food we eat--sometimes in ways and plants that we didn't expect (like burdock!! I've been fighting and hating that plant for years...and you can eat it! Woot woot).

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  2. 1) In high school I volunteered with the conservationists in my community. We would go into the wooded park each week and work on some type of conservation activity. One weekend our task was to pull the invasive garlic mustard that was blanketing the ground. When I heard it was edible, I took a bag of it home and my mom made it into pesto! Other than that (and another plant I can recognize but cannot name) I was never really aware of the diverse edible plants in my community, but I am sure there are many more!

    2) Having gone through Landsea and learning about leave no trace, I definitely have a more informed interaction with the greenspaces near me. The park near my house is full of trails, and my family will go on walks through it, which I always love as it provides quality bonding time with my parents and siblings, especially now that we only ever see each other during major holidays. I have been more aware of the fact that my presence in the park has the power to leave behind lasting change for things as simple as walking on (or off) the trails. The park is a grounding spot for me and is full of only good memories, so I would like to do what I can to help preserve it.

    3) I want to learn more about the kinds of plants that grow in my hometown (edible or inedible) because I realize I do not even know the names of most of the plants around me, and I think that would help form the beginnings of a more intimate relationship between myself and the land I inhabit. The sustainable and safe gathering practices article really interested me in regards to this because so much of it is about the application of the Honorable Harvest in ways that I transfer to my own relation to my land at home. I'm not sure exactly what they're trying to sell me on that website (where is this knowledge coming from, who is benefiting by teaching the course, who is signing up for these online courses, etc.), but I hope they are as honorable as the information on the article we read.

    4) So often I feel like there is a cognitive disconnect between nature and our lives, and people always seem to conveniently forget about our place as beings in an ecosystem. Something I noticed about Simpson's lessons is the assumption of our role in nature. The idea that learning is a community thing is something so foreign in our culture of individual grades and competitive testing that we can be easily distracted when someone (like a squirrel) shows us something we can learn from. This is especially important in our urban spaces when we forage. I think one of the main concerns over foraging in our national parks is: how can an entire community of foragers preserve and maintain a healthy ecosystem if we are all not foraging together and actively communicating with each other? In a condensed urban environment, this problem of discoordination becomes even more pronounced. However, if we communicate with nature, nature will communicate with us, so by remaining open to communication with the environment and attentive to the things it shows us, we can successfully forage without overharvesting.

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  3. 1) Before this class, did you ever hear about or practice foraging? Share your experiences, if you want!!

    Yes! There were a lot of wild berries by my dads house growing up. The neighborhood kids would always collect some and make jam.

    2) What is your relationship to green spaces in cities? How do you feel as though you can interact with them, what are some of the rules you know that guide how you treat green spaces at home?

    I did not grow up in a city. I always lived in houses with a lot of nature around us so this is a little tricky to answer. My senior year of high school we did move somewhere more suburban... but my next door neighbor is a retired master gardener and he made a bunch of communal gardens that everyone could use.

    3) Of the above readings/ videos, what do you want to learn more about? What intrigued you? What disturbed you?

    I was disturbed by the Cherokee's having to pay 68,000 to harvest their ancestral land. With that in mind I also think it is incredibly important to protect biodiversity, so when the author mentioned allowing foraging in national parks for everyone I was not on board. I do not think enough of the general populace know enough to safely harvest in these delicate areas. Also I want to try wild greens pate.

    4) How do we feel we can apply Simpson's lessons to practice better relationships with the land-- especially in urban spaces?

    I think Simpson's idea of consensual engagement is very similar to aspects of the honorable harvest. I think everyone can bring more awareness to their food and how it is harvested. It is a manageable step in the right direction, one that is accessible to people of varying knowledge, skill sets, and privileges.

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  4. From Amy:

    1) I remember foraging on the playground as a kid in elementary school—there was this shady area where wood sorrel grew by a tree and my friends and I would eat the yellow flowers—we called them “banana flowers.” I really got serious about foraging when I was in college though and learning survival skills. I got a book by Steve Brill (the guy who got arrested for foraging in Central Park) and gave myself the challenge of making one meal every day from foraged foods and eating one new foraged food each week. My friends and family thought I was pretty weird but I learned a lot that way. I found that I was a lot more attentive to different plants species as I went about my day because I was always looking to see which ones I could eat. In indentifying the edible plants, I ended up IDing lots of non-edibles too. But I remember the edibles better!

    2) Whenever I’ve lived in or visited cities, green spaces have been a respite for me. I get easily overwhelmed by people and traffic and the energy of cities. When I visit parks, I feel like I can breathe and that I am among friends with the plants there. I guess I haven’t thought much about rules governing green spaces in cities and I feel very fortunate to live in a rural area where we don’t have regulations that force us to eradicate wildness in our backyard.

    3) I thought the article on foraging law was really interesting. It’s not surprising that foraging law has been used as a tool to undermine the survival strategies and self-sufficiency of Native Americans and freed slaves but it’s definitely disturbing. And the idea that the US govt is regulating the foraging practices of Native Americans in order to “protect” ecosystems from them is just laughable. This article made me think a lot about the “commons” and how shared land and resources has been a part of so many cultures—and how our US “commons” in the form of our state and federal lands serve such a different purpose—it’s crazy to me that the state and federal government can sell the mineral rights to public lands to oil and gas companies and can allow timber companies to log some of these lands, but that there are restrictions on people picking berries. One thing I’d like to know more about is—I’d like to know more about lands that are currently held as commons where people are able to forage freely where that system is really working and people are being good stewards of the land and also being good neighbors to each other (like not taking too much so that there will be enough left for others to forage and not depleting the ecosystem).

    4) When Binoojiinh learns about maple sap, it’s not because they went out to learn about maple sap. It’s because they were happy being in the bush and they decide to take a little rest under a tree. When they rest under the tree, they are not preoccupied with worrying over this and that, they are present with the plants and animals around them, they notice and greet them. In the manner of their greeting, it is clear that they have a relationship with Ajidamoo and care about their well-being. In this way, they are open to the teaching of the land. I think this is one lesson that we can take from this story, wherever we are. Wherever we are, we are on the Earth, we are on the land, and we are surrounded by wise, resilient beings. We can get to know the non-human beings that live around us and with us by taking time to be with them without any other purpose but to be with them. So even when we are foraging, we can take time to nap under a tree or to just sit and enjoy being outside. When we are always “on task” we miss out on learning things that we didn’t even know were possible to learn. When we take time just to be and to be curious about what and who is going on around us, who knows what we’ll learn?

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  5. 1. Prior to this class, I don't remember knowing much about urban foraging. I may have learned edible plants from Girl Scout camps or biology camps (because I was a little nerd as a child) but I don't have a strong memory associated with foraging.

    2. I grew up in the metro Detriot area and was fortunate to have green spaces around my home and schools. Now living in Kalamazoo, I think we still have green spaces, only access is more difficult for those who do not have a personal vehicle. My relationship with green spaces has evolved as I have grown up. As I have written about previously, as a child green spaces were places for exploration and play, now they act as areas to recharge, relax, and respect. One rule I live by is leaving a place better than you have found it which often results in me picking up trash in the green spaces I am using. I think another well know rule is "Take only photos, leave only footsteps."

    3. I was definitely disturbed by the $68,000 the Cherokee members had to pay in order to create legislature to forage on their ancestral lands. That is a lot of money, and I am sure more was spent hiring lawyers, for transportation, etc. to give to a governing body that has forced that same group of people off the land. It also works to perpetuate the narrative that land and its organisms can be bought.

    I also wonder to what extent these laws are keeping those who are food insecure reliate on governing systems, perpetuating their lack of independence and agency. Secondly, to what extent are the food safety laws based in science or on prejudice to relationships with the land and living off of "wild" things.

    4. I think that reintroducing green spaces and nature into our education system and teaching the value of mutual respect is crucial. As children, we are inherently curious about the world around, but that curiosity is often forcibly suppressed so we can learn the "academic basics." Further, as performance on standardized tests determines education funding, we see less recess and time spend on creative outlets in order to make room for bettering these test scores. We need to facilitate love and respect for the land, and starting at a young age is needed.

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  6. 1. Sadly I never heard of the term foraging before starting this class this Spring, while I was aware of the practice of foraging, such as friends who would hunt for morels. I never have personally foraged for food until taking this course. I think it may come from the lack of knowledge I have about foods growing in my own environment and the society we live in tells us only of the dangers of eating plants in the wild rather than teaching us of the bountiful foods we have access to in our environments that are safe to eat.

    2. I feel like my relationship with green spaces is ever changing in Kalamazoo in particular as the years have past. The green spaces I interact with the most are the Lillian Anderson Arboretum, the Al Sabo Preserve, and the Kleinstuck Preserve. When interacting with these spaces I try and remember I am guest. My presence should have as small as a impact as possible on the life existing in those spaces.

    3. Poe, et al. (2013) which discussed the importance of green spaces and urban forests was quite intriguing. The Kleinstuck Preserve in Kalamazoo off of Oakland Drive I would consider to be a Urban Forest, while I do not believe the residents of Kalamazoo use this urban forest for gathering wild edible and medicinal plants and fungi or understand their relationship in protecting this natural resource for food and health.

    4. As Simpson explains, “we grow and nurture a generation of people that can think within the land and have tremendous knowledge and connection”. I think this is particularly important to acknowledge when forming better relationships with the land and urban spaces around us. As a society we must move away from consumerism if we are to create a better relationship with our land and teach the new generations of peoples that the land is living and should be respected as well as understood.

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  8. 1) The foraging of mushrooms especially had always been commonplace to me as my whole family does it (and boasts about it) in Italy. It’s cool that it seems to be one of those things passed down by oral tradition and that people genuinely like to spend hours doing it even when they don’t normally find enough to “make it worth their time.”
    2) I feel like green spaces in cities have always been seen as there for recreational purposes such as lounging, playing and picnicking. I know when I was younger it used to be hilarious to pretend and eat the grass in our front yards when playing with friends, or to make mud pies after a rainfall. It’s interesting that kids will put almost anything in their mouth yet they aren’t taught the things that they actually can (!!) put in their mouth when they’re walking around in nature. Wouldn’t it be great to start them young so that they could implement this survival skill throughout the rest of their lives??
    3,4) I guess the most disturbing is definitely the limits on Cherokee ability to forage a plant they have spent a millennia building a relationship with in a way that they are clearly sustaining each other. I liked that the Chestnut School post put a word to over-foraging a crop: plundering, and made it clear what the difference between the two was. I think it’s great that they do a 375 hour (wow!!) online course to teach people how to forage safely- it seems like it should be a subject in schools if cooking and parenting classes are included in curriculum. The plays very well into the idea of native americans choosing to forgo modern education agenda. That being said, one of the best things we can do in urban settings is choose to educate and be educated on these issues.

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  9. I think that, even more so than in greener area, urban green spaces have to be treated with as much care as possible. Simply on account of population density, a park, garden, or other green space may be some of the only contact with nature or growing plants that a lot of people in the area have contact with. If a population's very dense, there may not be room for much else.

    Therefore, it's important to be very careful to interact in the right way with such a green space. For those of us who do care about honoring the environment, we know that it's important to respect rules of stewardship - not just on our own part, but also to mitigate the subset of the population that doesn't respect or honor the land. Again, in a space with higher population density, the negative impact of those who disrespect the land can be more pronounced. Hopefully our own example can be another place for individuals to learn from.

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  10. 1) Yes! I live in a very rural area and many of my friends participated in a local nature camp, in which you learn all about foraging in the area, so they'd share their knowledge with me. Also, I babysit the kids of the couple who runs the camp, and at age 3, these kids were already teaching me more than I'd ever learned about foraging and local plants.

    2) I love being in cities with green spaces. I think the idea of city and nature merging are an awesome and necessary idea. When thinking about this, my mind immediately goes back to my time studying abroad in Madrid, where there are countless parks and green spaces incorporated into the city. Those spaces regularly provided meeting spaces for me and my friends (especially when we didn't have much money) and I was able to feel as though I could get away into nature while still being in a busy city.

    3) In addition to wanting to learn more about urban foraging, I am interested in foraging legislature. In my sophomore seminar, which focused on displacement and dispossession, we spent time focusing on natural parks and how their protection as conservation sites has pushed out native groups and disrupted traditions having to do with that land. I'd like to learn some more about this.

    4) I think it begins with understanding that the land that cities sit on is still land from the earth. Nature finds amazing ways to interact with and still grow in cities, and I think it is important to recognize and honor the actual land that support cities.

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  11. Sorry for the late and short response(s).

    1. Some! I’ve gone Morel foraging with my grandfather before, and I used to eat flowers as a child.
    2. I often feel an odd relationship to green spaces in cities. When I was living just outside of Chicago, I would go for walks around my suburban neighborhood and climb trees, eat flowers, find rocks, and use sticks for walking, playing, and pretending. Once my family moved to Ann Arbor, I would go to ‘the diag’ and spend time sitting on the grass with friends. In both Ann Arbor and Chicago, I often felt that the green spaces were oddly stale, obviously constructed, too diametrical, and sterile. And yet, I often interacted with them as reprieves from the rest of the cement and metal cities.

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  12. I want to start out by saying that I ABSOLUTELY AGREE that there is been a dramatic shift in my mindset regarding how I view plants/weeds in both urban spaces, (such as walking between Bronson Park and Kalamazoo College) and in rural or deliberate natural spaces (such as private property forests (such as the one Amy invited us to last week) and places like the Lillian Anderson Arboretum. Basically, I did not realize how much food was edible and how many things I was passing up. I have a tendency to become majorly overwhelmed and hyperstimulated in urban spaces and enter a speedy mindset that makes walking a mission to get from point A to point B. Yet, on the contrary I see how I am in forest spaces and it is much different, I walk to fast, only looking for what my eyes are trained to see and recognize. I need to slow down, we all do at times and that is what I am gathering as we move into the conversations about foraging/ weeding and move into a dynamic that explores urban spaces and foraging.


    1)
    I have an interesting relationship to foraging because I think about the ways that my mama has always done it to save money. She would take me to the side of the highway close to the house I lived in growing up and show me the “bush berries”. Along the highway there was and still is several random prickly fruit bushes and tall mulberry trees. She would forage (a word we would not have used back then) mulberries, black raspberries, red raspberries, white raspberries, wild strawberries, lowbush blueberries and black currant. My mom never bought berries growing up, so if I had a hankering for them I would just go outside and forage berries though while in season, these bush berries were ALWAYS in my house. So many that she would freeze what we did not eat and use it for random things throughout the year.


    2)
    Interesting question, which leads me to another question of what is a city? For punctuality purposes I am going to define a city as the place that the state defines a city, (very colonialist/ state centered of me, I am aware). Anyway, I never considered how I treat green spaces until I read “Tradgedy of the Commons” and later read and learned the rules of the honorable harvest through reading Robin Wall Kimmerer’s “Braiding Sweetgrass.” Basically, I see the interconnected relationship that humans have to the land differently because of those resources. The rules I follow in urban green spaces in my home are as equally respected as green spaces in urban areas. I follow the general guidelines for the honorable harvest which also assists in my ability to eventually feel closer to the plants/animals/soil/ect.



    3)
    *I do for liberal arts degree and just overall representation purposes want to point out that all the videos I have watched/ consumed and interacted with about foraging recently are championed by white older men...and my foraging champion growing up was my Mom (a white woman). I am curious to one day have a discussion about the ways that race/ class/ and status interact with the actions of foraging. Maybe we can talk about this on the farm next week or just have a casual class conversation about it if it comes up.




    4)
    Uhg, thank you for showing this great piece of text! The thing I am most going to miss about Kalamazoo College is just the great amount of new material I am constantly being exposed to.
    I think what Woodward is doing with Club Grub is really really cool, I would be curious if there are other schools in the city that have clubs like Club Grub and if there are ways we can introduce and consensually interact with green spaces with young people in urban spaces. This is not only good for elementary students, but this is good for soothing and working with each of our inner children.

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  13. 1) I had heard so much about foraging from people who do it but none of it stuck with me! I also never ever have foraged! NOT TILL THIS CLASS, did I think I could. My pride right now is that I can spot wild garlic EVERYWHERE!!

    2) In my city green spaces are far and few in between. Most green spaces tend to be extremely manicured and made for foot traffic and not true engagement. It makes me really sad somtiems because just outside the city we have the forest and all around us we have mountains bt the city tends to remove it self from green space all the time. Things are about aesthetic and being picturesque rather than them being about freedom and wilderness and what will grow!

    3)I want to know more about legality adn foraging and the way that these meet and discourage foraging. I do not understand the way that we curate our relationship to this natural beautiful land via the lay of the law and I want to know more about foundational arguments and what the reasoning behind these arguements is so strong. Is it morealizing? Is it Othering? What has made them so readily accessible?

    4) COnstantly having conversation that teaches and allows us to also be taught by the earth and each other simultaneously is one way I see of applying this. Programs that work with children and education, workshops thst happen on campus, and other community engagements teach us so much and can do so much to change perceptions and subsequentl, actions.

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  14. 1. I did not hear about foraging prior to this seminar. I think it’s great though!
    2. So I am from Chicago, more specifically from Little Village. Growing up I did not see any green spaces around me. The neighborhood is so toxic that an environmental organization from their has “toxic tours” which is why foraging is so fascinating to me. I also think about how even if the neighborhood was not so toxic, it would still not have more than a small patch of grass in the front of your house.
    3. I think I would like to know more about foraging in polluted areas, or areas that come into contact with pollution, like if it is a possibility.
    4. I think in the case of cities when we talk about nature we tend to reflect nostalgically. Almost like, wow, this was once nature and now there are skyscrapers. Though I think it is valid to feel that way, it keeps us from thinking of how we can also build green spaces. So for me, it becomes important to understand that nature can also be built and even when there are tall buildings, we can still grow and make room. I think one way of doing this is by creating community to build these.

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