Justice and Affinity Community Garden

Blue Berries and Raspberries ❤️❤️. Love to see it!

The idea that farming made us sicker and less free might sound surprising—but history tells a clear story. In this week’s newsletter, we explore how the shift to agriculture led to more disease, less mobility, and the loss of land access for everyday people. Settling down brought humans closer to livestock and each other, which allowed new illnesses to spread. Infant deaths rose. Plagues took hold. But perhaps the most lasting change? Land stopped being a shared resource and became a product—bought, sold, and controlled by the few. In the U.S., fertile farmland is increasingly priced beyond reach. Young and BIPOC farmers are disproportionately excluded from ownership. Aspiring growers are forced to lease—or give up. Meanwhile, land is sold off to developers or absentee investors who farm for margins, not meals. Read the full article here:
https://mailchi.mp/582b944e2891/how-farming-made-us-sicker

opened the door for un

In a garden, good bugs are helpful insects that protect your plants by eating harmful pests, pollinating flowers, and keeping the ecosystem balanced. Examples include ladybugs, which eat aphids, and bees, which pollinate plants. On the other hand, bad bugs can damage your garden by feeding on plants, spreading disease, or killing beneficial insects. Common bad bugs include aphids, caterpillars, and Japanese beetles. Knowing the difference helps gardeners take natural steps to protect their plants without using harmful chemicals.

Now is the perfect time to get your garden ready. Summer is approaching! Not just for the benefit of fresh produce, but also for the benefit of better mental health. Did you know that interacting with soil is one of the best antidepressants? You can read about it in this weeks news letter!
So how do you get the benefits of soil?:

1.) Garden Without Gloves Sometimes. Let soil microbes touch your skin.

2.) Compost. Add organic matter to build microbial diversity.

3.) Plant Cover Crops or rotate crops to avoid depletion.

4.) Buy from Local Farms that use regenerative or no-till practices.

5.) Eat Root Veggies. They bring you closer to the soil biome.

Click here to read more about the mental health and the soil connection in our weekly newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/d492ba0b0d9e/the-connection-between-soil-and-health

How can so called "healthcare" began to equate to absolute control? When medicine treats everyone the same, it has the ability to stop being care and could become medical enforcement. If your body reacts negatively to a standard vaccine, diet, or drug — but you're told it's “safe for everyone” — and you’re gaslit or dismissed, that’s not health care. That’s coercion disguised as science.

Bio-individuality MUST be respected.

Why Bio-individuality must be respected
For too long, we’ve been handed cookie-cutter solutions to complex, deeply individual problems — from food to pharmaceuticals. We’ve been told the food pyramid is universal. We’ve been told the same medications and vaccines are suitable for all bodies. And we’ve been told that science has spoken. But what science — and whose body? Bio-individuality challenges all of that. It’s the idea that each body is unique — genetically, biochemically, and culturally. What works for one may hurt another. This isn’t opinion. This is science grounded in genetics, epigenetics, microbiome research, and personalized medicine. While we are all human — but the way your body digests food, reacts to stress, metabolizes nutrients, or detoxifies chemicals could be radically different. We come from different ancestral backgrounds, we have different gut microbiomes, we process inflammation, insulin, or vitamin D differently and we have different methylation pathways or immune responses. So why do we consistently fail to acknowledge the role that these differences may play in our health as well as health outcomes?

Even in clinical trials, there has been a historical underrepresentation of Brown, Indigenous, and other ethnic populations. Yet the medical guidelines drawn from those trials are blanket-applied across the board. So when we talk about “universal” health recommendations, what we’re often dealing with is a model built on the biology of white, Western European bodies, then rubber-stamped onto every other person, everywhere. That is not science. That is systemic oversight at best, and negligence at worst. It does us not justice to not apply this truth to the health of individuals on an individual basis. With our ability to do modern testing (think gut microbiome analysis, food sensitivity panels, ect.), we can actually measure how our bodies respond to certain inputs. So why are institutions still treating human bodies like assembly-line machines? Why do we still pretend one food plan, one drug, one vaccine is right for everyone?

We are not templates.
We are not data points.
We are biological miracles with complex, dynamic bodies. And it is not only reasonable but necessary to demand health care, nutrition advice, and public policy that honors that complexity.
We are evolving. Medicine should too.
Bio-individuality is not a trend — it's the future of ethical science and the foundation of true health freedom, especially for ethnic communities that have long been misrepresented and underserved. Let’s stop conforming to broken systems and start listening to our bodies. Because your body knows more than any pyramid, protocol, or policy ever could.

Important Update Regarding the Canceled Event:
FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

We sincerely apologize to anyone who came out to the recent community garden event and was unaware of the last-minute cancellation. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, we were unable to hold the event as planned. We did post the cancellation on the website but did not post it on the social media sites.

To stay informed about future events and any changes, we kindly encourage you to regularly check our official communication channels:

page

Instagram Page

Event Page on the J&A Community Garden Website

These platforms will always have the most up-to-date information regarding schedules, cancellations, and new opportunities to get involved.

We appreciate your continued support and enthusiasm, and we’re excited to announce that more garden events are on the way—stay tuned!

—
J&A Community Garden Team

Glow up naturally

Spending the morning getting these packages together for our PMA event! The event is private and membership ONLY! But it should be fun, amazing and informative.

Land ownership is the primary way wealth is passed down in most societies.
Blocking land access in urban areas (e.g., redlining, gentrification, eminent domain) strips entire generations of economic mobility and stability.
This creates a cycle of generational death: of opportunities, health, and dignity.

Read weekly news letter here: https://mailchi.mp/daea343599a6/lw89r7wrod

Land ownership is the primary way wealth is passed down in most societies.

Blocking land access in urban areas (e.g., redlining, gentrification, eminent domain) strips entire generations of economic mobility and stability.

This creates a cycle of generational death: of opportunities, health, and dignity.

Want to explore this idea more? Read our weekly new letter!

"I do not seek to be seen by many—only to be known by the One who sees all."
Recognition is not my goal—impact is. Quietly building something that lasts matters more than applause."

And we live by that