On July 26, Livability22202 and the Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture, with support from the National Landing BID and Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation, hosted an inauguration ceremony for the Highlands Urban Garden (HUG), the National Landing community’s demonstration urban garden.
Local residents, neighborhood leaders and stakeholders attended the ceremony, which thanked donors and volunteers and introduced HUG to the community. Arlington County Board Member Libby Garvey provided remarks and following the speakers, volunteers harvested the produce that was available for donation.
Project HUG revitalizes underused land at Virginia Highlands Park and illustrates how marginalized space in National Landing’s urban environment can be transformed into vibrant, sustainable, food producing ecosystems. This pilot project serves as a model of modern sustainable agricultural practices to demonstrate how community-driven farming can address food insecurity by leveraging partnerships across public, private, civic, and non-profit communities.
“The BID is proud to be a supporter of HUG, and celebrates the hard working volunteers and participating organizers that have made this initiative a success,” said Tracy Sayegh Gabriel, President and Executive Director of the National Landing BID. “Activating open spaces for community usage, beautification, and benefit is a priority for the BID and the HUG project is exemplary of what we look to accomplish in National Landing.”
A volunteer team of Arlington neighbors built the garden and, to-date, over 100 lbs. of produce have been harvested and donated to local charities as part of the Plot Against Hunger, a project that collects fresh produce to supplement groceries for neighborhood families in need.
To learn more about HUG, please visit: https://arlingtonurbanag.org/project-hug/.