National Geographic recently marked Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia with an article, “This City Turns Brown Into Green, Just as the Pope Wishes“.
The story features the transformation of vacant land into community gardens which provide access to green space and fresh produce to city residents. Reporter Marianne Lavell notes, that Pope Francis has written about the need of all people for access to green space:
We were not meant to be inundated by cement, asphalt, glass, and metal, and deprived of physical contact with nature.
The article features the Nationalities Service Center Growing Home Garden which serves Burmese and Bhutanese refugee families. It also highlights NGT’s work to preserve gardens and the PHS City Harvest Program.