About Us
Our Purpose
City Green is a 501(c)3 nonprofit farming and gardening organization, based in Clifton, New Jersey. Our programs offer practical, technical and financial resources to foster equitable access to local food and green spaces, in support of sustainable, healthy communities.
City Green envisions livable, green urban communities that are socially, economically and environmentally rejuvenated. Because of the community garden and greening projects carried out by the community with the help of City Green, residents have access to bountiful fresh produce; youth have volunteer, work and leadership opportunities in the community; and neighborhoods have welcoming, safe, natural respites that are a focal point for sociability, community involvement, cultural expression and individual empowerment.
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Our Values
City Green values the fundamental value and dignity of all individuals and values diversity in traditions, cultures, perspectives, heritages, and life experiences.
City Green values equitable access to and availability of local fruits and vegetables in support of food security and sustainable food systems for people and communities, now and in the future.
City Green values the opportunity to grow, learn about, and positively engage with healthy fruits and vegetables for all people in communities in support of sustainable livelihoods.
City Green values every person and community having equitable access to, availability of, and full participation in the resources and structures that they require and desire to thrive.
City Green values equitable access to gardens and green spaces, which are inspiring and powerful instruments to enhance community, foster connections to nature, and promote environmental stewardship for children, families, and communities.
City Green values a food culture that celebrates individual and community foodways, and sharing food related knowledge and skills in relationships and social networks.
City Green values and welcomes the voices of our community, and believes in fostering a culture of belonging where everyone is seen, heard, and valued.
City Green values traditional agricultural practices that are sustainable and regenerative, and that values the soil, the environment, and farm workers in support of sustainable local
food systems.
City Green values garden and food system learning and experiences that connect people and communities to their food and the natural world.
Our Impact
Read our 2024 Impact Report to see our work on our farm & in our community over the past year! Our previous two Impact Reports are also available for download.
Download Our Previous Impact Reports
Land Statement
We are on the traditional lands of the Munsee Lenape people.
As a land based organization, City Green acknowledges the Munsee Lenape as the original occupants and stewards of this land, and we recognize their forced removal and erasure due to violent colonial tactics.
The Munsee Lenape are a band of Lenni Lenape Native Americans, who stewarded this land for generations before many of their people were forcibly removed westward to Oklahoma and Wisconsin in the 1800’s. Relatives of the Munsee Lenape Nation, known as the Ramapough Indians, a state recognized tribe, are still here today on their ancestral lands, and still active in “preserving and restoring the economic, social, cultural, sacred and environmental assets of the Ramapough Munsee
ancestral lands.”
We recognize the sovereign nations of the Lenape diaspora elsewhere in present day North America, as well as other Indigenous individuals and communities now residing in New Jersey.
We acknowledge Lenape people past, present and future.
We honor the land we steward.
About the Land We Grow On
The land first came to be over a billion years ago as the first rocks began to form under what we now know as the northern part of New Jersey. Then came the formation of rivers, valets, ridges, plains, mountain ranges and other textures through erosion and deposition. Being that this region is coastal, the formation of the land is largely affected by the sea levels and its formation is directly linked to the Earth’s glacial history. Due to partial melting of Antarctic ice, sea level began to rise, broadening the river valleys in this northern region of New Jersey, creating lowlands where soil began to form. Soon came the oak trees, alongside hemlock, chestnuts, hickory, sugar maples and beech.
The soil in this area is sandy and loamy, and being a river valley, it is very fertile. The soil is alive with a network of fungi and mycelium that we work alongside in order to grow food for our community, strengthen native habitat and provide for the web of life that exists within and above the soil.
What is a Land Statement?
A land statement is a factual written statement of whose land we are on. A land statement is typically found at the bottom of a website, in a pamphlet, or anywhere additional information can be found.
What is a Land Acknowledgement?
“Land acknowledgment is a traditional custom that dates back centuries in many Native nations and communities. Today, land acknowledgments are used by Native Peoples and non-Natives to recognize Indigenous Peoples who are the original stewards of the lands on which we now live.” - National Museum of the American Indian
Learn More
Additional information on the Ramapough Munsee Community
About – Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm
Additional information on the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians
NDN COLLECTIVE “is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power.”
Native Land Map “is an app to help map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages."
LANDBACK “is a movement that has existed for generations with a long legacy of organizing and sacrifice to get Indigenous Lands back into Indigenous hands.”
Additional geologic history of the New Jersey Highlands NJGS - Geologic History and Virtual Field Trip of the New Jersey Highlands
Additional information on the Vegetation of Northern New Jersey Before European Settlement