Food Project disputes allegations of garden gangs at Ingalls

LYNN – In the days following Marguerite Puleo’s appearance before the Lynn School Committee last Thursday, her complaints of gang vandalism and a lack of security at the Ingalls School have sparked a debate over what needs to be done to solve the problem.A widow who has lived at her Chatham Street home for 43 years, Puleo told the School Committee last week that gangs have become such a problem on school grounds that her neighbors are too afraid to speak out, and her home and vehicles are vandalized regularly.While no one is disputing Puleo’s claims, the notion that the problem was started because of a community garden sponsored by the North Shore Food Project has many coming to the defense of that organization, indicating that vandalism on the woman’s property exists because of a larger gang issue in the area, and eliminating the garden would do little to help.The community garden opened behind the Ingalls Elementary School three years ago and, through grants and support from the city, has provided summer jobs for area teenagers, harvesting over 5,000 pounds of fresh produce sold annually at the farmer’s market. In addition, produce is donated to charities such as My Brother’s Table, and Ingalls students work in the garden learning to grow and harvest food in conjunction with the school’s science curriculum.Despite the good it brings to the community, Puleo again insisted Wednesday that the garden must go, and alleged many of the students who work to harvest the plants during the day are the same teenagers that come back with the gangs at night.”It is a breeding ground for the kids that go over to the Marshall Middle School, many of them are the same kids that are planting,” she said. “I know who they are, they will look you straight in the eye and they are not afraid.”Diamond adamantly denied the involvement of teens working for the Food Project in any gang activity, noting that beyond their good character, vandalizing this property would create more work for them when they came to tend the garden in the morning.”It is extremely unlikely that any of our kids are gang involved,” she said. “Their work is much harder when the land is vandalized because they have to come clean it up. Beyond that these youths are extremely dedicated and they are devastated when they come to see this garden vandalized.”Diamond also alleges Puleo herself raved about the garden when it was first constructed, because it replaced an area of overgrown land that commonly hosted drug deals and other shady activity.It wasn’t until the summer of 2007, Diamond says, when vandalism skyrocketed in the neighborhood that Puleo began to accuse the Food Project’s garden of causing the problems.”When the garden first opened, she actually said there was some crime activity happening there that doesn’t happen anymore,” she said. “Vandalism has become a larger issue in the whole neighborhood. It is terrible what is happening, and don’t want this to continue for her or her neighbors. I don’t want it to continue at our facility either. But I do not believe the notion that she recognizes these kids, or that this is caused because of our garden.”While the prospect of shutting down the garden remains slim, Puleo’s meeting with the School Committee did succeed in bringing leaders from across the city together to try and combat the gang problem in that neighborhood.Building and Grounds Subcommittee Chairman John E. Ford says he is hoping to get more facts about the situation at the school before calling everyone in for a chat, but is also looking forward to helping Puleo and the neighbors feel safe again.”I certainly think we owe Mrs. Puleo an answer,” he said. “But I want to get more information and see what we can do before we call a meeting. I think the garden itself is probably a good thing; it is a great thing for the kids to be a part of. So, taking the garden out is a last resort. I don’t want to take out a good thing because we overreacted.”Some of the ideas for imp