Urban Agriculture

Urban agriculture has gotten a lot of press in recent years: growing food in the city has a unique, even romantic appeal, upending one’s notions about what is urban and what is rural and providing many social, environmental and health benefits. City farming operations vary in size: from chicken coops and beehives to household, school or community gardens, from rooftop and larger-scale farms to aquaculture facilities and indoor hydroponic “vertical farms”; they may be privately, publicly or commercially-owned; they may be run for profit, operated by a social mission or some combination of the two. ³

In the US, in the middle of a depression in 1890s Detroit, the mayor requisitioned vacant land for unemployed city residents to grow vegetables. The gardens, called “potato patches” (after their primary crop), produced $14,000 worth of produce on 430 acres in the first year, with more than 1,500 families involved at the peak of the program’s popularity. ⁸ The “busy streets” theory of crime prevention suggests that neighborhoods where residents are taking care of their own streets – as demonstrated through well-tended gardens rather than vacant lots, fixed-up abandoned buildings, new benches and more lighting – have lower crime than neighborhoods without much community involvement. ¹⁰

• Start growing! Use the American Community Gardening Association’s map to find a garden near you and find out how you can join.
• Buy city-grown! Does your farmers’ market include a stand selling produce from an urban farm or community garden or does your grocery store carry rooftop lettuce? Try these urban greens and support the effort it takes to farm in the city.
• Get involved in efforts in your city to support urban agriculture at the governmental level, through initiatives such as in Minneapolis, Cleveland or Baltimore. These databases allow you to search your city and state.