91.
City Farms
Or Edible Cities
The Future Of Humanity
Cities cover only 2% of the Earth’s surface, but consume 75% of its resources. Cities are black holes, they’re swallowing our planet. But, there is a faint ray of hope. More and more are joining the Green City or Grow Your Food movements. Millions around the world are producing food in their apartments, balconies, lawns, rooftops and window-sills.
Jac Smit, President of the Urban Agriculture Network and co-author of “Urban Agriculture: Food, Jobs, and Sustainable Cities”, paints a vision of what the world would be like if cities were nutritionally self-reliant: “As we consider a dominantly urban Earth early in the next century, in a world with less land and water per-capita, the return of agriculture to where we live presents us with a new paradigm.”
What if the urban landscape were edible? What if vacant, waste land in cities were productive and enhancing the environment for living? What if urban areas were increasing biodiversity rather than diminishing it?”
Jac Smit, President of the Urban Agriculture Network and co-author of “Urban Agriculture: Food, Jobs, and Sustainable Cities”, paints a vision of what the world would be like if cities were nutritionally self-reliant: “As we consider a dominantly urban Earth early in the next century, in a world with less land and water per-capita, the return of agriculture to where we live presents us with a new paradigm.”
What if the urban landscape were edible? What if vacant, waste land in cities were productive and enhancing the environment for living? What if urban areas were increasing biodiversity rather than diminishing it?”
“Ideally we believe that simply by changing from suit to jeans, digging up a bit of lawn, and planting vegetable seeds, the city person will begin asking questions about his environment and about his urban behavior and thinking patterns.”
~ Founding director of City Farmer, addressing science teachers at the 20th International Science Education Symposium in 1979.
It’s happening. Growing your own food in cities has long been the way in Asia, and it’s expanding enormously in Africa, Latin America, and all over the world.
In many places, urban food production is growing more rapidly than urban population -- in spite of urban drift.
In greater Bangkok, 72% of all urban families are engaged in raising food, mostly part-time. In Moscow, the share of families raising food more than tripled between 1972 and 1992. In Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania the number of households engaged in food production grew from 20% to more than 65% between 1970 and 1990.
In Argentina the number of participants in the community agriculture program grew from 50,000 to 550,000 between 1990 and 1994, and the number of supporting institutions grew from 100 to 1,100. The area devoted to urban agriculture in Harare in Zimbabwe doubled between 1990 and 1994.
In many places, urban food production is growing more rapidly than urban population -- in spite of urban drift.
In greater Bangkok, 72% of all urban families are engaged in raising food, mostly part-time. In Moscow, the share of families raising food more than tripled between 1972 and 1992. In Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania the number of households engaged in food production grew from 20% to more than 65% between 1970 and 1990.
In Argentina the number of participants in the community agriculture program grew from 50,000 to 550,000 between 1990 and 1994, and the number of supporting institutions grew from 100 to 1,100. The area devoted to urban agriculture in Harare in Zimbabwe doubled between 1990 and 1994.
Industrialised Nations
City farming is growing just as rapidly in the rich cities of the West, perhaps more because of environmental concerns, but also to feed the hungry: the Urban Agriculture Network was “founded in response to the increase of persistent hunger in urban areas in both poor countries and rich countries”.
The city farming movements have been intensely studied in the 20 years or so and they has been found to deliver a rich harvest of benefits -- benefits that social workers, community organizations, educators, psychologists, health workers, nutritionists and crime fighters can only dream of where there are no city farms or community gardens.
By 1994, 300,000 households in the US were using a community garden, and 6.7 million more said they’d do so too if there was one nearby (National Gardening Association).
The US government’s Urban Gardening program estimates that a $1 investment in food growing projects yields $6 of produce in a single season.
By 1994, 300,000 households in the US were using a community garden, and 6.7 million more said they’d do so too if there was one nearby (National Gardening Association).
The US government’s Urban Gardening program estimates that a $1 investment in food growing projects yields $6 of produce in a single season.
We are Humans. We Grow Food.
By Mike Lieberman
When people ask why they should grow their own food, I don’t break out all kinds of reports and studies that tell how it’s better for you and the environment. I break it down even simpler and tell them it’s because we are human. It’s what we do.
It’s not until the last 100 or so years that we’ve stopped growing our own and put that responsibility in the hands of others. Think about it. Humans have grown their own food for hundreds and thousands of years.
Civilizations and societies were built around fertile land and access to water. Communities were built around food. There is so much that goes into it from the planning to the planting, tending to the harvesting and most importantly the preparing and sharing of it. It’s what brings people together on so many levels.
We now just skip right to the eating, which is often done on the run too.
When people ask why they should grow their own food, I don’t break out all kinds of reports and studies that tell how it’s better for you and the environment. I break it down even simpler and tell them it’s because we are human. It’s what we do.
It’s not until the last 100 or so years that we’ve stopped growing our own and put that responsibility in the hands of others. Think about it. Humans have grown their own food for hundreds and thousands of years.
Civilizations and societies were built around fertile land and access to water. Communities were built around food. There is so much that goes into it from the planning to the planting, tending to the harvesting and most importantly the preparing and sharing of it. It’s what brings people together on so many levels.
We now just skip right to the eating, which is often done on the run too.
Our 'throw away' society doesn't realize that depending upon others to make/grow/package what we eat lends itself to people not knowing what they are eating and what it can (and will) do to their health over time. Like I said before..get rid of the dollar menu and learn to grow/ bake/preserve your own!
~ Edward, Portsmouth
These days we’ve come to sit at a desk in front a computer all day or in a large SUV traveling through space. That’s not what we are designed to do. That’s all relatively new to us.
This is why I keep it simple and say that the reason we should grow our own food is because we are humans. I’m not saying an entire garden, but growing just one thing will make a difference.
This is why I keep it simple and say that the reason we should grow our own food is because we are humans. I’m not saying an entire garden, but growing just one thing will make a difference.
Urban Homesteading
According to UC-Davis, “an urban homestead is a household that produces a significant part of the food consumed by its residents. This is typically associated with residents’ desire to live in a more environmentally conscious manner.
Aspects of urban homesteading include:
- Resource reduction: using solar/alternative energy sources, harvesting rainwater, using greywater, line drying clothes, using alternative transportation such as bicycles and buses.
- Edible landscaping: growing fruit, vegetables, culinary and medicinal plants, converting lawns into gardens.
- Self-sufficient living: re-using, repairing, and recycling items; homemade products.
- Food preservation including canning, drying, freezing, cheese-making, and fermenting.
- Community food-sourcing such as foraging, gleaning, and trading.
- Natural building
- Composting
Having an allotment or vegetable garden has been common throughout history. A wealth of urban homesteading books (Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne, Erik Knutzen; The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan; Urban Homesteading by Rachel Kaplan, K. Ruby Blume; Toolbox for Sustainable City Living by Scott Kellog) have been published in the past decade. All over the world, people have found ways of growing their own food in inner-city urban areas.
Aspects of urban homesteading include:
- Resource reduction: using solar/alternative energy sources, harvesting rainwater, using greywater, line drying clothes, using alternative transportation such as bicycles and buses.
- Edible landscaping: growing fruit, vegetables, culinary and medicinal plants, converting lawns into gardens.
- Self-sufficient living: re-using, repairing, and recycling items; homemade products.
- Food preservation including canning, drying, freezing, cheese-making, and fermenting.
- Community food-sourcing such as foraging, gleaning, and trading.
- Natural building
- Composting
Having an allotment or vegetable garden has been common throughout history. A wealth of urban homesteading books (Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne, Erik Knutzen; The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan; Urban Homesteading by Rachel Kaplan, K. Ruby Blume; Toolbox for Sustainable City Living by Scott Kellog) have been published in the past decade. All over the world, people have found ways of growing their own food in inner-city urban areas.
I think people feel better if the simply interact with any bit of nature. Growing food included. Why else do all little children love to pick flowers?
~ Brianna