A Food Crisis Is Coming, But Urban America Already Has It Solved

Recent posts on this blog have focused on poverty, obesity, and food security (availability and access to food). Urban farming is not only an individual/ household subsistence practice intended to address these and other issues (such as urban crime and decay) at the individual, household, and community levels. Proponents of a new, progressive social movement proclaim that it is also the means for "growing" sustainable, livable futures and reinvigorated communities. It may even contribute to national security by reducing our reliance on foreign oil.

According to a recent article in The Indypendent, "Thirty cities have organized city-farming projects, up from only a handful a decade ago. New York City has 600 urban gardens alone, involving 20,000 residents who participate in maintaining and harvesting them. A movement in Detroit is fighting to create the world’s largest urban agricultural space, Hantz Farms, and LA’s South Central Farmers cooperative is engaged in an ongoing battle to return to the neighborhood which bore its name. Until its eviction by a developer in 2006, South Central Farm was the biggest in the country."

Why is urban agriculture on the rise and how is it used in the fight against poverty, obesity, crime, and urban decay? Why is it considered more environmentally sustainable than other forms of agriculture? To learn more, read: A Food Crisis Is Coming, But Urban America Already Has It Solved.

Also, if you are interested to learn more about what UGA students and faculty are doing to promote urban agriculture see the Food for thought and P.L.A.C.E websites.