On my 9th birthday I was sitting in a private room in the Fort Worth Zoo, bursting with glee as I saw all of my presents in front of me. I couldn’t wait to rip each open and see all of the makeup kits, DS-games and that one dog Chia Pet I had been waiting for all year. Much to my surprise I found a few more wholesome gifts perfectly wrapped from my grandma in particular. I received my very own “grow your own garden kit”, buzzing from all the sugar I had ingested I couldn’t wait to get home and start growing tomatoes and bell peppers all by myself. There wasn’t much surprise when a month later my garden had hopelessly died and sat vacant in my childhood backyard for the remaining year. Although I wasn’t born with a green thumb, starting early in my childhood I had always wondered why more people didn’t grow their own food. I was only 9, I had no idea that it was so convenient and cheap to buy the unhealthiest food for yourself at the store. Now that I’ve devoted my undergraduate study to the health of our present and future society, I have found a particular interest in urban farming. Currently, the idea of growing your own food is associated with being poor, and the time commitment is just too much for most families to take on. As an alternative, we give all authority to big food production companies with little idea what we are actually consuming.
Not only are these big companies not offering healthy, pesticide and chemical free food options, they are also huge contributors to the pollution of our planet. livestock production accounts for 70 per cent of all agricultural land use, occupies 30 per cent of the planets land surface and is responsible for 18 per cent of greenhouse gases (Suzuki, D.). If large urban centers begun to introduce urban farming into their communities by locally producing meats and produce, we would be able to significantly improve a handful of urban problems and the amount of greenhouse gases that are currently being emitted by large food corporations.
Urban agriculture can be defined as “the growing of plants and the raising of animals within and around cities” (Foundation, R.). 55% of the world population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68% by 2050 (United Nation, Organization). Urban agriculture offers solutions to many problems megacities are currently facing. With the introduction of urban agriculture, air pollution can be substantially reduced. As cities move further away from large transport food corporations, the amount of greenhouse gases that are produced from plants and food transportation would decrease as we move to more local options. Urban waste can also be recycled to help the development of urban agriculture in the form of fertilization. I addition, one of the most beneficial things that would come from urban farming is that individuals will have the opportunity to reconnect with food, and create relationships within their own neighborhoods with others growing produce. Individuals that work within urban farms will have to work together and communicate in order for their land to grow and thrive to provide food for their community.
Currently, most cities were not built in a sustainable way, and are now feeling the growing pains associated with urbanization. For example, Austin is the fastest growing city in the US (Austin Relocation Guide). City officials will have to begin looking towards plans of sustainable growth that will encourage cities to engage in ideas such as urban agriculture. In addition, city officials should understand that urban agriculture can attract capital, create jobs and tax ratables and increase property values in preparation for higher-value development (Vitiello, D.,).
The social benefits of urban agriculture include increased access to food, positive health impacts, skill building, community development, and connections to broader social change efforts (Horst). Urban Agriculture can also promote improved neighborhood reputation and educational youth development (Poulsen, M. N.,). Urbanization brings great opportunity to cities such as Austin, but also brings problems such as an overwhelming number of people who have food insecurity and the number of residents that live within food deserts. Some suggest we should just build healthier grocery stores in poorer neighborhoods in order to help food insecurity. However, the problem with this is it can cause the process of gentrification, the pushing out of the poor in order to make room for more affluent residents to build. In most cases, cities will expand but ultimately end up not using the land, and it is left vaccent. These projects often happen within the cracks of the system, in marginal urban spaces reclaimed from aggressive urban development practices (Tornaghi, C.). Also, in spaces such as New York, where there is virtually no new room for urban spaces, urban agriculture has found some unique areas to continue to grow. In New York, innovations such as rooftop and vertical farms have cropped up (Pawlowski, T. Z.). City officials have begun to ask themselves, how will they feed this growing population of urban dwellers? Urban agriculture brings an interesting solution to the table, neighborhood farms. One group, Urban Patchwork works with thousands of neighbors throughout Austin to galvanize communities around turning underutilized private and public space into productive urban gardens and farms, educational space, and activity centers (Urban Patchwork).
As more people are wanting fresh and ready to prepare food, companies have seen this as a business idea that many could benefit from. Within the last few years home food delivery services have popped up in large cities. Some include Blue Apron, Sun Basket and Hello Fresh. The problem with these services is that they are often shipped from different states which ultimetly defeats the purpose of trying to consume healthier foods. One company that is changing the background of food delivery is lettuce. Lettuce is creating a sustainable, hyper-local ecosystem that grows and distributes food that is fresher, healthier, tastier, and costs less, one neighborhood at a time (Co., Lettuce). The entire companies vision is to have complete, ready to cook ingredients delivered to your door weekly, that were grown just down the street from your home.
Working closely with Lettuce over the last couple of weeks, I have really been able to better understand that there is a large need for locally grown produce. Living in a city such as Austin, I have seen that there are residents who are willing and ready to contribute to the growth of urban agriculture. This past Friday I had the opportunity to go and look around a program in South Austin that is contributing to the growth of sustainable practices. Compost Peddlers is a 100 percent bike-powered compost recycling project in Austin (Kako, N.). The program looks to reduce waste, strengthen the local food system, and connect the community through more sustainable practices. Compost Peddlers bikes to local homes and picks up compostables and takes them directly to local farms and community gardens to grow more local food. During my time there, I couldn’t help but be overcome with excitement, knowing a city I live in is already making strides to become more sustainable and paving a path for the future.
The more I study the growth and health of the current population, the more I understand the extreme need for individuals who can pave the way for a more sustainable future. As the worlds populations skyrockets over the next hundreds of years, and megacities hold billions of people, sustainable practices will hold the answers. We will soon hit a pivotal point in human history when we can no longer afford to emit harmful greenhouse gases or when we are so extremely over populated and have mass amounts of food insecurity, we will need to take action. The world tends to have a problem with waiting until it is too late to start working on a solution to a problem that is almost irreversible. I feel lucky enough to be at the jump start of the urban agricultural movement, when it can be such a pivitol solution in the far-off future. Having the resources and ability to back companies such as Lettuce and Compost Peddlers, is allowing more research to be done in order to better benefit future populations with urban agriculture. I one day hope to see megacities that offer local gardens on every corner, and that fully help promote the sustainability of our world. With the growing interest and knowledge in sustainable urbanization, I feel this future is closer and more obtainable then we ever could imagine.
Refrences:
Austin Relocation Guide. “Austin Is The Fastest-Growing City in the U.S.” Austin Relocation Guide, 2018, www.austinrelocationguide.com/Fastest-Growing-City-in-the-US/.
Co., Lettuce. “Lettuce Networks: About.” Lettuce, 22 Aug. 2018, www.lettuce.fm/about/.
Horst, M., McClintock, N., & Hoey, L. (2017). The Intersection of Planning, Urban Agriculture, and Food justice: A Review of the Literature. Journal of the American Planning Association, 83(3), 277–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2017.1322914
Kako, N. (2018). 10 Urban Agriculture Projects Making a Difference in Austin. [online] Food Tank. Available at: https://foodtank,com/news/2014/09/ten-urban-agriculture-projects-making-a-differnce-in-austin/[Accessed 20 Sep. 2018].
Suzuki, D. (2018). Food and climate change– David Suzuki Foundation. [online] David Suzuki Foundation. Available at: https://davissuzuki.org/queen-of-green/food-climate-change/[Accessed 20 Sep. 2017].
Tornaghi, C. (2017). Urban Agriculture in the Food-Disabling City: (Re)defining Urban Food Justice, Reimagining a Politics of Empowerment. Antipode, 49(3), 781–801. https://doi.org/10.111/anti.12291
Pawlowski, T. Z. (2018). From Food Deserts to Just Deserts: Expanding Urban Agriculture in U.S. Cities Through Sustainable Policy. Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development Law, 26(3), 531–573. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=130758466&site=ehost-live
Poulsen, M. N., Neff, R. A., & Winch, P. J. (2017). The multifunctionality of urban farming: perceived benefits for neighbourhood improvement. Local Environment, 22(11), 1411–1427. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2017.1357686
United nations, Organization. “68% Of the World Population Projected to Live in Urban Areas by 2050, Says UN | UN DESA Department of Economic and Social Affairs.” United Nations, United Nations, 2018, www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html.
Urban Patchwork. “Urban Patchwork.” Urban Patchwork, 2018, www.urbanpatchwork.org/.
Vitiello, D., & Wolf-Powers, L. (2014). Growing food to grow cities? The potential of agriculture foreconomic and community development in the urban United States. Community Development Journal, 49(4), 508–523. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=98943167&site=ehost-live
