Food System Revolution: The Potential of Urban Agriculture
Next time you’re eating a banana, look at the label on it. Where is it from? Most likely, it was grown on a South American farm located over a thousand miles away. This is true for most U.S. produce which on average travels about 1,500 miles to get from farm to plate (Weber & Matthews 2008). On that journey, approximately 400 kilograms of CO2, 50 grams of methane, and 20 grams of N2O were emitted into the atmosphere.
“Food miles” is the term for the distance food travels from where it is grown or raised to where it is consumed. With U.S. food imports increasing and its transportation accounting for 11% of yearly greenhouse gas emissions, the need for a shift towards locally sourced food spawned the locavore movement. A “locavore” is a person who only eats food grown within 100 miles of them. However, with over 80% of the world living in urban areas, many people don’t have access to local farms and ranches.
This disconnect between food systems and the urban population has led to a lack of awareness in the natural resources essential to life which are now in a state of depletion. In order to combat this, farming needs to be reintegrated into dense metropolitan environments. Urban agriculture has the potential to improve public health, community engagement, and environmental quality. It includes any privately, publically, or commercially owned farms, community gardens, building integrated farms, and indoor farms in an urban area (Figure 1).
Public Health and Community Engagement
These small, scattered urban farms use innovative growing methods to maximize food production in their limited space. In 2010, 12.3 percent (15.6 million) of U.S. households were food insecure at some time and 9.7 percent of households lived more than 1 mile away from a supermarket (USDA, 2010). The addition of urban farms boosts the supply of fresh produce year round while improving low-income family’s access to nutritious food. A study on the potential ecosystem services of urban agriculture found that cities have the potential annual food production of 100–180 million tons globally, making a significant impact on world hunger (Clinton et al. 2018).
In addition to food security, urban agriculture strengthens the community by creating a sanctuary for social interaction where residents develop a sense of pride in their land. Throughout the research done on the impacts of urban agriculture, the most observed impact was on community development (Golden, 2013). The most direct impacts are seen in community gardens, where the natural setting helps break down social boundaries and unite the neighborhoods under a common goal to improve their environment.
Added benefits have been seen in youth gardening programs where children have been reported to display greater leadership skills, make healthier choices, and show increased interest in environmental activism (Santo et al. 2016). For example, in Austin, Texas the organization Urban Roots uses food and farming to empower kids in their youth development program. After farming there, 13-year-old Alexis said, “I have basketball camp [during the summer], and I think I want to have vegetables instead of snacks after practice.”
Environmental Quality
By simply increasing greenspace in cities, urban agriculture improves air quality, biodiversity, soil quality, reduces runoff and combats the urban heat island effect. The plants growing in these gardens provide a habitat for bugs, birds, and other animals while filtering pollutants out of the air, reducing heat through transpiration process, increasing groundwater infiltration and decreasing soil erosion and compaction. The full utilization of available urban land for agriculture would save energy by 14 to 15 billion kilowatt hours, increase nitrogen sequestration to between 100,000 and 170,000 tons, and decrease storm water runoff between 45 and 57 billion cubic meters annually worldwide (Clinton et al. 2018). For example, in Boston, Massachusetts the dedication of just 50 acres to urban agriculture would sequester about 114 tons of carbon dioxide in soil per year and avoid 4,758 tons of greenhouse gas emissions while feeding an additional 6 million people (Brown et al. 2016)(Figure 2).
The Reality of Urban farming: Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas is considered one of the leading cities in urban farming practices. The urban agriculture movement is highly encouraged by residents and well-supported with governmental policy. The Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Community Garden Program (SUACG) was created by Austin City Council in 2009 to streamline the establishment of sustainable urban agriculture on city land. The ordinance supports not only the enhancement of local food availability but also storm water collection as well as waste and energy reduction practices by directing the city manager to, “Initiate necessary code amendments to define urban farms as those which will include using water conservation practices, composting, and non-polluting growing practices.”(COA, 2009). Currently 23 urban farms and 52 community gardens thrive in Austin including Hausbar, Boggy creek, Springdale, Urban roots, Agua Dulce, Green Gates and PEAS school community garden (Figure 3).
Despite institutional efforts, less than 1% of food consumed by Austin residents is locally produced (USDA, 2012). This is largely due to the price difference between supermarket’s and farmer’s market’s food. To better understand the cost and feasibility of being a “locavore” I visited the Mueller Farmer’s market and compared the price and food miles of local produce to HEB’s produce (Figure 4). At the farmer’s market, I gathered vegetable prices from Johnson’s Backyard Garden, a 20-acre family farm located east of downtown Austin. For some products, such as broccoli or radishes, the price was close to double that of HEB. But for others, such as kale and lettuce, the price difference was closer to 50 cents.
The higher price of sustainably grown produce has led to a socio-economic stigma associated with shopping at local farms. With internet blog posts titled, “Concerning the unbearable whiteness of urban farming” and “Is urban farming only for rich hipsters?” it seems like urban farming is viewed as a trendy phase rather than a serious opportunity.
To understand how urban farmers are responding to this phenomenon I visited Dorsey Barger & Susan Hausmann, Owners of HausBar Urban Farm in East Austin. With their primary buyers being upscale restaurants like Uchi, Foreign & Domestic and Wink, it is clear that their food is not accessible to low-income Austinites. In response to critiques of their economic bias Barger says, “There’s a huge educational thing going on here. Our [low-income] neighbors are benefiting very directly by seeing vegetables being grown, how chickens are raised, where eggs come from…those things are very important.”
Fighting the urban farming stigma, Austin’s sustainable food center implemented the Double dollars’ program, which doubles the dollar amount of Lone Star (SNAP), WIC and FMNP Vouchers so less affluent families can get more fruits and vegetables at SFC Farmers’ Markets. Similarly, the SFC’s Spread the Harvest project seeks to reduce financial barriers to food gardening by providing Central Texas schools, low-income residents and not-for-profit gardens, and other groups with free gardening materials.
While Austin may be considered one of the leading cities for urban agriculture, the scale is still too small to see significant environmental and public health improvements. Between the high prices at these small-scale sustainable farms and the publics lack of environmental education, it seems a major shift towards locally sourced produce won’t occur until food insecurity and resource depletion give us no choice.
But as more people engage in community gardens, visit farmer’s markets or simply walk past a local farm, they are connecting to the natural growing process. When citizens can watch their food grow and see the time and natural resources it requires, a new appreciation for the value of food is instilled and society as a whole becomes one step closer to a food system revolution.
Citations
Brown, S., McIvor, K., & Snyder, E. H. (Eds.). (2016). Sowing seeds in the city: Ecosystem and municipal services. Springer.
Clinton, N., Stuhlmacher, M., Miles, A., Aragon, N. U., Wagner, M., Georgescu, M., . . . Gong, P. (2018). A Global Geospatial Ecosystem Services Estimate of Urban Agriculture. Earth’s Future, 6(1), 40–60. doi:10.1002/2017EF000536
Golden, S. (2013). Urban agriculture impacts: Social, health, and economic: A literature review. University of California: California.
Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2012. (2014). The Air Pollution Consultant, 24(3), 1_17.
Nierenberg, D., Halweil, B., Starke, L., & Worldwatch, I. (2011). State of the world 2011: innovations that nourish the planet : a Worldwatch Institute report on progress toward a sustainable society (1st ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
Santo, R., Palmer, A., & Kim, B. (2016). Vacant lots to vibrant plots: A review of the benefits and limitations of urban agriculture.
Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Community Garden Ordinance, Res. 20091119 § 065 (2009).
USDA-NASS (2012). Census of Agriculture United States Summary and State Data. Retrieved from https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012.
Ver Ploeg, M., Economic Research, S., Department of, A., & United, S. (2012). Access to affordable and nutritious food: updated estimates of distance to supermarkets using 2010 data. Retrieved from Washington, D.C.
Weber, C. L., & Matthews, H. S. (2008). Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States. Environmental Science & Technology, 42(10), 3508–3513. doi:10.1021/es702969f
