An article published this week about growing trends in urban agriculture, "Urban Farming: Coming to a City Near You," by Jason Mark, tells how cities across the country are manifesting these signs of green, propelled in part by the drive for more sustainable economies. From the article:
City Slicker Farms [is] a local [Oakland, California] nonprofit that provides fresh food to a neighborhood better known for its railyards and warehouses than for its green spaces. In just seven years, City Slicker has become a vital part of the West Oakland landscape. Its six market gardens grow a range of organic fruit and vegetables, eggs and honey for sale at a neighborhood produce stand. Judging by the reception from neighborhood residents, the program is a success. "I buy all my vegetables here, and so does my wife," says Tony Lejones, a local truck driver, as he perused the offerings at the City Slicker stand. "The whole neighborhood comes here—black, white and brown," he says. "They do a fine job."
City Slicker Farms is not alone. Across the U.S., an urban agriculture movement is flowering. In Birmingham, Alabama, Jones Valley Urban Farm is reclaiming abandoned lots and using them to grow organic produce and flowers. Chicago’s Ken Dunn takes over unused parking lots and uses the sites to grow heirloom tomatoes. In St. Louis, a housing developer, Whittaker Homes, is setting up an organic farm within a new subdivision.
Veteran environmental activists and community organizers say the recent increase in urban food production marks a real change. "Whether it’s the Food Project or Redhook Farm or countless other projects, urban agriculture is definitely increasing," says Betsy Johnson, executive director of the American Community Gardening Association (ACGA). "I think the trend is very positive." There are several concerns propelling the renaissance in city agriculture: the country’s obesity epidemic, the drive for more sustainable economies and the fact that horticulture—with its regular, seasonal rewards—is an ideal vehicle for community organizing, especially when it comes to youth.
That is certainly also true in Springfield, where our local Gardening the Community program (pictured)—a youth-focused initiative—is expanding, having attained more land for farming this season, and with increased formal arrangements for selling produce to the local residential market. The program has also collaborated with Mount Holyoke College, where founder Ruby Maddox (pictured, at top) now works for the Center for the Environment. It is just a matter of time before the program is a household name for a critical mass of Springfield residents interested in buying locally-grown food.
