Basic Information
The definition of urban farms is self-explanatory, it is literally a farm within an urban area. You have probably seen a couple of simple backyard gardens or rooftop gardens on skyscrapers and other various buildings. However, these miniature farms do not constitute as an official urban farming. Urban farming includes commerce, the selling of crops grown. But do not be discouraged! A farm that just includes a neighborhood community, a group of friends, or just the individual has the same effect.
Depending on your area, local laws may cause restrictions to the types of activities within your urban farm. For example, you might not be allowed to raise chickens for eggs or cow for milk, depending on the restrictions your region has. It is important to note that urban farming must be taken with some degree of seriousness and safety. The food produced is to be distributed to other citizens, placing their health and safety in your hands.
It is important to note that urban farming is trying to match the growing urban population with more creative solutions to the need for food. In the United States alone, 75% of the population is living on 3% of urban land. It is with drastic statistics like this, when urban farming really does come in to full effect.
Urban gardens can be anywhere you want! It can be a vacant lot, a rooftop, a backyard garden, or even invest in the new scientific technology of vertical farming (learn more about vertical farming in the Examples page!
Depending on your area, local laws may cause restrictions to the types of activities within your urban farm. For example, you might not be allowed to raise chickens for eggs or cow for milk, depending on the restrictions your region has. It is important to note that urban farming must be taken with some degree of seriousness and safety. The food produced is to be distributed to other citizens, placing their health and safety in your hands.
It is important to note that urban farming is trying to match the growing urban population with more creative solutions to the need for food. In the United States alone, 75% of the population is living on 3% of urban land. It is with drastic statistics like this, when urban farming really does come in to full effect.
Urban gardens can be anywhere you want! It can be a vacant lot, a rooftop, a backyard garden, or even invest in the new scientific technology of vertical farming (learn more about vertical farming in the Examples page!
Benefits
Reduction of Deforestation
According to National Geographic and NASA's Earth Observatory, agriculture is the main reason for deforestation. Farmers have been rapidly cutting down trees in order to clear land for growing crops. As the Earth's population exponentially increases, the demand for food also exponentially increases, which leads to more deforestation for agriculture. This is a cycle that has yet to be broken. Luckily, we have urban farming! Urban farming provides farmers with land to grow crops without having to cut down more trees. The places that can be transformed into urban farms are vacant lots, rooftops, an elaborate backyard garden, or even interesting scientific approaches! These are all listed above.
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Decrease in Transportation Emissions
One of the main reasons for climate change is the increase amount of greenhouse gases in the environment. As stated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, "burning fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere". In fact, 27% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States is from transportation. With urban farming, crops are processed in areas with closer proximity to populated areas. Therefore, less transportation is needed for the food to travel to stores, markets, and homes in general, which results in lower overall emissions.
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Less Food Packaging
Often times when food is purchased from supermarkets and other various stores, there is extensive packaging, many times to protect the food from getting damaged. In fact, BBC's Good Food states that 1/4 of the domestic waste produced is from packaging. Unfortunately, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) less than 14% of packaging is recycled and the materials thrown away could be sold worth $11.4 billion. However, with urban farming, there is less travel distance, which results in less food packaging. Additionally, because most urban farm-grown food is local, there is a certain level of trust that does not require extravagant packaging for appeal.
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Effective Use of Space
Since urban areas are usually filled with not only people, but with buildings, skyscrapers, and homes, there isn't a space for a traditional full scale farm. Therefore, urban farming allows for creative ways to compensate. On the other hand, some urban areas also have spaces that are vacant and unused. With urban farming, a once desolate and bleak ground, can be transformed into a beautiful garden with just a little bit of effort. As shown in the image above, there is a real difference that can be made. Furthermore, this provides a huge aesthetic value to the city.
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Boost Local Economy
According to a Huffington post written by Rohit Kumar, there are several reasons as to why urban farming is good for the local economy. Urban farming allows for the money to be circulated within communities. This circulation causes the local wealth to increase. Furthermore urban farming creates local job opportunities. With more job opportunities, more local people will be employed which results in an increase of overall wealth of the community.
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Agricultural Awareness
When the food that people eat every night being grown in close proximity, people become more aware of nutrition, agriculture, and foods. It is easy to neglect the origins of a product when it can be purchased a large supermarket. But when the growth and development of these products can be witnessed, there is an increase consciousness with food choices. Additionally, urban farming causes the community to be innovative and find more creative ways to implement an equivalent of a full-scale farm.
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Video
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This YouTube video, published by China Daily Asia, tackles the questions and doubts people normally have about urban farming and it's presence in the world. The video gives the basic reasoning behind urban farming. Additionally, there are interviews of Mr. Paul Teng and Mr. Andrew Tsui, both of whom are experienced and knowledgable on the situation. Mr. Paul Teng is a professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Mr. Andrew Tsui is the co-founder of Rooftop Republic, an urban farm in Hong Kong. More about Rooftop Republic can be found here! It is important to note that this video focuses on Asia, and more specifically Hong Kong, rather than the world as a whole. However, the information is still applicable on a global scale and provides a really good foundation for your urban farming knowledge.
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