Why Urban Farming Isn't Just for Foodies

by Clive Thompson (Posted by Laurie Mitchell) Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com

This year, Carol Nissen's crops include mesclun, cherry tomatoes,
strawberries, and assorted herbs. When she sits down to dine, she's
often eating food grown with her own two hands.
But Nissen isn't tilling the soil on a farm. She's a Web designer who
lives in Jersey City, New Jersey--one of the most cramped, concrete-
laden landscapes in the nation. Nissen's vegetables thrive in pots and
boxes crammed into her house and in wee plots in her yard. "I'm a
micro-gardener," she says. "It's a pretty small townhouse. But it's
amazing what you can do without much space."

The term for this is urban farming--the art of growing vegetables in
cities that otherwise resemble the Baltimore of The Wire.It has become
increasingly trendy in recent years, led by health-conscious foodies
coveting just-picked produce, as well as hipsters who dig the roll-
your-own vibe.

But I think it's time to kick it up a notch. Our world faces many food-
resource problems, and a massive increase in edible gardening could
help solve them. The next president should throw down the gauntlet and
demand Americans sow victory gardens once again.

Remember the victory garden? During World Wars I and II, the
government urged city dwellers and suburbanites to plant food in their
yards. It worked: The effort grew roughly 40 percent of the fresh
veggies consumed in the US in 1942 and 1943.


These days, we're fighting different battles. Developing nations are
facing wrenching shortages of staples like rice. Here at home, we're
struggling with a wave of obesity, fueled by too much crappy fast food
and too little fresh produce, particularly in poorer areas. Our
globalized food stream poses environmental hazards, too: The
blueberries I had for lunch came from halfway around the world, in the
process burning tons of CO2.

Urban farming tackles all three issues. It could relieve strain on the
worldwide food supply, potentially driving down prices. The influx of
fresh vegetables would help combat obesity. And when you "shop" for
dinner ingredients in and around your home, the carbon footprint
nearly disappears. Screw the 100-mile diet--consuming only what's
grown within your immediate foodshed--this is the 100-yard diet.

Want to cool cities cheaply? Plant crops on rooftops. This isn't just
liberal hippie fantasy, either. Defense hawks ought to love urban
farming, because it would enormously increase our food independence--
and achieve it without the market distortions of the benighted farm
bill. You don't need tomatoes from Mexico if you can pluck them from
containers on your office roof.

Better yet, urban farming is an excuse to geek out with some awesome
tech. Innovations from NASA and garage tinkerers have made food-
growing radically more efficient and compact than the victory gardens
of yore. "Aeroponics" planters grow vegetables using mist, slashing
water requirements; hackers are building home-suitable "aquaponics"
rigs that use fish to create a cradle-to-grave ecosystem, generating
its own fertilizer (and delicious tilapia, too). Experts have found
that cultivating a mere half-acre of urban land with such techniques
can yield more than $50,000 worth of crops annually.

But what I love most here is the potential for cultural
transformation. Growing our own food again would reconnect us to this
country's languishing frontier spirit.

Once you realize how easy it is to make the concrete jungle bloom, it
changes the way you see the world. Urban environments suddenly appear
weirdly dead and wasteful. When I walk around New York City now, I see
the usual empty lots and balconies and I think, Wait a minute. Why
aren't we growing food here? And here? And here?

In fact, that's precisely what occurred to me when I came home and
looked at the window of my apartment. So now it holds three pots
balanced on the ledge: One with herbs, one with lettuce, one with
tomatoes.

I should have my first crop in about a month. And I expect my victory
salad to taste very sweet indeed.
--
It's amazing what you can do. If...
you put your mind to it.