New Office Aims to Help Grow Food in Small Spaces
NAFB | 09-19-20
(Washington, D.C.) -- As part of the 2018 Farm Bill, the Natural Resources Conservation Service has led interagency collaboration to establish the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production.
Louis Aspey is the interim director of the office and talks about why it was formed.
“Because food insecurity is an everyday reality across the United States, unfortunately. USDA’s Economic Research Service estimates that over 23 million people live in communities lacking food access, with about 16 million of those being children that are food insecure, so it’s a significant problem. It’s especially true when you focus on the urban areas and typically caused by economic challenges that limit attracting retail grocery stores, which reduces or eliminates food shopping options, which results in a term you may be familiar with, which is food desert.”
The new office is aimed at helping improve access to healthy foods in urban areas.
“The Office of Urban Ag supports innovative production methods that respond to these needs and the interest to grow food in small spaces, efforts that seek to help communities increase the production of healthy foods that can have a range of dietary diversity, and urban farms will help contribute to the local food supply chain by connecting growers, schools, and communities to help address food insecurity and overall help meet the increasing demand for locally grown food.”
Aspey is also the Deputy Chief for Management and Strategy for the NRCS, and he talks about how the Office of Urban Agriculture will work to meet its goals in the future.
“Our work involves a public process, and I want to highlight the word public, and we really seek to increase support from stakeholders and focus on a locally-led process. Those of you that are familiar with NRCS recognize that’s one of our foundational principles of the agency; locally-led. We think that is especially true in the option to move forward under the urban agriculture banner.”
The Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production recently gave out $4.1 million in grants and cooperative agreements to help support projects being done by people ranging from urban farmers to community gardeners. USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey adds,” I look forward to seeing the innovations in urban, indoor, and other emerging agricultural practices that result from these grants, including community composting and food waste reduction.”
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