USDA Seeks Members For New Urban/Indoor Ag Committee

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by Chris Koger

January 7, 2021

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(Courtesy AeroFarms )

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking members for a new advisory committee for urban agriculture.

The dozen members of the board will advise the agriculture secretary on issues relating to urban/indoor/vertical farms and identify barriers to establishing them.

“This group will underscore USDA’s commitment to all segments of agriculture and has the potential to support innovative ways to increase local food production in urban environments,” Bill Northey, USDA’s undersecretary for farm production and conservation, said in a news release.

The members will represent:

• Four growers, two from an urban area/cluster and two who use innovative technology;

• Two people from a university or extension program;

• One person from a nonprofit organization, which may be a public health, environmental or community organization;

• One person from of business and economic development, such as chamber of commerce, city government or planning organization;

• One person with supply chain experience, such as a good aggregator, wholesaler, food hub, or a background in a direct-to-consumer program;

• One person from a financing entity; and

• Two people with experience in urban, indoor or other emerging agriculture production practices, as determined by the USDA.

Nominations are due by March 5, and should include a cover letter, resume and a background form.

Send them to Ronald Harris, Designated Federal Officer, Director of Outreach and Partnerships, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Room 6006-S, Washington, D.C. 20250, or mail them to Ronald.Harris@USDA.gov.

The NRCS oversees the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production, which was established by the 2018 farm bill.

"The Push For Urban Farming Solutions Has Only Intensified"

With significant population growth and urbanization both underway and projected across the globe, the push for urban farming solutions has only intensified. The search for innovative solutions has generated many questions surrounding best agricultural practices and how to build a sustainable urban farm.

Agricultural consulting company Agritecture was developed to address exactly those questions. Agritecture was founded in 2011 when its CEO Henry Gordon-Smith began blogging about urban agriculture and subsequently received numerous inquiries from entrepreneurs looking to start urban farms. Within a few years, Agritecture began to officially offer consulting services and quickly built a portfolio.

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Sustainable urban farming solutions
“With a mission to empower impact-driven organizations to develop sustainable urban farming solutions, Agritecture focuses on turning business ideas into practical realities,” says Agritecture’s media strategist, Briana Zagami. The breadth of services offered by Agritecture allows the company to meet the needs of entrepreneurs at various project stages.

Ask Agritecture is the company’s entry-level service through which entrepreneurs can schedule a 30-minute phone call with a consultant to discuss economic and technological aspects of the project and recommend future steps. The company also offers premium consulting services, which are “backed by several years of operational data and a team of experienced growers, agricultural engineers, sustainability managers, and marketing experts”, according to Briana. Furthermore, Agritecture uses its feasibility tools to help urban farmers and entrepreneurs obtain real-world financial estimates for a greenhouse or vertical farm project in any location.

Education 
Agricultural education is another cornerstone of Agritecture’s mission, which the company achieves through its Commercial Urban Farming course, which presents best practices in six comprehensive lessons complete with short video modules and additional resources. Agritecture also provides free educational content in the form of its blog, podcast and videos.

The most recent addition to Agritecture’s service offerings is the Agritecture Designer, which was launched in April 2020 and is the world’s first digital platform for the planning of urban farms. According to Briana, “the goal was to take our years of experience as leading industry consultants and translate this into a digital platform to help expedite the planning stage and avoid common pitfalls.”

Future 
In 2020, Agritecture’s digital audience is now comprised of 100,000 + users around the world. The team has consulted on over 120 projects spanning more than 26 companies. When asked how Agritecture has responded in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Briana explained that “Agritecture reinvented itself in the wake of COVID-19 and offered insights from its learnings to other small businesses and advisory firms that are struggling to find new business. We launched several new online initiatives in April and May to better connect with our audience and saw a nearly 3x increase in inbound consulting requests.”

So how does Agritecture envision the development of urban agriculture? According to Briana, “urban agriculture will continue to grow around the world due to the innovative spirit of farmers and the rising demand for fresh, sustainably-grown products.” With the development of supportive policies and standards in key cities, Agritecture expects that urban agriculture will only continue to grow and push past its niche status.

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For more information:
Agritecture
www.agritecture.com

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Publication date: Wed 6 Jan 2021

Growing Crops In Cities Will Put An End To Food Waste

Coronavirus showed how vulnerable our global food supply chains are, but growing closer to home could also solve our waste problem

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By ELLEN MACARTHUR

23 December 2020

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, empty supermarket shelves prompted people to ask – sometimes for the first time – where their food comes from. In 2021 we will see more food in cities provided by producers who are less vulnerable to the disruptions of long supply chains we experienced during 2020.

The pandemic caused consumers around the world to turn to smaller, local, and regional food providers that could secure access to food during lockdowns. In the UK, the Farmers to Feed Us digital platform created new ways for small-scale food producers to provide fresh produce directly to consumers. Sales of food from community-supported agriculture (CSA), where consumers subscribe to receive in-season harvests from groups of UK farmers, increased by 111 percent from February to April, with this trend also being apparent in the US and China. The 105-acre Eatwell Farm in California saw such a big spike in demand that it had to cease new subscriptions – and the waiting list is still growing. These demonstrate how producers can provide consumers with food security and, in return, how consumers have supported their businesses.

At the same time, accessing food hasn’t been easy for everyone. Countless people around the world have been forced to turn to food donations. Meanwhile, when restaurants, schools, and workplaces closed, food producers were hit with a lack of demand that saw tonnes of edible food go to waste. As income for smaller farmers was supported by consumer demand, a decline in business from food-service providers has made their futures uncertain. With the food system’s vulnerabilities exposed, the question has become: how can we better connect communities and food producers to make sure we are more resilient to future shocks? In 2021, the relationship between food and our cities will be drastically reimagined to answer this question.

Half of the world’s population currently live in cities and, by 2050, 80 percent of the world’s food will be eaten in densely populated urban environments. But, as cities strive to become more resilient, they will become much more than centres of consumption. To become stronger in the face of unplanned disruptions, our cities, and their surrounding areas will increasingly supply food and make use of valuable nutrients, creating thriving local, regional, and international food networks. This will be a pivotal step towards a circular economy for food, in which nothing becomes waste, everything has value, and the way we produce food regenerates natural ecosystems.

Increasing the amount of food grown in and around cities will also help to secure supply to residents without access to CSA schemes in nearby fields. Singapore, for example, imports a large proportion of its food, with only one percent of its land being dedicated to agriculture. When the country’s food supply chain was disrupted during its coronavirus outbreak, consumers in Singapore turned to urban farms and the government began to identify unused spaces in its cities for agricultural development. Similar developments to produce food locally will also be seen elsewhere in 2021. In Detroit, plans for a CSA program are currently being shaped, while in France, the remaining two-thirds of Europe’s largest urban farm, Nature Urbaine, will be planted in Paris, while 50 plots in Nantes that once grew flowers will provide vegetables for 1,000 households in need.

Food producers will also adopt regenerative practices, which focus on outcomes such as healthy soil and carbon capture that tackles climate change, to build resilience into their operations. And cities will have a key role to play in this.

In the current food system, when food flows into cities, organic waste is created in the form of discarded produce, by-products, and sewage. This waste is full of nutrients that can be used to grow new food and create biomaterials, but in today’s system, it is more likely to end up in landfills or go untreated. However, there are more viable – and greener – alternatives. In Italy, paper is already being made from pasta by-products, while orange peels, grape skins, and excess milk are being turned into fabrics. In the UK, London has committed to ensuring that by 2026 no biodegradable or recyclable waste will be sent to landfill.

This shift will not only be driven by a need to address waste and pollution. As we look to recover from the economic shock of Covid-19, our analysis has shown there is an economic opportunity worth $700 billion (£538 billion) for cities to reduce edible food waste and use by-products. Less than two percent of organic waste in cities is currently returned to the soil, yet the more organic matter that’s within soil, the more water it can hold and retain, making crops resilient to disturbances such as droughts and floods. This applies whether food is grown in the city, its peri-urban surroundings, or on rural farmland.

As part of the European Green Deal, the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy is aiming to reduce use of synthetic fertilisers by at least 20 per cent and triple the amount of land farmed organically by 2030, as well as promising legally binding targets to reduce food waste. To meet these targets, cities will be expanding their organic waste collection schemes in 2021 and ensuring it is used effectively, putting it back on the land as a replacement for synthetic fertilisers, using it as compost to build organic matter in soil and to feed livestock.

These kinds of initiative will give cities a surer footing for the future. In 2021, we will begin to build a resilient circular economy for food.

Ellen MacArthur is founder and chair of trustees of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Lead photo: Bertand Aznar

Agrifood Tech Firms Are Flocking To Singapore, With Perfect Day The Latest To Land

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December 20, 2020

Jack Ellis

US alt-dairy startup Perfect Day revealed today that it will set up an R&D facility in Singapore, with the city-state’s minister for trade and industry predicting “many other companies” will be joining it to take advantage of the growing agrifood tech ecosystem there.

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A*STAR's headquarters in Singapore. Image credit: A*STAR

California-based Perfect Day is establishing the joint R&D center in collaboration with Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR.)

This center will bring together A*STAR’s expertise in areas such as taste analytics, cell biology, and protein biotech. The aim of the collaboration is to “build analytical platforms to characterize and quantify the key components in dairy food products that provide their distinctive taste and feel,” the startup said in a statement.

Founded in 2014, Perfect Day produces ‘animal-free’ dairy products using microflora to ferment sugars to create the same proteins, casein, and whey present in animal milk.

The startup is just the latest international agrifood tech company to set up shop in Singapore.

Invest with Impact. Click here.

Last month, German indoor farming firm &ever said it would establish its global R&D center in the city-state to carry out research into energy efficiency and yield optimization for indoor vertical farms. It’s also constructing a “mega-farm” in the east of Singapore with an annual production capacity of over 500 tons that is set to open by the end of 2021.

In October, US alt-protein startup Eat Just announced it would invest a total of $100 million with investor Proterra to build Asia’s first plant-based protein factory in Singapore. Earlier this month, the city-state handed Eat Just the world’s first regulatory approval for a cell-based, cultured meat product, clearing its ‘lab-grown’ chicken bites for sale to the public.

Swiss food industry majors Buhler and Givaudan announced the launch of a joint innovation center in Singapore in February to explore textures and tastes for plant-based protein products. French animal feed firm Adisseo set up an aquaculture R&D center in Singapore back in December 2019 to research aquatic animal health and nutrition.

Citing data from AgFunder, Singapore Minister of Trade & Industry Chan Chun Sing said that the global agrifood sector is “primed for growth” with investment into agrifoodtech startups growing 47% year-on-year in 2018 and a further 17% in 2019 to reach $19.8 billion. [Disclosure: AgFunder is AFN‘s parent company.]

With its “unique farm-to-fork ecosystem and track record for technical capabilities, quality branding, and intellectual property [IP] protection, Singapore aims to capture a significant share of the wave of economic opportunities in agrifoodtech,” Chan told reporters at a press conference announcing Perfect Day’s partnership with A*STAR.

Alt-protein products like those being developed by Perfect Day, Just Eat, and local players including Shiok Meats and TurtleTree Labs — which announced its $6.2 million pre-Series A round last week — have a critical role to play in feeding countries and cities like Singapore, where arable land is minimal and primary food sources are typically located far away.

“Alternative proteins will add to the suite of options we have without being restrained by factors like the [amount] of land and other natural resources we have. Overall, [they provide] a much more efficient, sustainable way to feed the population, across Asia, where demand will go up proportionally with the growth of the middle class,” Chan said.

But the buck doesn’t need to stop at Singapore securing its own nutritional needs, he added.

“We are not limiting our aspirations just to the domestic market. The larger market for this sector is really [the] growing needs for the Asia-Pacific, that we hope to capture. Look at China, Indonesia, India – as people become more affluent, as they seek higher quality food products, there will be a bigger market for these kinds of products. How do we feed a growing population in a sustainable manner that is also good for the environment? So our sense is not just how big the local market is, but how big the global market can be.”

“We want to make sure the core IP, the core R&D happens here – so the high-value part of the value chain is housed in Singapore, and we can attract the investment and the people to come here,” Chan said.

He noted that in addition to the arrival of foreign startups and corporates, as well as the growth of local players, a variety of domestic and international investors are contributing to the development of Singapore’s agrifood tech ecosystem.

“We are also building a vibrant cluster of financing firms across various stages, for example, New Protein Capital, EDBI, Temasek, and Proterra, as well as a base of global agrifood accelerators [such as] Big Idea Ventures‘ alternative proteins accelerator and GROW Accelerator […] Our eventual aim is to build up the talent pool with the expertise to deploy more than S$90 million [$67.5 million] of capital.” [Disclosure: GROW Accelerator is operated by AgFunder, AFN‘s parent company.]

Returning to Perfect Day’s R&D center announcement, Chan said it is another “milestone in our ongoing journey.”

“There will be many other companies joining us to build up our ecosystem,” he continued. “We’re optimistic this can become a new pillar of our economic development, providing us with greater [economic] diversity, food security for Singapore, and new opportunities in countries beyond Singapore.”

Singapore sovereign fund Temasek led Perfect Day’s $140 million Series C round in December 2019.

Got a news tip? Email me at jack@agfunder.com or find me on Twitter at @jacknwellis

• alt dairy, asia, Europe, Germany, indoor agriculture, indoor farming, singapore, United States, urban agriculture, urban farming, vertical farming

This Belgian Start-Up Allows Anyone To Become An Urban Farmer

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14 Dec 2020

Douglas Broom

Senior Writer, Formative Content

• A new approach pioneered in Belgium allows anyone to become an urban farmer.

• Start-up Peas&Love rents out allotments on rooftops and in unused urban spaces.

• The company does all the gardening but members get to harvest the fresh produce.

• An app alerts them when crops are ready to pick.

• Members share produce and garden space with the community.

A Belgian start-up is helping people in major cities turn their hand to urban farming.

Peas&Love is the brainchild of Jean-Patrick Scheepers, co-founder of Belgium’s biggest cooking school. After the failure of a sustainable farming project near Brussels, he moved into the city itself and started farming on rooftops and in gardens.

“For 20 years, I tried to grow fruit and vegetables in my garden or on my terrace and each year I failed,” he told the audience at the Change Now summit in 2017, the year Peas&Love was launched. “I didn’t have the time and I didn’t have the knowledge.

“My idea was that, if I could have my own personal source of vegetables and fruits that are local, that are seasonal, that are good, that are full of quality, that would exactly fit the description of a potager in French, or a kitchen garden in English, and that would be great.”

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Garden of plenty: Crops ready to pick at a Peas&Love urban farm near Paris. Image: Peas&Love

Scheepers started Peas&Love after using vertical growing techniques to overcome his earlier gardening setbacks. It now has three urban farms in Brussels and five in Paris where anyone can rent an allotment for about $40 a month.

All of the farming work is taken care of by the company, and members are alerted by an app when it’s time to harvest the produce. Each 4m square vegetable garden is divided into two halves: one for the sole use of the subscriber and the other to grow crops that will be shared by all members.

Made for sharing: half the allotment is private, the other half is shared.

Community based on sharing

“The motivation of the people who are part of the concept is mainly to renew contact with nature but they don't have the time or the knowledge,” Scheepers says. “You come every week to harvest your own allotment but you don't have to do the work to get it.”

It’s all about creating a community of people who help each other and share values as well as food, he says. It’s a “new approach in urban farming” which has 200 active urban farmers at its first location in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, in Brussels.

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Rooftop agriculture: Peas&Love’s first Brussels urban farm. Image: Peas&Love

The company’s “Peas for all” programme makes 5% of the space on its farms available to educational projects and local associations to help more people reconnect to nature.

Scheepers recently set up the European Urban and Vertical Agriculture Federation to promote the concept and provide a forum to represent urban farmers at a European level, and he has launched an Urban Farm Lab in Istanbul.

Lead photo: Urban farms are becoming common all cross the world. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

INDIA: This Goa Couple Grow Their Veggies & Fish Without Using Soil or Chemicals!

AUTHOR: GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

December 1, 2020

Goa-based Peter Singh is 74-years-old, and his wife Neeno Kaur is 65. They are a power couple, setting an example of how to be self-reliant with food, and at the same time, converting biodegradable waste into something useful.

On 185 square meters of greenhouse and rooftop garden, in their house at Dona Paula, Panaji, they produce 120 kilograms of fish a year and grow 3,000 plants consisting of vegetables and fruits.

For the last four years, they have been practicing aquaponics at home, a combination of aquaculture (raising fish in tanks), with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water).

However, they do with a twist. “We do aquaponics with permaculture,” says Peter Singh, explaining his system to a bunch of enthusiasts earlier this year.

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(L) Peter Singh in his air-conditioned greenhouse that has plants which require a cooler climate. (R) Ornamental fish are grown in a fish tank

He adds, “We compost our kitchen and garden waste and use it in our aquaponics. Plants are potted in a layer of gravel, 1/3rd of coco peat, and 2/3rd of compost. So, our plants get compost plus fish waste, which results in a higher yield. I don’t use any chemicals for this, and I am taking care of my waste and my food.”

One may wonder why they are doing it. For them, the answer is simple–they want to eat organic and be sure of how their food is grown.

Moreover, both have a background in agriculture.

“I was studying Mathematics at the Delhi University; the idea was to stay in Delhi, but then we thought of moving back to our farms in Jalandhar, Punjab. We worked on different forms of agriculture, in which different fruit and timber trees were planted, we did intercropping in the orchard of oilseeds and pulses, produced seeds for the national seed corporation, had a dairy farm, did beekeeping and even exported the honey,” explains Singh.

They moved to Goa seven years ago and found it difficult to source organic vegetables. The majority of the vegetables in the state come from the neighboring city of Belgaum in Karnataka. So, they decided to grow their food in this unique way.

“As we have limited space in Goa, we experimented and discovered aquaponics. We downloaded papers from universities, and read about it. And came up with this model,” says Singh.

They opine that they are still experimenting and bring in changes accordingly. As they have the technical know-how and a background in farming, they are quite confident of their system.

How this system works

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Peter Singh explaining the model

This system of aquaponics which involves the fish tank, NFT pipes, (Nutrient Film Technique) which are used to grow vegetables, water-pumps, and artificial grow lights, may look complicated. But Singh makes it easier to understand. He has also made a model of this system that can fit in any balcony or even in any corner of the living room.

“This unit of 2 ft by 6 ft and 6 ft high, with artificial lighting of 200 watts uses 250 litres of water and can grow 180 plants. One can grow lettuce, kale, bok choy or any other vegetable. One fish tank can sustain five kilograms of fish mass so that you can have ten fresh-water fish of ½ kg each,” elaborates Singh.

The system works mainly on electricity, water, and fish waste.

Singh explains, “In a fish tank, the fish waste is mainly ammonia. In this system, aerators circulate the water and create a current. The fish waste settles at the bottom, and the pipes take this waste into the bio-filter, which breaks the ammonia into nitrates and nitrites for plants to use.”

The water gets further filtered and goes back to the fish. It also has aeroponic towers which work as the nursery of plants. It is also a space-saving system as it is vertical.

“Because of heavy nitrogen, green vegetables grow very well. We have lettuce, bok choy, and celery. Also, this system uses 10 percent of the water used in traditional soil-based farming, as water is constantly getting re-used. The only loss is in the evaporation. There’s no need of watering, no weeding, one only has to feed the fish twice a day,” says Neeno Kaur.

The entire system has three fish tanks on the ground floor. One is of 3,000 litres of water; second is 1,500 litres, and the third is 4,000 litres. They raise three types of fresh-water fish—rohu, catla, and chonak or sea bass. If one does not eat fish, Singh suggests using ornamental fish.

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The rooftop garden

On their roof, they have a greenhouse of 12ft by 24ft, which has 2,000 plants. The greenhouse in the back garden is 6 ft by 16 ft and has 500 plants. A roof-top garden has 25 fruit trees, 300 onions, and an assortment of chillies, lemons, tomatoes, aloe, chives, creepers like ivy gourd, bottle gourd, cucumber, bitter gourd, ladyfinger, brinjal.

Along a boundary on the ground floor, they have mango, banana, and papaya. They also have an air-conditioned tunnel of 8 ft by 12 ft in their greenhouse, with 1,000 plants of lettuce, kale, bok choy, basil, parsley, cabbage, and broccoli. For the whole system, they spend around Rs 14,000 per month.

The aquaponics system doesn’t require cleaning of water as the water gets filtered in the process. And all the fittings are made by Singh himself. He has also part-time workers for about six hours a day. He adds, “We spend Rs 6,000 on electricity, Rs 4,000 on feeding the fish, and another Rs 4,000 on labour.”

They won the first prize for Most Innovative Stall at the Aqua Goa Mega Fish Festival 2020 held in February.

Agriculture expert from Goa, Miguel Braganza opines, “Peter Singh’s aquaponics is good for those who can afford it as the basic cost of the unit is Rs 30,000. Also, it is ideal for those who eat salads and continental cuisine.”

Regarding the cost, Singh states that it is high “because we pump water from the ground floor to the greenhouse on the roof. If it is on the same floor, this is much lower.”

They also have plans for solar panels and making fish feed at home to be self-sustainable. He adds, “If we automate the system, and put in solar power, then costing will go down substantially. We are also working on growing feed for fish. So our whole system becomes self-dependent.”

However, they are also trying to monetise from this system, by conducting two-day training programmes priced at Rs 5,000. Singh adds, “We also custom design and help set up aquaponics systems, of any scale, from small home systems to commercial systems, charging 10 per cent of the capital cost for the design.”

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(L) Bok Choi grown in aeroponic towers. (R) Gourds grown on the roof.

Recently, they started selling these vegetables from their home. A basket contains two bunches of lettuce, a baby bok choy, three sticks of celery, sprigs of parsley, basil, and a small bunch of mint, priced at Rs 100. They will also add kale and Swiss chard to it. From next month, their air-conditioned model will produce about 300 packs of greens a month at Rs 120 each.

Singh and Kaur are hopeful that more people will learn from this system and eat healthy food as it is the need of the hour.

He concludes, “This method is independent of the weather, rain, hail, and sun; it is protected from predators and is the future of agriculture. It doesn’t need land, soil, or chemicals, and produces vegetables and fish wherever you are.”

Also Read: Experts Answer: Can a Hydroponics Farm Be a Good Business? Here’s How!

This shows that aquaponics could be next best thing in agriculture due to urbanisation and loss of agricultural land. It is estimated that the market of aquaponics will grow with the awareness to eat healthy food.

According to a report by Assocham and Ernst & Young, organic products market in India have been growing at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 25 percent, expected to touch ₹10,000-₹12,000 crore by 2020 from the current market size of ₹ 4,000 crore. As aquaponics is a part of the organic market, the future looks bright for this new-age form of agriculture.

During the current nationwide lockdown to tackle COVID-19, Peter Singh is selling their produce once a week from their home by maintaining social distancing. He says, “We slowed down the sale of our produce in the first week, and worked out a weekly production schedule, which includes a weekly harvest and transplantation. This means we will be able to supply every week all year round.”

Lead photo: Peter Singh is 74, and his wife Neeno Kaur is 65. Together, they grow 3,000 plants on just 185 sqm by a method that’s independent of the rain, hail, and sun!

(Written by Arti Das and Edited by Shruti Singhal)

Chicago Proposed Home of Second Second Chances Farm

Garfield Produce, located in the East Garfield Park area in Chicago, is working together with Second Chances Farm to establish the Second Chances Farm Chicago in the Windy City. Garfield Produce is an indoor vertical farm and a licensed wholesale food establishment whose mission, values, and passion closely match ours.

On October 1st and 2nd, Garfield Produce’s co-founders, Mark and Judy Thomas visited Second Chances Farm in Wilmington after hearing about us during an Opportunity Zone seminar in Chicago earlier this summer. They had previously reached out to Ajit to open discussions about expanding the Second Chances Farm model to Chicago and invited him to visit Garfield Produce.

On October 21st and 22nd, Ajit visited Garfield Produce and toured vacant buildings in Opportunity Zones in Chicago. After discovering a strong connection to second chances for both people and neighborhoods, Ajit and Thomas’s pledged to continue the conversation.

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Mark and Judy 

Mark Thomas spent several days between November 8th and 13th at Second Chances Farm in Wilmington to further discuss the possibilities. He toured the facilities, met the returning citizens, engaged with the management team, and crunched some numbers. Both Ajit and Mark shook hands-on making the idea of establishing a Second Chances Farm in Chicago a reality in 2021-2022.

Mark, a graduate of an Ivy League college with an MBA and a CPA, was a top executive at the Tribune Company in Chicago for most of his career. He and his wife, Judy, a top corporate attorney, lived in the affluent western suburbs of Chicago. To get to work, they had to drive through the under-resourced areas on the west and south sides of the city, many of which still had the ruins of burned-out buildings from the Martin Luther King riots decades earlier.

Judy Thomas, co-founder, Garfield Produce
“I’d drive right through these impoverished landscapes and never give it a second thought,” says Mark. “But the workforce under my direction changed drastically when the Labor Union took over. Our established workforce was primarily older white males who were Italian, Croatian, and Irish. Suddenly, they were asked to manage a workforce that was around 22 years old, from the east and south sides of Chicago, mostly black and half female. This was when I became keenly aware of the problems that exist in inner-city areas of the United States.”  

Mark remembers telling his wife the stories he’d heard during the day, and the shocking experiences he’d had. One employee, he says, shot another employee in the break room because they were from rival gangs.  

“So, I said, Judy, it would be great if we could ever get to the point that we could create a small company so that we could hire people who lived in these tough areas,” says Mark. After Mark and Judy retired, that’s exactly what they did. 

“We had done some volunteer work at an organization called, ‘Breakthrough Urban Ministries,’ which is in Garfield Park, a very tough area about 30 miles west of downtown Chicago,” Mark says. “It started out as a men’s shelter, then moved to a woman’s shelter, and then a flex area where teenagers could come, and then they started preschool programs. Our biggest frustration was that people would emerge from our job readiness programs, only to find there were no jobs. White flight had taken all the jobs and businesses away.” 

In 2013, after having done extensive research and attending seminars about indoor vertical farms, Mark and Judy established Garfield Produce. 

“We have a lot of experience with growing produce hydroponically, and a very strong brand in the Chicago area,” says Mark. “We look forward to finding a way we can combine our strengths with Second Chances Farm’s to continue to serve the struggling neighborhoods of Chicago by providing both jobs and healthy, nutritious foods.” 

For more information:
Second Chances Farm
www.secondchancesfarm.com

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16 Nov 2020

AUSTRALIA: City Farming On Rise As COVID-19 Makes People Rethink How They Source Their Food

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ABC Rural

By Jess Davis and Marty McCarthy

10-24-20

Urban farmer Rachel Rubenstein thinks the coronavirus pandemic, which has shut down major cities, state and international borders, is a chance to rethink where we get our food from.

And growing good food in anything from local car parks, median strips and rooftops, to golf courses and even public parks are just some of the ideas she and her city farming friends are throwing around.

"I think that having food grown close to home is super important, because we have seen a lack of access to fresh food with the bushfires and then COVID," Ms Rubenstein said.

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An urban farm in East Brunswick in Melbourne is seeing a surge in demand for locally grown food by those stuck in lockdown.(ABC Regional)

In Melbourne's inner-northern suburb of East Brunswick, she's growing fresh organic produce such as carrots, radishes, spinach, broccoli, and citrus for Ceres — a not-for-profit community-run environment park and farm.

Ceres has seen demand for its food boxes double since the pandemic began, as lockdowns forced people to shop more locally than ever before.

"Everything that I grow here on the farm is harvested straight away and goes straight to the grocery and the cafe on site," Ms Rubenstein said.

"Just seeing how much I can grow in 250 square metres says something about how we can utilise space better in the city."

Ceres grows vegetables across two sites in the inner city, but it's not enough to fill demand with produce sourced from elsewhere to help fill the gap.

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Ceres urban farm in Brunswick near the Melbourne CBD has seen demand for their produce triple since the pandemic started.(ABC Regional: Jess Davis)

Space constraints

Farms like this are a rare sight in Australian cities, with space a major constraint.

Calls to take existing green spaces, such as public parks and golf courses, and adapt them to support things like agriculture are growing in urban centres.

Nick Verginis recently started a social media group called 'Community to Unlock Northcote Golf Course' in a bid to get his local fairway converted into a public park with possible room for agriculture too.

The golf club is across the river from Ceres.

"In lockdown people have been really hungry to get in touch with nature, using whatever space they have on their balconies or in their small gardens to grow their own produce," he said.

"This [fairway] obviously would be a natural place to expand that [farm], so some local residents could have access to a plot of land."

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Nick Verginis, with his son Teddy, started the Facebook group Community to Unlock Northcote Golf Course in the hope it could be used as a public space and potentially as a farm.(ABC Regional: Jess Davis)

Farming on the fringe

Converting sections of green spaces into farmland to create a local food bowl is already a reality in Western Sydney Parklands in New South Wales.

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Thou Chheav learnt to farm 24 years ago after she moved from Cambodia. She now runs the family's Sun Fresh Farms with her daughter, Meng Sun.(ABC Regional: Ben Deacon)

Five per cent of the 264-hectare park has been set aside for urban agriculture and 16 farms are already operating on it, selling at the farmgate or across Sydney.

Western Sydney Parklands is one of the largest urban parks in Australia — almost the same size as Sydney Harbour — and is one of the biggest urban farming projects in the country.

Sun Fresh Farms, run by Meng Sun and her mother Thou Chheav, has been leasing land off the Parkland for nine years to grow cucumbers, strawberries, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and broad beans.

Ms Sun said, even before the pandemic, the popularity of sourcing food from peri-urban farms like her family's was taking off.

"All the locals come out on the weekends. It's providing food for the local community and also it gives them a better understanding of where food and vegetables come from," she said.

Unlike produce sold at larger supermarkets that was often picked before it ripened, Ms Sun said being able to buy fresh vine-ripe produce appealed to customers.

"We like to pick fresh and sell direct to the customers. Cut the middleman out so there's not much heavy lifting involved, it is just straight to the farm gate," she said.

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There are 16 urban farms operating in the Western Sydney Parklands, but there are plans to increase that number.(ABC Regional: Ben Deacon)

Suellen Fitzgerald, the chief executive of Greater Sydney Parklands, said they were currently accepting applications for new farming projects so that the precinct could expand its food production.

"Many of our farmers have roadside stalls and during the pandemic have reported an up-swing in customers, with the community choosing to shop locally over traditional supermarkets," Ms Fitzgerald said.

"Urban farming is a rising food phenomenon and people are increasingly interested in learning about where their food comes from."

Suring up food supply

Rachel Carey, a lecturer in food systems at the University of Melbourne, said cities should increase their urban farming capacity as an "insurance policy" in the event of future natural disasters or pandemics that disrupt supply chains.

"Obviously urban agriculture is a much smaller part of our food supply system, but I think it does have an important role in future," Dr Carey said.

"If we can keep some of this food production locally it acts as a bit of a buffer or an insurance policy against those future shocks and stresses."

Food systems lecturer Rachel Carey says urban farming has an important role to play in our future.(ABC Regional: Jess Davis)

Dr Carey said cities were more conducive to agriculture than most people realised.

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Europe's largest urban farm opened in Paris during the COVID-19 pandemic.(Supplied: Nature Urbaine)

"Cities have access to really important waste streams, and also food waste that can be converted into compost and used back on farms," she said.

"If we can keep some urban food production close by it enables us to develop what we call circular food economies, where we are taking those waste products and we're reutilizing them back in food production to keep those important nutrients in the food supply."

The other benefit was financial.

Dr Carey said buying food from local farmers helped to "keep that money circulating within our own economy rather than going outside to other areas".

She believed Australian towns and cities should also consider the United Kingdom's food allotment system, where local governments or town councils rented small parcels of land to individuals for them to grow their own crops on.

Major European cities such as Paris have also embraced urban farming amid the pandemic — the largest rooftop farm in Europe opened there in July.

The farm, which spans 4,000 square metres atop the Paris Exhibition Centre, supports a commercial operation as well as leases out small plots to locals who want to grow their own food.

There are plans to increase it to 14,000 square metres, almost the size of two football fields, and house 20 market gardeners.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a surge in people growing their own crops, making their own bread, and even cooking more at home.(ABC Regional: Marty McCarthy)

From converting sections of golf courses or public parks into small farms, or median strips, car parks or rooftops, Dr Carey said the pandemic had shown the time was ripe to reconsider our urban food production methods.

"I see COVID-19 is a transformational moment that is going to lead to some rethinking about the way that we use our spaces in urban areas and in the city," she said.

"So cities around the world are starting to look more to urban agriculture not just in terms of city soil-based farms, but also non-soil-based farms such as vertical farms and intensive glasshouse farming."

City golf courses are being identified as potential sites for small urban farming plots.(ABC Regional: Jess Davis)

Lead photo: Urban farmer Rachel Rubenstein on a farm in East Brunswick, not far from the Melbourne CBD.(ABC Regional: Marty McCarthy)

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GUAM: Small Urban Farms Can Be An Oasis For Underserved Neighborhoods

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Adrian Higgins | The Washington Post

October 15, 2020

I ate the last of the season's potatoes the other day, and it's not a bad harvest achievement when you consider I dug the lot in July from a bed no more than 15 feet long. I've eaten many meals over the summer where the bulk of my plate has come straight from my small community garden plot in the city.

It is amazing how much you can grow in a small space if the soil is good and you stay on top of tasks such as watering and weeding. But even in a pandemic-driven planting year full of homegrown potatoes, beans, and carrots, you have to face reality. If you relied on most urban veggie plots alone to feed yourself, never mind a large family, you'd be forever tightening your belt.

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FLOWER GARDEN: Dominic Hosack, left, and Scott Kratz, of Building Bridges Across the River, take in the flower garden at the National Children's Center urban farm in Washington on Oct. 2. Adrian Higgins/The Washington Post

This is why I've had my doubts about whether urban agriculture can meet the challenge where it is most needed: in poorer, food-insecure neighborhoods.

Rosie Williams is in charge of such a garden, in an expansive side lot of the National Children's Center, an early-learning and educational development provider in Southeast Washington.

The garden packs a lot in. There are almost 70 raised planter beds, each four by eight feet and filled with deep, rich soil. That's a lot of growing area; the beds generate bushels of edible plants for most of the year. A shed houses tools, a single beehive is active, a few fruit trees ring the area, and one side is devoted to little benches for little people. The center, which normally houses classes for 188 children up to age 5, has been closed because of the pandemic, though a limited reopening is in the works.

Williams, a teacher and the garden coordinator shows me cool-season veggies growing in the fall, young plants of kale, collards, cauliflower, broccoli, and red cabbage. In other planters, mature plants are seeing out the season in robust vigor. The most obvious is a single pepper plant – now taller than Williams – whose leaves hide unripe green chiles that hang like ornaments. This is a mighty hot pepper from Trinidad named Scorpion, she said, and I have no doubt that it has a sting in its tail.

Nearby, a Japanese eggplant is full of purple streaked fruit. Along another path, Williams stops to lift a wayward cherry tomato vine and places it back in its bed. "I don't like to step on my babies," she said.

Elsewhere, wizened sunflowers have had their day. "We bring the kids out, we show them how to plant seeds, what the plants need," she said. "It's getting folks exposed to the garden." Food from the garden is used in the center's kitchen.

Thus the children (and their families) get a sense that food comes from the soil. This is not so obvious a connection in Ward 8. In this corner of the capital of the United States, there is one full-service grocery store for 80,000 people, and access to something as basic as fresh vegetables is limited.

"We have a lack of grocery stores," said Jahni Threatt, the CSA market manager for the nonprofit Building Bridges Across the River. "In Wards 7 and 8, we have three grocery stores." Residents eat from fast-food chains or out of convenience stores and liquor stores. "The food that's available isn't necessarily healthy," she said. Under Community Supported Agriculture programs or CSAs, growers provide direct weekly harvests to subscribers.

'Through the lens of equity'

The Baby Boomers Urban Farm that Williams coordinates at the National Children's Center is one of seven in a network of city farms east of the Anacostia River, including a one-acre farm run by Threatt's organization at THEARC, the arts, education, and social services campus at 1901 Mississippi Ave. SE.

This one farm produced as much as 1,600 pounds of food this year, but to provision its CSA program, the Building Bridges group turns to an additional 10 farms within 50 miles of the city, most of them Black-owned, said Scott Kratz, vice president.

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AN OUTDOOR CLASSROOM: The urban farm functions as an outdoor classroom for almost 200 children and is a portal for sources of fresh vegetables for families in a predominantly Black area of Washington with just one grocery store. Here, the pollinator garden is shown on Oct. 2. Adrian Higgins/The Washington Post

The CSA runs three seasons of subscriptions, and bags are picked up on Saturdays at THEARC. The spring season was canceled because of the pandemic, but the summer and fall ones have been heavily subscribed and will provide food for more than 400 families this year. The season has also been extended, from the end of this month to the end of next. Lower-income subscribers get a reduced rate, and families on assistance get the food free, Kratz said.

This is heartening because the pandemic has hit the city's poorest wards the hardest. Many residents have underlying health issues related in part to their diet, and many are front-line workers or rely on the gig economy, putting them at greater risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, Kratz said. Ward 8, which is 92% Black, so far has the highest number of virus deaths in the district, with 127, according to city-data. Ward 3, 81% White, had 34 for the same period.

"We need to make sure that the programming we have is coming through the lens of equity and making sure the access people need is available to everybody in the community," said Dominic Hosack, farm director of Building Bridges.

I am rethinking my sense that mini-farms in the city are of limited value. They are, rather, a key portal into a larger infrastructure of food-security efforts.

Beyond their utility, they are places of deep reconnection, to the soil, to food, and to communities. In the food deserts of big-city America, they are the oases.

Lead photo: CHECKING ON HER BABIES: Garden coordinator Rosie Williams checks a pepper plant at the National Children's Center urban farm in Washington in October 2020. Adrian Higgins/The Washington Post

Tags Farm Rosie Williams Food Agriculture Gardening Vegetable Garden Plant Pepper Veggy

Achievement Dominic Hosack

COLORADO: Kalera To Open Newest Vertical Farming Facility In Denver, Continuing Its Rapid Expansion Across The US

The Denver-Area location Is The Fifth

Facility Announced by Kalera, One of

The Fastest Growing Indoor Farming Companies In The Nation

October 05, 2021

Kalera, one of the fastest-growing vertical farming companies in the United States, today announced it will open its newest facility in Colorado in 2021. The Denver-area facility further establishes Kalera as a leading producer of vertically-grown greens across North America.

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Source: Kaleraphoto-release

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kalera (NOTC: KALERA, Bloomberg: KSLLF), one of the fastest-growing vertical farming companies in the United States, today announced it will open its newest facility in Colorado in 2021. The Denver-area facility further establishes Kalera as a leading producer of vertically-grown greens across North America.

The announcement is the latest step in Kalera’s rapid domestic and international expansion plan to grow fresh, clean, and nutritious leafy greens in close proximity to urban centers. Kalera currently operates two growing facilities in Orlando and is constructing facilities in Atlanta and Houston which will open in early 2021. The new Colorado facility will generate approximately 60 jobs for the local community.

“As the gateway to the Rockies and one of the great food cities in the world, Denver is the ideal location for Kalera’s latest vertical farm. Chefs and retail customers in Colorado are very health-focused and have a strong appreciation for local, fresh, better-than-organic produce,” said Daniel Malechuk, Kalera CEO. “Kalera is quickly becoming a world-leading company in indoor vertical farming with an ability to deliver fresh, locally grown greens, nationally. Thanks in large part to our streamlined design process, we are able to achieve a high rate of growth.”

By the end of 2021, Kalera will have five commercial growing facilities open and operating across the US. The company’s major milestones include:

• Its first commercial vertical farm, the HyCube growing center, currently operates on the premises of the Orlando World Center Marriott, bringing fresh, local produce to the hotel’s visitors and customers.

• In March 2020, Kalera opened its second facility in Orlando, providing produce to the area’s top retailers, leading foodservice distributors, resorts, hospitality groups, and theme parks.

• The Atlanta facility is the third farm in Kalera’s portfolio and when it opens early next year, will be the largest vertical farm in the Southeast.

• Its fourth facility is slated to open in Houston spring 2021 and will be the largest of its kind in Texas.

• As Kalera accelerates its growth over the next few years, it will continue to open additional facilities, expanding production capacity throughout the US and internationally.

"Kalera's model has proven that we are able to provide produce at industry-leading yields and unit economics that allow end-user customers to purchase our premium quality greens at stable, conventional pricing,” continued Malechuk. “We believe that everyone should be able to afford to eat safe, clean, fresh, and healthy local produce. And with yields at 300-400 times that of traditional field farms, we are on the way to achieving our goal."

Kalera utilizes cleanroom technology and processes to eliminate the use of chemicals and remove exposure to pathogens. Kalera's plants grow while consuming 95% less water compared to field farming.

About Kalera

Kalera is a technology-driven vertical farming company with unique growing methods combining optimized nutrients and light recipes, precise environmental controls, and cleanroom standards to produce safe, highly nutritious, pesticide-free, non-GMO vegetables with consistent high quality and longer shelf life year-round. The company’s high-yield, automated, data-driven hydroponic production facilities have been designed for rapid rollout with industry-leading payback times to grow vegetables faster, cleaner, at a lower cost, and with less environmental impact.

Media Contact: Molly Antos
Phone: (847) 848-2090‬‬‬‬‬

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GERMANY: ‘Urban Farming’: Are Rooftop Fields The Future?

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By Florence Schulz | EURACTIV.de

Translated by Sarah Lawton | September 30, 2020

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Blueprint of a planned roof garden in Berlin. Up to two million square meters of roof space could be used for plant cultivation in Germany's capital alone. But the investment costs are still relatively high. [© Dachfarm Berlin]

Languages: Français | Deutsch

This article is part of our special report New terminologies in sustainable food systems.

Large cities offer millions of square meters of unused roof space. Why aren’t they being converted to cultivate crops? The potential seems enormous, but “urban farming” is still in its infancy. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Salad from the roof of the supermarket or tomatoes from the facade of a high-rise building? What sounds like fiction is already a reality in some cities, albeit on a small scale. Urban farming is not a new concept, but one that has hardly been exploited to date.

Cultivating fruits and vegetables could experience a boom in the coming decades. After all, the human population is growing rapidly and is increasingly settling in cities. More than half of this population is already living in cities, and by the middle of the century, around 66% of people are expected to be living in cities – out of a world population of 9.7 billion.

More food also means correspondingly more demand for farmland, but this already accounts for 42% of the global land area.

Another problem is transport. According to the Fraunhofer Institute, around 12% of agricultural emissions are attributable to this alone.

As the World Summit on Biodiversity opens on Wednesday (30 September), new measures to halt its decline are being discussed, including the concept of payments for environmental services, which is currently widely debated in France and Europe. EURACTIV France reports.

Urban gardens for times of crisis

Could urban farming be part of the solution? One thing is certain: The idea is not new. Until the 19th century, cultivating crops was common practice within cities. When they disappeared, private allotment gardens spread.

Interestingly, a new trend is emerging: self-sufficiency is booming in the city, especially in times of crisis.

Often with success, as the British example shows: During World War Two, the government launched the “Dig for Victory” campaign. As a result, up to 50% of fruit and vegetables were produced by the population in allotment gardens.

In Spain, during the economic crisis, the proportion of allotment plots and community gardens increased six-fold between 2006 and 2014.

Apart from private cultivation, however, there are hardly any places where agriculture takes place on a larger scale in cities.

Roof gardens of the future use domestic heat and rainwater

In Europe, urban farming is still in its infancy.

“Every morning, I ask myself why not many more cities invest in it,” says Jörg Finkbeiner, architect, and co-founder of the Berlin network ‘Dachfarm.’ The consortium consists of gardeners, agro scientists, and architects, who together plan greenhouses for growing crops in the city.

However, Finkbeiner believes that this cannot be the case with urban farming, because most buildings are not statically suitable for it: “If you put crops in tubs on a roof and water them, you can quickly achieve 300 kilograms per square meter. Most buildings can’t support that.”

Dachfarm, therefore, relies on roof structures that are as light as possible and are built on top of existing buildings. The plants grow either in substrates such as pumice, lava or compost, as these are much lighter than soil or in hydroponic systems, where the nutrient supply is provided directly via a nutrient solution.

The glass gardens are designed to operate as efficiently as possible by using the waste heat from the building, collecting rainwater, or recycling greywater from households.

The concept of soil carbon sequestration, a cornerstone of regenerative farming, is regaining strength as a key measure in both climate mitigation and adaptation.

With Dachfarm, we want to show that the increasing amount of pavement in cities and the loss of arable land do not contradict themselves, Finkbeiner told EURACTIV.de.

Other advantages are that roof gardens can be used to produce close to the consumer and “on-demand,” so to speak, eliminating long transport routes or the need to store food. But not every type of agricultural cultivation is structurally possible, Finkbeiner points out. Besides, there are many open questions particularly in terms of building codes.

Bologna and Amsterdam with great potential

For supermarkets or restaurants, the own roof garden could be an attractive concept.

However, it is not worthwhile for everyone, because investment costs are still comparatively high and the food harvested in this way is more expensive.

A 2017 study by the European Parliament’s Scientific Service (EPRS) also came to the same conclusion: urban agriculture is “associated with considerable ecological, social and health benefits,” but can increase biodiversity and counteract the heating of cities.

However, this is also associated with high operating costs, for example for electricity, and is in competition with other types of use, for example for solar energy systems. In addition, the report says, tensions between “traditional and innovative farmers” and an increase in land values are also concerns.

There are no reliable figures on how widespread urban farming is in the EU. However, according to the ERPS evaluation, the potential could be huge, depending on the city.

In Bologna, for example, more than three-quarters of the vegetables consumed there could be grown in roof gardens. In Amsterdam, where currently only 0.0018% of food is produced locally, up to 90% of the fruit and vegetables consumed could be grown.

In a clear nod to the strategic importance of agroforestry, the term has now cropped up in both the European Green Deal, the European Commission’s roadmap for making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, and the EU’s flagship new food policy, the Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy.

Commission has no plans special funding

These figures seem optimistic, as they would probably require strong political support. In the current EU Common Agricultural Policy, urban farming projects can theoretically be financed with funds from both pillars as well as from the European Social Fund and the Regional Development Fund, but this is at the discretion of the member states.

Further support is not in sight, as the Commission “currently has no plans to coordinate strategies for urban agriculture beyond different levels of government,” according to the response EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski gave in the European Parliament in May.

However, a planning study on the topic is currently being prepared. This should be completed this autumn.

[Edited by Gerardo Fortuna/Zoran Radosavljevic]

EURACTIV's editorial content is independent from the views of our sponsors.

Urban Oasis Project Launches CSA Program

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JOSIE GULLIKSEN | OCTOBER 2, 2020

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Fresh produce boxes like this will be part of the Urban Oasis Project's CSA program. Photo courtesy of Urban Oasis Project

Fresh produce boxes like this will be part of the Urban Oasis Project's CSA program.

Since 2009, Art Friedrich, co-founder of Urban Oasis Project, has had one goal in mind: to make healthy, local food more accessible to all.

Friedrich and his group of volunteers do this by teaching people in underserved communities to start and maintain food gardens. They also connect consumers to local produce through farmers' markets and fruit and vegetable subscription programs in conjunction with various health clinics.

Five years ago, Urban Oasis operated the CSA (community-supported agriculture) program for the Farm at Verde Gardens. That experience, and urging from its loyal customers to start a program of its own, prompted Friedrich to kick one-off.

The weekly CSA box will cost a flat fee of $40. Inside, customers will find a surprise assortment of locally grown produce.

The CSA program is a win-win for farmers and consumers alike, Friedrich says. “We get to buy more from local farms and the customers get a premium, first-dibs selection of what’s available. Because of the standardization and commitment, we will be able to offer more produce for less price."

For the program, Urban Oasis will be drawn from multiple farms they’ve been working with for years, plus any new local ones they can find, Friedrich adds. It will be a multifarm CSA," he says. "It will be a shorter commitment than the usual CSA because we have a lot more flexibility since we also run farm stands at so many farmers' markets.

Since the coronavirus pandemic closed Urban Oasis' in-person farmers' markets around town, Friedrich and his volunteers have found a new, larger home at Radiate Fermentation Lab in Allapattah to store, pack, and sort produce.

“This current site is much more developed and helps us keep everything fresh. We converted an old walk-in fridge into our packing area, so it keeps everything nice and cool,” Friedrich says.

Since the pandemic descended, Urban Oasis has been packing community food boxes to give to families in need. Before that, it had staged a variety of special events for different groups, including a Thanksgiving giveaway for the Miami Dade College Hialeah campus. "We’ve done this for the past few years and it’s very similar to what we’ve done with the fruit and vegetable subscription program," Friedrich says.

Friedrich says all of Urban Oasis' projects serve one main goal. “We want to connect people to fresh, seasonal produce. The online store and our pick-up and delivery gives people another option. And because we are used to doing deliveries now, CSA feels like a very natural extension of what we do,” he says.

Creating the CSA program is also a homage to horticulturist Booker T. Whatley, an agriculture professor at Tuskegee University in Alabama who is credited with introducing the CSA model to the United States in the 1960s. Sam Vazquez, who with Ashley Varela runs Urban Oasis’ Project Maracuya, a CSA-style SNAP box program for families experiencing food injustice for a variety of reasons, did extensive research on Whatley.

“CSA has been an important part in the growth of the local food movement therefore, it’s imperative for the public to know that the roots of this very important development of farms came from an African-American farmer,” Friedrich says.

Friedrich anticipates reopening Urban Oasis' farmers' markets at Legion Park and the Arsht Center the weekend of October 24, and in South Miami and Vizcaya on November 7.

“We’re excited to get the physical markets back open but even when they do, we plan to keep the online market as long as people keep ordering and, of course, keep up the CSA Program,” says the Urban Oasis cofounder.

Order an Urban Oasis CSA box at urbanoasisproject.org.

Josie Gulliksen is a Miami native who's been covering Miami's arts and culture scene for more than two decades. She loves biking, spending time in nature, eating out, and attending all types of events. She dreams of one day writing a play and being on the stage.

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Josie Gulliksen FOLLOW: Twitter: @josiegullikse

Today’s Rooftops Are Increasingly Becoming Green Spaces As Part of A Drive Towards Cleaner Cities

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September 23, 2020

Contributors: Erin Williams & Isabel Scruby

Take a bird’s eye tour of many of the world’s well-known cities and there’s one noticeable feature they have in common: a growing number of green roofs.

Whether it’s carefully cultivated gardens on Chicago’s skyscrapers, urban farms nestled among Hong Kong’s towers, or grassy layers atop many of Copenhagen’s large buildings, more cities have brought in planning laws mandating green roofs on new developments.

Toronto, for example, introduced laws for new buildings or extensions greater than 21,000 square feet back in 2009. Since then, developers have had to cover between 20 and 60 percent of their buildings with vegetation – and while they can opt-out for a fee, fewer than 10 percent choose to do so, according to data from Toronto’s City Hall.

Other cities have opted for more flexibility. In San Francisco, 15 to 30 percent of roof space on new buildings must incorporate solar panels, green roofs, or both.

“Local government policy has and continues to be the major game changer as more cities aim to improve air quality, protect against flooding and heat stress during heatwaves, and build nature back into the urban environment,” explains Isabel Scruby, Planning, Development & Heritage consultant at JLL.

It’s a far cry from when green roofs first appeared 50 years ago when it was often charities or housing cooperatives leading the charge in German cities such as Düsseldorf and Stuttgart, today considered Europe’s green roof capital.

Driving a greener future

Today, there are often financial incentives for going green. In Hamburg, green roofing measures for both residential and commercial buildings are subsidized with up to €50,000 via the Hamburg IFB bank.

In America, Washington DC’s stormwater regulations and Philadelphia’s tax credit scheme both encourage green roofs.

In London, there are no such incentives. However, it’s now home to some 42 percent of the UK’s overall green roof space, in part through residential schemes such as Barnet’s Collingdale Gardens and Islington Square.

“Since 2008, there has been a clear drive in the uptake of urban greenery in London – specifically living walls and green roofs – as part of the Living Roofs and Walls Policy,” says Scruby.

The challenge is for those areas where there are low levels of greenery to improve, says Erin Williams, consultant in JLL’s Upstream Sustainability Services team.

“That will require more developers and existing real estate owners to embrace to the idea.”

While there are certainly practical issues to overcome, from transporting materials onto the roofs to ongoing irrigation and stormwater management, there are also benefits for investors and tenants.  

“Developers or redevelopers sometimes need convincing of the benefits of a green roof on a property’s long-term value and energy efficiency,” says Williams.

While utility costs vary between cities, the National Research Council of Canada estimates a green roof can reduce air-conditioning use by up to 75 percent.

And comparing the expected cost of a conventional roof with the cost of a 21,000 square-foot green roof, a 2006 study from the University of Michigan found that over its lifetime, a green roof would save about $200,000, with almost two-thirds of that in energy.

Appealing to modern tenants

While green rooftop space can be left vacant or landscaped for recreational use to help improve health and wellbeing among building tenants, some rooftops are going down a different route.

With greater public concern over climate change and a growing appetite for locally sourced produce, urban farming is starting to take off – with rooftops often offering high-quality environments to grow fresh produce. The world’s largest urban farm, Agripolis’ Nature Urbaine, recently opened on a central Paris rooftop.

In Exeter, the Crown Estate’s Princesshay rooftop garden, which includes five hives, fruit trees, and a herb garden, is home to around 100,000 bees. Since launching in 2012, honey is sold in a delicatessen below.

“Using green roofs to grow fruit and vegetables is a great opportunity to move rooftops away from purely recreational use and drive more value from them while also benefiting the local community and wildlife,” Williams says.

It’s a model that property owner YKK has implemented in Hong Kong to create a 9,000 square foot urban farm producing organic vegetables that are donated to local charities to help feed people in need.

“We’ve turned the building’s under-utilized space into a vibrant place where our tenants volunteer to help cultivate the plants,” says Sotomi Funasugi, director and factory manager at YKK (HK) Limited. “It not only allows tenants to relax and socialize, but it also strengthens bonds with the community by supporting local charities and helping schoolchildren to learn about growing vegetables.” 

While the number of green rooftops – and their range of uses – continues to grow, Williams says there’s room for the concept to grow further, pointing to Paris’ plans to make its rooftops a key part of its green transformation.

“As planning policy filters through and has a greater impact on developer thinking, there’s a strong possibility adding a green roof simply becomes part of planning applications,” Scruby says. “That’s the hope. We’re not there yet - but progress has been made.

New Office Aims to Help Grow Food in Small Spaces

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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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IGS Signs Significant Export Deal With Jungle To Supply French Retail Market

Scottish Technology to Create One of

Europe’s Largest Vertical Farms 

Edinburgh, Scotland – 17 September 2020 - Indoor agritech specialist IGS has today announced a significant export deal with experienced French urban agriculturalists, Jungle. The multi-million-pound deal will introduce IGS indoor growing platforms to Jungle’s operations, initially outside Paris, to grow a variety of crops to supply major French retailers.

The first growth towers will be in production by early 2021, scaling incrementally to a minimum of 17 towers by the end of 2021. Jungle will grow a range of herbs and salads to supply select retailers across France. The company will utilize the patented IGS plug-and-play vertical farming platform to widen its portfolio and produce new varieties through an ongoing program of crop trials.

Jungle’s indoor growing operations will also develop a variety of botanicals to provide natural ingredients to a world-leading flavor and fragrance business.

Jungle’s ethos is focused on sustainable food production, with superior quality of crops grown through a more efficient model, re-localizing the supply chain, considerably reducing waste and using no chemicals. With extensive experience in the indoor growing space, the company has achieved recognition in the highly competitive retail market in France for the quality of its produce.

To increase the scale of production sustainably, while maintaining its commitment to high-quality, delicious, and pesticide-free produce, the company conducted an extensive search to identify the best technology partner.

After a thorough and competitive review of the market, IGS was selected as the most economically viable and environmentally friendly system capable of meeting Jungle’s requirements to reach the industrial scale required by its customers. IGS offers its customers a highly controllable platform, designed to maximize productivity whilst minimizing energy and water consumption.

When completed, the nine-meter-high growth towers will be housed alongside a 1,500 m2 service area on Jungle’s site outside Paris. This will provide approximately 5,200 m2 of growing space, producing up to 425 tonnes per annum when fully operational, making it one of the largest vertical farms in Europe.

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IGS CEO, David Farquhar, commented: “In recent months, global markets have been challenged considerably and export agreements have become more difficult to fulfill. The announcement of this deal is an exciting one not just for IGS, but also for the UK’s Agri-tech sector as we showcase our international capability to support economic recovery post-coronavirus. The Jungle team has a strong reputation for excellence and sustainability both of its produce and approach.

“Jungle needs a reliable, productized system that can meet its ambitious growth plans in France and beyond and IGS has proven to be exactly that, following a rigorous selection process. This deal is proof that our unwavering commitment to innovative, practical design, based on a deep understanding of delivering optimum growing conditions, is what customers want. The deployment of the system for Jungle begins immediately and I am encouraged by how well our teams are collaborating as we move forward together.”

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Gilles Dreyfus, CEO of Jungle commented: “This partnership agreement is a significant step forward for Jungle and our ability to deliver at scale for our customers. We have established Jungle as a grower of superior produce with major French retailers and have plans to build on this reputation as we look at operations in other regions. We are proud to be innovators in our sector and it is important that we find people and organizations that share this same vision.

“We undertook a very serious assessment of the market and IGS was a clear leader in our eyes. What we can offer our customers through the partnership with IGS puts us at a different level in terms of scale, flexibility, and potential to expand and develop our produce portfolio. The IGS approach, both with the technology and the team, is such that we feel completely aligned and able to work collaboratively now and into the future.”

IGS has received recognition from the Scottish Government for the exciting export opportunities it is bringing to the Scottish market. Trade Minister Ivan McKee MSP said: “This significant contract underlines IGS’ standing as a global leader in agricultural innovation which will help everyone farm more sustainably. IGS’ growth has been driven by a focus on quality, innovation and scientific expertise and shows what Scottish companies can achieve with the right support in place.

“International exports have a central role to play in our economic recovery from COVID-19. The Scottish Government has set an ambitious target of increasing the value of exports from 20 percent to 25 percent of GDP by the end of the decade and I look forward to IGS helping us achieve that goal.”

In addition, Scottish Enterprise which has worked closely with IGS since 2018, welcomes this strategic export announcement. Neil Francis, International Trade Director at Scottish Enterprise, said: “We congratulate IGS on securing this export deal, which will ensure the company’s innovative technology is delivered to a global marketplace.

“Scottish Enterprise has worked closely with IGS over the past couple of years, both through our investment arm, the Scottish Investment Bank, and Scottish Development International.  We look forward to continuing support IGS as it demonstrates its capabilities in the agritech sector.     

“International trade will be key to Scotland’s economic recovery and help deliver the future, sustainable growth we all want to see.  Working with our partners, Scottish Enterprise will continue to do all we can to support companies access overseas markets.

Ends

 Notes to editors:

For more information: please contact Kate Forster, IGS on kate@intelligentgrowthsolutions.com or call +44 7787 534 999 or Gilles Dreyfus, Jungle on gdreyfus@jungle.bio.

About IGS:

Founded in 2013, IGS brought together decades of farming and engineering experience to create an agritech business with a vision to revolutionize the indoor growing market. Its commitment to innovation has continued apace and it has evolved the applications of its technology beyond agriculture to create solutions for a wide variety of indoor environments which enhance life for plants and people alike.

IGS launched its first vertical farming demonstration facility in August 2018.

For more information visit www.intelligentgrowthsolutions.com or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Jungle:

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Jungle originated in Portugal in 2016 and maintains a Research and Development facility in Lisbon. It identified strong demand from the retail market in France and opened operations there in 2019. Further European operations are under consideration as the demand for healthy, sustainable and locally-sourced produce increases.

A Thai University Leads The Way In Organic Urban Agriculture

By Darunee Sukanan

September 14, 2020

It was on a sunny afternoon recently that teachers and students from Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand, set about harvesting organically grown rice.

They gathered on a rooftop urban farm in a bustling metropolis where skyscrapers dominate the landscape. As in many busy capitals, Bangkok is covered in unhealthy exhaust fumes and green spaces are scarce, apart from small city parks.

That is why the rooftop farm project Thammasat University, one of the country’s leading institutions, can point the way forward in greening this sprawling city, which was known in times past as the Venice of Asia thanks to its numerous canals that then still crisscrossed the landscape.

The 7,000sqm rooftop garden at Thammasat University is the largest such green space in Asia. Its design mimics scenic rice terraces on northern Thai hillsides so that rainwater used for growing crops can be absorbed and stored, which means that the farm can function with maximum water efficiency.

“We tend to make a distinction between buildings and green spaces but green spaces can be part of building designs in cities like Bangkok, which has few green spaces,” said Kotchakorn Voraakhom, chief executive and founder of Landprocess, an urban design firm.

The Thai university’s rooftop garden serves several purposes, one of which is the cultivation of chemicals-free crops, including organic rice. The project seeks to help wean Thai farmers off pesticides and insecticides in a country where such chemicals remain widely in use in agriculture.

The intensive use of chemicals at farms across Thailand is posing serious environmental concerns. From 2009 to 2018, Thailand imported vast quantities of agricultural chemicals, such as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides each year. In 2018 alone, more than 156,000 tons of such chemicals were brought into the country.

That same year more than 6,000 locals fell severely ill from exposure to hazardous chemicals and nearly 3,000 people were sickened from exposure to insecticides, according to health officials.

A goal of the sprawling rooftop farm at Thammasat University is to popularize chemicals-free produce like vegetables. And it is not only students and university staff who can grow organic crops: anyone who wishes to grow organic crops is welcome to join. People are invited to grow crops for themselves or else sell them to the university’s kitchens.

Towards the aim of setting up a chemical-free food system, the university is planning to set up an organic canteen and an organic market in the area.

Sustainable Housing

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New Aponix Plant Plug Holder

Aponix has re-invented the single-use plastic netpot and replaced it with a reusable young plant plug holder that includes an optional metal trellis holder.

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The aponix vertical barrel components are meant to be robust horticulture building blocks for commercial production activities and prosumer solutions enabling users to set up hydroponic grow spaces efficiently within 3-dimensional space. Practically it works like a traditional 2D-NFT with guided vertical drip irrigation but in 3D using lego-like elements with many options and variations possible.

The goal of the aponix vertical barrel / 3D-NFT is to provide an alternative to rack systems for hyperlocal edible plant production in urban areas. Mission is to eliminate food miles and waste around food logistics and at the same time delivering more varieties harvested at the ideal ripeness to consumers for higher level nutrition and more fun.

Aponix is extending the system constantly. The latest addition to the toolbox is a new single-use plastic net pot replacement – the aponix reusable trellis plug pot. The pot will be much more solid that its existing counterparts so it can be reused over and over again. The shape is two thirds open with some gentle spikes in the bottom to hold young plants that have been grown in glue plugs or alternative substrates. The plug can be inserted directly into the system.

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To make it even more versatile the plug pot has 2 parallel holes where users can insert a 3mm metal plant trellis with different shapes to support larger plants or fruiting crops. Different trellis shapes and heights will be available. A click system keeps the plug and the fruit tightly attached to the metal plant trellis to support heavy fruit (or flowers).

The idea is also that the trellis plug pot can also be used in any other hydroponic system that provides an exact circular 5cm diameter hole for plants. Of course it will fit best into the grow spaces in aponix vertical barrels.

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For more information:
Aponix
Marco Tidona
hello@aponix.eu
www.aponix.eu

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Publication date: Thu 10 Sep 2020

MSU Awarded Grant To Expand Career Education Opportunities In Food, Agriculture, And Natural Resources Fields

Lindsay Mensch - September 1, 2020

This three-year effort will support urban Michigan students and teachers through the development of food, agriculture, and natural resources curricula and five Jr. MANRRS chapters.

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Michigan State University was awarded $280,997 from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture at USDA to strengthen food, agriculture, and natural resources career pathways for students in urban Michigan.

The project, “Collaborative Approaches to Building Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences Content and Career Learning in Urban Michigan,” will focus on developing food, agriculture, and human sciences curricula with school science teachers in cities like Detroit, Flint, Lansing, and Saginaw.

The project team includes Dr. Buddy McKendree, Dr. Aaron McKim, Dr. Jennifer Hodbod, Dr. Quentin Tyler, and Dr. Mike Everett from MSU. Dr. Antomia Farrell from the National Society of MANRRS (Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences) and Dr. Orlenthea McGowan from Langston University are also collaborators on the project.

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Dr. Buddy McKendree

“In Michigan, some of our most populated areas do not have any school-based agricultural education. This proposal was really a way for us to reconsider how we can get that content and career learning in areas that don’t have school-based agricultural education,” says lead investigator Buddy McKendree, Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Sustainability.

“We have to prepare our future leaders in the agriculture industry,” says Antomia Farrell, National President of MANRRS.

The curricula developed through this collaboration will be designed in accordance with Next Generation Science Standards, with the ultimate goal of increasing student, teacher, and administrator interest in establishing formal school-based agricultural education programs.

Orlenthea McGowan, Professor at Langston University, will support teachers to integrate these curricula in their classrooms through a one-week immersive teacher training.

The Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Education program in MSU’s Department of Community Sustainability has always focused on K-12 education and career development. Expanding existing agriculture, food, and natural resources career pipelines through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion is a critical next step for the work.

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Dr. Quentin Tyler

“This is a culmination of multiple things we’ve been working on,” says Quentin Tyler, Associate Dean and Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR). “This effort not only focuses on recruitment but also retention.”

In Tyler’s role in CANR, he is responsible for increasing student diversity and recruiting and retaining students. This project will support that effort as more pre-college students in Michigan will access career learning opportunities in the food, agriculture, and natural resources fields.

Working with the National Society of MANRRS is integral to diversifying and strengthening this career pipeline. There is a strong MANRRS chapter at MSU, but there are currently no registered Jr. MANRRS chapters in the state of Michigan. One outcome of this project is to develop five Jr. MANRRS chapters in urban Michigan schools over the next three years.

Farrell says, “I think representation is very important: to see that there are BIPOC communities who have been through these particular careers, and from an educational standpoint, to know that they can do the same thing that we’re doing today.”

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Dr. Antomia Farrell

“Within MANRRS what we’re really looking at is developing a cohesive structure for our Jr. MANRRS program” shares Farrell. “We focus on developing a pipeline approach as early as 7th grade to bring awareness of the agriculture, natural resources, and related sciences industry.”

This new initiative is building on past and current efforts in coordinating a Jr. MANRRS presence in the state of Michigan by the MSU MANRRS chapter and advisors Stephanie Chau, Dr. Eunice Foster, and Phillip Seaborn.

The national and statewide perspectives involved in this work make this project particularly exciting. The team hopes that this collaborative approach can be replicated in future efforts.

Tyler notes, “This effort is a collaboration between an 1862 institution, an 1890 institution, and a nonprofit, so to me, it’s a model showing different ways we can work together across organizations and across universities.”

Ultimately, this project will help meet the growing demand to fill jobs in the agriculture, food, and human sciences fields. Educating young adults about where food comes from and how to sustainably manage natural resources is a critical entry point for these careers.

McKendree sums up the significance of the project well.

“Agriculture, food, and natural resources are intertwined in our lives,” he says. “Everybody eats, everybody interacts with the environment. It’s relevant for everyone.”

This project is one of six recently awarded Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge (SPECA) grants. The SPECA program seeks to promote, strengthen, and foster linkages between secondary, two-year postsecondary, and higher education programs to encourage more young Americans to pursue and complete a baccalaureate or higher degree in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human science disciplines. 

Learn more about the project in NIFA’s Current Research Information System.

Could Urban Agriculture Feed The Cities of The Future?

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03 Sep 2020

By Agency

Vertical farms, rooftop farms, and computer-controlled growing environments are an emergent phenomenon in cities around the world, which are eager to take advantage of the many benefits of urban agriculture.

Drawing on new technologies and enthusiasm for locally sourced organic produce, these promising initiatives have raised hopes for greater sustainability that will reduce the environmental impact of cities and agricultural production required to meet the needs of their citizens.

However, the question remains: will urban farms be able to produce enough food to make cities self-sufficient?

The vast majority of fruit and vegetables sold in cities are picked before they are ripe, and are produced using intensive farming methods, which do extensive damage to the environment.

In contrast, urban agriculture offers the hope that we will one day be able to meet the global challenge of feeding cities in a much more sustainable manner. At the same time, it also provides a solution to the need for high-quality and locally sourced fresh food.

Recent successes in the field speak for themselves, notably the US$4mil (RM16.6mil) in funding raised by IFarm, which provides software and technology to the vertical farming sector.

The Helsinki-based company manages heavily automated indoor farms in which produce is grown in vertically stacked beds with a host of technologies that include a wide range of sensors, computer vision, and machine learning.

It currently has some 50 farms that are in development and is hoping to manage one million square meters of vertical farms and provide support for 500 different crops by 2026.

Is food self-sufficiency within reach?

It could be, notably with regard to vertical farms and certain crops. A recent publication in the interdisciplinary scientific journal PNAS has drawn attention to the potential of vertical farming to generate enormous yields of wheat.

Researchers have calculated, on the basis of theoretical values for the growth of wheat under optimal conditions, that a 10-story building on a one-hectare site could provide up to 1,940 tonnes of wheat per year, 600 times more than the average yield from traditional agriculture.

One of the reasons for this is because vertical farming provides conditions that would allow for five harvests per year instead of one. With the added advantages of doing away with the need for herbicides and pesticides, low water use, and land depletion, vertical farms may well fulfill their promise.

Questions remain about the viability of projects

However, as it stands, urban farms are very expensive to set up, and only a very few are actually profitable. Taking advantage of their situation in cities, most of those that are now operating are sustained by revenue from sources other than food production: notably income generated by cultural events, workshops, and renting plots to private individuals. – AFP Relaxnews

Related stories:

Community farm brings residents together

Getting ready for Agriculture 4.0

Lead photo: Urban agriculture is increasingly common in cities. This picture shows one of six farms created by the New York City Housing Authority in Brooklyn, New York. Photo: Leticia Barboza/AFP

TAGS / KEYWORDS: Urban Farming , Food Security , Vertical Farming , Rooftop Farms

Urban Farming: Four Reasons It Should Flourish Post-Pandemic

Since lockdown, public interest in growing fruit and vegetables at home has soared. Seed packets are flying off shelves and allotment waiting lists are swelling, with one council receiving a 300% increase in applications. Fear of food shortages will have motivated some, but others with more time on their hands at home will have been tempted by the chance to relieve stress doing a wholesome family activity.

The seeds of enthusiasm for home-grown food may have been sown, but sustaining this is essential. Urban farming has much to offer in the wake of the pandemic. It could help communities boost the resilience of their fresh fruit and vegetable supplies, improve the health of residents and help them lead more sustainable lifestyles.

Here are four reasons why food growing should become a perennial feature in our gardens, towns and cities after COVID-19.

1. Growing greener towns and cities

More than half of the global population lives in urban areas, and this is expected to rise to 68% by 2050. For the UK, this is even higher – nine out of 10 people are expected to live in towns and cities by this time.

Weaving food growing into the fabric of urban life could bring greenery and wildlife closer to home. The COVID-19 lockdown helped reawaken interest in growing at home, but one in eight UK households have no access to a garden. Thankfully, the opportunities for urban farming extend beyond these: rooftops, walls – and even underground spaces, such as abandoned tunnels or air raid shelters, offer a range of options for expanding food production in cities while creatively redeveloping the urban environment.

Edible rooftops, walls, and verges can also help reduce flood risk, provide natural cooling for buildings and streets, and help reduce air pollution.

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Paris hosts the largest urban rooftop farm in Europe. EPA-EFE/Mohammed Badra

2. Resilient food supplies

Diversifying where and how we grow our food helps spread the risk of disruption to food supplies.

The UK’s reliance on imports has been growing in recent decades. Currently, 84% of fruit and 46% of vegetables consumed in the UK are imported. Brexit and COVID-19 could threaten the steady supply, while the problems created by climate change, such as water scarcity, risk disrupting imports of food from abroad.

Growing fruit and vegetables in towns and cities would help resist these shocks. The harvest labour shortages seen during the pandemic might not have been felt as keenly if urban farms were growing food right where people live.

Vertical and underground crops are more resilient to extreme weather or pests, indoor growing environments are easier to control than those in the field, and temperature and humidity is more stable underground. The high start-up costs and energy bills for this type of farming has meant that indoor farms currently produce a small number of high-value crops, such as leafy greens and herbs. But as the technology matures, the diversity of produce grown indoors will expand.

À lire aussi : Vertical farms offer a bright future for hungry cities

3. Healthier lives

Getting out into nature and gardening can improve your mental health and physical fitness. Our research suggests that getting involved in urban food growing, or just being exposed to it in our daily lives, may also lead to healthier diets.

Urban growers may be driven to make healthier food choices for a whole range of reasons. They have greater access to fresh fruit and vegetables and getting outdoors and into nature can help reduce stress, making people less likely to make unhealthy food choices. Our study suggested that urban food growing can also help change attitudes towards food, so that people place more value in produce that’s sustainable, healthy, and ethically sourced.

4. Healthier ecosystems

While urbanization is regarded as one of the biggest threats to biodiversity, growing food in towns and cities has been shown to boost the abundance and diversity of wildlife, as well as protect their habitats.

A recent study found that community gardens and allotments act as hotspots for pollinating insects, because they tend to contain a diverse range of fruiting and native plants.

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Vegetables, like this courgette, can produce flowers for pollinators to enjoy. Natakim/Shutterstock

If designed and implemented properly, allotments and community gardens can really benefit biodiversity. Not only should barren spaces be converted into green and productive plots, it’s also important that there are connections between these environments to help wildlife move between them.

Canals and cycle paths can act as these wildlife corridors. As we begin to diversify the spaces used to grow food, particularly those on our rooftops and underground, an exciting challenge will be finding novel ways of connecting them for wildlife. Green bridges have been shown to help wildlife cross busy roads – perhaps similar crossings could link rooftop gardens.

All these reasons and more should compel us to scale up food production in towns in cities. COVID-19 has given us cause to reevaluate how important local urban green spaces are to us, and what we want from our high streets, parks, and pavements. Judging by the garden center sales, allotment lists, and social media, many people have decided they want more fruit and veggies in those spaces. The opportunity is there for urban planners and developers to consider what bringing farming to urban landscapes could offer.

Lead photo: Joshua Resnick/Shutterstock

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Déclaration d’intérêts

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Dan Evans

Senior Research Associate in Physical Geography, Lancaster University

Does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Jess Davies

Chair Professor in Sustainability, Lancaster University

Receives funding from the UK Research and Innovation Council and the European Commission. The research described here was funded under the Global Food Security’s ‘Resilience of the UK Food System Programme’, with support from BBSRC, ESRC, NERC, and The Scottish Government (BB/S01425X/1).