Austin Texas adopts a resolution to promote urban farms and community gardens

Photo by Shelley Neuman/The Daily Texan. Larry Butler, owner and proprietor of Boggy Creek Farm, stands in front of the patch of arugula and mustard seed plants that makes up just a small portion of the Five-acre urban farm located in east Austin.

Big City Farm Life – Resolution encourages Austin residents to start their own organic farms

By Priscilla Totiyapungprasert

Daily Texan Staff

November 23, 2009

On a chilly Saturday morning, a steady stream of Austin residents lured by the promise of fresh organic vegetables trickled into east Austin’s Boggy Creek Farm, where tables of butternut squash and bell peppers greeted them.

A dirt path led visitors behind the market stand, where they found a three-acre plot of winter crops including beets, arugula, carrots and leeks.

Farms in the middle of major cities are not a common sight, but a recent City Council decision could make it easier for Austin residents to start their own farm like Boggy Creek.

City Council adopted a resolution last week to promote urban farms and community gardens. The resolution, advised by the Sustainable Food Policy Board, asks City Manager Marc Ott to present a plan that will streamline the process of applying for an urban farm or community garden by late February.

Part of streamlining the process includes identifying empty lots that could serve as land for cultivation and broadening the definition of an urban farm or community garden so more applicants can qualify.

“The city has land, and now we want to know where we can create, on city-owned property, applicable places for gardens and growing food,” said Andy Moore, council aide for Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez. “We want it to be easy enough for somebody to go on the city’s Web site and know what land’s available and how they can bring a community garden to their neighborhood.”

Moore said the Sustainable Food Policy Board is made up of 13 members who advise City Council on how to ensure better food security and reduce greenhouse gases through increasing the local food supply.

Moore said the greatest hurdle for people who want to start a community garden or farm is the cost of land in Austin, especially for agriculture. The city, however, will offer agricultural subsidies and lower the price of city-owned land for that purpose, he said.

Moore said growing food locally uses less energy to transport food to grocers compared with shipping food in from out of state. Growing locally also produces better quality food, he said.

“A banana that ripens in a box during transportation doesn’t have as much nutritional food value as the banana that ripens on the plant,” Moore said.

In addition to their effect on the environment, urban farms and gardens also impact the city’s economy and community relationships. Not only do they create more jobs, but the revenue that farms make keeps money circulating in the city, Moore said.

See the complete article here.