Posts from — December 2009

Photo by Martin Barrett, City Garden Farms, Dan Bravin, here using a seeder, farms about a dozen backyard lots in Portland, Oregon, using an approach referred to as SPIN Farming.

Roxanne Christensen
Fall 2007
Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy Volume 3 Issue 2
Co-author, SPIN-Farming, an online learning series on subacre farming

Author’s Personal Statement

I began advocating for urban agriculture in Philadelphia in 1998. What appealed to me is what draws many people to the cause: its social and environmental benefits are obvious and easy to understand. But it quickly became apparent that, compelling though they are, these benefits were not enough to motivate policy makers in a position to help urban agriculture succeed on any kind of scale. Instead, the economic benefits that many proponents had long acknowledged in theory, but few were able to demonstrate, had to be proven. SPIN-Farming is a very powerful tool for validating the economic viability of urban agriculture.

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Strip Mall Farming

By Stacey Murphy Landmines Productions
for The Buckminster Fuller Challenge

BK Farmyard reconnects farmers and consumers as co-producers of the landscape and food culture. The strategy takes advantage of the existing urban fabric of Brooklyn neighborhoods to reclaim privately held green spaces as farms. Residents pay for a yard-farming service that delivers produce to their doors, while others without green space pay for produce cultivated in these farmyards. Additionally, some lots would be converted to Dinner Party structures, public spaces for community dinner parties

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The Urban Terrace

By Ellen Depoorter
For The Buckminster Fuller Challenge

Population growth is leading to an ever accelerating urbanization. Densely built cities are very effective in providing housing, transport, work and culture since they are shared by a large population. Concentrating population in cities leaves land open for nature: O2 creating and CO2 absorbing plants.

While providing numerous benefits, cities don’t provide food or energy for their population. Energy is mostly carbon based and needs to be transported into the city. Food production as well is based on carbon: chemical fertilizers, pesticides, farm machinery, modern food processing, packaging and transportation. Processed food is also rich in fat and sugar and has less useful nutrients like vitamins and minerals, contributing to an obesity epidemic.

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Vertically Integrated Greenhouse in Cafe with Strawberries

By Arup Engineers, Kiss + Cathcart Architects, New York Sun Works, The Vertical Farm Project, Dickson Despommier for The Buckminster Fuller Challenge

Abstract

The Vertically Integrated Greenhouse (VIG) combines a double-skin building facade with a hydroponic greenhouse, offering one pathway toward energy-efficient cities that can grow their own food.

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Is it possible to feed yourself for a week simply with food you find growing wild – in London? Bella Bathurst takes up the urban foraging challenge

By Bella Bathhurst
The Observer
Dec. 6, 2009

Foraging is very now. On trend and magnificently seasonal, all you need is a pair of gumboots, a set of Kilner jars, and the time and inclination to preserve everything you see. There’s wine out there, and gin, and beer, soups, salads and soufflés – a whole great Waitrose of stuff all just waiting to be turned into chutney.

“Everyone,” says one wild food expert glumly, “is making jam this year.”

So why, when it all sounds such fun, should the cities be left behind?

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Spreading Seeds from Alex Burr on Vimeo.

The Three Green Citizens

Three SFU Communication students aiming for social change in Vancouver through Urban Agriculture: Alex Burr, Jeremy Addleman and Isabelle Jacques. Our interest for Urban Agriculture grew out of a desire to engage Vancouverites in a grassroots movement supportive of food security and sustainability.

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Investors see farms as way to grow Detroit

Acres of vacant land are eyed for urban agriculture under an ambitious plan that aims to turn the struggling Rust Belt city into a green mecca.

By P.J. Huffstutter
December 27, 2009
Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Detroit – On the city’s east side, where auto workers once assembled cars by the millions, nature is taking back the land.

Cottonwood trees grow through the collapsed roofs of homes stripped clean for scrap metal. Wild grasses carpet the rusty shells of empty factories, now home to pheasants and wild turkeys.

This green veil is proof of how far this city has fallen from its industrial heyday and, to a small group of investors, a clear sign. Detroit, they say, needs to get back to what it was before Henry Ford moved to town: farmland.

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Urban activist Majora Carter, second from right, talks about ideas for farming in the city during a recent visit to Detroit. She met with local officials and members of nonprofits at Catherine Ferguson Academy on Dec. 2. (JAMES BURLING CHASE/Majora Carter Group)

Activist sows seeds for farm co-op owned by workers, venture could reap profits for Detroit

By John Gallagher
Free Press Business Writer
Dec. 26, 2009

The Mo’ Green Town proposal by New York City activist Majora Carter just might hit the sweet spot in Detroit urban agriculture.

Carter visited Detroit recently to talk up her plan to create a worker-owned urban agriculture cooperative venture. By pooling the efforts of numerous small growers in Detroit, it would attempt to grow big enough to generate real profits and a return for investors. But it would be run by local community growers themselves.

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2007 – Winner of the 2nd International Competition for Sustainable Housing by Knafo Klimor Architects and Town Planners, Israel

Excerpts from Living Steels’ competition design website.

Agro-housing, the winning design for construction in China, blends urban and rural living by creating vertical greenhouse space within high-rise apartments. Designed by Knafo Klimor Architects, the Agro-housing concept allows tenants to produce their own food, reducing commuting needs and providing a green neighbourhood.

Knafo Klimor Architects developed this concept with concern for predictions that 50% of China’s one billion people will live in its cities, a trend mirrored in many developing countries in the world. The architects observe that massive urbanisation displaces communities, dissipating existing traditions and heritage, as well as placing a strain on energy resources and infrastructure.

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Urban Growth Bounty 2010

“Portland residents know that growing and preserving their own food is great for our personal, environmental and community health,” says Portland Mayor Sam Adams. “The Urban Growth Bounty classes are a great value. There’s always more to learn about how to grow, preserve and eat sustainably on a budget.”

From urban chickens and beekeeping to year-round food gardening, fermentation and preservation, City of Portland’s Urban Growth Bounty triples 2010 class offerings.

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Full Circle Farm in Sunnyvale

Karina Rusk
December 21, 2009
KGO-TV San Franscisco

SUNNYVALE, CA (KGO) — Hands on learning for school kids is nothing new, but in Silicon Valley amid all the high-tech companies and housing development, there is something you do not see a lot of in the Bay Area anymore — a farm. It is giving kids a whole new appreciation for what they eat.

Full Circle Farm in Sunnyvale is an independent non-profit organization. It is a rare working farm in the heart of Silicon Valley, but it is also an outdoor classroom for a new generation of gardeners.

“I really like farming, being in the sunshine and having fun,” said student Cindy Lenhu.

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New trailer for Edible City.

Support Edible City‘s fundraising efforts.

Hidden between buildings and across networks of backyards, germinating in classrooms and sprouting up in city centers, a grassroots movement is thriving in the Bay Area.

Edible City, the forthcoming documentary from East Bay Pictures, follows the stories of folks who are digging their hands into the dirt, fighting for sustainability and social justice by doing something truly revolutionary: growing a local food system.

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Jesse Kurtz-Nicholl’s Interview with Urban Ag High School Student, Ana Araujo

Center for Livable Future
Dec 18, 2009

Excerpt:

In October 2009, Jesse Kurtz-Nicholl sat down with Ana Araujo to discuss the Urban Agriculture and Food Systems class she participated in at Richmond High School in 2008/2009. The class was a pilot program, which gave the students graduation credit and was centered around the creation of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and direct sale of produce from a middle school farm and the school garden at Richmond High. 10 families received a bi-weekly box of produce for $5, which was planted, tended and grown completely by Richmond High students.

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See larger map image here.

Celebrations As Bristol City Farm Is Saved By Hitting £50K Target

Bristol Evening News
December 21, 2009,

A city farm in Bedminster has been saved from closure thanks to the public, who have helped raise £50,000 in just five months.

The four-and-a-half-acre farm was started on derelict land in 1976 as a result of the demands of local people, and has grown to an attraction visited by 200,000 people every year.

Windmill Hill City Farm, which currently employs 80 people, is a registered charity, so there is no charge for entry, but every donation helps to keep the farm operating as a free community facility for the enjoyment of the public.

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By Mr. Brown Thumb of Chicago Garden
See more great urban agriculture stories by Mr. Brown Thumb by following the ‘reading more’ link.

Excerpt:

The last place you expect to see a vegetable garden is behind tall fences topped off with razor wire, but at the Cook County Jail there is a 13 thousand square-foot vegetable garden grown by inmates. This vegetable garden is a joint effort by The Cook County Sheriff’s Department of Community Supervision and Intervention and The University of Illinois Extension. The inmates who work the garden are non-violent offenders serving time under county sentencing guidelines for cases involving drugs or a DUI.

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An estimated 15 million urban white-collars spend more than five hours a day on Happy Farm, according to data from the game’s creator.

China’s growing addiction: online farming games

Elliott Ng
Venture Beat
October 29, 2009

A new agrarian revolution has occurred in China, but only in the virtual worlds of social games. Social farm games now dominate all major Chinese social networking sites — RenRen (formerly Xiaonei), Kaixin001, 51.com, and QQ’s QZone. The May launch and 2H 2009 adoption of QQ Farm — a version of China’s already popular Happy Farm game built to run on Tencent’s estimated 228 million active-user QZone platform — may very well have transformed China into the leading country of online farmers.

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NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. June 8th, 2009.

New Growth in Ledroit Park

by Amanda Abrams
DC NORTH
September 2009

Last year, when Common Good City Farm found out it had to leave its home on 7th Street, co-founder Liz Falk wasn’t sure where the project would wind up. Her feeler emails soliciting suggestions resulted in a response from someone she barely knew. “Call me,” it said.

Thirteen months later, the urban garden and education center is part of the redevelopment of Gage-Eckington School in Ledroit Park. Not simply a side project, the farm wound up being an integral element that kept the redevelopment plans moving forward.

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One of DIG’s first gardens in Dakar, Senegal.

Gardens in Senegal, Uganda, Dominican Republic, Namibia, Nicaragua, Kenya, and Tanzania

We help struggling HIV facilities establish a sustainable resource for food that they can maintain, create stability, and strengthen their community. DIG is the only organization focused on implementing urban micro-gardens to encompass a solution and create self-reliance instead of dependance.

Improved nutrition, food security, micro-enterprise development, home garden extension, personal empowerment, and social change are the focus of DIG’s efforts. Because each garden is unique DIG customizes it’s projects to meet the objectives of the specific facility. These projects often include vegetable diversification where DIG implements highly nutritious but under-utilized produce such as kale, collard greens, and chaya into the growing plan. Upon the harvest of these vegetables, DIG conducts classes on food preparation and how patients can best incorporate them into their diets.

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NPR Excerpt: ‘Farm City’ by Novella Carpenter

From Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter. Copyright 2009 by Novella Carpenter. Published by Penguin Press.

Chapter One

I have a farm on a dead-end street in the ghetto. My back stairs are dotted with chicken turds. Bales of straw come undone in the parking area next to my apartment. I harvest lettuce in an abandoned lot. I awake in the mornings to the sounds of farm animals mingled with my neighbor’s blaring car alarm.

I didn’t always call this place a farm. That didn’t happen until the spring of 2005, when a very special package was delivered to my apartment and changed everything. I remember standing on my deck, waiting for it. While scanning the horizon for the postal jeep, I checked the health of my bee colony. Honeybees buzzed in and out of the hive, their hind legs loaded down with yellow pollen. I caught a whiff of their honey-making on the breeze, mixed with the exhaust from the nearby freeway. I could see the highway, heavy with traffic, from the deck.

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Home-garden-sized row covers.

Sam Kass preps and plugs the winter garden

By Jane Black
Washington Post
Dec 16, 2009

First, he was profiled in Men’s Health magazine. Then it was People. Now White House assistant chef Sam Kass has taken the first step to small screen stardom. And by small screen, I mean YouTube.

Today, the White House released a video of Kass and Department of Agriculture officials readying the South Lawn garden for winter. A group of what appear to be a dozen volunteers set up hoop houses – a kind of temporary green house – in which staff will grow cold-weather greens for the White House table. The group also plant a cover crop of rye, which will help protect and enrich the soil during the cold months.

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