Making urban farming legal

Good urban agriculture legislation brings a harvest of nutritional, aesthetic, social and cultural improvements.

Pressure and creativity are loosening old rules that kept farming in the country.

By Krista Hozyash
Rodale Institute

Krista Hozyash recently served as a communications intern at the Rodale Institute. She received her Masters of Environmental Management from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, and plans to aid communities with conservation and sustainability initiatives.

Excerpt:

The crow of roosters in New York City neighborhoods is an increasingly familiar sound, as is the chatter of gardeners working in community plots on rooftops and abandoned lots. NYC and other metro areas around the nation are engaging with the organic agriculture movement to establish local food systems that address concerns of food deserts, childhood obesity and inequality of access to fresh, healthy, whole foods.

The advent urban agriculture as a political and cultural movement is forcing re-evaluation of what communities believe improves their quality of life: the modern-era ideal of mowed lawns and manicured bushes is losing out to a post modern vision of a more biodiverse landscape of vegetable, small fruits and the bio-mechanical processes of fresh, local, organic food production.

These neo-agricultural efforts were not in mind when municipal zoning laws were written. Cities have restricted residential food gardening and urban farms as competing uses for local water, and in response to complaints over smells, noises, change of aesthetics and perceived decreased property values sometimes associated with farming.

Despite these roadblocks, the desire to grow food is changing the system and easing the ability of future urbanites to begin local food production.

Zoning goals

Urban planning within cities creates neighborhoods designed within zones the designate land-parcel use into residential, commercial, industrial and recreational uses. Through smart growth plans which integrate ecological and carbon footprint aspects, residential areas can be surrounded with public transit options, businesses and green space to minimize car dependence and increase physical activity.

See the rest of the article here.

Also see the linked article: Urban Farms vs. Urban Zoning By Casey Miner here