Posts from — July 2010

Photo credits: Studio Shift

Studio Shift’s proposal, Milano Stadt Krone

By Bridgette Meinhold
Inhabitat
07/30/10

Excerpt:

A sponsored exhibition by the Architectural and Urban Forum (AUFO) of Milan asked 12 firms to imagine how increased density could be achieved while providing more public space and agriculture to support a growing Milan. Studio Shift’s proposal, Milano Stadt Krone, suggests that residences and an urban farm can be layered on top of each other, working in a harmonious pair to provide better quality of life for the people of Milan.

The Lombardy region of Italy contains one sixth of all the Italian population and is responsible for one third of the nation’s agricultural output, which makes it critical that the region continue to pump out food for the rest of the country without sacrificing land for residential, commercial or industrial uses.

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Jeff Jackson of the MGM Grand, left, walks with Rebecca Salminen Witt of The Greening of Detroit and Michigan State Rep. Bert Johnson. Photo by Max Ortiz, The Detroit News.

$1 million project – Partnership with nonprofit to educate area school kids

Tim Devaney
The Detroit News
July 31, 2010

Excerpt:

Detroit — MGM Grand Detroit casino and The Greening of Detroit said Friday that they plan a $1 million project to build and complete the downtown area’s first urban farm by late next year.

The Grand Garden — announced with the city’s skyscrapers as a backdrop — is crucial for the city’s development of a community-driven food system, organizers said.

Detroit is one of a growing number of metropolitan areas that is reintroducing agriculture. Detroit’s neighborhoods are already filled with more than 1,200 urban farms and gardens, Grand Garden organizers said.

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Shui Im, 88, waters the zucchini plants he’s cared for in the all-volunteer community garden in Poway as part of the Backyard Produce Project. Photo by Peggy Peattie

San Diego garden

By Vincent Rossi
The Union Tribune
July 30, 2010

Excerpt:

Early this year, Sunshine Care owner Sam Stelletello offered a vacant lot on his facility’s grounds for the Backyard Produce Project to use to develop its own garden. Stelletello’s offer included access to Sunshine Care’s water supply and help from his horticultural staff.

In March, Radatz and other volunteers went to work on transforming the weed-strewn field into a working garden.

“It’s really grass-roots,” said Radatz on a recent day at the garden. “We started out asking questions like, ‘Does anybody have a hoe?’?”

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1,000 New Gardens

1,000 New Gardens is a network of aspiring green thumbs in Missoula, Montana who are interested in sharecropping, canning, pickling and growing organic vegetables together. We are encouraging the conversion (of lawn space in people’s back and front yards) into productive sustenance patches. Volunteers are helping to organize events centered around beginning gardeners, including Seed Ordering potlucks and Dig Days. In 2010, our goal is to attract 40 new gardeners to the network.

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The city of Enugu from the hills on the west side of the city.

An Assessment of the Contribution of Urban Crop Agriculture in Nigerian Cities: A Case Study of Enugu Metropolis, Enugu State, Nigeria

Authors: J. M. Chaha; E. A. Onwubuyaa; A. N. Asadua
Affiliation: a Department of Agricultural Extension, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
Published in: Journal of Agricultural & Food Information, Volume 11, Issue 3 July 2010 , pages 233 – 247

Abstract

This study examined the contribution of urban crop agriculture in Enugu metropolis, Enugu State. A questionnaire/interview schedule was used to collect information from 60 urban agriculture (UA) farmers. Respondents were engaged in UA to provide food for family members (97%), for extra income (91.67%), and to pay children’s school fees (85.45%).

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Touring Montreal’s Urban Agriculture

By Amanda S.
The Mindful Table
July 30, 2010

I love the concept of urban agriculture. We really don’t need a lot of space to grow some of our own food in the city. I keep a small garden that could probably sustain me through most of the summer. Not to mention how nice it is to reach for a tomato or pepper and know that it was picked fresh just minutes ago. Yum.

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Alemany Farm: Video story above

Huffington Post
07-29-10

Alemany Farm is a four acre organic paradise amidst the urban sprawl of one of San Francisco’s worst crime areas.

Executive Director Alice Carruthers says her vision with the non-profit “was to slow the crime down.” Since the farm began in 1991, families have been able to put fresh organic food on their tables and find a safe haven from the hostile environment where their children play and learn about the environment.

Link here.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Artist unknown.

With more mouths to feed and increasing demands on land, Duncan Graham-Rowe looks to see if high rise city blocks will be the source of tomorrow’s supper

Duncan Graham-Rowe
The Guardian
29 July 2010
Duncan Graham-Rowe is a former staff writer for the New Scientist and a regular contributor to The Economist and The Guardian.

Excerpt:

The vaults rose up as high as the city walls, bearing reeds richly bedded in bitumen and gypsum. The layered galleries peered each beyond its neighbour to reach the sunlight, and water drawn from the river was pumped through conduits up to the highest level. The topsoil was thick enough to root even the largest trees…

These were the renowned Hanging Gardens of Babylon, as described by the Greek historians Diodorus and Callisthenes, and the earliest example of vertical farming – at least according to Dan Caiger-Smith. His company, Valcent, is taking the concept into the 21st century, recently launching the first farm of its kind at Paignton Zoo in Devon.

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City Growers, Boston. Our mission is to transform vacant lots in Boston into sustainable urban farms. Photo by City Growers

Food Project’s 4 acres in 7 urban communities and 36 additional suburban acres

By Jacqueline Church
Good Eater Collaborative
Jul 27, 2010

Excerpt:

Today, urban agriculture, “urban ag”, is not simply about delicious, local food, it’s about creating new food production and delivery systems, it’s about public health and food justice. Boston chefs, community advocates and entrepreneurs are broadening the dialog and shortening the distance between farm and table. Never mind the 100 mile diet, how about 100 blocks, or 100 steps?

Meet a few new urban farmers, giving us a window into the promises and the challenges of urban agriculture in its many forms.

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Seglet – revenue from rooftops.

Owners – How can I profit from my roof?

For owners of property: Seglet is your opportunity to make money from your unused rooftop space. Your roof space is now valuable. Companies or individuals may rent, lease, or engage in a partnership with you for Solar Panels, Vegetable Gardens, Wind Energy, or Creative Uses.

Agriculture Flat Lease
With a flat lease, the commercial agriculturalist will rent the space from a property owner, then produce the food and sell to local grocery stores, farmers markets, Walmarts, and restaurants.

Agriculture Profit Share
With a profit share, the commercial agriculturalist will split the profits of the produce sold with the owner of the property. There are many arrangements within this, some that involve some upfront cost for the owner, and some that don’t involve an upfront cost.

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A row of potted herb and vegetable plants are seen lined up outside the public works building in downtown Houston. The garden, a cooperative effort by city officials and nonprofit group, is part of a trend in cities across the county, where gardens are being used as tools for economic development and community-building, and to support the growing local-foods movement. AP Photo by Pat Sullivan.

Downtown Houston Container Vegetable Garden Project

Monica Rhor
For The Associated Press
July 27, 2010

Excerpt:

HOUSTON — A funny thing happened after Keiji Asakura suggested the creation of a vegetable garden in the middle of the concrete corridor and skyscraper canyon that is downtown Houston.

It actually came to fruition — with a swiftness that stunned the landscape architect and the nonprofit group that shared his vision.

Within three weeks, seeds, plants and container pots had been donated, city officials had hopped on board, and a nascent garden had sprouted outside the 25-story Bob Lanier Public Works Building.

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Jazz Monde serving a Pollinator (green tea liqueur, soda water and Sprite), a signature cocktail offered at the Camellia Lounge at Descanso Gardens near Los Angeles. Photo by Jonathan Alcorn for The New York Times

In 2009, 35 percent of American households had some kind of food garden, up from 31 percent in 2008

By Judith H. Dobrzynski
New York Times
July 26, 2010

Excerpts:

For the last quarter century, the Cleveland Botanical Garden went all out for its biennial Flower Show, the largest outdoor garden show in North America. With themed gardens harking back to the Roman empire, or an 18th-century English estate, the event would draw 25,000 to 30,000 visitors.

But in 2009, the Flower Show was postponed and then abandoned when the botanical garden could not find sponsors. This year, the garden has different plans. From Sept. 24 to 26, it is inaugurating the “RIPE! Food and Garden Festival,” which celebrates the trend of locally grown food — and is supported in part by the Cleveland Clinic and Heinen’s, a supermarket chain.

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Entrepreneurs are seeking sustainability and equitability in San Francisco’s urban ag movement

By Sarah Rich
Edible San Francisco
25 July 2010

Excerpt:

In a region where people are passionate about the advancement of urban farming, it’s only natural that our local food magazine would dedicate some ink in each issue to talking about this noble pursuit. This is the first installment in Edible SF’s new urban agriculture column, where we’ll explore everything from window-box tomato cultivation to pending city policies around farms on public land. If you have suggestions for a little-known local endeavor or a pressing issue you’d like to see covered here, please get in touch.

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Stops at five community gardens – bike or bus

Thursday July 29, 2010
5:00 to 8:00pm (8-9:30pm dinner)
Sustainable Communities Network

In the words of Ginny Ramsey of The Catholic Action Center, “Urban gardening is a way to empower neighborhoods and individuals in the creation of a community hub while eating healthier and regaining a connection to our food source.”

Sumaya Rashid of Virginia Place says “ I was inspired by the 2009 Garden Tour and knew I had to help lead the effort to have one at Virginia Place. My daughter loves the garden and enjoys being out there everyday. Our garden plots have been a wonderful addition to the bonding of mothers and children”.

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Lay’s Mobile Farm in New York’s Times Square. Photo by dianebondareff.

Multi-City Experiential Tour to Feature Lay’s U.S. Potato Farmers; Brand to Donate Thousands of Plants to Help Grow Community Gardens Nationwide

Lay’s press release
July 26, 2010

Lay’s®, America’s favorite potato chip and a leading brand from PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division, unveiled today a mobile greenhouse designed to bring a rural farm experience to the center of metropolitan areas across the country. The six-city “Lay’s Mobile Farm” tour kicks-off this morning in New York City’s iconic Times Square and will then travel to five other major cities throughout the U.S. – Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas. The campaign marks another phase of the brand’s strategy to celebrate the people and communities across the country that produce its line of potato chips.

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Olivea Restaurant near downtown Denver, Pizzeria Basta in downtown Boulder

by Andrea Dukakis
Colorado Public Radio
July 23, 2010

There’s something really satisfying about enjoying fruits and vegetables grown right in your own garden. And local restaurants are catching on. As part of our Friday summer series “Backyard Farmers”, we’re going to hear about restaurant owners who are getting ingredients not just locally, but from right in their own backyards. One such restaurant is Olivea near downtown Denver, which buys from an urban farm behind the restaurant.

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In California, an estimated 2.5 million agricultural acres are located within one-third mile of an urbanized area. Above, in south Salinas a landscaped driveway faces irrigated fields.

California communities deal with conflict and adjustment at the urban-agricultural edge

By Alvin Sokolow, UC Davis
Sonja Varea Hammond, UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE)
Maxwell V. Norton, UCCE Merced County
Evan E. Schmidt, UC Davis
California Agriculture, Vol. 64, No. 3
July-September 2010

Conversions and edges: How much farmland is affected?

Close to 40,000 acres of agricultural land — a little more than one-tenth of 1% of California’s total — are converted to urban uses annually (CDC 2006). Far more farm acres, however, are located in close proximity to residential neighbors. An estimated 2.5 million agricultural acres throughout California are within one-third mile of urban edges (Sokolow 2003). In 2004, this estimate was updated based on a calculation in that year of 12,137 edge miles statewide where agricultural land bordered residential and other urban land; cropland edges totaled 7,886 miles. These numbers actually underestimate the true extent of edges, since they are based on the state definition of “urban and built-up” land as six or more structures per 10 acres and do not account for separated, single residences in rural areas.

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The bees’ honey is largely organic because pesticide use has been banned in Tokyo city parks and gardens. Photo: by Chris Hondros

It’s effective in changing people’s mindsets

(AFP)
21 July 2010

TOKYO — Tokyo’s Ginza district is usually abuzz with shoppers and office workers, but high above its skyscrapers nature-lovers have created a home for real busy bees — the ones that make honey.

It’s part of a project to bring a slice of natural life back to the centre of the world’s largest urban sprawl, a cityscape home to more than 30 million people that stretches far beyond the horizon.

Eleven storeys above the heart of the Tokyo concrete jungle — with its beehive office partitions and swarms of suit-clad worker-bees — enthusiasts have stacked up beehives dripping with golden honey.

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This is probably one of the most important messages in my campaign: that there is ground all around that needs to be broken. It’s in empty city lots, on rooftops and in window boxes. Urban farming is important and certainly part of our future.

Joe Wirtheim prints

Victory Garden of Tomorrow is an art project posing as a propaganda campaign for new, American home-front values. The style draws from American mid-century home-front propaganda, and the 21st century messages are inspired by the sustainability movement.

The resulting artwork is a series of propaganda-style images, that are either hand screenprinted, painted, or giclee printed.

Joe Wirtheim lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

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People are ditching the city life to pick up organic farming

By Carol Costello
CNN
July 23, 2010

(CNN) – Every week, at the University Farmers Market in Baltimore, Maryland, 28-year old Roy Skeen sells greens, squash and other vegetables. All of his produce came from his small, urban farm. He planted the vegetables, picked them, and hauled them on his bike to University Market.

It’s not the kind of life he had in mind for himself when he graduated from Yale University in 2004. He majored in History and thought he’d land a job in a minute. He didn’t.

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