Livestock breeding has been increasingly popular among urban dwellers

Today’s Zaman, Istanbul
26 November 2010

Excerpt:

There has been an increase in the number of agricultural and farming loans extended by banks to doctors, lawyers, teachers and others who had never before engaged in the sector.

Observers say the main reason behind the increase in interest seems to be Farmville, a real-time Facebook simulation game in which users manage a virtual farm. A feasibility expert who spoke with the Star daily yesterday but whose identity was not revealed said some new farming entrepreneurs had asked questions inquiring whether cows bite or how many babies they have.

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Lettuce Entertain You, Chicago Botanic Garden Style. Photo By Gary Slack.

‘The Potential for Greater Urban Agricultural Collaboration Between the North and South and the many Benefits this Could Yield’

By J.MacPhee
A Dissertation submitted for
MSc in Urban Design
University of Edinburgh
School of Architecture
Edinburgh College of Art
2010

Question:
“How does the socio?economic impact of Urban Agriculture viewed through its implementation and management compare in a developed and developing
urban centre: Chicago and Sao Paulo?”

Abstract:
This research uses the case study methodology to compare the feasibility, implementation and development of Urban Agriculture in the developing South (Sao Paulo) and the developed North (Chicago). A literature review examines the existing knowledge as a basis for the ensuing case studies and evaluations. Areas explored include political receptivity, land usage trends, community empowerment and food security to name a few.

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Juan Reyes on his farm in Cotorro. Photo by Patricia Grogg/IPS.

Extended to 156 of the 169 municipalities of Cuba

HAVANA TIMES, Nov. 24, 2010 – The urban and suburban agriculture programmes will be extended to 156 of the 169 municipalities of Cuba before the close of the year, said Adolfo Rodriguez, head of the National Group in charge of that initiative, which until now has 36,000 farms throughout the island. The Caribbean country’s authorities are promoting the local production of food to reduce imports, estimated at more than two billion dollars, reported IPS.

Link.

Anna Decker, left, Tony Hernandez, Yoichi Yamada, Nick Hooper and Myrna Duran rake through garden clippings and horse-stable bedding, which will be layered with compost to produce even more compost. Photo by Ann Summa.

Compost supplies all 500 plots and common areas and still produces leftovers for school gardens

By Jeff Spurrier
LA Times
Nov. 24, 2010

Excerpt:

When Warren Miyashiro started gardening at Ocean View Farms in 1985, he looked around for compost to amend the sandy soil. Finding none, he bought a bag from a garden store — his first, he says, and his last.

Miyashiro, a master of compost, has spent decades building a system here that is the envy of other community gardens. After years of tweaking it, he’s almost satisfied. It supplies all 500 plots and common areas and still produces leftovers for school gardens.

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