Coming to a vacant lot near you, the neighborhood farm

Minneapolis/St. Paul.

“Folks are realizing that this isn’t a Democratic or Republican issue.”

By Madeleine Baran,
Minnesota Public Radio
April 7, 2011

Excerpt:

Minneapolis, Minn. — Farmers looking for land to grow food to sell may have another option.

A plan to expand urban agriculture in Minneapolis passed the city’s zoning and planning committee on Thursday, opening the door for farmers to turn vacant lots into commercial farms.

Minneapolis is already home to community gardens and farmers markets, but the city lacked definitions or regulations of land used to grow and sell food. Urban agriculture supporters said that made it impossible to get approval for innovative farming projects.

Similar plans have been adopted in Cleveland, Seattle, Portland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Kansas City, Oakland and Detroit.

“If some of these policy barriers can be reduced, what you’ll see is a swell of entrepreneurs stepping forward who are trying to create jobs and who are trying to bring more healthy foods into communities that are underserved,” said JoAnne Berkencamp, a local foods advocate from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Read the complete article here.

Minneapolis Urban Agriculture Policy Plan.