Urban Agriculture: Revolutionary by Nature

There are a lot of skirmishes still to be fought within the urban ag war

By Kelly McCartney (writer-chef)
The Kelword
April 27th, 2011

Excerpt:

Although we may have a long row yet to hoe on the matter, urban agriculture has really started to take root in just a few short years as quite a few cities have passed legislation that make it a lot easier to grow food in an urban environment. In 2009, Seattle passed a bill that allows curbside areas to be planted without requiring a permit. Hardscaping – using rocks or raised beds – still requires permission, but not a fee.

Remarkably, the Seattle City Council even gets that the move is bigger than it seems because urban food policies encompass “environment and economic development, social justice, and long-term health-care costs, community building, and livability.”

Around that same time, San Francisco’s former Mayor Gavin Newsom gave his city departments six months to perform a survey of all the unused land within the city limits such as rooftops, empty lots, and median strips. Newsom wanted to know what spaces he had to work with to build community gardens for residents.

Read the complete article here.