From The Detroit News

Aug 22, 2011

Excerpt:

At this time next year, trucks loaded with vegetables and grains ought to be rolling through Detroit, the product of the first major urban farming harvest. Those crops could spring from the 30,000 acres of vacant land in the city, and be planted, tended and picked by some of Detroit’s most hard-to-employ residents.

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Video link here.

London, Chicago, Osaka, New York

Monocle’s favourite cities combine small-scale neighbourhoods with green spaces, but not all cities were built with the right foundations for future growth and sustainability. We champion four urban innovators who see potential in derelict spaces and find creative approaches to make some of the world’s more challenging neighbourhoods bloom into richer and more pleasant places to stay.

Video link here.

With just 2% of the US’ agricultural land used to grow fruits and vegetables, there is opportunity for urban farmers to fill the gap.

Commodity Online
Aug 22, 2011

Excerpt:

All the growth in urban farming happened with relatively little help.

Last year, for example, the USDA spent $13.725bn in commodity, crop insurance, and supplemental disaster assistance payments mostly to support large industrial farms, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

In stark contrast, the amount the agency spent that year to support local and regional food system farmers? Less than $100 million, according to USDA data.

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Photos by Sushil Thapa.

In Kathmandu Valley, there are more than 500 brick kilns

By Sushil Thapa
Kathmandu, Nepal
ag.sushilthapa@gmail.com
Aug 22, 2011

The urban and peri-urban agriculture in Nepal covers a wide range of activities resulting in production, processing, preservation, marketing and consumption of food. It also provides livelihood opportunities for the urban population. It has been estimated that this sector contributes around 23 per cent of the supply of fresh vegetables in Kathmandu, capital city of Nepal. Despite this fact, in the recent years, the number of brick kilns has been increased hampering the urban food production and deficiently polluting the environment. In Kathmandu Valley, there are more than 500 brick kilns occupying thousands of hectares of cultivable land.

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