Category — Policy

The urban garden is laid out before the National Assembly.

“This sends a message to Quebec, it is a message that is also sent to the world – in general it says ‘yes’ to urban agriculture.”

By Radio Canada
June 13, 2013

Translated into English (Google):

Fruits and vegetables in the beds of the National Assembly

The gardens of Parliament Hill in Quebec shall be fitted with new plants. A garden of 130 varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs will be grown in the front of the Parliament.

These developments are the result of a collaboration between the National Assembly with Urbainculteurs, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of gardening and urban agriculture.

[Read more →]

We had 18 urban farming organizations from across Metro Vancouver participate and work with us to create a baseline landscape of urban farming practices throughout the region with a focus on the City of Vancouver.

Prepared by Zsuzsi Fodor and Shelby Tay
Research Coordinators, Vancouver Urban Farming Society
2013

Excerpt: Executive Summary

Introduction
The second annual Vancouver Urban Farming Forum was hosted under the leadership of the Vancouver Urban Farming Society (VUFS) on November 17, 2012. Building on the much larger 2011 forum, this year’s gathering was much more focused and intimate to launch the Urban Farming Practices Research Project. After consultation with the urban farming community of practice, the following goals for the 2012 Forum Understanding Our Practices from Seed to Scrap were developed:

I. Develop a scan of existing and emerging urban farming practices in Vancouver from seed to scrap.
II. Build on the collective knowledge of what is working, what is not, and where the gaps are.
III. Offer space for meaningful small group dialogue.
IV. Uncover urban farmers’ interests for the research project.

[Read more →]

A lot in the 400 block of North Kedzie Avenue is being transformed into an urban farm that will produce fresh produce for low-income residents. Photo by Victoria Johnson.

“So this is the way we’re going to get high-quality, local, responsibly-grown produce to low-income residents.”

By Victoria Johnson
DNAinfo Chicago
June 7, 2013

Excerpt:

HUMBOLDT PARK — In a deal put before the City Council this week, 11 city-owned lots on the southern end of Humboldt Park are on their way to becoming veggie-laden urban farms bearing fresh produce for needy residents.

The proposal would see the lots — in the 400 block of North Kedzie, Albany and Whipple Avenues — sold to NeighborSpace for $1 a piece to be converted into a 2.6 acres of urban farmland.

[Read more →]

Mayor Menino previously unveiled an organic chicken farm located on Long Island in Boston Harbor.

Progressive Zoning Would Support Growth of Urban Farming

June 03, 2013
Mayor’s Office

Mayor Thomas M. Menino today announced the release of draft urban agriculture zoning to support the growth of farming citywide and the start of a series of community meetings to review the recommendations. Article 89 will create clarity and predictability regarding food growing, fish farming, and hen and bee keeping in the city. It also expands locations for farmers markets and farm stands, and introduces a soil safety protocol. Eleven community meetings will be held in June and July to vet the draft recommendations before the final zoning is completed. A Twitter chat is also planned for those who cannot attend a meeting in person.

[Read more →]

Everyone loves a story of a plucky urban farm, but what steps do we have to take to make them a vital and integral part of how we feed our cities?

By Ariel Schwartz
Fast CoExist
June 2013

Excerpt:

One big problem stems from the lack of help from the USDA’s Farm Bill, according to Judith Bell, the president of PolicyLink. The current bill provides all sorts of assistance to farmers and agricultural projects–but only those in rural areas. Even though a new bill will likely be passed by the end of the year, that aspect probably won’t change. “Challenges in business training and marketing could be helped by the USDA program,” says Bell. “It’s a challenge in that there’s expertise and should be resources available but the doors are closed.”

[Read more →]

Elizabeth Torres, an intern with Hamilton Urban Garden Systems, waters tomato plants at a community garden lat University Commerce Park. Hamilton is set to amend an ordinance that will allow residents to use city-owned or private property to grow produce to be eaten, sold or donated. Photo by Nick Daggy.

Passing the ordinance is important because it relaxes restrictions on what can be done on a privately-owned lot

By Eric Schwartzberg
Journal News
Staff Writer

Excerpt:

HAMILTON — A measure that promotes and encourages urban agriculture by allowing anyone to use city or private property to grow produce is expected to become a reality starting this summer.

New urban agriculture amendments will establish rules for local neighborhood farming and allow any Hamilton resident to take an underdeveloped or undeveloped city lot or private property and use it to grow vegetables, herbs, flowers, nut trees or fruit trees.

The harvested bounty could then be used for their own consumption, to sell to others or donate to area food pantries, according to Alfred Hall, co-founder of Hamilton Urban Garden Systems, or HUGS.

[Read more →]

Potential land-use code changes would allow goats, ducks and farmers markets in residential areas.

By Kevin Duggan
Coloradoan
May 18, 2013

Excerpt:

Pygmy goats may be headed to a backyard near you.

Among land-use code changes Fort Collins officials are considering as ways to remove barriers for urban agriculture in the city is a proposal to permit specific breeds of miniature goats in residential areas.

[Read more →]

1881 gardening catalogue.

Will create clarity and predictability for urban farmers

Boston Redevelopment Authority
May 13, 2013

Since January 2012, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), the Mayor’s Office of Food Initiatives, and the Mayor’s Urban Agriculture Rezoning Working Group have been meeting monthly to draft new zoning to open up new urban agriculture opportunities in Boston. Article 89 of the zoning code will create clarity and predictability for anyone interested in commercial food growing and creating farms in Boston. A draft of the new zoning article is now finalized and available online.

[Read more →]

Gardening, Gleaning, and Farming for Food Banks in the U.S.

By Domenic Vitiello, Jeane Ann Grisso, Rebecca Fischman, and Leah Whiteside
A report on research funded by the Penn Center for Public Health Initiatives
2013

Excerpt:

Food banks have recently enlarged their distribution and promotion of fresh vegetables and fruit. Many food banks are accomplishing this through involvement in and connections to local agriculture, in a diverse range of gardening, farming, and eld gleaning programs. Many food banks are also playing expanded roles in building community food security, especially through programs that support gardeners and farmers. As more Americans need food assistance while, at the same time, state and federal funding for food relief is shrinking, scaling up and replicating programs that distribute and support production and consumption of fresh produce oers a vital opportunity to transform food relief systems.

[Read more →]

Developing an Urban Agriculture Master Plan for the City will lead to a sustainable urban system of food production and distribution

City of Omaha Website
May 10, 2013

Farms to Omaha will be the driving element of Omaha’s urban agricultural programming. The initiative will be farmer-based, with the goal of increasing access to local high-quality produce in our restaurants, grocery stores, and community at large. “The Farms to Omaha coalition will bring about important changes in our how our citizens access food,” said Mayor Jim Suttle. “This coalition of farmers, distributors, and restaurant owners will bring local grains and produce directly to individuals who lack access to local, nutritious food. This will promote healthy lifestyles, strengthen our neighborhoods, create jobs, and keep our food economy local.”

[Read more →]

60 concerned citizens rewrite the definition of an Urban Farm in Austin

By Dustin
East Side Compost Pedallers
05/09/2013

Excerpt:

In order for a property to be recognized by the city as an urban farm, it needs to meet the criteria set by the urban farm code. That makes sense. But what is so great about getting a certificate of occupancy as urban farm anyway? Couldn’t you just start growing food and forget about the title? It turns out that there are a number of benefits that come along with being recognized by the city as an urban farm.

[Read more →]

“Councilman Cimperman is one of the country’s leading policy formulators in regards to urban agriculture.”

Excerpt from Joe Cimperman’s website:

Urban agriculture in Cleveland began when a residential property was sold to a land developer who wanted to evict the low-income residents and raze the building. In order to develop the property, the developer needed to destroy a community garden located adjacent to the property.

Illegally, the developer evicted the community gardeners whose families had been gardening at that location since World War II. When researching this, Councilman Cimperman discovered that the City of Cleveland did not have a zoning code to protect community gardeners. By standing up for residents, Councilman Cimperman, initiated the urban garden zoning legislation – the first zoning classification for urban gardening in the United States.

[Read more →]

Unveils urban agriculture food charter and action plan

On April 18, 2013, the City of Côte Saint-Luc unveiled its food charter and action plan to transform the mostly residential suburb into an urban agriculture leader in Quebec. Urban agriculture is the practice of growing food in or around a city. The Côte Saint-Luc Grown urban agriculture action plan announced at a press conference at City Hall includes the creation of a demonstration garden behind the City Hall/Library complex to teach gardening skills to adults and children, edible landscaping on city property, new community gardens, a farmers’ market, and the distribution of food boxes.

[Read more →]

Illustration by Brad Cornelius.

11 city departments, two state agencies and three federal agencies own San Francisco land currently used for communal or plot-based gardens.

By Andrea Koskey
San Francisco Examiner
04/11/13

Excerpt:

Local gardening and sustainability efforts are growing rapidly in The City, and residents and city officials would like an easier way to help such efforts take root. But with 84 gardens already in existence and dozens of other potential locations still available, there is no clear way to start such projects without creeping from one city department to another to learn which oversees the site.

As many as 11 city departments, two state agencies and three federal agencies own San Francisco land currently used for communal or plot-based gardens. Having so many agencies involved in such efforts can hold up the process, according to a San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association report released last year.

[Read more →]

Gregor, Michelle and Boris.

Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States, Born: January 17, 1964 (age 49)

Gregor Robertson, Mayor of Vancouver, Born: September 18, 1965 (age 48)

Michelle Obama:

“It is my hope that our garden’s story – and the stories of gardens across America – will inspire families, schools, and communities to try their own hand at gardening and enjoy all the gifts of health, discovery and connection a garden can bring.”

“All across this great country of ours, something truly special is taking root. And that is the story I want to tell in this book: the story of how, together, in gardens large and small, we have begun to grow a healthier nation.” From American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America.

[Read more →]

This year, Mrs. Obama invited children from schools that have made exceptional improvements to school lunches through implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

The garden so far has produced more than 3,000 pounds of food

By Associated Press
April 04, 2013

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON — Salad using lettuce from Michelle Obama’s garden could be served up in just a few weeks.

The first lady on Thursday planted lettuce and other crops in her garden on the South Lawn of the White House, with an assist from schoolchildren from Washington, D.C., and several school districts around the country.

Two varieties of wheat were planted for the first time: club wheat and bread wheat.

[Read more →]

Dorsey Barger, owner of HausBar Farms, checks on a composting container at her farm on Gavalle Avenue on Dec. 12, 2012. The container, at time the photo was taken last year, held chicken parts and odors from it prompted complaints from a neighbor. Photo by Jay Janner.

“I just get the feeling that the city would rather have condos here. Sometimes I get the feeling they want to quash us,” he said.

By Ricardo Gandara
American Stateman
Apr 5, 2013

Excerpt:

A handful of urban farms in East Austin have become a community mainstay over the past 20 years, with the blessing of a loosely worded city ordinance that encouraged them.

Then one of the urban farms started slaughtering chickens to sell to restaurants, and it started composting the leftover parts. The neighbors complained about the smell. And now it’s back to the drawing board.

The city of Austin has temporarily shut down Dorsey Barger’s 4-year-old HausBar farm on Govalle Avenue over the chicken complaint. She can’t even sell her produce until the city approves a new site plan and she clears several code violations.

[Read more →]

Ron Finley tends the garden outside his home in South Central Los Angeles, part of a drive to supply local residents with organic produce. Photo by Emily Berl.

Some in Los Angeles Are Planting Crops by the Sidewalk—but Skirting the Law to Do It

By Hannah Karp
Wall Street Journal
March 8, 2013

Excerpt:

LOS ANGELES—Carla Russell has lived much of her life in South Central Los Angeles, where fast food is plentiful and fresh produce has long been hard to find. But recently she stumbled upon an array of vegetables growing in an unusual place on her block: the city-owned strip of land between the street and the sidewalk.

“Can I have some greens—a few mustards and a few collards?” asked Ms. Russell, a 57-year-old bus driver, one recent morning as her neighbor handed her a pair of clippers.

[Read more →]

Philip Y. Ting, California Assemblyman, proposes legislation formally dubbed the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones Act or AB 551.

Property owners who commit to leasing their land to agricultural enterprises for at least 10 years will be able to receive a re-valuation of their parcels that will lower their property tax bill.

By Jason Mark,
Editor, Earth Island Journal
March 28, 2013

Excerpt:

Small-scale farming isn’t easy. The prices farmers receive for their goods are often low, the margins are tight, the days are long, and the chores never-ending. For farmers who don’t own their own property, land insecurity compounds financial instability. It’s tough to really dig in if you don’t know how long you can stay on the piece you’re farming.

The problem of insecure land tenure is especially pressing for urban farmers in many cities, who have to contend with limited space and high real estate values. Brooke Budner and Caitlyn Galloway, the co-founders of San Francisco’s Little City Gardens, understand this better than anyone. They don’t own the three-quarter acre lot they farm and scrape by on a month-to-month lease.

[Read more →]

State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin.

“This bill should help small businesses and make it easier for startups.”

By James Jeffrey
Austin Business Journal
Mar 25, 2013

Excerpt:

A state lawmaker hopes to ensure that the rules governing how land used for agriculture is assessed are fairly applied to vegetables farmers, small urban farmers, diversified farmers and community gardens.

House Bill 1306, filed by State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, aims to clarify the existing tax code pertaining to what land can be appraised as qualified agricultural land so that property taxes are based on a lower valuation. Currently, although there is no minimum acreage requirement, many counties arbitrarily require that tracts be at least 5 acres to be considered for agricultural valuation, according to the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance.

[Read more →]