Urban Agriculture: What is it and why is it important?

Mary Campbell,
Extension Director and Urban Sustainability Agent

In the past few years, there has been an ever increasing interest in home vegetable gardening, community gardens, and backyard poultry. All of these can be considered a form of urban agriculture. Urban agriculture is defined as the growing of plants and the raising of animals within and around cities. There has been a resurgence of interest for local food production since it supplies fresher, healthier and tastier foods, saves money, and provides recreation and relaxation. 

The most interesting feature of urban agriculture, which distinguishes it from rural agriculture, is that it is integrated into the urban community with urban residents as farmers, and has direct links to consumers and impacts on the urban environment. Urban agriculture includes the growing, processing, and distribution of food through plant cultivation and animal husbandry. It is vegetable plots in community gardens, food production in vacant inner-city lots, fish farms, poultry/vegetable growing at jail facilities, municipal compost facilities, community supported agriculture, schoolyard gardens, restaurant-supported salad gardens, backyard fruit trees, rooftop gardens and beehives, window box gardens, and much more.

There is a large potential for food production in cities and dozens of model projects are demonstrating successfully that urban agriculture is both necessary and viable. Health and nutrition supporters are joining with community gardeners, Extension, and faith communities in city-wide coalitions and food policy councils to maintain and expand urban food availability. Community economic development organizers, city planners, and environmentalists concerned with urban waste reduction and recycling, see the potential of urban farming. A growing consumer demand for fresh, local, and often organic food creates new markets for urban food production. Many of these efforts address the needs of urban residents who are living in poverty and experience poor nutrition and hunger.

In American cities such as Detroit and New York, thousands of acres of land have been given over to unemployed workers for food growing. Urban agriculture contributes to local economic development, as well as to the greening of the city by turning derelict open spaces into green zones and cleaning up blighted areas. Vacant lands are often used as informal waste dumpsites and are a source of crime and health problems. When vacant land is turned into productive green spaces, not only is an unhealthy situation eliminated, but the neighbors will enjoy and possibly participate in farming.

Innovative examples of urban agriculture are popping up all over. In Brooklyn, New York, Bright Farms will put a hydroponic greenhouse on top of a former Navy warehouse that the city acquired last year and will occupy up to 100,000 square feet of rooftop space. It is expected to yield a million pounds of produce a year — without using any dirt. Lettuce, tomatoes and herbs will be grown for local markets. A Michigan State University study indicates that a combination of urban farms, community gardens, storage facilities and greenhouses used to extend the growing season – could supply local Detroit residents with more than 75 percent of their vegetables and more than 40 percent of their fruits.

Urban agriculture supports a healthy community and a healthy environment, while providing food availability where the majority of people now live – in the cities.

Urban Agriculture: 
University of Florida
University of Georgia
University of Nebraska

What is Community Supported Agriculture?

Mary Campbell, Extension Director and Urban Sustainability Agent


One of the ways that we can directly support local food production is through a membership in a local Community Supported Agriculture farm. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has gained recognition as a way to buy local. Consumers also have shown a desire to reconnect with the farmers who grow the crops. The CSA movement began in Japan and Europe and  was  introduced in the United States in 1986. Currently, there are approximately 1000 CSAs in the United States. Indian Line Farm in Massachusetts and Temple-Wilton Community Farm in New Hampshire were the first CSAs in the United States, both beginning in 1986. 


CSA is a partnership between farmers and consumers. In conventional agriculture, the farmer bears all the risk of production, but CSA allows farmers to share farming’s risks—and its rewards—with consumers. CSA depends on  people who pledge their financial support to a farm. At the beginning of the growing season, members pay a fee to cover the cost of the farm’s operations and the farmer’s salary. In return, each member receives a weekly share of the farm’s produce—typically a box of fresh vegetables and herbs, though the box might also include fruit, honey, eggs, and even meat. For farmers, CSA offers a fair, steady source of income—and a way to continue the small family farm. Consumers get fresh, great-tasting produce by someone that is part of the local community. 


There are many reasons consumers join CSAs. One reason is that the consumer is able to get produce that has not been shipped. The produce is grown locally, reducing the price and damage of shipping. Since the produce is grown locally, the money paid for the produce is invested in locally owned and operated farms. Another reason to join a CSA is that a consumer is able to get items that are typically unavailable in the supermarket. Consumers join CSAs to support local farmers, have access to fresh, high quality produce, access to organic or pesticide-free produce, and to increase participation in community and environmental awareness programs. Not only can a CSA decrease costs for its members, it also gives consumers an inside view on the process of growing food.


Examples of Local CSA: (for informational purposes only) 


Gateway Organic Farm 
6000 150th Avenue North
Clearwater, FL


Sweetwater Organic Community Farm
Farm Office:  813-887-4066
Tampa, Fl


Geraldson Community Farm 
1401 99th St NW
Bradenton, FL 34209
941-981-0111 


Gamble Creek Farm
14950 Golf Course Rd 
Parrish, FL 34219
941-981-0111 




Resources:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/cd019
http://www.florida-agriculture.com/consumers/community_supported_agriculture.htm

Organic Vegetable Gardening Toolbox

Theresa Badurek, Urban Horticulture Extension Agent, Pinellas County Extension

As we approach the fall vegetable garden season here in Central Florida we need to take a look at the tools we have to help build a successful organic garden. The intention here is not to achieve organic certification, but to grow healthy food for our families and use healthy practices for our planet. If you are starting a new garden or going organic for the first time, you should understand that it may take time to build a healthy garden. The soil structure must be built and you must hone your practices to watch for pests and diseases.

Soil Preparation
Organic matter and any organic fertilizers should be worked into your soil at least three weeks ahead of planting. If you are using compost and mulches be sure that there are no large clumps of unrotted organic material. These can harbor disease problems as well as hinder seedlings or their growth. When your conditions are right, these organic materials will be processed by microorganisms like fungi, algae, bacteria, molds, and earthworms. As they do this they make important nutrients available to your plants. This is one reason why it is important to NOT use pesticides in your garden. Pesticides destroy these critical organisms that work so hard for your garden. For detailed information on the various soil amendments, please refer to the publication link at the end of this article.

Seeds and Transplants
While it may seem obvious to buy organic seeds and starts, or transplants, there is much more to your plant material than that if you want a successful organic garden. The most important thing you can do is select the right crops and varieties for our area and plant them at the right time. We are often tempted to plant crops or varieties that we know and love from some other geographic location, but these are often not suited to our unique subtropical climate. How do you know what and when to plant? Print the following publication, Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide. Use this to plan your garden layout and bring it with you when shopping for seeds and plants. Pay special attention to Table 4, “Suggested Varieties for Florida Gardens” and Table 3 “Planting Guide for Florida Vegetables”.

Watering
A good organic soil will be full of organic materials that help the soil retain water, as will good garden mulch. There is more you can do to use water wisely in an organic garden, though. To begin, a good soaking once a week throughout the root zone will be necessary unless there is sufficient rainfall. Drip or trickle irrigation will help you conserve water while avoiding wetting the leaves. Wet leaves can encourage disease, and disease prevention is an important tool in the organic gardener’s toolbox. If you use overhead irrigation, be sure to water in the early morning hours, not in the evening. Always follow local watering restrictions.

Pests and Diseases
So, how do you keep uninvited guests from eating all of your hard work in the garden? Well, you must have a regular scouting routine for pests. At every step of your gardening adventure you should be looking for signs of pests. Hopefully you selected resistant varieties from the “Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide” publication (see link above) and inspected your plants for pests and diseases before purchase and planting. Learn to recognize the beneficial insects that help control the “bad guys” that cause damage. Not using pesticides will help preserve the “army” of beneficial insects in your garden. A great guide to start learning about beneficial insects is “Natural Enemies and Biological Control”: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/IN/IN12000.pdf.

There are more things you can do to help prevent and control pests and diseases, though. Here is a sampling from the “Organic Vegetable Gardening” publication whose link you will find at the end of this article:

• Use a mulch; vegetables touching the soil may rot.
• A good garden mulch tends to reduce damage caused by nematodes.
• Keep out weeds which harbor insects and diseases.
• Water in morning so plants are not wet at night.
• Dispose of severely diseased plants before they contaminate others.
• Hand-pick insects.
• For cutworms, place a cardboard or tinfoil collar around plant stems at ground level.
• Clean up crop refuse early.
• Rotate garden areas.

There is so much to be gained from a beautiful organic garden- fresh healthy produce, a safe environment for the gardener, and a balanced ecosystem that allows nature to do some of the work for you. For more information and tools for your organic garden, please see this Organic Vegetable Gardening publication