Tag Archives: Urban agriculture

Suburban Ag

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Land use planning and housing development can bring farming and food production closer to (sub)urban citizens. Similar to trends in the Netherlands, suburban agriculture is taking form in new developments projects. There are two pathways. First, development organised by citizens in co-housing projects such as the Ecovillage in Ithaca. Co-housing projects often involve the creation of an ‘intentional community’ of people who have chosen to live and work together in a lifestyle that reflects their shared core values. Projects often include a community owned and operated farm.

Intentional communities rebel against two dominant American features; individualism and property rights/ownership. Both features are reflected in the overall perspective on land use planning and housing development here. In order to understand it, Dutch assumptions on land use planning need to be left behind.  In most places, state and county legislators refrain from ‘interfering’ with land ownership. Without zoning or specific designations, any land, no matter how far from an urban centre, represents a bundle of rights. For example water rights (see blog), and more importantly ‘development rights’. Development takes place where developer and landowner agree. Around cities, this causes a large ring of ‘urban sprawl’; fragmentation of land and a random patchwork of malls, offices, agricultural land, housing and roads without any visible coherence. Although farmers, who farm in the middle of this, oppose to the developments, they oppose to land use planning at the same time; nobody wants to give up their right to sell their rights.

A second type of suburban agriculture, therefore, is often led by private or public land trusts.  This means that land use planning is applied on the coherent whole of land owned by the trust on a certain location. Some parts are developed for housing, other parts for farming and other parts for nature conservation. A good example of this is Prairie Crossings, set up in 1987 by a group of citizens. This can only take place if development rights are taken off the land even though it is not used for building (‘easement’) to prevent future unwanted development. Rights are taken off by conservation easements in two ways; by being sold or being donated to the trust (the latter for receiving advantagous tax breaks). Whereas until 10 years ago, easements were only for nature conservation, nowadays there are agricultural easements possible too now environmentally sustainable farming is becoming a practice.

It is remarkable how absent the state is in land use planning. Planning in the Netherlands, such as Reconstruction Law land use planning, including the movement of entire farms for preserving natural habitats, equals to an unthinkable intrusion of property rights here.

Urban Ag

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Concern about our food, the quality, the exploitation of farmers and workers in the production chain and how it affects our health has induced conscious and political consumerism. But making a statement with the wallet supporting sustainable production might only be the first step. Once food conscious is awakened, it is a small step to grow your own food. Probably also fuelled by the recession, the demand for seeds has skyrocketed recently. The Washington Post (19-6) comments that

“After years in the doldrums, the consumer demand for vegetable seeds has abruptly climbed at a rate even industry veterans have never seen.”

Growing your own food is rapidly becoming a trend as part of an urban agriculture movement. There is a continuous emergence of new initiatives. For example, initiatives which somebody called “Gleaning social networks”; groups who harvest from public places and private places. Wild edibles, such as nuts, berries, fallen fruit, mushrooms and herbs are collected, sometimes to be distributed among the poor. In LA, 120.000 pounds of fruit was harvested within the city last year. Recently Amsterdam was mapped for its wild edibles.

Another type of urban agriculture initiative is “peer-to-peer agriculture”, initiatives which are about sharing land, tools and other resources for more efficient use. For example, how to find an allotment if there are waiting lists? Through internet people can search for pieces of land or gardens which might be (partly) used by someone willing to grow food.

With the rise of more and more urban agriculture initiatives and local food production, new farmers are born each day. These examples show that our idea of what a farm is will soon need serious reconsideration.

Job opening – Assistant/Associate Professor in Food Sociology

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Job description

As assistant/associate professor you will teach and coordinate Bachelor and Master courses for the Bachelor and Master programme International Development Studies (specialization Sociology of Development) and for the Master programme Food Technology (specialization Gastronomy), and supervise Bachelor and Master thesis research for these programmes. You will undertake independent research and coordinate international research projects, specifically focusing on food production and provision in metropolitan regions and its importance for sustainable regional development as well as its significance for issues of public health, rural and regional employment, environmental quality and urban-rural relationships. If you qualify for an associate professorship you are expected to coordinate the Rural Sociology Group’s research theme “Dynamics and sustainability of regional food networks”. Other aspects of the job include project acquisition, training and supervision of PhD students and participation in various research and/or education committees. Continue reading →

Foodprint manifestatie – voedsel voor de stad

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Van maart 2009 tot en met december 2010 wordt de Foodprint manifestatie gehouden op diverse locaties in de stad Den Haag.

Foodprint is een twee jaar durend programma over de invloed van voedsel op de cultuur, de inrichting en het functioneren van steden en van Den Haag in het bijzonder. Voedsel en de stad zijn onlosmakelijk met elkaar verbonden. Straatnamen als de Grote Markt, de Kalverstraat of de Lammerschans verwijzen naar die historische band tussen voedsel en stad. Toentertijd was de lijn tussen oorsprong en eindpunt van voedsel vaak nog kort en duidelijkzichtbaar. Tegenwoordig zorgt een wereldwijd netwerk van veelal anonieme producenten en supermarktketens hoe voor het dagelijks voedsel van miljoenen mensen. Wat zijn daarvan de gevolgen voor ons dagelijks handelen? En wat betekent dit op voor het aanbod, de smaak en de keus keuze van ons voedsel? Welk effect heeft dit op onze dagelijkse omgeving: zowel op de inrichting en werking het functioneren van de huidige stad als die van het platteland? Het (terug) naar de stad brengen en zichtbaar maken van de voedselproductie kan zowel het bewustzijn van de waarde van voedsel versterken als helpen te voorzien in een gezonde, groene, leefbare en duurzame stad.

Op vrijdag 26 juni a.s. is het Foodprint symposium waarbij  het thema ‘Voedsel voor de stad’ belicht wordt vanuit de wetenschap, de praktijk van stadsboeren, kunstenaars en ontwerpers en ondernemers. Het programma is gevuld met tal van sprekers en inspirerende voorbeelden uit binnen- en buitenland (zie info sprekers).  Een van die inspirerende voorbeelden is Will Allen, boegbeeld van urban farming in de USA. Will Allen is voormalig basketballspeler bij o.a. Anderlecht, en initiatiefnemer van Growing Power. 

Hij startte met een kas midden in een buitenwijk van Milwaukee en heeft inmiddels meerdere locaties in parken in Chicago. Hij teelt hier tientallen soorten verse sla en groenten, tilapia, voor een markt van lokale restaurants, consumenten en sociale voedselprogramma’s. Het gaat om biologische teelt voornamelijk op hydrocultuur en compostsubstraat. Er wordt gebruik gemaakt van stedelijke afvalstromen als basis voor de compost -via wormen. Het is ook een werkplek voor re-integrerende ex-verslaafden, etc. Will Allen (zie video clip en online artikel van New York Times) kreeg onlangs de MacArthur fellowship.

Volgens Jan Willem van der Schans (Jan-Willem.vanderschans@wur.nl) werkzaam bij het LEI en een van de trekkers van Eetbaar Rotterdam) is Will Allen daarmee het boegbeeld van urban farming in de VS, en misschien wel wereldwijd. Dus reden genoeg om Will Allen op zaterdagmiddag 27 juni ook naar Rotterdam te halen voor een bijeenkomst met bedrijfsleven, ondernemers in land en tuinbouw, adviseurs, studenten agrarisch onderwijs, docenten en ook stedelijke partijen die geïnteresseerd zijn in urban farming als business concept. Zie voor meer info de vooraankondiging op de weblog van Eetbaar Rotterdam.

SPIN farming and other forms of urban agriculture

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On the last day of the second week of my course ‘Understanding Rural Development’ I discussed the topic of urban and peri-urban agriculture. As background to this topic I mentioned the following trends:

Given these trends, the question is how to feed the growing urban population and to do this in a sustainable and healthy way. In class we discussed whether or not urban and peri-urban agriculture are a means to feed the urban citizen. And, elaborating on that, what kind of (peri-)urban agriculture is desirable and/or necessary. Continue reading →