More Than Container Gardens: Inside The Urban Farming Movement
Sep 08, 2021
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What does it mean to farm in an urban environment? This may seem like something of an oxymoron, but there’s actually a rich history and an active movement in this area today.
That’s because, no matter where people live, they are interested in growing their own food, spending time outside, and connecting with their neighbors – but what does that look like in practice?
The Early Years
In order to understand what urban farming has achieved today, we first need to look at the early years of the movement, so let’s go back to 1960s and 70s New York City, which was struggling with white flight and urban decay.
As neighborhoods emptied out and fell apart due to disinvestment, one older woman began planting trees all around the city. These trees were the first step towards the city’s earliest community gardens and spawned a movement that is thriving across the country today.
Building Gardens, Building Community
One reason it was more than possible to build community gardens in New York City during the 1960s and 70s is that there were a lot of abandoned lots left behind by shuttered businesses and burned down buildings.
That same strategy has played out successfully for decades now, especially in midwestern cities like Detroit and Chicago, but the fact is that gardening is almost besides the point.
What really makes community gardens so valuable to marginalized, urban communities is that it helps bridge the gap in favor of more sustainable food systems in areas with serious food insecurity. Furthermore, they connect neighbors, and even rehabilitate polluted soil, making it more robust and kickstarting a movement toward better health for the people who live there.
Expanding Possibilities
Though many areas have community gardens today, one thing that’s changing the movement today is their widespread acceptance and the shifting norms around what is possible. With more knowledge of urban gardening’s benefits, more cities are opening their doors to aggressive projects. This includes allowing community members to keep chickens, which are easy to keep even in small city yards.
Even without the foraging space available to chickens in more rural environments, city chicken keepers can feed their chickens a healthy, natural diet containing the grubs and plants they would get in the wild.
An Educational Undertaking
Finally, one element of urban farming that we shouldn’t underestimate, when talking about the radical value of the movement, are the educational benefits of the practice. While largely led by adults, engaging children in urban gardening and homesteading practices allows them to learn science in an up-close, hands-on way, can provide insights into sustainable living, and is also a great form of exercise.
In fact, with the right tools, urban gardening can act as the foundation for a holistic approach to education in all subjects and gives kids growing up in cities access to opportunities previously restricted to children involved in rural programs like 4-H.
Many people are unfamiliar with the urban farming movement, but there are also many others who rely on these gardens as community hubs, a source of healthy food, and even the heart of activist movements.
Food movements have the power to change the world and for those involved in urban farming, every seed brings us a little closer to creating strong communities and healthy families, among other social goods.