{ Wednesday, March 11, 2009 }
I became interested in urban farming after reading inDeep Economy about how Cuba grows nearly all the vegetables that it consumes within city limits. When the US stopped trade with Cuba it was forced to find new methods of meeting its food needs.
Today I was at the MacArthur site, where I read about Will Allen, the founder of Growing Power, which creates urban gardens to grow food. He started the farms to help urban children get healthier food to prevent health problems such as obesity and diabetes, but I am amazed at how many problems are solved by this simple idea: health, community, employment, education, local food vs. agribusinesses.
UPDATE: Tony sends the following link, which shows the Cuban transition to organic, urban agriculture has a bigger story. Thanks!!
LINK | 8:34 AM | TB
there's a ton of demand for this.
my wife and i signed up for a plot at the local communal garden, and apparently the waiting list is over 5 years long. there are plans afoot to expand the number of available plots, which is the summer project.
i'm not sure that this is the ideal structure for organizing urban agriculture, but people are certainly drawn to the idea.
striatic | March 17, 2009 2:42 AMMembers of San Francisco's Slow Food Nation have planted an edible garden outside San Francisco's city hall not only to educate people about where food comes from, but to deliver food to those in need. http://tinyurl.com/c7ok2t
ranrez | March 29, 2009 10:43 PM{ Post a comment }
Thanks for sharing the link to Growing Power. Are you gardening with Sonnet? I bet she'd love that.
Ang | March 13, 2009 9:25 AM