The Urban Agriculture Revival

Urban Farm DB summary

An opinion piece arguing that although some critics view the growing popularity of urban agriculture as a superficial response to concerns about urban food deserts, it could instead become an important part of the U.S. food system, as it already is in much of the rest of the world. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that more than 800 million people worldwide cultivate fruits and vegetables or raise livestock in cities, and the World Watch Institute estimates that urban agriculture produces 15 to 20 percent of the world's food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture does not yet collect data on urban agriculture, but urban gardens are described as an increasingly important source of fresh produce in some cities, particularly the inner-city areas of older post-industrial cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia, and Camden, New Jersey.