Urban Agriculture

Detroit's Unpermitted Goat Experiment Ends—Is a Second Chance Possible?

A hedge fund manager recently took it upon himself to bring 20 goats into Detroit as an experiment of urban agriculture. The city quickly shipped the herd off, but fans of goats wonder why these animals shouldn't have a place in the city.

June 22, 2014 - NPR The Salt

'Agrihoods' Produce Food Locally, Cooperatively

Urban Times reports on several 'Agrihoods' maturing all over the United States.

May 22, 2014 - Urban Times

Farms Become the Latest Must-Have Suburban Amenity

Forget about golf courses and swimming pools, says Luke Runyon, developers are drawing in residents by integrating fully functioning farms into their new neighborhoods.

December 18, 2013 - NPR

New Law Could Grow Urban Agriculture Across California

Community gardens and small-scale farms could soon start sprouting in California's cities thanks to a new law that allows municipalities to lower property taxes on small plots of land in exchange for at least five years of agricultural use.

October 6, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Aerial view of central Milton Keynes, England

The UK’s Most Infamous ‘New Town’ Pioneers a Food System Revolution

Urban agriculture is a promising solution to a variety of ills afflicting our increasingly urbanizing planet. Milton Keynes, Britain's largest New Town of the 20th Century, is forging a path towards food sovereignty by growing its urban farms.

October 4, 2013 - Christina Sgro

Urban Farming: Coming to a Mall Near You?

If an upscale mall in Shanghai is any indication, Prada and Gucci may have a new competitor to contend with: a storefront farm, complete with seasonal produce and a pig pen.

September 23, 2013 - Inhabitat

New Report Aims to Help L.A.'s Urban Gardens Grow

A group of graduate planning student at UCLA have compiled the first comprehensive survey of urban agriculture in Los Angeles County, providing tools for planners and policy-makers to boost the area's agricultural fecundity.

August 23, 2013 - UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

Scientists Take the Buzz out of Urban Beekeeping

Those well intentioned urban beekeepers trying to prevent colony collapse and contribute to local food movements may actually be doing more harm than good say researchers from the University of Sussex.

August 20, 2013 - NPR

Community Gardening Program Feeds Those Hungry for Improving San Jose's Poor Neighborhoods

San Jose's Garden to Table program is just one of several initiatives led by CommUniverCity that are collectively giving disadvantaged residents the tools to improve their personal health and the health of their communities.

August 15, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Home Builders Sow Seeds for Urban Agriculture

In the Stapleton neighborhood of Denver, developer Forest City has recognized the growing interest in urban gardening by partnering with The Urban Farm Company to offer ready-made raised-bed gardens to homebuyers.

August 8, 2013 - The Denver Post

L.A. Inspectors Take a Bite out of Edible Landscapes

Two years after Councilman (now Council President) Herb Wesson vowed to allow vegetable gardens to be planted in public parkways to help improve access to fresh food, an 'edible landscape' motion languishes while the city cracks down on homeowners.

July 31, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

The Urban Agriculture Avant Garde

Urban Agriculture design is a small, but growing, area of specialization for North America's landscape architects. Abbagail Taddei looks at eight firms that are leading the way.

July 3, 2013 - Land8

Peach Tree

An App to Map Free Urban Snacks

A map and website developed by PhD student Ethan Welty and friend Caleb Philip catalogs the cornucopia of edible trees found in the "urban orchards" of two-dozen cities around the world.

June 29, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Eat the City: The Art of Urban Farming

Architectural historian Richard Ingersoll surveys creative 'civic agriculture' projects in the United States and Europe where abandoned lots have been transformed into edible landscapes.

June 24, 2013 - Places Journal

The Future of Vertical Urban Farming is Pink

Let's put aside those renderings of high-rise urban greenhouses with lush, vertical gardens. Vertical farming's future, instead, lies more practically in large, suburban "pinkhouses", says one expert.

May 26, 2013 - NPR

Urban Ag Evangelist Gives Guerrilla Gardening a Dose of Star Power

David Hochman profiles Ron Finley, an urban gardening activist from South Los Angeles whose breakout TED talk and volunteer work are attracting some high profile supporters.

May 6, 2013 - The New York Times

Proposed Bills Could Protect California Farmland by Containing Sprawl

Sprawling development and alternative energy projects are a growing threat to California's productive farmland. Susie Cagle discusses how two bills "could give a boost to California agriculture big and small," while reining in sprawl.

April 4, 2013 - Grist

Can Cities Help Solve Global Food Challenges?

With growing populations demanding more food and growing borders requiring more land, cities are one of the primary challenges to feeding the world's hunger problem. Can they also be the solution?

March 25, 2013 - Citiwire.net

Farmed Here Aquaponics

America's Largest Indoor Vertical Farm Opens in Chicago

Chicagoans sure take their urban agriculture seriously. While the city focuses on converting vacant land to farms in some of the city's struggling neighborhoods, entrepreneurs are doing the same indoors.

March 24, 2013 - Huff Post: Chicago Impact

Urban Ag Incubator Seeks to Grow Farmers in Chicago

Lori Rotenberk reports on a new seven-acre urban “accelerator farm” announced yesterday by Mayor Rahm Emanuel that seeks to fill Chicago's farmer drought and deepens the city's investment in building its agricultural sector.

March 16, 2013 - Grist

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