In 1950, one third of the world’s population lived in cities. By 2050, the United Nations predicts that the number will have risen to 66 per cent.
Much of the food that now feeds the growing urban population comes from large-scale agricultural operations far from city centres.
But in recent years, many cities have seen a resurgence of local food production within city limits. And that isn’t just limited to small community gardens—in many places like Vancouver, full-scale urban agriculture is taking off.
“Urban farming provides many benefits, such as greening the city, improving biodiversity, making use of under-utilized spaces and producing food closer to home,” writes Christopher Szymberski, a UBC student in the Greenest City Scholar Program who produced a set of urban farming guidelines for the City of Vancouver.
Urban agriculture can help Vancouver meet the goals laid out in its Greenest City Action Plan by creating green jobs and reducing fossil fuel use from the transportation and storage of food, Szymberski wrote in his report.
Vancouver is looking to improve food security by increasing food assets 50 per cent over 2010 levels by 2020.
And the city is already home to a number of sizable urban farms, most notably Sole Food Street Farms, which is staffed by Downtown Eastside residents and produces about 25 tonnes of produce every year.
There is some debate, however, about the extent to which urban agriculture can really improve sustainability.
A recent report from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future found that urban farming may not actually increase food security all that much, and doesn’t necessarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“If urban agriculture gets sold as something that will create all these jobs or feed entire cities—and then it doesn’t—it could quickly lose support,” author Raychel Santo told Vox.
But the report does find that urban agriculture has important social benefits, including improvement of community wellbeing and better understanding of the food system.
“Many of the demonstrated benefits of urban agriculture efforts will only be achieved with adequate local, state and federal governments’ long-term commitment of support,” the report concludes.
There is evidence that governments are paying more attention to urban agriculture. Vancouver, for instance, has adopted a two-year pilot project that aims to regulate urban farming in the city.
And just this week, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow introduced an urban agriculture bill that would expand federal financial assistance for urban farmers in the United States.
It’s possible, then, that many major cities are on their way to becoming just a little bit greener.
By Maura Forrest, 29 September 2016