Urbanism 101: How Urban Agriculture Can Boost Food Security

O’Hara said it directly: “In urban agriculture, one of the biggest challenges is access to land and access to sufficient land.”

By Leah Hudson Leva
The Urbanist
May 6, 2024

Excerpt:

From community gardens to urban farming, permaculture and green roofs, a lot of different terms are connected to the idea of urban agriculture. But as for what urban agriculture is, the definition can vary from quite broad, to very specific. Melissa Spear, the Executive Director at Tilth Alliance, a non-profit organization working to create equitable food systems in Washington, defines urban agriculture as simply “any activity that is growing food within a densely populated area. It doesn’t even necessarily have to be a city. It can also be a small town, or anything that’s not defined as rural.”

The difference between urban gardening and urban agriculture can also be one of scale: Dr. Sabine O’Hara, a professor at the University of the District of Columbia, explained that urban gardening is also a term often used for non-commercial activities, while urban farming or agriculture is a term that applies more to organizations who make above a certain earnings level from what they grow. The term “agriculture” tends to be used for larger activities, while “gardening” implies smaller communities or areas of land.

Read the complete article here.