Urban agriculture, urban farming or urban gardening is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around a village, town, or city. Urban agriculture can also involve animal husbandry, aquaculture, agro-forestry, urban beekeeping, and horticulture.
Urban farming, or agriculture, is an excellent vehicle for student engagement and learning. Content knowledge can be integrated from disciplines such as chemistry, botany, history, geography, all the language arts, art, the culinary arts, cultural anthropology, music, nutrition, other health-related issues such as obesity and heart disease, math, economics, psychology . . . A gardening project can also be a service learning experience for students as it contributes to the reduction of hunger and poor nutrition. . . . Students may also cultivate and develop many of the 7 Survival Skills of the 21st Century as well as the Multiple Literacies for the 21st Century.
Urban farming is also a way to fight the situation, especially in inner cities, of food deserts. The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) defines food deserts as "parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. This is largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and healthy food providers.
"This has become a big problem because while food deserts are often short on whole food providers, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, instead, they are heavy on local quickie marts that provide a wealth of processed, sugar, and fat laden foods that are known contributors to our nation’s obesity epidemic. The food desert problem has in fact become such an issue that the USDA has outlined a map of our nation’s food deserts."
Urban farming is also a way to fight the situation, especially in inner cities, of food deserts. The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) defines food deserts as "parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. This is largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and healthy food providers.
"This has become a big problem because while food deserts are often short on whole food providers, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, instead, they are heavy on local quickie marts that provide a wealth of processed, sugar, and fat laden foods that are known contributors to our nation’s obesity epidemic. The food desert problem has in fact become such an issue that the USDA has outlined a map of our nation’s food deserts."
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Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit and herb gardens planed at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany during World War I and World War II. They were used with Rationing Stamps and Cards to reduce pressure on the public food supply.
Besides indirectly aiding the war effort, these gardens were also considered a civil "morale booster" in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contributions of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens a part of daily life on the home front. From Wikipedia
PBS page on Victory Gardens.
Besides indirectly aiding the war effort, these gardens were also considered a civil "morale booster" in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contributions of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens a part of daily life on the home front. From Wikipedia
PBS page on Victory Gardens.
The Inhabitat web site has amazing examples of urban farming projects in many cities!
The site also contains information on Environment, Innovation, Architecture, Design and more! |