It’s interesting to see that food prices have become a big story in the news lately. CBC Headlines recently declared Food Prices at ‘Dangerous’ Levels. As food prices continue to increase, people will inevitably start to look for less expensive food. We’ll start to produce food in ways that use less fossil fuels, especially as the price of oil continues to increase. Urban agriculture will likely be a big part of the solution.
Urban Vegetables
Critics of urban agriculture often say there’s not enough unused land in cities for urban food production to be feasible, or that producing food on such a small-scale doesn’t make economic sense. This may be true in many cities of the world where green space is hard to find, but in North America it’s far from the truth.
The average American Lawn is about 1/5 of an acre, and over 80% of all Americans have access to a lawn. The area of land devoted to lawn in the United States is so big that grass is the most cultivated crop in the country, exceeding corn. Too bad you can’t eat grass… but at least it shows there’s a huge potential for urban agriculture.
Urban food production has been on the rise lately, and it’s a trend that likely won’t slow down anytime soon. Vancouver for example, recently set a goal for 2020 to increase city and neighbourhood food assets by a minimum of 50% over current levels. A big part of reaching this goal will be to use lawns to grow food.
For our thesis, we’ll be looking at three ways this can be done:
1) Permaculture design and edible landscaping – designing yards that yield food but require less maintenance than your average vegetable patch. This usually involves the use of perennials such as fruit trees and berry shrubs, and designing water catchment systems that catch and channel water, so you don’t have to water yourself.
2) Commercial urban farming – growing food in a city for a profit. A model known as Small Plot INtensive (SPIN) promises that you can yield up to $50,000 in gross sales on only half an acre. Using this method, one urban farmer can tend several yards that belong to other people.
3) Do-it-yourself gardening – The commoners, anyone with a shovel and some seeds can grow their own food. There’s no reason not to, it’s healthy, rewarding, and fun.
We’re attempting method #3 this year if the snow ever melts for us to put in our raised beds!