Taking Urban Agriculture For What It Is

A new report from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future clarifies the impact of urban agriculture projects.

They won't feed a city or transform the supply chain, the report says. Rather, their primary impact is at the community level, where they serve to educate, build community ties, and promote civic engagement.

Take Planting Justice, an Oakland non-profit that teaches permaculture at San Quentin State Prison, and employs recently incarcerated people to build community gardens and farms.

Willy Blackmore, food editor at Take Part, links the findings to his own observations on the social aspects of growing food in California cities. The takeaway: urban agriculture may or may not be the future of food, but done right, it can benefit communities in the here and now.