Local Food

A new 7-acre public food forest is part of an initiative to ensure every resident of Atlanta has access to fresh food by 2021.

May 29, 2019 - Curbed Atlanta

Los Angeles created a tax incentive to promote urban farms on the thousands of vacant lots around the city. So far, the incentive has been given out only four times.

July 31, 2018 - CityLab

Hydroponic indoor farmers hope to charge a premium for plants grown out of season in indoor farms. The notion has generated attention from big investors, but whether or not consumers will follow is an open question.

July 9, 2018 - Civil Eats

Montgomery County, Maryland is the latest municipality to approve an agricultural tax credit to to create incentives for agricultural uses in urban areas.

March 10, 2017 - Source of the Spring

Pulling in community members and a network of local nonprofits, Phoenix's "Spaces of Opportunity" is an attempt to make urban farming something more than a catchphrase.

February 7, 2017 - The Architect's Newspaper

Amazon plans to build 2,000 drive through grocery stores across the country.

November 2, 2016 - Modern Cities

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs originally let local buyers support local growers. But with a rise in subscription-based "food box" clubs, it's getting harder to say what a real CSA looks like.

May 23, 2016 - philly.com

An article by Colleen Fuller highlights collaborative initiatives in Maine's food system as well as key challenges the state faces in reaching a goal of increasing and broadening access to, and consumption of, local food.

March 8, 2016 - Maine Association of Planners Front Page

The local food production industry so far has mostly been constrained to a niche market—expensive and available only to a small percentage of consumers. A project in Portland is working to change that.

October 21, 2015 - ASLA The Dirt

Unlike conventional food hubs, Louisville's planned $50 million FoodPort will gather and 'incubate' regional food businesses. The hope is to breathe life into the area's struggling small farms.

April 11, 2015 - CityLab

Operated by a pair of brothers, Finca Tres Robles is one of several Houston farms coaxing fresh produce from unused urban land. Increasingly, urban farmers compete with developers for space.

March 29, 2015 - OffCite

A new corridor planned as a haven for local gourmet food in the quiet Haut Marais neighborhood of Paris concerns residents with the threat of gentrification.

August 23, 2014 - New York Times

Marianne Peters lists seven "classic, must-read" books about the evolving role of locally grown and sold food in the American economy.

August 13, 2014 - Seedstock

To capitalize on expanding interest in locally-sourced and unique food items, a non-profit group is moving forward with plans to build Boston's first permanent public market focused on locally grown foods in a space atop the Haymarket MBTA station.

January 27, 2014 - Boston Globe

Forget about golf courses and swimming pools, says Luke Runyon, developers are drawing in residents by integrating fully functioning farms into their new neighborhoods.

December 18, 2013 - NPR

A push by the Los Angeles Unified School District to increase its supply of healthy and locally-produced foods is paying dividends for area farmers and businesses.

November 26, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Those well intentioned urban beekeepers trying to prevent colony collapse and contribute to local food movements may actually be doing more harm than good say researchers from the University of Sussex.

August 20, 2013 - NPR

In an essay for Grist, Tom Laskawy laments the departure of deputy secretary Kathleen Merrigan, the Obama administration's "most powerful supporter of local and organic foods," from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

March 25, 2013 - Grist

Small farmers generally sell their wares at farmers markets rather than to grocery stores or institutions. But two entrepreneurs in Virginia are seeking to change that by creating a food hub to aggregate, process, grow, and promote local produce.

November 14, 2012 - Grist

Urban agriculture is a hot topic in sustainability, food, and planning circles. From roof and deck gardens to community gardens to urban farms, urban agriculture has captured the imaginations of activists of many stripes as well as gardeners and eaters. When I mention that my academic work focuses on food access in urban areas, the most common response I get is “oh, you mean like urban ag?” As this interest in urban agriculture grows, some are asking whether food sovereignty – the ability for a population to produce enough food to feed itself – is a feasible goal for American cities. 

October 11, 2012 - Lisa Feldstein