Comments on: Can Urban Farming Help Alleviate A Looming Food Crisis?

By: Barbara

Barbara — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:35:45 +0000

Roxanne–that is a great story–thanks for the heads up on those folks!

I will definitely look them up!

By: Roxanne

Roxanne — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:24:42 +0000

There is farming operation called Coastal Field Farms (currently located outside of Kiowa, Colorado) that got its start by leasing unused backyards in the Lakewood & Arvada areas of metro Denver. This husband/wife duo did all the work and just paid for the rent of the land (they even brought their own water). They sold their produce at the local farmer’s market. They were so successful with it that now, nearly 8 years later, they have their own farmland outside of Kiowa.

They are a self-sufficient farm and use no fossil fuels in their operation (they use draft animals for tilling). They also have a side operation converting used cooking oil into fuel–which they use for powering their delivery truck (they have a produce delivery service for the metro area).

It’s an incredible operation–if somewhat bizarre due to their unusual philosophy of farming. Google Coastal Fields to find their website.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:06:14 +0000

dana: It’s true that “Local is always better for the environment” is a myth. That doesn’t mean that local is never better for the environment.

To my knowledge, examples of local food being the worse choice for the environment tend to be of one of two kinds: (1) shelf-stable (canned or dried) products that can be transported by ship without spoiling, and (2) fresh produce grown out of season in climate-controlled hothouses. As far as I know, it’s not a myth at all that local, seasonal fresh produce is generally better for the environment than non-local or non-seasonal fresh produce. But I’ve been wrong before, so if you’re aware of peer-reviewed research to the contrary, I’d be really curious to see it.

By: dana

dana — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:30:47 +0000

Also, I just wanted to add that its not necessarily better for the environment to eat local. The peer-reviewed scientific research has shattered that myth when they examined the overall carbon footprint. In some cases, it was actually better for the environment to grow something thousands of miles away, and ship it rather than to grow it local.

There may be plenty of reasons to eat local, as you’ve outlined, but environmentalism is not necessarily one of those reasons.

By: dana

dana — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:25:51 +0000

Its interesting that you mention rising food prices as Michael Pollan and Alice Waters gleefully celebrated these rising food prices, where the ends justify the means(NY Times; April 02, 2008). In their eyes, skyrocketing increases in food prices is acceptable if we see stuff like this- a return to urban farming by some people.

But at the same time, Alice Waters never acknowledges the harsh reality of a return to an artisinal agriculture would bring starvation to millions of people across the globe. One has to look in the mirror, and face the truth that without these multi-national corporations, millions more would be probably be dead from starvation.