A Case For Urban Farms

G’day,

Here’s a case for urban farms.

A new study by the University of Austin has found that community gardens and small-scale urban farms positively affect biodiversity, local ecosystems, and the well-being of the humans that work in them.

We often associate cultivating food with a loss of biodiversity and having a negative impact on natural ecosystems. And that is true, when we look at large, industrial, mono-crop farms.

However, this study, which looked at 28 urban community gardens across California over five years, found that these gardens not only provide tremendous nutritional resources and increasing well-being for the people cultivating them, but also support high levels of plant and animal biodiversity.

Because these urban projects generally grow more plants in smaller areas, they can have outsized positive impacts on carbon sequestration, pollination, and pest control.

By 2030, 60% of the world’ population will be living in cities. Currently only 15%-20% of our food is produced in urban areas. Considering the food inequality challenges the world is currently facing in a time of rampant food price inflation, urban farms could present a critical opportunity to support biodiversity and food production.