Tagged Urban

Urban Rooftop Farms

In cities, farmers are looking to rooftops to provide fresh food for urban populations. One of the major environmental and aesthetic problems with urbanization is the lack of available open space and the distinctive absence of greenery in lieu of concrete and asphalt. One of the solutions that urban farmers have started to pursue is the use of rooftops as viable space to grow food. These rooftop farms are ideal for growing food because they have access to direct sun light for most of the day and they make use of previously underutilized spaces without competing for expensive land at…

Growing Food in Paris: Jardin Luxembourg Orchards

Located in the heart of Paris, in the 6th arrondissement, is the Luxembourg Gardens. Built in 1612 to encompass the grounds of the palace built for the Regent of France, Marie de Medici, the gardens span 23 hectares (nearly 60 acres) and are an icon of Parisian life. The gardens and palace were inspired by the…

Crowdfunding Urban Farm Projects

Urban farms turn to crowdfunding websites to bring their projects to life. Since the 1950s, the global population has flocked to urban centers around the world. According to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Report from 2007, about 50% of the world’s population lives in cities and many more are expected to migrate to urban…
Detroit: Creating Oases in a Food Desert

Detroit: Creating Oases In A Food Desert

Home to Henry Ford’s assembly line, Detroit was once affectionately referred to as Motor City—the epicenter of American car production.  With the recent collapse in the American automobile industry and overall economic recession that has ravaged the United States over the past four years, over a fifth of Detroit households do not even own a…
How Urban Farms Feed The Poor

How Urban Farms Feed The Poor

One of the primary missions of urban farming is to provide local communities with access to clean, fresh produce. It is no surprise then, to find that urban farmers have found various ways in which their farms and neighboring edible gardens can feed the poor—who have the least access to one of the most basic necessities.
Bowl of vegetables.

Converting Lawns To Productive Urban Home Gardens

As people wake up to the fragility of a global agricultural system dependent on oil, they are turning their focus closer to home—and finding abundance in their own backyards. We explore three examples of urban backyard food gardens and the surprising amount of food that can be grown with very little space.

ECO City Farms

Eco City Farms not only brings food back to the urban landscape of Maryland, but also works to educate a new generation about eating well and urban farming.
Urban Homesteading in the UK

UK Urban Homesteaders Tim and Ros Payne

UK homesteader Tim Payne explains that his reasons for embarking on homesteading extended beyond his family’s desire to become more independent from a food and resource distribution system which relies on a dwindling natural resource.