Agenda - Planning Commission - 06/03/2010

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Zoning for Urban Agriculture Nina Mukherji and Al fonso Morales As sustainability has moved up the municipal agenda, cities have begun to take an interest in urban agriculture as a way to promote health, to support economic and community development, and to improve the urban environment. Urban agriculture can include a numberof food production and distribution-related ac-. tivities, which far our purposes include food production through plant cultivation or ani- mal h usbandry, aswell assome nonindus= trial processing and distribution of that food.. Examples of innovative urban agri- culture projects abound. Growing Power, a rapidly expanding nonprofit with operations in Milwaukee and Chicago, grows food in greenhouses heated and supplied with soil by wormcompo5ting.Thepraduceissold to neighborhond residents who might not otherwise have access to inexpensive fresh produce. Growing Power engages hundreds of local school children and others in farm- ing, as volunteers; interns, or students of their seminars, and the organization is also starting a program to provide locally grown snacks to Milwaukee public schools. In addition to providingfresh food in areas that are short on grocery stores, urban ~ agriculture can be a source of culturelly significant foods that are not available i n typical grocery stores. This is exemplified -in Holyoke, Massachusetts, with the work , of Nuestras Raices (www.nuestras-rakes. orgy, which aims to help the Puerto Rican community"maintainaconnectiontotheir culture while putting down roots in their new home." In Chicago, Growing Home is a job training prbgram and organic urban farm for homeless people and former inmates. And on the West Coast, Seattle's P-Patch pro- gram includes market gardens that residents cultivate as they would community gardens. Theythen sellthe produce through a com- munitysupported agriculture (CSA) program. Urban agricultural activities are af- fected by municipal policy. Some cities actively promote urban agriculture through funding, land donations, or protective zon- irig. Unfortunately, local policies can also present barriers to brban agriculture, partic- ularlywhenrestrictive zoning makes urban agriculture difficult. Frequehtly, these policy barriers are unintentional. Urban agriculture can include tempo- raryuses ormore permanent responses to local food deserts, consumer demand, eco- nomic inequatiry,and mobility-constrained populations. When properly sited, urban agriculture projects provide neighborhood amenities and can contribute to a positive community image. Because ofthe diversity of its forms and benefits, urban agriculture can be seen as a powerful tool in a planner's repertoire. This article places urban agricul- turein a historical context, examines regula- tpryapproaches, and makes recommenda- tionsfor planning and Toning practice. URBAN AGRICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES Urban gardening, a major component of urban agriculture, has a long history in the United States. Urban garden programs are frequently cooperative enterprises provid- ingspace and resources for city dwellers to grow vegetablesand Flowers, such as relief gardens, children's gardens, neighborhood gardens, and entrepreneurial gardens. Thehistoryofurbangardeningbegins with school gardens and vacant-lot cultiva- tion efforts duringthe recession ofthe late i8oos, which were followed by the school garden movement and civic improvement gardens inspired 6y the City Beautiful move- ment.Citizens groups, which were sometimes supported by citygovemments,typicallyorga- . nized these early efforts in urban farming. During the turmoil of World War I, the Great Depression,~and World War II, urban ag- riculturewas largely a tool of food security. In 68 ~ ZDNINGPRACTICE a.ao . AMERICAN PUNNING ASGOCIAPONI--9es