Localvores and urban agriculture

The recent growth of the localvore (a localvore is a person who is dedicated to eating food grown and produced locally) has provided a foundation for the development of urban agricultural activities.

The reasons people elect to eat food that is grown and produced in their region are numerous a few are:
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• Fewer resources (primarily fossil fuels) are expended packaging and transporting local food.
• It supports the local economy - more money remains in our local community.
• It is healthier - processing and preservatives are less important since the food doesn't have to travel so far.

Some localvores will also be interested in growing their own food or at least some of it. There are a number of ways, anyone who wants to grow their own food in the city, can do so, even if they do not have direct access to land. For example, if they have access to a rooftop or balcony either can be turned into a suitable setting for a vegetable garden.

Yard sharing is another way anyone who wants to be a localvore can grow their own food.

Yard sharing can be described as an agreement between people to share skills and resources. Time, tools, space, and knowledge can all be shared so that people, who may lack any of them, will still have the opportunity to grow their own food. If the group wisely decides to grow organically the benefits grow as well.

If there is no one with whom to share a yard, then people can join a community garden in their area.

A community garden is made up of people who have expressly joined together so that they can garden. Community gardens come in a variety of sizes. I have been in one with only nine other members and one with over 100 members.

A community garden can be located on a rooftop or in an abandoned lot; the plants can be grown in raised beds, containers or planted directly in the earth. The gardeners decide how they will organize themselves.

Often each gardener has their own plot, which they agree to take care of, and there may be a community plot where corn or squash, for example, is grown.

The localvore movement, and its expression in yard sharing and community gardens, is part of the growing urban agriculture movement, and we can draw on the expertise, enthusiasm and interest it possesses to develop urban agriculture even further.