Rural farming: Can it feed all?

By the year 2050, almost 80 percent of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. That's the driving force behind the efforts of urban planners, designers, local food advocates and public health professionals to integrate agriculture into the fabric of our cities.

It was also the center of an interesting panel discussion at Living Future 2010, a gathering of more than 600 design professionals, mostly members of the Cascadia Green Building Council.

Dickson Despommier of Columbia University, who was named one of the Ten Most Inspiring People in Sustainable Food by Fast Company magazine, advocated for vertical farming as means to reduce hunger and malnutrition. He, along with many other advocates of vertical farming, say reducing climate emissions through reduced food miles is just one benefit of rethinking our food systems. Vertical farming can reduce stormwater runoff, cool buildings, bridge communities, create jobs and more.

From a policy standpoint, however, designers, urban farmers and homeowners are quite limited. Many cities have a "silent zoning code," on urban agriculture, said Andrea Petzel, a senior urban planner with the city of Seattle's Department of Planning and Development. With loose definitions of "farms" and "community gardens," there is no way for a business or person to know how to proceed with growing and selling food that goes beyond the typical backyard garden.

"Food is not examined from a policy perspective as much as other things, such as water, energy and education," said Branden Born from the school of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington. That's where Petzel is paving the way for aspiring urban farmers in Seattle.

Petzel drafted Seattle's Urban Agriculture Ordinance—one of the first of its kind in the nation—and is working to expand the number of chicken allowed in urban areas, legalize rooftop greenhouses and much more. One big issue with no clear solution: How will low-income populations receive equal access to urban farmland as well as the food grown on it?

It is an intriguing discussion, and one that will continue in the August issue of Sustainable Industries, in which Ashley DeForest of Urban Farm Hub, looks at the challenges and opportunities in urban agriculture.