Urban Agriculture Could Potentially Produce a Tenth of the World's Food.

Indy Week ^ | April 25, 2018 | Amanda Abrams

[2ndDivisionVet]

FULL TITLE: Urban Agriculture Could Potentially Produce a Tenth of the World's Food. Is Grass Really the Best Use for Your Yard?

[turfmann]

Another dangerous progressive fantasy. They can go ahead and try just as long as they starve themselves death first.

And I’m sick as **** of all this lawn hate, too.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

More like a tenth of a tenth of a tenth of a tenth. This is reminiscent of the movement in communist China, during the Great Leap Forward, where people were encouraged to melt down their frying pans to produce Steel. Number one the items in question already were steel. Number two, by melting down their frying pans they couldn’t cook their food so they starved. Number three, simple observation shows that the production of food and steel and commodities in the world of today has to be done on the scales that it is done on. What’s next, shall we build our vehicles one by one in our backyards and garages? This is just standard liberal utopian garbage that is not worthy of the neurons that takes to think about it. All you have to do is to go to the Midwest and see the size of the fields, the size of the silos used to store the grain, and to think that you’re going to get material out of a 2 foot by 6 foot plot next to your apartment building isn’t even worth considering.

[Mrs. Don-o]

When I was a teenager 50 years ago, I lived for about 6 months with a Chicano family in Earlimart, CA. They were real old-country "pueblo" Mexicans from Belen del Refugio, a little town in Jalisco. No lawn at all around their little house, just every square inch was sugar cane, nopales, chilis, squash, green beans, fig trees in half-barrels, and all sorts of herbs.

Huge grapefruit tree in the back yard, like a galaxy in itself full of yellow suns. It was really quite wonderful,. They reminded me of the Italians and Poles I grew up with in Pennsylvania.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Grass is the best use of your yard if that is what you want.

We have a lot of grass, it is called "pasture".

There are quite a few people who grow food in their yards, they are called gardeners.

This will not work in the "poor neighborhoods" because it is WORK.

And, for the most part you do not want to put plants on your roof tops unless they are engineered for it. Which is usually expensive.

[Mrs. Don-o]

These gardens aren’t dangerous. Are you OK?

[arrogantsob]

Unmentioned is the bedraggled stems and branches of the garden in winter. But that is a small price.

I loved growing my own tomatoes, butterbeans etc. in Chicago

[Lurker]

“ “Using biointensive techniques, you can grow a complete diet easily in 4,000 square feet—one-tenth of an acre—for a single person“

How many cows can fit in there?

L

[MrEdd]

Meh.
It’s just a nostalgic return to victory gardens.

Between the folks at church and the folks at the VFW I could forgo buying vegetables all summer or eggs all year long. Modern agriculture is highly productive even on a small scale.

This is why the globalists are so focused on controlling water and eliminating pesticides. It’s hard to depopulate the planet if the people are fed with local produce.

[Bulwinkle]

And just how good is the dirt?
I live in northern Virginia and an inch under the the grass is red clay... I do vegetable garden, I refer to my garden as an ‘in-ground container garden’; for everything I plant I use a Post home digger to dig out the red clay and fill the hole with bag dirt from Home Depot

[varyouga]

I’ve been growing my all own vegetables and fruits vertically for years in NYC.

With towers I can grow 30-50 sqft worth of short produce in only 2-4 sqft. And with climbing plants on a sunny roof, fuhgettabout it. I have to give away hundreds of pounds of cukes, melons and squash every year. In the winter my pantry is overflowed with canned veggies and potatoes.

Even in shady areas it is amazing how much you can grow with good soil. I compost all my organic waste and estimate about 10 more years before I need to buy any fertilizer.

[tbw2]

There are people being fined for gardening in their front yard.
Change the elitist rules on maintaining said patch of grass, and you’ll get more urban gardening.

[Mrs. Don-o]

WOW! You're inspirational!

Compost.

More CO₂ for a greener planet.

[zeestephen]

I think it’s more likely that “vertical” farming - inside buildings - will prevail.

“Vertical” completely solves the land issue, and you can grow 24-7-365, and always under optimal conditions.

[bgill]

Many of those HOAs fine for growing vegetables in the front yards but not for fruit. They're too ignorant to know that many of what they're calling vegetables are in fact fruit. It'd be great if a front yard gardener would sue them for this. That would put a stop to some of that foolishness.

in low-income neighborhoods where grocery stores are scarce, it can be a vital source of healthy food.

Oh, puleeze! The author doesn't expect the welfare crowd to work?!? That's a four letter word.

[bgill]

Every little bit helps. I’ve had to give up gardening but still have herbs in the kitchen window which has saved a few dollars. Not to mention there’s nothing like fresh herbs which aren’t sold in our local grocery store.

Those 12 sq ft of apartment yard will give you enough space for a nice salad every day of summer. Go vertical and get even more space. Put a trellis on your wall and you’ve got beans galore. Add a few containers on the patio. Grow herbs, lettuce and greens in the window sills and sliding glass door. Here, at the elderly housing, they enjoy their container gardening outside their front doors.

Eat low carb and there’s no need for a silo full of grain.

[null and void]

I wonder why there are so-called food deserts in places where people will throw chairs through plate glass windows if an English-as-a-second (or third?)-language minimum wage kid makes the slightest error in an order?

[mywholebodyisaweapon]

I do non-traditional farming and have done it for many years.

But it is very labor-intensive. No way could we feed enough people to make it work for most of the world’s population, but it’s a good idea to diversify our growing techniques, etc.

We really need both mechanized agriculture and permaculture, too. I don’t particularly like Monsanto, but I’m reluctant to bash them. MANY people would have starved to death were it not for places like Monsanto and Cargill.

Thanks for posting this.

[BeauBo]

“it is very labor-intensive. No way could we feed enough people to make it work for most of the world’s population”

Robots will work 24x7. They can make it much more feasible.

10-20 years, but starting before that with increasingly mechanized systems shifting trays and controlling lights and irrigation. Gradually building in more sensors and intelligence, as well as motorized mechanisms.

[umgud]

Poor people in Africa and elsewhere have far more acreage and still starve. This is a great idea, but I think something else is going on here.