[MCN] Can urban farming provide unpolluted food?
Lance Olsen
lance at wildrockies.org
Mon Mar 21 18:25:09 EDT 2016
Nature 531, S60 (17 March 2016) doi:10.1038/531S60a
Published online 16 March 2016
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v531/n7594_supp/full/531S60a.html
Perspective: City farming needs monitoring
Andrew A. Meharg
1st 3 paragraphs
People are moving from the countryside to cities
in ever increasing numbers. As towns and cities
grow, farmland is being concreted over. Urban
agriculture is often considered to be the future,
at least for some components of a city dweller's
diet. But cities are far from prime agricultural
land, and it cannot be assumed that food produced
in urban areas is safe to eat.
Growing food in urban environments seems like an
attractive proposition, partly because of the
inherent sustainability: waste heat that all
cities generate can be harnessed, and grey water
(waste water from baths, showers and kitchen
appliances) or surface runoff and nutrient-rich
sewage effluent can be recycled. As well as a
sustainable use of brownfield sites, it can
reduce the carbon footprint of food transport and
can make cities greener. For poorer families,
urban farming produces an income and can
diversify diet. Community-based projects can
promote social interaction and outdoor activity
for a double dose of health benefits. Areas
designed with urban farming in mind - such as
vertical farms (growing plants up the sides of
buildings, for example) and patchworks of fields
between, on top of or within blocks of buildings
- could shape our future cities. Rooftop and
indoor farming would further increase the land
area available for agriculture.
But before urban farming can be expanded on a
large scale, a key issue that differentiates
cities from the countryside must be considered:
pollution.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v531/n7594_supp/full/531S60a.html
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