The Risks of Urban Agriculture

Ten years ago, global urban populations surpassed rural populations for the first time in history due to rising urbanized commercial activity and employment opportunities. The United Nations predicts that urbanization will grow by more than one billion people by 2025, and as a result of this trend, a smaller percentage of the workforce is involved in rural employment. This could be worrisome for food security worldwide, despite the potentially human-replacing advancements in agricultural technology. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, there is currently an abundance of food production worldwide, but an unequal distribution and consumption of food; to address this issue, urban farming – the act of growing food alongside city infrastructure –  has become popularized all over the world.

 Many communities have greatly benefited from the introduction of urban farming (such as Detroit’s Food Field, which provides economic opportunities and produces food with localized demand). Urban farming provides an affordable option for fresh, local produce to urban dwellers, and can also foster a closer connection to the food one consumes. However, urban farming can be very unsustainable in practice, and can pose a threat of gentrification if municipal government development plans for lower-income neighbourhoods lead to an influx of migration of upper-middle-class residents to these areas. Urban farms are often perceived as having a “good image”, and frequently replace underdeveloped or undesirable locations within cities. However, this form of gentrification can displace various social groups in the area (such as homeless people) and can intensify visible classism due to the exclusionary nature of urban farms and a lack of knowledge about space usage. This was seen when the introduction of a middle-class neighbourhood’s urban farming project among public-housing units in low-income districts of Washington D.C. created serious socio-economic tensions. 

From a local perspective, Montreal also faces its own challenges with urban farming. Farmers on the outskirts of Montreal are wary of the unsustainability of urban farming. Although the aesthetics of urban farms are easily romanticized at first, statistics show that 40% of urban farming projects are abandoned within the first 5 years of creation due to lack of funding or community involvement. Additionally, this decreases the likelihood of municipalities investing in future farming projects, exemplified by the recent closure of Georgie City Farms in Scotland, as reduced municipal funding caused staff to incur unrealistically high costs to support the farm’s continuation. Another aspect of urban farming’s unsustainability is water usage. Unlike traditional farms, which use water-conserving irrigation systems to maximize output, urban farming uses a substantial amount of city groundwater; this often leads to groundwater overdraft, which in turn can limit water resources for other city needs. 

Although urban farming can provide some solutions to the food security problems faced by a growing global urban population, it requires more municipal regulations to truly become effective and non-invasive. Sustainability and effective integration are key to the prosperity of urban agriculture, and city planners should provide specific guidelines for prospective farms to ensure seamless integration into the chosen location. To engage the community effectively, considerations for imminent social impact need to be made to reduce the negative effects of gentrification, and to promote public engagement across all socio-economic classes and cultural groups. For example, farms should not be placed in areas with relatively low green and public space, as alternate projects instead should be allowed to grow and benefit these areas. Alternatively, urban farms should be combined with existing infrastructure, such as the Sky Green Farms of Singapore, which feature vertical farming technology that use less ground surface area than traditional farming.  

As a farm is a large commitment and many urban populations have no prior agricultural knowledge, active support from farming organizations is also crucial for its success and longevity. Furthermore, the resources used for growing crops should fit formal agricultural standards for safe consumption; cities have many airborne particles and pollutants which may cause health concerns once absorbed into the crops. Nevertheless, with more intuitive location selection, improved integration into infrastructure, and more incentives to engage in urban agriculture, urban farming can create opportunities for social and economic development within the modern city.