The 100-Metre Diet: Urban Agriculture & Foraging

Some of my INDEVOURS friends came home with me last night to work on a project together, eat dinner, and go for a swim.  While we were eating dinner, it was surprising to me how many things were from my dad’s garden – the lettuce, grape juice, salsa, pickles, garlic, peas, pretty flowers, and raspberries were all grown in our backyard!  If it had been a little later in the summer, the tomatoes, peppers, and corn would have been from the garden too! 

I love eating locally grown food, and sometimes I forget just how local my family sometimes eats!  I find innovations for urban agriculture such as multi-tier planters, aquaculture gardens, and guerrilla planting/grafting fascinating, and think that becoming more sustainable and local in food supply is a growing movement.  Anyhow, last night’s dinner reminded me of a few articles I read recently, and I thought I’d share them with you.

I am so excited about this first article.  It makes me ecstatic!  The man featured in the article has set up an urban farm using just a few acres and greenhouses, and is producing huge amounts of food sustainably, is teaching the people in the surrounding low-income neighbourhood how to farm, and also providing them with fresh and organic food.  He has made his small space a high-density growing space, using aquaculture and multiple tiers to maximize the potential of his few acres.  I would love to see this replicated in other cities around the world, as I think it is a fantastic way to learn about food systems, farming, and get people eating healthier diets.  Read the article here.  If you have a few minutes, watch this YouTube video of the farmer himself giving you a tour of his business.

The second article is about urban foraging, and a man who has set up a website that maps plants of nutritional value to humans that are in public urban areas.  The idea that we should take advantage of and plant such useful trees and other plants in our urban surroundings is an idea that I value and think would be an extremely useful and easy way to reconnect people to their food sources.  Read the full article here.

Oh, and here is a link to a small aquaculture garden that was a recent successfully funded Kickstarter project, in case you would like to start growing some greens for yourself on your kitchen counter!