SPIN-Farming was developed to be used in and around cities. Having learned to grow and sell crops mostly in urban areas, the farmers we work with operated in a somewhat hostile environment at first. Cities designed to eradicate food production viewed them as exotic or a threat. Rules and regulations were based on manufacturing’s heyday and farming did not belong.
Over the past 25 years, that view has slowly been changing. What helped SPIN farmers and city officials get into more alignment is the need for cities to move beyond their industrial past and recast themselves as knowledge and service centers. Their demographics started to include more professionals, creatives and entrepreneurs attracted by job opportunities, nightlife, and disparate cultures. Farmers markets became essential amenities. A thriving food scene was right up there with sports teams, bike trails, museums and orchestras. Instead of being a throwback, food growing started to be considered progressive. Now many metropolitan areas are figuring out how to increase it. Major Canadian and US cities have urban agriculture offices.
When SPIN-Farming launched in 2006 the 3p’s – People, Planet, Profit – was the rallying cry for farm reformers and enlightened consumers. People and planet got much of the focus. Profit not so much. Non-profit urban growers still dominate. Their visions can’t always compensate for financial and administrative challenges. To stay afloat many of them have broadened their missions to nutrition education, energy efficiency, and environmental justice programming. Commercial urban farms remain the exception, but that is starting to change.
Within the last year city officials have started using two words SPIN farmers know well – production and profit. They are taking a more business-like approach to identifying food growing capacity and coming up with ways to develop and professionalize it.
What’s of most benefit to SPIN farmers is that policymaking is starting to address practicalities. Regulations provide guidance on how farms can operate. Zoning is changing to include farms as a legitimate land use. Tenure on vacant lots is granted for short term farming use. Infrastructure funding for water access and irrigation, cold storage and delivery trucks is becoming available. Market development is what’s most useful to new farmers everywhere. It’s starting to be recognized that urban areas are real lands of business opportunity.
We’re including a few random examples of some places where and how this is happening at the bottom of this post. What it shows is that acceptance of urban agriculture has spread far beyond on-trend big cities. Their policies and programs look like a SPIN-Farming wish list:
— Rules that light the way for would-be farmers
— Regulations on allowable farm structures
— Onsite farm sale permitting in residential areas
— Local food procurement quotas for public institutions
— Short and long-term tenure leases
— Mini business grants
— Urban farmland protection
— Urban farming zones
— Infrastructure access
— Neighborhood-directed delivery and distribution channels
— New farm development on vacant lots
— Mobile markets selling to food aid recipients
— SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks credits that direct more food aid money to local farmers
Government helps in the one way it can – through policymaking. As urbanization continues to erode the rural way of life, it is realizing that it has a new purpose – integrating farming into the built environment where the largest markets for food happen to be. It took decades and the perseverance of many SPIN farmers, and now city officials are not only allowing them to do their work, they are encouraging it. Together they are creating a new economic future for urban farming. It looks different from place to place, but it is all starting to work, one way or another. Overall cities are becoming more intentional and strategic in identifying and utilizing community readiness and entrepreneurial drive. The new 3p’s are Production, Profit and Policy. What they add up to is progress, and SPIN farmers finally feeling like they belong.
URBAN FARMING’S GREEN SHOOTS
Jacksonville FL
The city has launched a ‘State of the Food’ initiative that focuses on production, processing and distribution. It aims to bridge gaps in food access and strengthen local agricultural infrastructure.
Pt. Richey FL
City Council unanimously passed an urban agriculture ordinance that allows vacant, publicly owned lots to be used for microfarms. It also allows for the commercial sale of produce in residential, commercial, and industrial zones.
Lorain OH
City council and various city departments are working on a plan to define the multiple types of agriculture in the city — from small plots on former residential lots, to industrial-sized farms on former brownfield sites to supply larger amounts of produce to regional stores.
Baltimore MD
“Homegrown Baltimore,” is the city’s urban agriculture plan that solicits business proposals to develop farms on city-owned vacant lots.
Massachusetts
The governor is investing $779k in local food production to develop urban farms and food businesses and expand retail and distribution channels and help communities build reliable distribution systems. Massachusetts Food Ventures is a separate program that funds infrastructure to support processing, distribution channels, and retail outlets in underserved urban and rural areas.
Douglas County KS
The Douglas County Land Protection Program is considering preserving some urban agricultural land in perpetuity as a way to support new and beginning farmers.
Minnesota
The state department of agriculture is making a $1.6 million investment in urban agriculture through the AGRI Urban Agriculture Grant program to build up local food systems. Its goal is to help agriculture spread into urban parts of the state. It also has mini-grant program of up to $5,000 to cover tools, supplies and services. Farm applicants must be located in or selling in a city with a population over 5,000.
New Jersey
The state legislature passed Bill S4350 that creates a program to acquire urban parcels for agricultural use. It also creates an eligibility and application process for buying parcels and leasing land to urban farmers.
Missouri
The Missouri Department of Agriculture awards mini business grants to help urban farms market and add value to their crops. Examples of projects include building production infrastructure and creating direct distribution venues.
Connecticut
A statewide program designates underused urban land into farming zones. The initiative provides growing space and support for zoning assistance, business planning, and training in food safety. The government is also encouraging the creation of agricultural l leases for long-term land tenure in high-density areas.
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS OF URBAN FARMING DOWN THE PATH TO A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS. LEARN HOW HERE.