In the early 1990s, my family moved to a typical suburban subdivision with homes on ½ to 1 acre lots. Some folks in our new neighborhood eventually installed a pool, playground, or tiny pond in their backyard. Most left their backyard grassy and planted a few trees. Our immediate neighbors, however, used their backyard real estate to grow vegetables, fruits, and herbs. At one point, they ran out of room and began planting crops (mostly cilantro) in our backyard. At first I thought that our neighbor’s motivation was financial. However, I soon realized that it was their elderly parents who had planted the suburban farm. They would tend the farm during the day, water the plants at dawn and dusk, and occasionally use a broomstick to chase away thieving rabbits. (Now, that was a funny sight to see in suburbia: an elderly Indian woman wearing traditional Indian clothing running after frightened bunnies.) So, in additional to occasionally providing my family with amazing ingredients for our nightly meals, the backyard farm kept our neighbor’s elderly parents active and gave them a sense of accomplishment.
The nation’s financial, health, and environmental realities have turned my attention to that neighbor’s backyard farm. I think that local governments should encourage backyard farming as a partial remedy for many of our woes. For example, backyard farming can help the environment by, among other things, reducing the distances food travels. In addition, the proliferation of backyard farming would create a local market for compost, thereby incentivizing the composting of wasted food that would otherwise end up in a landfill. It could also keep people active while providing them with natural food. After all, it is hard to turn backyard-grown corn into a heavily processed cracker! Moreover, according to the American Horticultural Therapy Association (http://www.ahta.org), gardening has many proven therapeutic benefits. Therefore, backyard farming might reduce the damaging physiological impact of long-term joblessness, especially when the activity can both help lower food costs and potentially serve as an income stream. Backyard farmers may be able to sell excess produce at one of the growing number of farmers markets across the country. According to the USDA, there has been a 350% increase in the number of farmers markets since 1994, going from 1,755 to 6,132: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/FARMERSMARKETS.
While some may think that farming should remain far from cities, there is evidence that for most of our history, humans have grown food in an urban setting http://www.grist.org/article/food-the-history-of-urban-agriculture-should-inspire-its-future/. Perhaps the confluence of economic, health, and environmental concerns will reignite suburban/urban farming. Does anyone know of local government programs that actively encourage backyard farming?
The nation’s financial, health, and environmental realities have turned my attention to that neighbor’s backyard farm. I think that local governments should encourage backyard farming as a partial remedy for many of our woes. For example, backyard farming can help the environment by, among other things, reducing the distances food travels. In addition, the proliferation of backyard farming would create a local market for compost, thereby incentivizing the composting of wasted food that would otherwise end up in a landfill. It could also keep people active while providing them with natural food. After all, it is hard to turn backyard-grown corn into a heavily processed cracker! Moreover, according to the American Horticultural Therapy Association (http://www.ahta.org), gardening has many proven therapeutic benefits. Therefore, backyard farming might reduce the damaging physiological impact of long-term joblessness, especially when the activity can both help lower food costs and potentially serve as an income stream. Backyard farmers may be able to sell excess produce at one of the growing number of farmers markets across the country. According to the USDA, there has been a 350% increase in the number of farmers markets since 1994, going from 1,755 to 6,132: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/FARMERSMARKETS.
While some may think that farming should remain far from cities, there is evidence that for most of our history, humans have grown food in an urban setting http://www.grist.org/article/food-the-history-of-urban-agriculture-should-inspire-its-future/. Perhaps the confluence of economic, health, and environmental concerns will reignite suburban/urban farming. Does anyone know of local government programs that actively encourage backyard farming?
