What is Urban Farming?
Urban farming refers to the cultivation of food within and around cities, including practices such as community gardens, rooftop farms, schoolyard gardens, vertical agriculture, and cooperative plots on vacant land. It has existed in many forms throughout history, from the victory gardens of wartime America to the terrace gardens of precolonial African and Asian cities. In its contemporary form, urban farming addresses both ecological and social challenges: food access, community health, environmental sustainability, and local economic development.
Urban farming is distinguished from rural agriculture by its integration into dense human settlements. It often combines food production with education, social services, and cultural expression, turning gardens into spaces of resilience and community.
Core Dimensions of Urban Farming
Food Access: providing fresh, affordable produce in areas affected by food apartheid.
Community Building: transforming vacant lots and shared spaces into centers of collective care.
Education: teaching ecological literacy, nutrition, and agricultural skills in schools and neighborhoods.
Environmental Benefits: reducing heat islands, managing stormwater, and recycling organic waste.
Economic Development: creating opportunities for small-scale entrepreneurship, cooperatives, and local markets.
Examples in Practice
The Bronx, New York: Community gardens organized by activists like Karen Washington demonstrate how urban farming can address systemic inequities in food systems.
Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (Detroit, Michigan): Led by Malik Yakini, this initiative advances land justice and ecological resilience through urban agriculture.
Soul Fire Farm (New York): While located on rural land, its training programs inspire urban farmers of color to reclaim land-based practices.
Los Angeles Urban Gardens: Projects led by Black Women Farmers of L.A. and other grassroots groups show how farming in dense urban neighborhoods cultivates both food and community sovereignty.
Urban farming reveals that agriculture is not limited to the countryside. It is a social movement and ecological practice that reclaims city spaces for nourishment, resilience, and justice.
Resources & Further Reading
Farming While Black — Leah Penniman
Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement — Monica M. White
Black Food Geographies — Ashanté M. Reese
Black Urban Growers (BUGs) — blackurbangrowers.org
Detroit Black Community Food Security Network — dbcfsn.org
