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Urban agriculture

Urban Farm located in the city of Chicago
An urban farm in Chicago.

Urban agriculture refers to various practices of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in urban areas.[1][2] The term also applies to the area activities of animal husbandry, aquaculture, beekeeping, and horticulture in an urban context. Urban agriculture is distinguished from peri-urban agriculture, which takes place in rural areas at the edge of suburbs.[3]

Urban agriculture can appear at varying levels of economic and social development. It can involve a movement of organic growers, "foodies" and "locavores", who seek to form social networks founded on a shared ethos of nature and community holism.[4] These networks can develop by way of formal institutional support, becoming integrated into local town planning as a "transition town" movement for sustainable urban development. For others, food security, nutrition, and income generation are key motivations for the practice. In either case, the more direct access to fresh vegetable, fruit, and meat products that may be realised through urban agriculture can improve food security and food safety while decreasing food miles, leading to lower greenhouse gas emissions,[5] thereby contributing to climate change mitigation.

  1. ^ Bailkey, M., and J. Nasr. 2000. "From Brownfields to Greenfields: Producing Food in North American Cities", Community Food Security News. Fall 1999/Winter 2000:6
  2. ^ "Food for the Cities: Production systems (UPA)". FAO. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  3. ^ Hampwaye, G.; Nel, E. & Ingombe, L. (September 2009). "The role of urban agriculture in addressing household poverty and food security: the case of Zambia". FANRPAN. Global Development Network. Archived from the original on 14 April 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  4. ^ Thornton, Alan (9 December 2013). "Chapter 13: Food for thought? The potential of urban agriculture in local food production for food security in the South Pacific". In Rosin, Christopher; Stock, Paul; Campbell, Hugh (eds.). Food Systems Failure: The Global Food Crisis and the Future of Agriculture. Routledge. pp. 203–218. ISBN 9780415712606. Archived from the original on 1 April 2024 – via ResearchGate.
  5. ^ Smith, Loren (21 June 2022). "Fifth of global food-related emissions due to transport". University of Sidney. Retrieved 8 October 2023.

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