Culture 77farmfields, and fields unsuitable for building. Greenhouses of various sorts
and indoor spaces for hydroponics and other high-technology biomass produc-
tion are also used. Small spaces sometimes grow livestock, poultry, and other
domestic animals, though normally land values are too high for animal pro-
duction. Aquaculture is important in some urban regions (e.g., Calcutta/Kolkata,
Bangkok) (Costa-Pierceet al.2005). Family food growing is usually most suc-
cessful close to one’s residence. Howevermarket-gardening(truck farming), i.e.,
intensive commercial vegetable-and-fruit production in an area of small fields
close to a city, seems optimum to provide local food for city markets and restau-
rants. Unusual examples of market-gardening are an ‘‘agricultural park” next
toBarcelona and locations in a greenbelt around London (Howe2002,Forman
2004a).
Several hundred million people apparently are involved in urban agricul-
ture, with fresh vegetables being the most important product. In Antananarivo
(Madagascar) and Bissau (Guinea-Bissau) 90 % of the city’s vegetables are grown
in urban agriculture (Mougeot 2005). Sofia (Bulgaria) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
receive≥80% of their milk, Hanoi 50% of its meat, and London 10% of its honey
from urban agriculture. Mexico City, Moscow, English cities, Australian cities,
Havana, Rosario (Argentina), Vancouver (Canada), and many other cities share
in this self-made bounty (Losadaet al.1998,Howe2002,Mougeot 2005, Houston
2005).With a ‘‘100 mile breakfast” campaign, Vancouver has farmers and con-
sumers increasingly producing and buying local foods. Not surprisingly, world-
wide, with food production some 5 to 15 times greater per unit area around
cities than in rural areas, the number of farms and farmers as well as the value
of products is increasing (Jacobiet al.2000, Smit 2006).
Historically food-growing was thoroughly integrated with communities and
cities (Losadaet al.1998). But especially in some cultures, city planners and
developers largely covered suitable small growing spaces with concrete and with
imitations of nature in the form of city parks. In cities across the USA an aver-
age food item in a supermarket has traveled 2100 km (1300 miles) to be there
(Smit and Nasr1992). In contrast, for Accra (Ghana) government provides many
incentives for local food growing, and 90% of the city’s vegetables consumed are
local (Asoniani-Boateng2002,Mougeot 2005).
What are the goals and advantages of urban agriculture? (A) Economically,
it: provides fresh food for markets, restaurants, and families; supplements
income, especially for the poor; eliminates most transportation costs and associ-
ated road/vehicle/fuel use and pollution/greenhouse-gas emissions; and recycles
organic wastes. (B) Socially, local food-growing: enhances interactions among
neighbors; provides outdoor gardening opportunities for diverse social groups