Urban Agriculture

The New York Times Magazine of July 5 has an article entitled "Street Farmer" by Elizabeth Royte about Will Allen's inner-city farming project in Milwaukee. I liked these two quotes:

“We need 50 million more people growing food,” Allen told them, “on porches, in pots, in side yards.” The reasons are simple: as oil prices rise, cities expand and housing developments replace farmland, the ability to grow more food in less space becomes ever more important.

Allen predicts that because of high unemployment and the recent food scares, 10 million people will plant gardens for the first time this year. But two million of them will eventually drop out, he said, when the potato bugs arrive or the rain doesn’t cooperate.

This link should work this week: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/magazine/05allen-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine