- Author: Olivia Marie Quinlan Henry
Image: "urban farming," by Elizabeth Lloyd on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
Growing food in urban and peri-urban environments has many documented and diverse benefits, including enhancing food sovereignty and building community. But the high market value of city parcels means that finding and staying on land is a top challenge for urban farmers, according to a 2024 California Food and Farming Alliance grower survey.
In California, the state's flagship policy to address stable land access for urban growers has had limited impact. The 2014 Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones Act empowered local governments to give tax breaks to private land owners who put vacant lots into agricultural production for at least five years. However, few cities and counties implemented the law and very few land owners have applied for the incentive.
Instead, many urban farmers and their supporters have focused their efforts on cultivating land that's owned by public entities such as counties, cities, park districts or public utility districts. That's approach of farms such as:
- Dig Deep Farms, which leases one site from the East Bay Regional Parks District
- The International Garden of Many Colors, which has an MOU with the City of Sacramento
- Sunol AgPark, which leases land from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Public policy is increasingly reflecting the importance of public land for agriculture. A team of researchers found that, of the 40 most populous U.S. cities, 36 had active policy related to accessing public land for farming as of June 2020 – with the majority of policies addressing city-run gardens and adopt-a-lot programs. Few policies offered pathways to more secure, long-lasting land access, however:
Programs enabling more secure tenure through simplified sales mechanisms (23% of cities with at least one land access mechanism), leases (20% of cities), and land trusts (17%) were less commonly offered. Additionally, 23% of cities offered an inventory of available land that could be used for UA through one of its other land access mechanisms.
Of those programs offering leases, none offered terms greater than five years. For many farmers, it can take at least five years to prepare the site and soil for production. The research team questioned whether existing policies in “almost two-thirds of the cities examined can meet the needs of growers who are seeking longer-term stewardship opportunities.”
Here in California, a Bay Area collaborative is working on just that. The Alameda County Resource Conservation District (RCD) is leading a project with the City of Oakland, City of Hayward and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to develop an urban ag lease program with extended terms of five to 10 years. Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Colleen Hotchkiss said they hope to create a structured process for cities to identify and list city-owned properties to lease, and then through working with 2-4 pilot sites, design a durable program that could be expanded in the region.
The pilot seeks to answer some critical questions including how the lease program could be funded over time, and whether cities might consider working with a third-party manage lease agreements. The RCD currently works with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to manage the lease for the Sunol AgPark and provide technical assistance.
RCD Resource Conservationist Courtney Coon said their team is currently in the site selection process. Evaluating which lots have urban ag potential has been eye-opening, she said. The City of Oakland properties under consideration resemble other urban farms: standard lot size, in a residential area, flat and with utilities. On the other hand, the City of Hayward is including more unconventional properties: steep, with heavy vegetation and potentially more expensive to manage. Largely paved lots could be a match for nurseries or aquaponics operations, too. By expanding the criteria for urban ag lots, the RCD hopes the inventories will be more robust.
While their project is underway, Coon recommends interested parties look to the City of Baltimore's urban agriculture policies and specifically its Homegrown Baltimore Land Leasing Program as an example.
- Author: Laurie Wayne
The cultural divide between city folk and country folk has been the basis of stories – from literature to sitcoms – throughout our country's history. It seems like rural and urban communities (and people from them) are as different as night and day, but wanting good food is something we all have in common. Farmers in these communities are finding out that they can learn a lot from each other, and by working together, they are learning to feed their communities more efficiently.
What is “rural”?
The definition of “rural” varies widely depending on whether you consult the US Census, USDA's Economic Research Service, research institutions, or community members. One way to define “rural” is by defining what it isn't: it isn't metropolitan or suburban and it isn't part of a center of population or commerce where transportation and other resources may be accessible but land is at a premium. Even though residents of rural communities are surrounded by different kinds of agriculture, they must often travel tens of miles to buy their food, which was produced hundreds or thousands of miles away.
What's it like to farm or garden in rural communities?
While a farmer in a rural neighborhood may not receive many complaints about their roosters crowing, small-scale farmers in rural communities have as many challenges as their urban counterparts.
A foremost concern is access to markets: while urban farmers in cities may have access to tens of thousands of potential customers within a few miles, rural areas are sparsely populated, so keeping food fresh and safe and bringing it to the folks who would love to buy it can involve lots of coordination and logistics. Many small-scale rural farmers sell through multiple channels: farm stands, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA's), farmers markets, and food hubs reach consumers directly, and institutions like schools have the capacity and motivation to purchase fresh local food in quantities that allow rural farmers to reach profitability. Increasing numbers of rural farmers are shoring up their incomes and reducing waste by developing value-added products like seasoning mixes and freeze-dried fruit which can be stored and transported (or mailed) and provide important off-season income.
An urban farmer in a city who starts growing on a new piece of land may have to think about industrial chemicals or waste in the soil, access to affordable, good-quality water, and the shadows of nearby buildings interfering with their crops. These concerns are not typically foremost in a rural small farmer's mind; rather, they may think about the encroachment of hungry wildlife (deer, birds, rabbits, squirrels, grasshoppers, and more). The methods a rural farmer must employ to protect their crops may include tall fences, scarecrows, motion-sensitive sprinklers, netting, and electrified barriers - many of these are adaptations from time-honored strategies on large-scale rural farms.
Making difference a strength
Farmers are great at building local professional networks. Whether they are meeting for coffee at the local volunteer fire department or gathering at the neighborhood community center, farmers know the value of sharing knowledge, practices, and experiences that can help improve their livelihoods, increase their sustainability, and build personal and community resilience. Urban and rural small farmers can learn a great deal from each other by expanding these networks to include their colleagues with vastly different perspectives and challenges, whose creative solutions may find applications in their own operations.
Some examples of this “cross pollination” may include “country-to-city” knowledge transfers like cover cropping and soil health strategies, community-based cooperatives and innovative product and marketing strategies; “city-to-country” transfers like extreme space and water efficiency, the benefits of on-farm gatherings and events, and digital tools like online sales platforms, farm management apps, and effective use of social media. Many small-scale urban agriculture projects in cities include public and professional training and education in their mission, and rural farmers can access these and become inspired to develop their own programs like workshops, educational resources, and production-related events or celebrations. 
Perhaps the greatest benefit of bridging the urban-rural divide in the small-scale farming community is the development of an appreciation for each other's work, and the transfer of that appreciation to their local communities. Jason Mark wrote in his essay “What's Growing On” in Gastronomica over ten years ago: “Spend a few months taking a broccoli from seed to harvest, and you'll soon have a much deeper appreciation for the natural systems on which we depend. Our connection to the earth becomes gobsmackingly obvious when you watch the crops grow (or fail). The garden produces a harvest of teachable moments about what it means to live in an environment.” Not everyone can grow their own broccoli, but maybe knowing a neighborhood farmer and their farm, seeing the work they put in and the progress of their food from seed to table, can be almost as important for all of us: urban, rural, or in-between.
A few references from this post:
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Urban Agriculture in California, https://youtu.be/Q1pwSAEJ-bI
Santo, Raychel & Palmer, Anne & Kim, Brent. (2016). Vacant lots to vibrant plots: A review of the benefits and limitations of urban agriculture. 10.13140/RG.2.2.25283.91682.
Jason Mark, What's Growing on, Gastronomica (2013) 13 (2): 73–76.
- Author: Alexa Erickson
Common Vision
“I found a purple flower!”
“I see 5 pumpkins!”
“Hm I think there's more than that. Did you really look in there?” Wanda calmly guided an energetic crowd of first graders through the garden space. They were on several missions: find an insect that could fly, count the number of pumpkins, and find the rainbow of colors in the garden.
Wanda Stewart is one of the co-directors of Common Vision, a nonprofit working at four schools in Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). Common Vision has a three-pronged approach to improving the health and wellness of the school communities: garden education (including composting and vermiculture), food recovery and distribution, and tree planting. Between gardening and the distribution of high-quality nutritious food, Wanda aims to shift perceptions of healthy eating.
Before being set free in the garden, the kids had crowded around Wanda with the promise of being allowed to hold a worm. They reviewed the golden rule – how would they want to be handled if they were a worm? It mostly worked – the kids waited turns, gently held the worms, and exclaimed about how squiggly and slimy they were. Through garden lessons with Wanda, the kids were learning about biology and ecology, and also about cooperation and kindness.
For these benefits to persist, school gardens need to prioritize long term sustainability, which can often be a challenge. Derek Emmons, the director of Common Vision's tree planting efforts, pointed out that a school garden being associated with a non-profit is a factor that can make school gardens more sustainable.
The Center
OUSD has several overlapping approaches to helping school gardens thrive. I met with Kat Romo, the School Gardens and Living Schoolyards Program Manager, at The Center, another name for OUSD's Central Kitchen, Education Center, and Instructional Garden. She described the constellation of work and programming that takes place at The Center and how gardening activities are coordinated throughout OUSD.
One program provides a stipend for a dedicated person to take the lead on caring for each school's garden. Called Environment, Food, and Garden (EFG) Champions, each champion is responsible for managing the school's garden, harvesting and sharing produce, coordinating the Harvest of the Month program, and more. The EFG Champions receive seedlings, support, and technical assistance from The Center. Across Oakland, 109 schools participate in garden-based activities, collectively harvesting 23,100 pounds of produce over the past three years.
Early Childhood Education
“Every time Miss Yolanda comes to our school and takes us to the garden, I have noticed that my students show interest, curiosity, and engagement” the students' teacher, Mrs. Audrey Ollero, shared. When we walked through the garden later, Yolanda shared her observations of gardening's positive impact on the children.
She said that garden work helps kids practice fine motor skills like picking up individual seeds, and helps them learn basic science, and practice gardening skills. Though the kids are very young, she told a story of one family where the preschooler taught their older sibling to plant seeds, and this inspired the family to start growing some of their own food.
A Diverse Approach
From visiting gardens and learning about garden programming throughout OUSD, I learned that there are many factors that sustain their school gardens. Pairing with a nonprofit, paying stipends to dedicated garden leaders, centralized garden coordination, partnership with Master Gardener volunteers, and partnering with garden-based nutrition educators all contribute to the robust garden programming in OUSD. It seems that this diversity of approaches makes the district's school gardens resilient.
Learn More
For more information on Oakland Unified School District's programming, visit The Center's School Garden website.
Information and resources for school garden programming:
- The Kids Garden Community is a “free community supporting individuals, families, and organizations with the skills, tools, and connections to garden with kids”. The community shares funding opportunities, resources, and advice.
- LifeLab School Garden Resources has free garden education activities, curriculum, webinars, garden design tips, and more.
- Author: Allison Bunyan, FSA Urban County Program Analyst
As the FSA evolves to address the changing needs of our farmers and ranchers, the agency has taken strides to better serve urban producers. As of today, 17 Urban Service Centers have opened in major metropolitan centers across the US, with an additional 10 offices being planned. In California, we have two new Urban Service Centers.
- Oakland Urban Service Center Contacts:
- NRCS: Annie Edwards, Urban Conservationist, annie.edwards@usda.gov
- FSA: Thomas Schultz, Urban County Executive Director, thomas.schultz2@usda.gov
- FSA: Allison Bunyan, Urban County Program Analyst, allison.bunyan@usda.gov
- Compton Urban Service Center Contacts:
- NRCS: Jamie Quarfeld, Urban Conservationist, jamie.quarfeld@usda.gov
- FSA: Evelin Carias, Acting County Executive Director, evelin.carias@usda.gov
The FSA has a variety of programs and services to assist you with registering your farm with the USDA, financing your urban farm or garden, managing risk, and reimbursing organic and food safety certification expenses.
Financing Your Urban Farm or Garden
FSA loan programs provide access to capital, either directly from FSA or through a third-party, commercial lender. You may be interested in using the Farm Loan Assistance Tool to determine which loan option works best for you.
Managing Risk
- Risk management coverage options through the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) that covers crops that are not insurable through USDA's federal crop insurance products.
- A strong production safety net through the administration of farm commodity price support as well as crop, livestock, and infrastructure disaster recovery assistance programs.
- Conservation programs to support land stewardship, rehabilitate agricultural operations and provide emergency haying and grazing following a qualifying natural disaster event.
- Use the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool to learn about available disaster recovery programs
Reimbursing Expenses
FSA helps cover expenses related to obtaining or renewing organic and/or food safety certifications:
- The Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crops Program (FSCSC) provides financial assistance for specialty crop operations that incur eligible on-farm food safety program expenses related to obtaining or renewing a food safety certification.
- The Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP) provides cost share assistance to producers and handlers of agricultural products who are obtaining or renewing their certification under the National Organic Program (NOP). Certified operations may receive up to 75% or up to $750 reimbursement when obtaining or renewing organic certification.
Leadership Opportunities
- Farm Service Agency Urban County Committees are elected committee members who provide input on USDA urban agriculture policy in selected cities.
- Federal Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production provides input and feedback to the Secretary of Agriculture
How to Get Started
You can meet face-to-face with our staff at your closest USDA Service Center to discuss your vision, goals, and ways we can help. Before reaching out, review USDA's getting started guide, or this guide for new farmers. If you need information in a language other than English, we offer translated materials and free interpretation service.
When you reach out to FSA staff, be sure to ask about getting a Farm Number, the first step toward receiving USDA assistance. Even if you are farming on .01 acres, you can get a farm number, regardless of whether your farm or garden generates income.
USDA is committed to working with farms of all sizes and in all locations, including those in urban areas.
- Author: Ashley Michelle Hooper
In Part 2 of this blog, we continue to explore some of the environmental challenges associated with growing food in urban spaces as well as some of the benefits that micro-community gardens have to offer.
Andrea's Micro-Community Garden
As exemplified by Andrea's residential, micro-community garden, smaller gardens may still face challenges common to growing food in urban spaces, such as soil contamination (e.g., due to lead paint or prior industrial uses), infrastructure needs (e.g., access to water, restrooms, communal spaces), and continual needs for soil, compost, and fertilizer.
Testing the Soil
Andrea tested her soil prior to growing food crops. Due to the concentrations of lead in the soil, she decided to grow the majority food in raised beds and pots, rather than directly in the ground. She has been planting rose scented geranium, which have the potential for lead bioremediation.
Building Soil and Compost
Andrea collects food scraps, rabbit droppings, and other green waste from community members for her compost bin. She has 8 to 10 households participating. To educate herself and in turn educate her neighbors (who have open access to drop off food waste), Andrea completed the Long Beach Compost and Recycling Ambassadors program. Inviting her neighbors to drop off food scraps provides compost for the garden, mitigates costs of having to purchase high quality soil, provides a temporary solution to inadequate municipal composting infrastructure, and helps divert food waste from the landfill.
Supporting Local Biodiversity
Cultivating native plant species near gardens helps support ecological health and local biodiversity, including insects which pollinate crops and control pests. Andrea planted a variety of native plants in her front yard as well as in the ground around the garden. She shared her observations of the native plants supporting the local biodiversity, stating:
“Just sitting on my porch among the native sunflowers, I saw at least 20 different species in 15 minutes. There were native bees – many types of native bees – there were gold finches, hummingbirds, fig beetles… several butterflies, a new grasshopper I had not seen before… I should have started documenting them using iNaturalist.”
Practicing Sustainability
To help minimize water use, mitigate weeds, and improve soil health, Andrea's garden utilizes mulching. She also stores rain in rain barrels, which she uses to water the fruit trees. No pesticides or herbicides are used in the garden. To help control pests and mildew, the gardeners will use neem oil and sprinkle cayenne pepper.
So far, Andrea and her neighbors have enjoyed the fruits of their labor, harvesting plenty of tomatoes, zucchini, chard, kale, bananas, figs, plums, basil, spaghetti squash, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, peppers, parsley, and more.
If you would like to share your experience with a micro-community garden, please contact Ashley Hooper at asmhoope@ucanr.edu, so that I can learn more from you!
