Philadelphia Releases Its First Urban Agriculture Plan
The plan seeks strategies to reduce these losses, such as educating growers about how to acquire plots before they go to public sale, said Mindy Watts of Interface Studio.
By Philip Gruber
Lancaster Farming
Nov 3, 2022
Excerpt:
Philadelphia released its first urban ag plan Nov. 3, offering policies that could help growers secure access to land and increase food production in high-poverty neighborhoods.
“We’re so excited to share all the ideas, all the feedback and the insight that was provided by residents, by growers, by city agencies,” said Ash Richards, urban ag project manager at Philadelphia Parks and Recreation.
The 242-page draft plan, “Growing From the Root,” was developed by Soil Generation, an urban ag group for people of color; city planning firm Interface Studio; and the Parks and Recreation department.
The document, in development since 2019, recommends 87 actions for city agencies, nonprofits and others to take to strengthen Philadelphia’s urban ag economy.
The plan’s goals include preserving existing growing spaces and creating new ones; supporting safe and appropriate animal keeping; increasing access to nutritious food; emphasizing the role of Black, immigrant and refugee communities; improving food waste recovery; and creating jobs and business opportunities.
Philadelphia has over 400 active urban ag operations totaling 130 acres across 900 parcels.
About 70% of these gardens and farms are in high-poverty areas, many of which have limited options for purchasing fresh produce.
“I can’t afford to buy the food I can grow,” says an anonymous attendee of a public planning meeting quoted in the plan.
The biggest concern urban growers raised was not having secure access to land.
A third of gardens are in the parts of the city with the most redevelopment, and at least 140 gardens have already been lost for various reasons.
