A Look At The Office Of Urban Agriculture And Innovative Production
The Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP) and its associated programs have the potential to influence our food and farming systems in a way that brings us closer to those values – advances racial equity, builds a climate resilient future, invests in healthy communities, and levels the playing field for all growers.
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
March 3, 2023
Excerpt:
The 2018 Farm Bill authorized a new Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production whose mission is to encourage and promote urban, indoor, and other innovative agricultural practices. While the name implies a restriction to urban areas, urban agriculture broadly covers a variety of growing techniques that lend themselves to urban environments but have been adopted in both suburban and rural areas. The office promotes a wide variety of practices such as community gardens, outdoor vertical production, greenhouses, indoor farms, hydroponic facilities, and more.
The creation of the Office of Urban Agriculture started off slow. The office was delayed in its full implementation because the Farm Bill did not authorize any mandatory funding, only discretionary funding, and it was not until fiscal year (FY) 2020 that NSAC, along with many urban agriculture advocates, were able to secure a modest initial appropriation to allow for its establishment. Since FY2020, advocates have grown the office’s annual appropriations from $5 million to $8.5 million in FY2023. While some additional funds have been allocated to programs through the American Rescue Plan Act, the office remains funded well below its authorized level of $25 million.
