Urban agriculture offers food, climate, cooling benefits — and can pay for itself: San Antonio report
San Antonio already has 51 acres of urban farms, large community gardens and about 72 acres of urban food forests.
By Ysabelle Kempe
Smart Cities
June 2, 2023
Excerpt:
Urban farms and food forests are “extremely productive” and have the potential to address local demand for food and build equity even in highly developed areas of San Antonio, concludes a May report by the Stanford University-based Natural Capital Project presented to a San Antonio City Council subcommittee last week.
Urban farms — plots in cities where produce is raised to be sold — can yield more food than urban food forests, which are self-sustaining, often publicly accessible areas planted with perennial crops such as fruits and nuts, the report finds. However, food forests can provide more co-benefits, such as urban cooling, green space access, carbon storage and flood retention.
Both types of spaces have tangible financial benefits, the report says. For example, a recently established food forest in San Antonio will pay for itself once it’s mature and in production, when accounting for the market value of crops — estimated to be $87,000 annually — as well as carbon storage and urban cooling benefits.
