Metropolitan farming offers new opportunities
Metropolitan Food and Environmental Systems at University of Illinois
Agrinews
Nov 8, 2020
Excerpt:
Metropolitan Food and Environmental Systems provides students with the skills, experience and inspiration to create healthier, more affordable and more sustainable food systems.
“Designing something a community can come together and use, and introducing people to a small aspect of farming is really cool,” Furr said. “Farming in a city is different than what I first wanted to do, but it’s a great fit for me. I enjoy researching what to plant and figuring out what the best options are for healthy food apartment residents will eat and love.”
Originally, Furr wanted to do genetic plant research.
“Instead of exploring how I can make plants grow in more efficient ways, I’m looking into how we can all make use of the land more efficiently where you might not even expect it,” Furr said.
Royse & Brinkmeyer is providing space and supplies for the gardens.
“We’re interested in providing our tenants with healthy food sources, opportunities to live more sustainably, as well as possibly growing this program to address food scarcity issues within our community,” Royse said.
Erin Harper, Extension local food systems and small farms educator, joined the project to provide information and support for growing vegetables in an urban setting. This project is in line with the work she loves — teaching people how to garden.
