CFSC Urban Agriculture Committee

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Introduction | What We Do | Additional Reading | Get Involved

Introduction to Urban Agriculture and the UA Committee

There are many ways to define urban agriculture. Currently, the CFSC Urban Agriculture Committee is using the following definition:

Urban Agriculture is the growing, processing, and distributing of food and other products through intensive plant cultivation and animal husbandry in and around cities.

(from Martin Bailkey & Joe Nasr, "From Brownfields to Greenfields: Producing Food in North American Cities," Community Food Security News, Fall 1999/Winter 2000, p. 6)

The Community Food Security Coalition Urban Agriculture Committee came into being at the Coalition's 1998 Conference in Pittsburgh. This committee was one of several focusing on specific areas within the Coalition's overall agenda, such as Policy, Farm-to-School, and Training & Technical Assistance. Since then, the UA Committee has been among the Coalition's most active units, particularly in advocating for urban food production within a number of broader food policy initiatives. Committee members conduct important research into the current state and future prospects for urban agriculture, represent the CFSC at many conferences and professional events, and work closely with the American Community Gardening Association (including serving as ACGA Board members).

In 2002 the Committee developed an urban agriculture "primer" (pdf download) as the Coalition's position paper on urban agriculture. Committee members have since produced fact sheets based on the primer to targeted audiences such as urban planners and health professionals. This is an active committee with participation from urban agriculture practitioners in both United States and Canada.

Membership in the Committee is open to all Coalition members interested in urban agriculture and its role in promoting community food security. The primary vehicle for Committee interaction is the monthly conference calls to which all members are invited to participate. In August 2003, a Committee listserv (URBANAG) was created through Tufts Universityto communicate and share information among members.

At the Vancouver CFSC/FSC in October 2006, a group of urban agriculture practitioners began a new initiative that is currently setting up a North American Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Alliance. Work on this initiative continues under recently-received funding.

What Does the UA Committee Do?

The Committee reviews policy and advocates for urban-ag-friendly changes and additions at the local, state and national levels; and brings together urban agriculture practitioners for discussion and to gather information about what is going on in urban agriculture nationally. We produce informational materials which elevate awareness about urban agriculture. We are in the process of surveying urban ag list-serve members to determine what activities would be of most benefit to them, and will redefine our path once the survey is completed.

The Committee activities identified to date include:

• Raise the profile of urban agriculture as a tool for reaching Community Food Security in partnership with ACGA and other constituencies.
• Promote the relationship of between community food security and urban agriculture at the national policy level with organizations that do not address urban agriculture, such as, Congress, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Environmental Protection Agency, Cooperative Extension, and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).
• Promote urban-based food systems and develop producer-consumer links within cities.
• Develop relationships between those working on community garden initiatives and those working on urban agriculture initiatives.
• Promote urban agriculture to community leaders involved in urban planning and policymaking.
• Educate the public, urban planners and policy makers on how urban food systems, including community gardens, promote healthy food, community empowerment, and greening of cities.
• Develop urban agriculture as a tool to increase access to ethnic and indigenous food cultures within cities.
• Offer urban agriculture courses, workshops and conferences.
• Distribute written and multi-media materials such as the urban agriculture primer and fact sheets and develop further communication tools.
• Host an urban agriculture listserv to communicate activities of the Committee and encourage discussions on urban agriculture issues.
• Strengthen local governmental policy efforts to plan for growth and transportation, conserve farmland, provide local food security, support urban agriculture, and meet health and public safety needs.
• Build liaisons to existing and new coalitions and use urban agriculture as one way to make these linkages.Examples for potential links include: child nutrition forums, anti-poverty organizations, faith communities, sustainability coalitions, public health and environmental networks, community development movements, smart growth and transportation coalitions.

• Urban Agriculture FAQ
• About the North American Urban and Periurban Agriculture Alliance
• Urban Agriculture Primer: Farming From the City Center to the Urban Fringe (in pdf format)
• Urban Agriculture Paper: Health Benefits of Urban Agriculture (in pdf format)
• Urban Agriculture Fact Sheet: Farming From the City Center to the Urban Fringe: Urban Planning and Food Security (in pdf format)
• Urban Agriculture Fact Sheet: Health Benefits of Urban Agriculture: Public Health and Food Security (in pdf format)

How to Get Involved

Urban Agriculture Committee members communicate mostly through a committee list (URBANAG) and by monthly conference calls. CFSC members (join today) can subscribe to the UA Committee's list by following the Elist steps outlined below. For questions about the committee's activities contact Committee Co-Chairs Betsy Johnson , (617) 536-1711, or Cynthia Price, (231) 739-6397, . For copies of past meeting minutes contact the CFSC staff liaison, Aleta Dunne at .

Quick Steps for UrbanAg Elist Procedures:

Subscribe to URBANAG elist

To post a message to all subscribers on the list, send email to: urbanag@elist.tufts.edu (Note: You must be subscribed to post a message to the list.)

Unsubscribe from URBANAG

If you do not yet have an Elist password, you can get one by going to the Elist Reminder page. A password will be sent to you allowing you to log onto to Elist and to set your preferences (including choosing a new password).

In case of problems or for other assistance in using this URBANAG Elist, you may contact