FEATURE
Spare Ground:
The Swift Transformation of Urban Agriculture
Words by: Lauren Rabbottini
Photos by: Brandon Portillo and Ngan Tran
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eaning against a cold, porous, hundred year old stone wall, Zac Efron sipped the fresh water from a fountain while carefully paying attention to a Parisian urban planner explaining its innovative approaches to many urban concerns. While unpacking the many solutions Parisians had concocted, the topic and benefits of urban farming—a method of growing produce in traditionally urban and empty plots of land— was highlighted. In overpopulated cities that are nearly running out of land, urban agriculture provides a new way of transforming previously overlooked space into flourishing farms filled with local produce. Within the past decades, previous city dwellers flocked to the suburbs in the movement of suburbanization. This stark shift occurred in predominantly middle-upper class and white populations, changing the economy of
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inner cities. Suburbanization led to many large grocery stores to follow in the wealthy and white populations and to move to the suburbs. In doing what may seem like a profitable business move, the flight of these large grocery stores to the suburbs led to many populations in the cities to not have access to affordable fresh produce, creating many food deserts scattered throughout the United States. “Geographic areas where residents’ access to affordable, healthy food options (especially fresh fruits and vegetables) is restricted or nonexistent due to the absence of grocery stores within convenient traveling distance”, is how the Food Empowerment Project—a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness on healthy food options— defines food deserts. With the preexisting grocery stores relocated to the suburbs, many in cities were left with their local bodega or convenience stores to rely on to grocery shop.
