Urban Agriculture In The United States

The exact origin of agriculture has not been successfully traced to any place in the history of agriculture because the domestication of wild animal and plant species predated the advent of writing and record keeping. Available literature suggest that agriculture developed almost at the same time in various parts of the world about 10,000 years ago. Anastasia Calhoun explained that the exact origins of agriculture are unknown and it is believed that agriculture developed simultaneously in multiple places throughout the world including the fertile plains of Western Asia, Egypt, India, China, parts of Africa and several parts of South America (Calhoun, 2010).

In the United States, the history of urban agriculture is associated with governments’

The consequence of the renewal and housing development activities is that the open spaces get built up and urban farms are removed from the urban areas or relocated to the rural areas. Interestingly, a new movement for the revival of urban agriculture emerged in the 1970’s and many state legislatures have passed laws that promote it. These state legislatures include those of Texas, California, Missouri, Virginia, Rhode Island, Washington, Kentucky and Florida. Urban farming began to take a firm root in the U.S. in 1990 and by 1993, Will Allen; an ex-professional basketball player purchased a tract of land in the economically troubled North Side neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and used many unemployed youths from the City’s housing project to successfully grow vegetables in Milwaukee. Allen’s success sparked entrepreneurial interest in urban farming and greenhouses sprang up in many of the northeastern cities including New York, Philadelphia, and

A comprehensive literature on urban agriculture in New Mexico is almost non-existent as an emerging urban economic development strategy but available information suggests that agriculture was used mainly as a rural development strategy. Agriculture as a rural economic development strategy is well documented as a rural development policy in many rural communities in the state, and across the country. Urban agriculture as a development strategy was initiated in New Mexico through grassroots activism in 2003 to promote locally based agriculture through education, community outreach and networking. The initiative led to the formation of New Mexico Food and Agricultural Policy Council in 2003 which secured over $449,300 in 2016 in reoccurring funds towards the “New Mexico grown fresh foods and vegetables for school meals program” across the state. The program will serve about 6000 students in Albuquerque area