Urban Farming and Seattle

The Danny Woo Gardens in the International District of Seattle, one of the larger P-Patches I saw while in Seattle.  Urban farming is a hot topic in Seattle with many different people from many walks of life.

In 2010, the City of Seattle dubbed it "The Year of Urban Agriculture."  "One in eight people nationally are using food banks," stated Council President Richard Conlin, and this number was echoed by a Member of the Urban Agriculture group Alley Cat Acres in a presentation to my science class; about 20% of the people living on Capitol Hill in Seattle, prime real estate and one of the most expensive places to live in Seattle, were not food secure; meaning they either needed and did not have access for food stamps, or were not always financially assured of their access to food.  Many reported skipping meals because of lack of funds, having to put rent before food.  The Year of Urban Agriculture and Alleycat Acres are both direct responses to that food insecurity in Seattle. 

There are tones of reasons to be interested in Urban Agriculture; gardening is fun; self-sustenance is a good thing; if done correctly it can save you money; it's a great use of unused space; it slightly more ecologically friendly than having your strawberries shipped all the way from Chile; and the experience is always a good one, especially when you get to experiment with different plant guilds (combinations of plants that benefit each other), planting styles (try making your own self-watering pot, instructions from another urban-gardening enthusiast, Mike Lieberman), and plants!

What makes Seattle so unique is how hands-on the government is in trying to encourage urban farming as a means of self sufficiency.  For example, section "f" of Resolution of 31019, passed for the 2010 year of urban agriculture schpiel, states, "Integrate food system policies and planning into City land use, transportation and urban activities."  In other words the city is going to take UA into consideration when designing future sections of the city or when rehabilitating sections of it. 

In section 2.a., it also states, "Promoting and improving direct connections between farmers in the region and State with urban consumers, such as community supported agriculture, agro-food tourism, connections to major institutions including hospitals,  schools, and jails, and connections that foster niche markets for local specialties...", outlining some of the ways in which the city is going to encourage food awareness.

What is unfortunate is that, to a large portion of Seattlites (who don't have a strong ecological pull in any direction), urban farming still isn't something of concern or interest, no matter how much or little it benefits them directly.  This is probably the one section the government should attempt to work on; working up enthusiasm for this movement.