Participatory Landscaping: The future of food?

by mtippett | December 19, 2008 at 12:55 pm

503 views | 22 Recommendations | 13 comments

The growth of participatory media has revealed the need for news consumers to participate in the news. Tomorrow's challenges will extend beyond media and back into the very traditional business of food production. But the old methods of industrial farming have not delivered the yields that were projected so we need to radically re-think how we get our food. I would wager that urban food will be part of that solution and that crowdsourcing the landscape will be the next democratic wave. Here is an excerpt from a paper that addresses that very issue:

Urban agriculture has the potential to provide many mutually enhancing benefits - not just for the goals of urban sustainability, but for public health and community development as well. Yet the adoption of urban agricultural techniques in Greenwich Village is hindered by significant social pressures to maximize the economic value of public space and preserve existing functions. With further evaluation, techniques such as edible landscaping and distributed gardening may prove to be viable footholds for introducing urban agricultural techniques into this dynamic cultural ecosystem.
Yet even if successful, these techniques would exist at the margins of a landscape that is fundamentally heterotrophic and inequitable. In the long term, developing a more ecologically and socially robust built environment will require reconceptualizing the way public space is managed, and producing more than a token amount of food within city limts. New models are needed that combine the financial resources and design expertise of centralized planning offices with the community agency of participatory landscapes. Meanwhile, the development of a sustainable food system entails much more than merely growing it (Barrs, DeLind); further research is needed into techniques for processing and distributing the yield of urban agricultural projects in ways that are ecologically restorative and socially just.

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frayedwetwire

at 19:47 on December 19th, 2008

Taken at the Mercat de Sant Josef in Barcelona.

frayedwetwire has contributed a photo to this story.

gerrypopplestone

at 01:40 on December 20th, 2008

I'm not exactky sure what you have in mind? Are you saying that people should take over open spaces to grow food?

gerrypopplestone

at 01:43 on December 20th, 2008

Half of my comment has disappeared). Or are you saying that parks should grow fruit trees? Would this really ease people's food bills? I"m all for fruit trees in parks but the language this writer is using is so abstract, Im not sure he is saying anything!

Uwe Paschen

at 02:36 on December 20th, 2008

Urban Planning is making some off that rethinking impossible unless we tear down Cities and rebuild them so we can have micro farms and community Gardens.

Jarrett Martineau

at 08:40 on December 20th, 2008

I completely agree. The future of food will be hyperlocal solutions that are community-driven and collectively determined. It's exciting to think of the possibilities for "crowdsourcing the landscape".

mtammas

at 11:41 on December 21st, 2008

This is an excellent article and initiative. In British Columbia, it's the government's health authorities that hold responsibility for food security. Check around their websites for information. And in Vancouver, Farm Folk, City Folk, have long advocated for sustainable food production in urban and rural settings.

mtippett

at 09:36 on December 22nd, 2008

There was another article this weekend about Motor City's woes. Detroit may represent some kind of dystopic version of the future if the US manufacturing system collapses but what is giving the city hope is the emergence of a new village mentality and the growth of the City's urban food movement.

scamp

at 18:14 on December 22nd, 2008

Taken at the Farmer's Market, Camarillo, California

scamp has contributed a photo to this story.

scotd (not verified)

at 01:02 on December 23rd, 2008

If you're interested in this article, you'll probably be excited by a great UK project called Land Share. It's about utilising spaces for growing food in urban areas. Whether it's unused land awaiting development (or where development has stalled) or simply gardens owned by people with no interest in gardening, this project aims to maxmise urban space for growing food.

Personally, I have a small plot in the middle of London - an outdoor room as it were. Rather than use it as an additional party space (of, did a bit of that too), I harnessed most of the space this year for an experimental urban gardening project. Though far from allowing me to be self-sufficient, I was fairly amazed by the bounty, so I'm going to expand the profect in 2009 and blog it.If you're interested in knowing what you can grow in a city space the size of five double beds, and what kind of yield you can expect, drop me a line and I'll let ya know.

Uwe Paschen

at 09:50 on December 23rd, 2008

This is sort off what we are trying to do here in Tokyo and Chiba, Japan. Good site. I did read about that a year or two ago as well.

Landscape Designer in FL (not verified)

at 05:05 on January 24th, 2009

We do participatory edible landscaping in our village and I find it very helpful in our community. We till vacant lands and plant tomatoes, peppers, cabbages, eggplants, carrots, beans and many more. Every participant will have their share during harvest and we enjoy the camaraderie and of course the harvest as well.

Decking (not verified)

at 22:13 on May 24th, 2009

Landscaping is both science and art, and requires good observation and design skills. A good landscaper understands the elements of nature and construction, and blends them accordingly.