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 Jian Wei Ang, University of Michigan
Abstract
In just a span of 5 years, the urban community of the Midwestern states stood witness to a global food crisis, a brutal economic calamity and a warming planet. The rise of urban agriculture in the wake of theseevents is no coincidence: urban agriculture reflects the enthusiastic spirit of people who are tapping into the environment to address the socio-eco- nomic issues that confront them. A perfect blend of four major events— the steady rise in urbanization, the decreasing number of farms in theMidwest, the soaring domestic food prices and the economic recession of 2008—has brought momentum to the urban agriculture movement.Urban agriculture is defined as “an industry located within (intra-urban) or on the fringe (peri-urban) of a town, an urban centre, a city or me- tropolis, which grows or raises, processes and distributes a diversity of food and non-food products, reusing mainly human and material re- sources, products and services found in and around that urban area,and in turn supplying human and material resources, products and ser- vices largely to that urban area.” Due to its distinctive benefits, urban agriculture is worth the attention of state and local government, to which the following policy recommenda- tions are addressed. Mindful of the current economic climate, the policy recommendations that are proposed in this paper involve moderate to little financial resources; the policies favor utilizing current and existing channels of execution instead of creating a complex web of bureaucra- cies.Importantly, urban agriculture needs to be viewed not just as a tempo- rary relief for our existing pains, but rather as revolutionary concept that will redefine the way we lead our lives in the setting of an urban jungle.Urban Agriculture Under the Spotlight 
Though it is imperative to note that these categories may overlap, urbangrowers can be into three broad (but not exclusive) categories: backyardgardeners, community gardeners and commercial growers.A) Urban Backyard GardenersMany of these urban backyard gardeners are hobbyists who enjoygrowing their own food supply to supplement their daily dietswith seasonal harvest. Plants and vegetables are usually plantedin small pots and containers in their private gardens.
 
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B) Urban Community GardenersThis term commonly refers to urban growers who grow their pro-duce on land that has been specifically divided into smaller lotsfor each household’s use. There are instances where communitygardeners share the garden lots and the fresh produce that isgrown there. Excess food may be sold for profit or distributed forfree to welfare centers.C) Urban Agriculture Commercial GrowersAs the name suggests, these growers produce fresh produce spe-cifically for commercial purposes. Usually grown in the sub-urbanarea or in the urban city, the fresh produce are usually sold anddistributed to the nearby restaurants and grocery stores.
Challenges in the Status Quo 
Before delving deeper into the policy recommendation for urban agri-culture, it is imperative for one to understand the challenges that haveprecipitated its growth. These are the four contentious problems thatwill be addressed by urban agriculture:Steady Increase in Urbanization and InequalitySince 1780, the expontential growth of urban population has led to theconstruction of sky-scrappers to house the increasing population. Spe-cifically in the Midwestern states, urban dwellings continue to grow bothin population and size. 
Figure 1: United States’ Urban Population from 1750 to 2000 
Inequitable development in terms of economic success gave rise toslums within close proximities to these cities, leading to a whole rangeof socio-economic challenges such as urban poverty. This, contributed
 
to the mushrooming of homeless shelters and community members whorely on public assistance to sustain themselves. This widening gap be-tween the “haves” and the “have-nots” has divided the urban community.Urban agriculture provides an opportunity to integrate disadvantagedsegments of the population back into the working community.Diminishing Number of FarmsAs cities grew bigger and more successful, more land was allocated forindustrial and commercial purposes, pushing agricultural based econo-mies into the rural and outskirt areas. As a result of this systematic re- jection, daily food supplies for urban communities originate from milesaway. A new research sponsored by the LaSalle Bank labeled Detroit Cityas a “food-desert”: 550,000 residents would have to travel twice as far toreach the nearest mainstream grocery store rather than the nearestfast-food outlets.Via monetary instruments or protectionist trade measures, the US agri-cultural industry receives a large amount of support from the govern-ment to help against imports of developing countries. To exacerbate thesituation, technological advancement in the USA has caused the agricul-tural industry to produce more food supply than what is demanded bythe local community. It leads to the flooding of the market with unwant-ed supply of excess food, driving the market price down and making theindustry hugely unprofitable. Thus, despite subsidies, some business owners have decided to scaleback their business and venture into more profitable business dealings.This has led to a decline in the agricultural supplies in the market, caus-ing a reduction in the food supply. Prices have increased, causing theurban community to feel uneasy about their food security.Number of Farms in the Mid-West
Year 1997Year 2002Michigan
53,51953,315
Illinois79,112
73,027
Indiana
66,70760,296
Iowa
96,70590,655
Kansas
65,47664,414
Minnesota78,755
80,839
Missouri
110,986106,797
Nebraska
54,53949,355
North Dakota
32,34830,619
South Dakota
33,19131,736
Ohio
78,737
77,797Wisconsin79,541
77,131
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