USDA proposes improving healthy food access

Posted February 18, 2016

Under a proposed rule change announced Tuesday by the USDA, retailers who accept food stamps would have to stock a wider variety of healthy food options or risk losing their ability to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) money.

The AP reports that the proposed rules are designed to ensure that the 46 million-plus Americans who use food stamps have better access to healthy foods. A person using food stamp dollars could still purchase junk food, but would have more options in the store to buy fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats and bread.

According to the Federal Register website, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is proposing changes that address depth of stock, amend the definition of staple foods, and amend the definition of “retail food store” to clarify when a retailer is a restaurant rather than a retail food store. The rulemaking also proposes that FNS begin disclosing to the public specific information about retailers who have violated SNAP rules.

The 2014 Farm Bill increases the requirement that certain SNAP authorized retail food stores have available on a continuous basis at least three varieties of items in each of four staple food categories to a mandatory statutory minimum of seven varieties. Further, the 2014 Farm Bill increases the minimum number of categories in which perishable foods are required from two to three. 

Kevin Concannon, USDA undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, said in a statement, "USDA is committed to expanding access for SNAP participants to the types of foods that are important to a healthy diet. This proposed rule ensures that retailers who accept SNAP benefits offer a variety of products to support healthy choices for those participating in the program."

However, in a message on its website, the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), an industry trade group, says the rule change goes “significantly beyond” the statutory requirements in the 2014 Farm Bill and concluded that, “As currently drafted, the proposal will make it increasingly difficult for convenience store owners and operators to participate in SNAP, which in turn will negatively impact the many SNAP recipients that use their benefits at NACS members’ stores.”

Comments on this proposed rule can be made via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal until April 18, 2016. 

Oregon court rules on conditional use permits for land zoned for exclusive farm use

Posted February 9, 2016

Last week, the Court of Appeals of Oregon considered the definition of the term “private park” as applied to conditional use permits for weddings and other events on property zoned for exclusive farm use (EFU).

In Central Oregon Landwatch v. Deschutes County, the court examined Oregon Revised Statute 215.283(2)(c) which states in part that “private parks, playgrounds, hunting and fishing preserves and campgrounds” may be established as nonfarm uses on property zoned for exclusive farm use. The court concluded that the specific proposed use of the property by the petitioners was not for a private park, but more accurately, for a commercial event venue.

The court considered the case of John and Stephanie Shepherd, owners of a 216-acre parcel in Deschutes County zoned for exclusive farm use within a wildlife area. The property at issue was a 2.6 acre portion of a parcel that contained a single-family dwelling, a gazebo, a circular driveway, a grassy area and a one-acre parking area. (At the time of their application, the remainder of their larger parcel was not used for agriculture, but for two acres used to raise poultry). In 2013, the Shepherds submitted an application to the county to establish a “private park” on their entire 216-acre parcel to host weddings and other events and it was denied. In 2014, they applied again to establish a private park, but this time, only on the 2.6-acre portion of the property. That application emphasized “recreational activities” that would occur during hosted weddings and events. The county approved the 2014 petition for the private park.

Per the county’s reasoning, wedding ceremonies are not recreation, but other activities that occur during wedding receptions and special events would fall within the definition of “recreation” and under the “private park” use as intended by the statute. The county concluded that weddings and other events could occur in a private park as long as they remained “incidental and subordinate to” any recreational activities.

The environmental organization Central Oregon Landwatch, petitioned the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) to review the decision, arguing that the Shepherd’s use of their property did not qualify as a “private park” under the statute.

LUBA reversed the county’s decision and declared that the determining factor for whether a proposed use qualified as a park or private park was whether the proposed use was “recreational.”  

The county appealed LUBA’s decision and last week, the Court of Appeals considered whether the Shepherd’s proposed use for their property fell within the term “private park.”

The court first noted that the statute does not define “park” or “private park” for purposes of the statute, but lists 27 nonfarm conditional uses that a county may allow in an EFU zone if the county determines that the use “will not significantly affect surrounding lands devoted to farm use.”

The court reasoned that the text of ORS 215.283(2)(c) indicates that the legislature intended to allow “low-intensity outdoor recreational uses,” for which enjoyment of the outdoors in an open space or on land in its natural state is a necessary component. Notably, however, the court stated that “legislative history does not support an expansive construction of ‘private park’ that would allow a primarily commercial activity that is not such a park use.”

In this case, the petitioners (the Shepherds) intended to “host weddings, wedding receptions, family reunions, fundraisers and charity balls.” The court concluded that the Shepherds did not intend to maintain a tract of land for natural enjoyment and outdoor recreational use, but rather sought to rent out their lawn for up to 18 events a year and “for no other purpose.” Specifically, the Shepherds “did not propose to establish a private park as a park, but wanted to establish a private park solely for use as a commercial venue.”  

The Court of Appeals affirmed LUBA’s decision, narrowing permitted uses in EFU zones. 

This case highlights recent activity on farmland use issues. For more information, visit our library of subject-based "Reading Rooms" with research on agritourism, urban encroachment and other subjects on our website.

(photo courtesy pixabay.com)

Wind Energy Leasing Workshop To be Held for Oklahoma Landowners

The Oklahoma State UniversityCooperative Extension Service and the National Agricultural Law
Center at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture are hosting a Wind Energy Leasing Program Workshop on July 14.  The workshop will be held the High Plains Technology Center in Woodward, Oklahoma.    

The workshop is free, and participants are encouraged to pre-register before July 6 by calling the OSU Cooperative Extension office in Woodward at 580-254-3391.  Registration begins at 8 a.m. and the workshop will conclude at 4:30 p.m.  Lunch will be provided to workshop participants by the Oklahoma Gas & Electric Corporation. 

For additional information about the workshop, click here. 

The workshop is provided with grant funds provided through the Southern Risk Management Education Center under a grant titled, “Wind Leasing:  Understanding and Limiting Legal Liability.”

The workshop will be held the High Plains Technology Center in Woodward, Oklahoma.   The workshop is geared toward landowners who may be approached for wind energy development, said Shannon Ferrell, assistant professor of agricultural law at Oklahoma State University.

"We want to provide landowners an opportunity to learn the basics of the electrical industry and how wind energy fits into that,” Ferrell said. “We also want them to learn what it takes for the landowners and the developers to have a successful wind energy project and to help landowners make informed decisions when entering into a wind energy lease.”

Other industry professionals will be on hand at the workshop to cover topics such as the impact of wind energy farms on wildlife; how wind farms affect the community in the areas of aesthetics, noise, tax revenue and impact on roads and highways; and the basics of wind energy and the grid.

This article posted July 5, 2012.

Urban Agriculture Report Released

The American Planning Association has released a report on urban agriculture and sustainable communities. The 148-page report titled Urban Agriculture: Growing Healthy, Sustainable Places explores issues relating to agricultural practices within cities as well as challenges faced by locations of various populations.

Authors of the report are manager of the APA Planning and Community Health Research Center Kimberley Hogdson, Milwaukee director for the Center for Resilient Cities Marcia Caton Campbell, and evaluation and outreach coordinator for Growing Power Martin Bailkey.

The report includes five chapters that address topics including what urban agriculture is, facilitating urban agriculture through planning practice, linking urban agriculture with planning practice, and lessons learned through planning for urban agriculture. Seven appendices address food charters, local comprehensive plans, local sustainability plans, regional plans, zoning regulations, allowances in animal control ordinances, and other supportive municipal policies.

To purchase the APA report, click here.

Posted: 3/15/11

Chicago City Council Considers Urban Agriculture

Urban agriculture in the city of Chicago has been on the rise. Mayor Richard Daley proposed an ordinance to regulate the growing number of urban farms to be considered by the City Council. While proponents of the ordinance claim it will help facilitate urban agriculture, some urban farmers are concerned that it will impair their agricultural activities within the city.

The Department of Zoning and Land Use Planning created the ordinance, which includes requirements for fencing, landscaping, size of plots, and processing, which would apply to commercial plots as well as nonprofit farms and community gardens. Many current projects within Chicago exceed these limitations and would potentially be shut down if the new rules were put into place. There is also the possibility that preexisting gardens could be grandfathered in even if they violate the provisions.

To read the proposed ordinance, click here.

Posted: 1/14/11

Farmland Mitigation Program to be Reviewed by California Supreme Court

The Stanislaus County farmland mitigation program is being appealed again, this time before the California Supreme Court. The Building Industry Association of Central California has asked the state's highest court to review the issue after a three-judge panel upheld the farmland mitigation rule in November.

In upholding the mitigation policy, the justices relied on the impact that sprawl could have in depriving the county of farmland, supporting the rule that acreage for new subdivisions must be replicated by the same amount of preserved farmland. That decision overturned a local judge's ruling from 2009 that the rule was unconstitutional. While these cases are being decided, the rule has not been applied due to housing downturn.

To read the original post about the farmland mitigation program, click here. To read the post about the subsequent appeal, click here.

Posted: 1/12/11

New York City Council Examines How "FoodWorks"

The New York City Council released a report Monday titled "FoodWorks New York," a study that sets forth food-related goals. The 86-page report was sponsored by Council speaker Christine C. Quinn.

Quinn advocates for five major goals that are included in FoodWorks. She maintains that the ideas in the report will improve the city's food infrastructure, create new and better jobs in the food industry, keep more local food dollars in the local economy, reduce diet related diseases, and reduce environmental damage from the production and transport of food.

While some of the goals and ideas in the report fall under the ability of the city council, some of its suggestions are outside the council's authority. The report criticizes the policy of requiring the fingerprinting of food stamp recipients and also argues that federal farm subsidies are too heavily geared towards commodity crops and should be designed for the benefit of produce farms. Both fingerprinting and subsidies are outside the purview of the council's direct authority.

To see the New York City Council press release, click here.

To watch Speaker Quinn discuss FoodWorks, click here.

Posted: 11/30/10

Farmland Mitigation Program Upheld

The Farmland Mitigation Program in Stanislaus County, CA, was upheld by the appeals court. The decision filed on Monday reversed the judgment from the Superior Court of Stanislaus County on the basis that "the FMP bears a reasonable relationship to the burden caused by residential development."

To read the initial post about the Stanislaus County Program, click here.

To read the decision from the appeals court, click here.

Posted: 11/30/10

Farmland Mitigation Program Under Review

A county policy in Stanislaus County, CA requires housing developers to preserve farmland within the county equal to the amount of land they develop. The policy was declared unconstitutional last year, but three justices on the appellate court in Fresno, CA heard the county's appeal today.

Supporters of the policy contend that it aids in preventing sprawl and that farmland should be preserved because it is the county's primary resource. Opponents argue that the policy's applicability to only subdivisions is unfair because it omits other development such as commercial and industrial.

To read the Farmland Mitigation Program Guidelines, click here.

Posted: 11/17/10

Urban Agriculture Issues Playing Out in Detroit

One might not picture the Motor City as a hotbed for issues dealing with the potential future of agriculture as it relates to urban environments and economies. However, thanks to the commitment of businessman John Hantz and others, Detroit has become the latest playing field for the debate on the future of urban agriculture.

Hantz views urban farming as a potential answer to Detroit's economic woes, but some nonprofit organizations believe Hantz's motivation for establishing urban farms within the city is less altruistic and more about personal profit. For his part Hantz would like to see the city take a Homestead Act approach for its vacant lands and make it easier for motivated individuals to come in and buy the land, rather than lease it, at a reasonable rate.

Some nonprofit organizations have concerns that this could lead to a land grab by wealthy individuals and businesses, so they would like to see urban agriculture lands be used with bringing communities in Detroit together as the main motivator. In Hantz's opinion that won't work because, he believes, the majority of the city does not have a community. Thus the city finds itself at a crossroads on the issues.

As John Gallagher reports in the Detroit Free Press, Hantz isn't shy about personal profit being a motivating factor for developing urban agriculture. Speaking "at a forum about urban farming at the University of Michigan-Dearborn," Hantz advocated that personal profit can be a motivator for thinking about different ways to revive Detroit's economy and getting individuals to invest in the city. For his views Hantz was met with catcalls and hissing from some in the audience, and support from others, Gallagher reports.

As this blog has previously reported, Hantz has a vision that returning to Detroit's history of farming could help the city rebound from its economic struggles. And, in fact, Detroit did start as an agricultural community. "The vision Hantz sees is a city flourishing with green life/crop production next to homes and buildings, essentially integrating agriculture into the city’s everyday life and bustle."

What makes Hantz different from others wanting to see urban agriculture grow is that he doesn't just want small plots in abandoned lots throughout the city, but he is also planning a large-scale commercial urban farm, reports Jonathan Oosting for MLive online. If the state gives its approval, Hantz will break ground on a 40-acre farm on the Michigan State Fairgrounds. However, Hantz does not believe the city is doing enough to make his vision a reality, despite Mayor Dave Bing's support for urban farming in concept, and as a way to put the city's vacant land to good use.

Al Fields, group executive of planning for Detroit, says the city is trying to integrate urban agriculture into a citywide plan that would also likely deal with zoning and tax issues for city land used for urban farming. According to Crain's Detroit Business online, the city currently has 30,000 vacant acres that amount to about 200,000 "parcels."

Will this be enough room for both nonprofit and for-profit urban agriculture advocates to achieve their goals and provide for a new economic sector to help revitalize Detroit? We shall see.

To read a previous Agricultural & Food Law and Policy Blog Post on urban agriculture in Detroit, click here.
To read the Detroit Free Press article, click here.
To read the MLive article, click here.
To read the Crain's Detroit Business article, click here.

Posted: 04/08/10

Urban farming bill moving in Missouri

On March 22, 2010, the Missouri House of Representative's Committee on Agriculture Policy unanimously passed a bill that would create a task force "to study urban agriculture and vertical farming in Missouri's metropolitan areas," reports Kristin Babcock in the Wednesday Sun online.

Babcock writes that the bill was marked as a "consent bill," meaning the legislation is non-controversial in nature. Indeed, during a March 18, 2010 hearing on the bill, which was introduced by Kansas City State Representative Jason Holsman, several witnesses testified in favor of the bill while no witnesses testified against the legislation. Being a consent bill means the legislation will likely be passed out of the Missouri House without "substantial change."

One of those testifying in favor of the bill was Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser. Babcock writes that Funkhouser testified that in many urban areas of Missouri it easier for citizens to get unhealthy food than healthy alternatives. Enhancements in urban agriculture could affect this reality.

The bill must now be passed by both the House and the Senate to make its way through the General Assembly to the governor's desk.

To read the Babcock article, click here.

Posted: 04/05/10

Recent Legal Developments

Some recent legal developments have caught the attention of this blog.  The Oregon Supreme Court recently answered a certified question from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the Klamath Irrigation District litigation.  In this litigation, users of a federal reclamation project sued for breach of contract and uncompensated takings claims when the Bureau of Reclamation temporarily reduced their irrigation water.  The certified questions answered by the Oregon Supreme Court pertained to issues of the users and the irrigation district being able to acquire an equitable property interest in a water right acquired by the United States.  The court only decided that the users and district were not were not precluded under Oregon law from acquiring an equitable property right in the water.  Click here to view the court's opinion in this case.  Click here to view an article by Jeff Bernard of the AP and in the San Jose Mercury News.

The other decision in Texas, plaintiffs claimed that rain caused manure from the defendant's dairy to wash onto their property.  The plaintiffs sued in trespass and nuisance and the dairy pleaded Texas's right-to-farm law as a defense.  The court of appeals found that trespass was included in the right-to-farm's defense for nuisance actions.  Click here, to view the decision of the Court of Appeals for the 8th District of Texas.

Posted: 03/30/10

Update: Farmer recovers legal fees

This blog has said it, the New York Times has said it, and now the New York State government really knows it . . . you just don’t mess with Salim “Sandy” Lewis and his farm.

According to Danny Hakim’s article for the New York Times online, yesterday a state judge ruled that the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) will have to pay the legal fees and expenses of Mr. Lewis, a former Wall Street executive who currently operates the one of the largest organic farms in New York State.

Mr. Lewis claims the case against him cost over $200,000 in legal fees and expenses to defend his right to build farm worker houses on his property, which is located in the Adirondack Park. Mr. Lewis built the houses without obtaining a permit from the APA, which he argued, successfully, that he didn’t need. Mr. Lewis did have a permit from the town of Essex to build the houses.

In July a state appellate court affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of the Lewis farm, essentially rejecting the argument that the APA had jurisdiction over the housing. The ruling was 5-0. As Hakim report’s, acting state Supreme Court Justice Richard B. Meyer set the hearing date on the legal fees for February 26, 2010.

To read the Hakim article click here.
To read an August National Agricultural & Food Law and Policy Blog Post on the case click here.
To read a July post on the case by this blog click here.

Posted: 02/04/10

Can Agriculture Help Detroit Rebound?

When one thinks of Detroit, many images of the motor city may be conjured up, but agricultural production is probably not one of them. This may be about to change, as the vacant land areas in this Rust Belt city may be converted into an urban agricultural developments.

As P.J Huffstutter reports for the Los Angeles Times, nature is already starting to take back some of the city’s abandoned areas as wild grasses and cottonwood trees are springing up in areas where automobiles used to be made. As Huffstutter reports, to a group of investors, this is a sign of what Detroit’s future should be—the city it was before Henry Ford showed up—a farm friendly city.

Michael Score is president of the Hantz Farms. Hantz Farms is currently purchasing abandoned sections “of the city’s 139-square-mile landscape and plans to transform them into a large-scale commercial farm enterprise.” As Score states in the LA Times article, ‘“Farming is how Detroit started . . . and farming is how Detroit can be saved.”

With the ongoing recession and the popularity of local farmers markets, many urbanites have started to grow their own vegetables as part of the increasing popular urban agricultural movement. Green space development in cities is also a way to help encourage residents to purchase more locally produced foods, thus directly affecting their local economy by their purchasing decisions. All of this would be good for a city that does not have a major supermarket chain for people to shop.

Huffstutter reports that currently in Detroit there are hundreds of community and backyard gardens, and some of these are providing food to schools and needy families. Hantz Farms, though, is thinking bigger than the community garden down the road.

“Although company officials declined to pinpoint how many acres they might use, they have been quoted as saying that they plan to farm up to 5,000 acres within the Motor City's limits in the coming years, raising organic lettuces, trees for biofuel and a variety of other things.”

The project started two years ago by John Hantz, who is a Michigander and a financier. Hantz is clearly serious about this effort as he invested “an initial $30 million of his own money toward purchasing equipment and land.”

Though Hantz Farms is thinking big, they will have to start small with initial crops growing on 30 acres. Naturally, it was difficult to purchase large parcels of land, so these smaller parcels will grow different crops depending on the conditions of the land, and the parcels are being called ‘“pods.”’

The vision Hantz sees is a city flourishing with green life/crop production next to homes and buildings, essentially integrating agriculture into the city’s everyday life and bustle. Right now Hantz Farms is determining what they can grow where depending on what the environmental conditions will allow as far as crop production.

Huffstutter writes that this idea is not too far-fetched as the city started as an agriculture community in the 1700s. In fact, the whole of southeastern Michigan was an apple and peach orchard and grapevine covered landscape until the industrial revolution of the 20th century came roaring in and changed the landscaped of Detroit and lower Michigan dramatically. Today there are fewer than 21,000 acres being farmed.

Now, with the automotive industry struggles and high unemployment in the current recession, Detroit is looking to its past to see how to model its future. Clearly some investors think agriculture can play a critical role in the city’s recovery.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing believes half of the cities workers are either unemployed or underemployed. “These officials support the effort to redevelop the estimated one-third of Detroit’s 376,000 parcels that are either vacant or abandoned.” That’s a lot of land that could be converted in to the type of agricultural pods Hantz Farms envisions.

To read the LA Times story click here.

Posted: 12/28/09

Drake Forum on America’s New Farmers set for first week in March

Readers of this blog interested in the future of farming or working with beginning farmers on issues from policy innovations to policy opportunities should consider attending the “The Drake Forum on America’s New Farmers: Policy Innovations and Opportunities.”

The forum is described as a “two day national policy conference” to identify various policy innovations and opportunities from the national to the local level that can help support new or beginning farmers. The conference will be held in Washington, DC on March 4 and March 5, 2010.

The forum will feature panels and keynote speakers on relevant topics affecting the next generation of farmers. The topics range from dealing with land purchasing, finance and credit, leases, education, training, urban agriculture, sustainability, and rural vitalization, as well as other topics.

Drake University Agricultural Law Center is organizing the forum and is receiving financial support from USDA Risk Management Agency; Farm Credit Council; the National Center for Agricultural Law Research; Walton School of Business Center for Applied Sustainability, University of Arkansas; Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University, and the Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust. The conference is also being held in cooperation of several organizations and coalitions.

To view the announcement of the forum click here.
To see a preliminary agenda of the forum click here.

To register for the forum click here.

Posted: 12/28/09

Livestock Ban Creates Controversy

The Enid, Oklahoma city commissioner meeting got interesting last night when issues turned to a discussion of a controversial livestock ordinance. As Robert Barron reports for OkNews online, the city commission amended the existing livestock ordinance to establish conditions for keeping animals within the city limits as well as implementing a permit requirement for those who keep animals in the city. Those who live in areas zoned for agriculture, or those who have three or more acres, are exempt from the ordinance.

The ordinance also removed the grandfather clause, “which means livestock in areas that do not meet the new requirements must be removed. People who do choose to keep livestock on their property must have at least one acre of land and must get a permit. Failure to obtain a permit could result in a $500 fine.

During the discussion City Attorney Adrea Chism showed slides of violations, including one that showed a group of chickens running in the streets of a neighborhood. Former City Attorney Carl Lahman, who was fired by the Enid City Commission at the beginning of the year, raised concerns that the commission’s proposal was in violation of state law.

Urban livestock seems to overtaking the country as more people are practicing urban agriculture by growing vegetable gardens and perhaps raising a few chickens as a source for eggs. But if you want to keep animals in Enid, you better get a permit.

To read Barron’s report click here.

Posted: 11/12/09

Chickens Have Issues

The growing trend of backyard chicken coops has caused a stir across the country. Some cities have implemented bans or regulations for "urban chickens," and in other cities, residents are petitioning local government to allow them.

The benefits of backyard chickens have been covered extensively in the news - fresh, local eggs; fertilizer for gardens; bug-free lawns - but there is another side to the urban chicken story.

As Kim Severson with the New York Times reported, "Chickens...have issues."

These issues range from strange diseases, like pasty butt and fowl plague, to pests and rodents appearing in the backyard as well. Unwanted urban chickens are even showing up at local animal shelters.

To read more from the New York Times article, click here.

Posted: 10/26/09

Rooftop Farming Could be Latest Trend in Urban Agriculture

One of the biggest challenges facing agricultural expansion, particularly in urban agriculture, is the shortage of available crop space. Yet, in cities across America there are thousands of square feet of available planting space. The space is the flat roofs that top many metropolitan buildings. This notion is not new, and across the country it seems to be taking root in the urban agriculture movement.

Robin Shulman of the Washington Post reports that Ben Flanner has planted a 6,000 square foot farm on a rooftop in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York. Mr. Flanner has a diversity of crops—mainly vegetables and herbs and fruits. The farm sits three stories off the ground and gets direct sunlight, which is a rarity in densely-packed New York City. As Shulman points out, in American cities it makes more economic sense for investors to buy the expensive land for building construction rather than farms. But planting on rooftops provides would be farmers with both space and access to direct sunlight and could become profitable operations.

Green roofs are already in existence, and their value is well-documented. They capture rainwater and lower electricity use by keeping building warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Now, it appears that rooftop farming is ready to become the latest trend in urban agriculture. Flanner did get outside help in paying for his project which required 200,000 pounds of soil to be put on the roof at a cost of $60,000. “Flanner harvests in the mornings, barters vegetables for lunch at local eateries, and in the afternoons bikes dozens of pounds of produce to restaurants that have commissioned them.”

There are a few commercial-scale rooftop farms that have started up and developed a basic formula for making the operations profitable. As Shulman writes, this formula “involves the distance vegetables must travel from farm to table, their consequent price and quality, and a city's food culture and population density.” The formula seems to be working in New York where “hundreds of other rooftop gardens are in the works, some even large-scale.”

In Queens, Gotham Greens plans to build a 10,000 square-foot greenhouse on a roof that could potentially yield 30 tons of greens and herbs to sell. An affordable-housing developer is in the process of “designing a 10,000-square-foot rooftop greenhouse for an eight-story building to be run by a local food co-op” in South Bronx. And the list continues as projects are being developed across the city.

Of course, there are obstacles, the biggest one being costs. As Shulman reports, “[a] structural engineer must assess the roof's ability to bear weight. A base layer of heavy-duty plastic may be laid on the roof, and it may be retrofitted for drainage or even outfitted with a greenhouse [.]”
Other challenges include water access for plants under direct sunlight, dealing with winds, and simply getting materials to the roof. However, there are benefits, such as the sun access and the lack of pests.

Other cities are taking steps to embrace the urban agriculture movement. “In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom has required all departments to audit their land, seeking places suitable for urban agriculture. Chicago, where the mayor's office has a green roof, also has the country's first organic-certified rooftop farm, 2,500 square feet over a restaurant. Toronto just passed a law requiring green roofs on new buildings above a certain size, and many could include food.”

Large-scale rooftop farms could help drive down the price of fruits and vegetables by offering competition to the products raised elsewhere and shipped in. If the cost-benefits analyses of the initial operations are positive, then people may be seeing more farms when they fly into American cities.

To read Shulman’s article click here.

Posted: 09/15/09

Community Garden Thefts in St. Louis

Community gardens stories are usually of the “feel good” variety. They tell the story of neighbors coming together to raise healthy fruits and vegetables, learn about the land, and save on some grocery costs. They tell stories of communities coming together to raise food for local food banks and charities. Unfortunately, in St. Louis today, the story is one of crime, and the victims are often those with the least.

According to a report filed by the Associated Press, St. Louis has “180 community gardens with up to 120 growing vegetables. Many of the gardens provide extra vegetables to homeless shelters and community organizations, meaning the thieves are taking from some of the most needy, gardeners said.”

Previously, community gardens could expect a few fruits and vegetables to go missing from time to time, but this year is different. This year, entire gardens are being raided. This has caused the Fox Park community garden to put the garden behind a locked gate. Gardeners contend the number of thefts has increased a great deal over the past two years, and this year in particular. Many believe the economic struggles individuals are facing are a motivating factor behind the thefts.

City Seeds Urban Farm has found a way to protect their garden from theft—have homeless people work the garden. Additionally, signs were installed that explains the mission of the garden. Since the signs were put in the garden has not reported any more thefts.

Community gardens are unique in the way they provide fresh fruits and vegetables to the local community and the way they educated people about the land. Perhaps it will be employing other unique methods to help combat the current thefts?

To read the AP story click here and then scroll down.

Posted: 09/08/09

Michigan Grocery Store Tax Incentive

Public Act 231 is designed to use tax incentives to encourage and improve access to fresh foods and grocery store development. According to information released on September 3, 2009 by the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the department of Treasury, PA 231 could generate $852 million in sales and create 3,020 jobs in a state with high unemployment.

According to the news release issued by the MDA, the program would allow “certain” retail food stores that “expand, improve, or open in underserved areas” to request those improvements not be taxed for up to ten years. Undeserved areas can be rural or urban. The law requires the MDA to identify such areas “using three criteria for Census Tracts in the definition: (1) low and moderate income, (2) below average density of grocery stores and (3) travel limitations to grocery stores.” According to State Treasurer Robert J. Kleine, ‘“The program serves the dual purpose of creating jobs and broadening access to healthy food items families need.”’

MDA Director Don Koivisto stated in the news release that ‘"MDA is excited to be helping provide Michigan's underserved citizens with increased accessibility to healthy fresh food choices . . . Not only is this an economic development tool, it also offers the means to provide fresh food options for those whose previous grocery experiences were limited to convenience stores."’ According to an MDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) analysis, 54 percent of the Michigan census tracts meet the “undeserved areas” definition in the statute.

Michigan Food Policy Council executive director Kristen Simmons stated, ‘"Grocery store development in underserved areas has the potential to create a positive ripple effect in Michigan, including jobs and community economic development, while combating one potential factor in the diet-related disease rates we see today[.]"’ PA 231 was supported by the grocery industry, food and health experts, and local economic development organizations.

To read the MDA news release click here.

Posted: 09/04/09