FEEDER: From Highway Feeder Ramp to Feeding Chicago

Amidst growing concerns for diminishing levels of arable land in Chicago, Studio Gang, an innovative team of architects have come up with a model they hope will change residents access to nutritious local foods.  While trendy locavore lifestyles take root and concerns about increasing access to locally grown produce increase, there remains the fact that most large cities still rely heavily on their hinterlands for nutritional support – meaning that feeding dense cities often requires transporting food from farms many miles away.  Studio Gangs project, debuted in 2005 at the Visionary Architecture Chicago Exhibit, would transform the downtown Ohio highway feeder ramp into a farm to feed local populations.  Called FEEDER, the project is designed to cover the currently underutilized and empty highway space with large urban gardens and greenhouses.  The spaces would be open for public use allowing residents to grow their own produce, or enjoy the open green space.

The architects at studio gang highlight the fact that the project “offers a useful and productive gateway architecture that reinvigorates Chicago as an urban habitat” and “magnifies and exposes the important aspect of food production as a necessity for urban living." 

In Chicago, and many other large cities, a lack of arable land within the city’s urban boundary, combined with the growth of the urban and surrounding suburban areas, means that food must be transported over further over longer distances in order to reach residents.  Using traditional farming methods it takes an average of 12.5 acres of land to meet the nutritional needs of one person for a year.  In contrast, producing in greenhouses and hothouses can sustain and feed 36 times the amount of people on the same amount of land.  If fully optimized, Feeder’s pyramid like greenhouses could potentially produce enough food to increase local food security and supply local markets and restaurants in the area.  Because of its central location the distance from food to fork would be minimized, along with the carbon footprint of the foods; buyers would travel a much shorter distance, perhaps by foot, to harvest their fruits and vegetables.

The farm would further serve, not only to filter pollution from the highway air, but also as an educational tool for the general public and students, fostering a renewed understanding of the food system and a stronger connection to the production of food.

This project was originally published/ exhibited at Visionary Chicago Architecture, 2005. Read more about the project here.

To listen to Studio Gangs founder, Jeanne Gang, talk about her work, click here.

Master's Dissertation: Growing Cohesive Communities

This research looked in to the potential for urban farms to aid in strengthening communities.  As many urban gardens and farms currently contribute only minimally to local food security, this research hoped to highlight another way in which institutes of urban agriculture contribute to the sustainability of local areas.  Currently, many urban green spaces in large cities face increasing pressure from various development interests.  This research hopes to illustrate one of many reasons that these spaces should be not only preserved by, but also receive increasing support from local governments.  While this research was carried out in London, many of the characteristics of the study, population, and city make it applicable to other large cities, especially New York.

In recent years the UK government policy has become increasingly concerned with discovering innovative ways to build local community cohesion, with a focus on promoting civic interaction that builds trust, understanding and a sense of place.  This paper brings together the concepts of ‘micro-publics’ (Amin, 2002) and ‘open public arenas’ (Healey, 1996) to suggest types of institutions that can serve this purpose and proposes that urban farms are one such institution.  To date, while other social benefits are acknowledged, the majority of research on urban agriculture (UA) has focused on food production and environmental concerns.  Furthermore, there remains a dearth of research looking specifically at urban farms, to which this paper hopes to contribute. This research uses the case study of Hackney City Farm in Hackney, one of the most diverse boroughs in London, to show how urban farming has the potential to bring diverse groups together and allow cohesion to be formed. Furthermore it shows that, despite concern that building stronger communities can cause exclusion, the cohesion built on urban farms has the potential to be inclusive of the broader community. It closes with recommendations for the increased support of urban farms by local authorities, but allows that further research is needed to increase the robustness of data in this field.

Urban Farms: Fertile Ground for the Growth of  Community Cohesion?

Learning to Farm in 'the' City

Exciting news from NYC, Just Food and Partners have launched Farm School NYC: The New York School of Urban Agriculture.  Read the press release below: 

Just Food and an alliance of local horticultural and food justice organizations are pleased to announce the official launch of Farm School NYC: The New York City School of Urban Agriculture.  The school will offer a unique, community-based certificate program with enrollment beginning in January 2011.  The mission of the school is to provide comprehensive professional training in urban agriculture, while spurring positive local action on issues of food access and social, economic and racial justice.

Community gardens and urban farms throughout the city will serve as outdoor classrooms, and their neighborhoods and gardeners as inspiration for a vibrant, fair local food system that nourishes bodies and minds.  Training programs will be accessible to adults of all educational backgrounds and income levels.  In particular, Farm School NYC targets New York City residents unable to access traditional agricultural education and for whom skills in urban food production can contribute to reduced hunger and diet-related diseases that disproportionately affect low-income city residents.

“For the first time, New Yorkers and city dwellers from all over will have access to agricultural training that directly relates to the unique setting of urban agriculture,” says Karen Washington, a nationally-recognized urban farming pioneer from the Bronx, and a member of the school’s Executive Board. “We grow it so we know it, and we’ve shown that city farming can make a huge difference in the health and nutrition of low-income urban communities.”

Farm School NYC will offer instruction in sustainable agriculture, entrepreneurship and food systems management.  “Our goal for the school is to build and share knowledge within our communities and improve local access to healthy food throughout the city,” said Jacquie Berger, Executive Director of Just Food. “By bringing urban farming skills to a much broader population, Farm School NYC will magnify the impact of urban agriculture on community health in New York City and beyond.”

The school plans to focus on local applicants from NYC and students will be chosen based on life experience, demonstrated desire, life experience, and their intended actions following the program.  To keep the programs accessible to those who need it most, the school will operate on a sliding pay scale, where student fees will be assessed based on ability to pay and need.  Additionally, all students will be required to participate in a work study program, designed to increase the sustainability of the School.  Students will contribute time to administration, registration, class support, fund raising, and other school functions. The work-study program is meant to place all students on equal footing, while additionally providing experience learning and serving in the community and building skills, habits, and attitudes associated with work. 

Learn More at Farm School NYC’s website:

www.justfood.org/farmschoolnyc

For additional information contact:

Molly Culver & Eric Thomann, Interim Co-Directors

212-645-9880 ×224

farmschoolnyc@justfood.org