Out With The New, In With The Old?

“Urban agriculture isn’t a market. It’s not a trend or an industry. Urban agriculture is a movement. It’s a movement about people. It’s about people wanting to create a more sustainable future for tomorrow.” – David Gingera

Throughout his Ted Talk, David Gingera stresses the importance of urban agriculture. Gingera’s interest in urban farming led him to his current career: creating and selling products that specifically help people grow food in cities. Six months ago, Gingera was able to connect his passionate customer base to commercial property owners, leading to the decision to put urban farms in every major city across Canada. What a success.

A Different Kind of City

Here at Green City Growers, we strongly support and can relate to Gingera’s passion towards urban agriculture. As Gingera discusses during the video, 200 years ago, farming represented a sense of community. Not only did people use their land to grow food for themselves and their family, but also for those around them. People knew where their food came from. This connection has changed as supermarkets replaced backyard gardens, but this doesn’t have to be the case.

Even as negative public opinion about pesticide and chemical-heavy farming has led to huge gains in organic agriculture production, there’s still a lot missing in our “new way” of farming. Gingera described farming today by using three simple words: disconnection, misconception and destruction. By finding lessons in our older ways of growing, by reconnecting with our roots, we can make a community-focused way of producing food. Out with centralized, chemical-intensive farming, and in with the old, traditional way of farming that was community-centered.

Building Community into the New

Urban agriculture is one of many solutions to the problems caused by the existing food system. We are growing better food in a way that is better for the environment.

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification encourages innovation in sustainable urban development in many forms. In fact, new pilot credits for urban food production potentially reward the space dedicated to growing as the connectivity to the community. The program allows development projects to earn credit for implementing edible growing space on their property.  Many committees have successfully pursued an onsite, LEED-certified garden, nurturing their communities with fresh produce and interactive growing spaces.

Eager to see how to build some more of the “old” into new construction? Download our LEED Credit guide.

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