What is Urban Agriculture?
Urban agriculture is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around urban areas. Urban agriculture can also work with animal husbandry, aquaculture, agroforestry, urban beekeeping, and horticulture. Urban agriculture depends on a network of people who bring resources to the farm, and who benefit from resources produced by the farm. It is more than just an industry, though. It is a community of people who work together to make a better future for everyone involved. Watch the video lectures below to learn from the urban farmers themselves!
What are the benefits?
Urban agriculture gives out a broad range of benefits for communities and cities. Here are a few of the many benefits to urban agriculture:
- Reduces carbon footprint
- Stimulates a local economy
- Engages young people into the field of agriculture
- Teaches appreciation for food
- Builds community
How does Urban Agriculture fit into Landscape Architecture?
Landscape Architects analyze soils, plants, hydrology, and basic growing conditions for plants in urban areas. They understand zoning regulations, permitting procedures, and municipal requirements that govern the use of land. They master plan and design infrastructure improvements on site including field orientation, irrigation, composting facilities, pedestrian and vehicular circulation. Perhaps most importantly, they design places into the farm for people to gather and celebrate events that bring life and community to the farm and its neighborhood.
Urban Agriculture Resources
Are you looking for videos, podcasts, movies, articles, and books to enhance your knowledge on urban agriculture? We have a page that showcases all of the recommended medias! This page will be updated regularly throughout the semester with more titles.
Guest Lecturers
The Urban Agriculture lectures below were given by local growers who were invited to speak at the University of Maryland Landscape Architecture Program. They represent years of experience in the field and provide a wealth of information for students and professionals. We provide them here for anyone interested in learning more about the practice of urban agriculture. Enjoy!
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Video: Closing the Loop: Urban Agriculture + Urban Green Infrastructure
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(55 Min) By Anahi Espindola Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology email: anahiesp@umd.edu |
Anahi Espindola gives an overview on how pollination interactions work. The presentation teaches about plants and pollinators for the audience to become better environmental managers. She goes over studies of bee abundance changes as well as specific pollinators in Maryland. There are many reasons talked about why we should care about pollinators in the lecture. There is a quick crash course on pollination, animal pollination and an explanation of how we can help them survive. |
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Video: Love and Carrots(45 Min) By Meredith Sheperd Founder of Love and Carrots email: meredith@loveandcarrots.com |
Meridith Sheperd, founder of Lover & Carrots, talks about designing small urban farms, what plants are best to use, how to strategically plan for growing your crops, and how to troubleshoot difficult growing conditions. |
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(49 Min) By Christina Flores Owner of Flowers x Flores email: flowersxflores@gmail.com |
Christina Flores speaks about flower farming and wellness. She shares wisdom gained from years of growing flowers and says that each plant teaches a lesson. Her talk covers the importance of healthy soils, irrigation strategies, organic practices, growing from seeds, and many other topics. |
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(38 Min) By Doug Adams Owner of New Brooklyn Farms email: mtrainierurbanfarm@gmail.com |
Doug Adams tells the story about how New Brooklyn Farms was developed. He brings up challenges and barriers that faced him during the development process such as zoning laws. The lecture emphasizes the importance of partnership, collaboration and finding additional revenue streams. |
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(44 Min) By Kayla Agonoy Deputy Director of Eco City Farms email: kayla@ecocityfarms.org |
Kayla Agonoy gives a virtual tour of some farms developed by Eco City Farms. Some of the features include hoop houses, shipping container classrooms, She goes into the pros and cons of indoor growing and ways to extend the growing season. |
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Video: Urban Agriculture for Prince Georgians (39 Min) By Kim Rush Lynch Lynch - Urban Agriculture Conservation Planner at Jones - Owner of Elements of Nature email: karlynch@co.pg.md.us |
Kim Rush Lynch talks about the importance of Urban Agriculture. The lecture includes key challenges that urban farms face as well as conservation practices used in urban agriculture. Lynch also highlights many of the Urban Farms in Prince George's County. The lecture features one of the owners of a Prince George's County Urban Farm, Linda Jones, who talks about her farm, Elements of Nature. |
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PDF: Urban Agriculture in Baltimore, MD (40 slides) By Neith Little Extension Educator - Urban Agriculture at University of Maryland Extension email: nglittle@umd.edu |
