According to the United Nations, "The urban population of the world has grown from 746 million in 1950 to 3.9 billion in 2014." This could mean that sixty-six percent of us are likely to live in urban environments by 2050.

As pointed out by EcoWatch, along with concerns about climate change and the distances that food travels from farm to plate, a renewed interest is being born in producing food where people live. Urban Agriculture could help take pressure off rural land while providing advantages: growing and distributing local food in or near cities is a healthy way to help the environment.

A study from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future found that Urban Agriculture can have impressive climate benefits, including: reduced emissions from transporting food; carbon sequestration by vegetation and crops; possible reduced energy, resource inputs and waste outputs; and enhanced public interest in protecting green spaces. In other words, Urban Agriculture is considered to have a positive impact, but support from all levels of government is required to make it viable.

Cities shouldn't be wastelands of steel, roads and pavement: bringing food production into today's expanding urban areas makes them more livable and enriches the natural surroundings that keep us healthy.

As Canadian writer Peter Ladner says in his The Urban Food Revolution: Changing the Way We Feed Cities, "When urban agriculture flourishes, children are healthier and smarter about what they eat, fewer people are hungry, more local jobs are created, local economies are stronger, our neighborhoods are greener and safer, and our communities are more inclusive."

Foolw us on Facebook and Twitter !