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Though it sometimes seems like our evil frankenfood corporate overlords, such as Monsanto and Dow, have completely hi-jacked our food system, many people around the nation are actually creating more sustainable and viable alternatives. A few good folks in Asheville, NC are bringing agriculture back to the people, empowering urbanites to gain more food independence, while learning to grow healthier fresh local food for their own communities.

What is Urban Farming?

Urban farming is a movement sweeping across the country that is bringing food production into urban areas. It is an attempt to re-define where we get our foods, re-think how we use our urban landscapes, make food as local as possible, and de-centralize the power vacuum and the economies of our food supply.

Urban farming is an effort to address food deserts, food insecurity, community health, improve urban quality of life, as well as to reduce the rising costs of healthy foods. It is a participatory food production model that inspires urban communities with the knowledge on how to reap the rewards of growing food on even the smallest plot of land, an abandoned lot, roof tops, patios, or even in a parking strip.

Urban farming is a strategy for reclaiming landscapes which have traditionally been synonymous with trimmed lawns and inedible landscaping, instead using these plots to grow fruits and vegetables, raise bees and chickens, and create beautiful food filled urban habitats.

Urban farming encourages people to keep their money in their local communities, eat in season, eat as local as possible, decrease food transportation, and solve several urban pollution problems.