Urban Farm: Naturally Grown Local Food

Authors

Stephanie Shepard, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Date of this Version

5-2010

Citation

A terminal project presented to the faculty of the College of Architecture at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Design

Major: Interior Design

Under the supervision of Professor Tom Allisma

Lincoln, Nebraska, May 2010

Comments

Copyright 2010, Stephanie Shepard. Used by permission

Abstract

There are many things to be said for the benefits of urban farming. From feeding the hungry, to providing an educational experience for a community that otherwise has no agricultural knowledge, to reducing heat island effect, the gain is almost immeasurable.

According to the United States Census Bureau, 35.9 million people live below the poverty line in America. Requests for emergency food assistance has increased by an average of 14% a year since 2004 and about 20% of those requests generally go unmet. In addition, national food banks report that 23.3 million people turned to their services in 2009, an increase of over 4 million since 2000.

Urban agricultural education is a concept that has been around for more than 50 years, however, there’s been an increasing interest because of statistics that project that over the next 20 years, the US economy will rely heavily on a workforce drawn from urban communities. Studies also suggest that inner city hands-on agricultural studies reflect “proactive behavior,” especially in terms of increasing diversity.

As if the aforementioned benefits weren’t enough, utilizing unused roof space also reduces heat island effect, an instance where an urban metropolitan area is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas. As urban areas develop, changes occur in their landscape. Buildings, roads, and other infrastructure replace open land and vegetation. Surfaces that were once permeable and moist become impermeable and dry.

Heat islands occur on the surface and in the atmosphere. On a hot, sunny summer day, the sun can heat dry, exposed urban surfaces to temperatures 50-90 degrees hotter than the air, while shaded or moist surfaces remain close to air temperatures. In contrast, atmospheric urban heat islands become more pronounced after sunset due to the slow release of heat from urban infrastructure. The average temperature of a city with 1 million people or more can be 2-6 degrees warmer than it’s surroundings, and on calm nights as much as 22 degrees warmer.

The non-profit organization Urban Farming, based in New York City, seeks to create an abundance of food for people in need and those who seek to support the local economy by planting gardens on unused land and roof space in the city and all over the world. The guiding principal of Urban Farming is to form win-win partnerships with local, national and international businesses, government agencies, non-profits, community members and faith based organizations to plant gardens on unused land in cities, on rooftops, on walls, in planters in malls and sidewalk cafes and school campuses.

Advisor: Tom Allisma