Michaelangelica
06-04-2010, 12:20 PM
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
136 comments
Darren Bilsborough (www.enviroconvention.com.au)
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/images/Urbanfarm_lingual-x_400.jpg
Urban farming - the modern-day Hanging Gardens of Babylon - provides the means to cool our cities, help us deal with climate change and provide an alternative source of food.
As one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon evoke images of soaring terraces and lush beauty in an urban environment. Debate rages over the gardens' existence and true location; but the gardens are being adopted as a symbol of a growing global movement: urban farming.
Urban farming - the production of food within a city - is undergoing a renaissance. Some urban farming projects are attempting to literally recreate Babylon, with visions of high-rise buildings producing fresh food for tens of thousands of residents, complete with plunging green vegetation. On a more modest scale, urban farming is seeing community groups turn spare lots, balconies and even roof tops into inner-city farms. This movement lends itself to the growth of a new niche market - the urban farmers market.
The potential of urban farming has gained prominence after a series of global food scares, which highlighted the need to secure safe food sources. It is also seen as a bulwark against the encroachment of urban space into agricultural land.
But perhaps its greatest benefit is urban farming's role in cutting greenhouse emissions and the greening of cities; a vital part of evolving cost-effective strategies to combat and manage climate change. Australia has lagged in the development of urban farming, but the impact of food production on our climate means that is no longer sustainable. Urban farming is a prime example where the benefits of implementing climate change strategies outweighs the costs.
Transportation of food from producers to consumers is a major source of carbon emissions. In the US, the average distance food travels is an amazing 2,500 kilometres. Food miles - how far food has travelled from the farm gate to customers - are likely to increase with growing urbanisation pushing farms further away from city areas. Urban farming provides food literally on our doorsteps and cuts the need for energy intensive transport.
Urban farming also has an important role in combating the 'urban heat island effect' - where cities are hotter than surrounding rural areas. The result is a vicious cycle: higher temperatures create a greater need for air conditioning, which in turn increases the energy demand of buildings. By cutting the amount of heat-absorbing surfaces and providing cool shade, urban farming helps cool cities. That pays off in terms of lower demand for air conditioning, less energy use and fewer infrastructure requirements.
The Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations says urban farming brings other benefits including less food packaging and storage, the generation of jobs and incomes, and an increase in the freshness of perishable food reaching urban areas.
There have been limited urban farming activities in Australia, which have largely been restricted to community-type projects. David Mason, a promoter of urban farming in Australia and a board member of community agriculture project Hawkesbury Harvest, says we are 10 years behind North America in the development of urban farming and even further behind Europe.
In many countries, urban farming remains experimental, but it is already an important source of food supply in others: some 95 per cent of Israel's food needs are met from urban farming techniques. It has long been an accepted practice in European countries such as Holland. Urban farming has also been embraced by many developing countries where supplying fresh food is challenging.
As programs in many developed countries accelerate, Australia is in danger of being left further behind. In Tokyo, commercial urban farms are already in operation. And according to a Time Magazine report on the growth of inner-city farms in the US, there are 600 small-scale farms in New York alone.
Perhaps the urban farming concept that most captures the imagination is the http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2519568.htm
136 comments
Darren Bilsborough (www.enviroconvention.com.au)
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/images/Urbanfarm_lingual-x_400.jpg
Urban farming - the modern-day Hanging Gardens of Babylon - provides the means to cool our cities, help us deal with climate change and provide an alternative source of food.
As one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon evoke images of soaring terraces and lush beauty in an urban environment. Debate rages over the gardens' existence and true location; but the gardens are being adopted as a symbol of a growing global movement: urban farming.
Urban farming - the production of food within a city - is undergoing a renaissance. Some urban farming projects are attempting to literally recreate Babylon, with visions of high-rise buildings producing fresh food for tens of thousands of residents, complete with plunging green vegetation. On a more modest scale, urban farming is seeing community groups turn spare lots, balconies and even roof tops into inner-city farms. This movement lends itself to the growth of a new niche market - the urban farmers market.
The potential of urban farming has gained prominence after a series of global food scares, which highlighted the need to secure safe food sources. It is also seen as a bulwark against the encroachment of urban space into agricultural land.
But perhaps its greatest benefit is urban farming's role in cutting greenhouse emissions and the greening of cities; a vital part of evolving cost-effective strategies to combat and manage climate change. Australia has lagged in the development of urban farming, but the impact of food production on our climate means that is no longer sustainable. Urban farming is a prime example where the benefits of implementing climate change strategies outweighs the costs.
Transportation of food from producers to consumers is a major source of carbon emissions. In the US, the average distance food travels is an amazing 2,500 kilometres. Food miles - how far food has travelled from the farm gate to customers - are likely to increase with growing urbanisation pushing farms further away from city areas. Urban farming provides food literally on our doorsteps and cuts the need for energy intensive transport.
Urban farming also has an important role in combating the 'urban heat island effect' - where cities are hotter than surrounding rural areas. The result is a vicious cycle: higher temperatures create a greater need for air conditioning, which in turn increases the energy demand of buildings. By cutting the amount of heat-absorbing surfaces and providing cool shade, urban farming helps cool cities. That pays off in terms of lower demand for air conditioning, less energy use and fewer infrastructure requirements.
The Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations says urban farming brings other benefits including less food packaging and storage, the generation of jobs and incomes, and an increase in the freshness of perishable food reaching urban areas.
There have been limited urban farming activities in Australia, which have largely been restricted to community-type projects. David Mason, a promoter of urban farming in Australia and a board member of community agriculture project Hawkesbury Harvest, says we are 10 years behind North America in the development of urban farming and even further behind Europe.
In many countries, urban farming remains experimental, but it is already an important source of food supply in others: some 95 per cent of Israel's food needs are met from urban farming techniques. It has long been an accepted practice in European countries such as Holland. Urban farming has also been embraced by many developing countries where supplying fresh food is challenging.
As programs in many developed countries accelerate, Australia is in danger of being left further behind. In Tokyo, commercial urban farms are already in operation. And according to a Time Magazine report on the growth of inner-city farms in the US, there are 600 small-scale farms in New York alone.
Perhaps the urban farming concept that most captures the imagination is the http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2519568.htm