Green the City: 4 Unexpected Benefits of Urban Farming that Directly Affect You

In just ten years, there will be 662 cities in the world with at least one million people living in each.

Unfortunately, city life may be very convenient, but it simply isn’t the healthiest way to live. By living in a city, you can expect to age more quickly than people living in the countryside!

You’re faced with air pollution, overcrowding, damp living conditions, noise, higher costs of living, and higher crime rates too. Sadly, this is a necessary evil for most living in cities.

Thankfully, a small ray of sunshine that can improve city living is Urban Farming. In this article, we’ll look at some unexpected benefits of urban farming.

Get to Know Your Neighbors

Nowadays, it’s easy to rush through life without even knowing your next-door neighbor’s name. This is a tragedy!

Through the use of urban farming, we can work with the community and get to know the locals. Furthermore, people that play a role in their community are more likely to care for the environment, keeping it safe, clean, and livable.

Eat Better for Less

When we don’t include the high transport costs or manufacturing costs of food and simply eat produce that is closer to its most natural state, we improve our diets.

Furthermore, we also reduce our impact on the planet. Did you know, for every 1 kcal we eat as food, we put 10 kcal of fossil fuel energy into our food system!

Eating homegrown produce is the best way to lower our carbon footprints and reduce the catastrophic effects of climate change.

By becoming involved in the urban farming project, you are not only improving your diet and reducing your carbon footprint, but also getting some exercise in too!

Boost the Local Economy

With urban farming projects, you can boost the economy. You’ll not only be teaching young people useful new skills but selling the fresh produce that you grow.

Kids will be able to visit and learn all about where their food comes from. You’ll be encouraging them to get involved in the project and inspiring the next generation to care about urban farming too.

Finally, this is an alternative economy that is different from the way things are run now. As a result, you may notice an increase in eco-tourism too. It feels good to be doing something different that has a positive impact on local people and the planet.

Build a Sustainable Neighborhood

We’ve seen a few ways in which urban farming can improve the sustainability of your neighborhood, but here are a few more:

• Revive local allotments
• Increase local biodiversity – trees, animals, bugs, and plants prosper.
• Further diversify local green spaces

These benefits of urban farming will be seen within a few months of taking care of the local environment. Check out these tips for more information.

Get Started With Urban Farming

Although it does cost money to set up a local urban farm, it has hundreds of benefits. Start by asking your local representative for tips on how to get this project off the ground.

They’ll be glad to hear about all of the above benefits. Furthermore, they will know how local projects can also help to rehabilitate offenders and even regenerate housing developments.

Have you found this article about urban farming interesting? Don’t forget to check out the rest of the website for similar content.