Recent US Department of Agriculture reports indicate that New York’s urban farming movement has significant room to expand and could end up making major contributions to the city’s nutrition.

Urban farming is one of the fastest growing agricultural fads sweeping the country. By transforming unused, abandoned, and dilapidated urban buildings and properties, the urban farming movement seeks to rejuvenate economically depressed urban centers, create jobs and boost city revenue, and expand access to nutritious food to lower-income residents.

Major cities across the country like Detroit, Chicago, and San Francisco have all embraced the urban faming movement by rewriting zoning regulations, providing tax breaks to local farmers, and offering grants and financial aid to struggling community gardens.

New York, however, remains the current center of the American urban farming movement. According to USDA studies, New York has the nation’s largest community garden program, one that has been remarkably successful in adding more and more locally grown food to the city’s food system.

Last year, 36 of New York’s urban farmers brought in about 14.000 pounds of produce to the city’s farmers markets.

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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer