Urban Agriculture
PROTECT AND EXPAND URBAN AGRICULTURE.
Create zoning definitions and operating standards for both civic and commercial urban agriculture.
Read our April 2011 Statement on Urban Agriculture, and add your signature!
First Step: PROTECT AND EXPAND URBAN AGRICULTURE
Create zoning definitions and operating standards for both civic and commercial urban agriculture.
Needs & Opportunities:
Interest in urban agriculture (UA) is spreading rapidly as more Oaklanders recognize its potential contributions to a healthy, vibrant city. UA can bring many community benefits including increasing access to healthy, local food; teaching residents about health, nutrition, and ecology; offering neighborhood green space for recreation, conservation, and beautification; improving public safety by connecting neighbors, rejuvenating underutilized spaces, adding "eyes on the street"; and creating economic opportunity through green jobs.
The Parks and Recreation Department manages a Community Gardening Program at several locations across Oakland. Gardens have been established at roughly 100 of our schools, supported in part by Alameda County Cooperative Extension. Organizations such as City Slicker Farms, East Bay Asian Youth Center, Oakland Food Connection, People's Grocery, Phat Beets Produce, Planting Justice, and PUEBLO maintain gardens in Oakland.
Despite the growing interest, there are significant hurdles in acquiring access to land for UA. There is no uniform procedure in place for acquiring access to vacant or underutilized public land, and entrepreneurial UA is often hindered by existing zoning. During economic booms, UA is usually threatened by rising land values. Designation of UA zones can help support food production over the long term. The City should incorporate OFPC recommended changes into the zoning update as an important first step towards incentivizing, encouraging, and protecting UA in Oakland.
Action Suggested:
City of Oakland: Develop a coordinated City policy and programming strategy to support and expand urban agriculture (UA), including zoning, public land access, water access, promotion of sustainable growing practices, and incubation and coordination of UA activities.
Regional/State Governments: Support UA through partnerships with regional agricultural initiatives.
Community Members:Identify vacant or underutilized land and community members and organizations interested in producing food.
Public-Private Partnerships: Partner to develop UA programs on public land or through public programs.
Private Sector: Invest in UA infrastructure; develop a green/food workforce.
Fiscal Impact:
A concerted effort to expand UA on public land alone in Oakland could lead to the production of up to 5 percent of the city's daily recommended vegetable needs[i]. For home and community gardeners, this can reduce household food costs. UA could also decrease public health costs from diet-related disease and raise adjacent property values as neighborhoods are beautified. Larger scale commercial UA can create jobs and revenue.
Best Practices & Further Information:
Several North American cities have already integrated UA into food and planning policy. In Boston, Cleveland, Madison, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, urban gardens are protected via zoning code and general plan elements. Cleveland has established UA Overlay Districts and an “Urban Garden District”. Seattle is changing city code to allow UA in all residential, commercial, and industrial zones. Additional resources include Detroit's Garden Resource Collaborative; PHLP’s Establishing Land Use Protections for Community Gardens; Cultivating the Commons, an assessment of UA potential on Oakland public lands; and a soon-to-be-released Food First report entitled Cutting Through the Red Tape: A Resource Guide for Local Food Policy Practitioners & Organizers.
[i]McClintock, N. and Cooper, J. Cultivating the Commons: an assessment of the potential for urban agriculture on Oakland's public land. October 2009.
