Special Topics: Urban Agriculture in NYC

Urban agriculture (UA) takes many forms: for-profit and non-profit urban farms, hydroponic and aquaponic production, indoor/vertical farming, and community gardens. It can broadly be defined as growing food in cities, but from a more critical lens it can also be considered a holistic policy strategy to improve a city’s livability through its layered benefits. On the surface, urban agriculture in its many forms serves to produce food, address food insecurity, educate communities, provide job opportunities, and secure green spaces for the health of current and future urban residents.  But at a closer glance, UA can also play a role in the larger food, economic and public health system of cities by strengthening the local foodshed, bridging the gap between the urban and rural divide, revitalizing upstate cities, acting as a third space for civic engagement, and serving as an educational hub and incubator for climate resilience and ecological farming.  This course explores the reframing of urban agriculture as a low-margin, low-output industry into a high value proposition using an expanded vision of sustainability accounting that factors the economic value of ecosystem services, such as urban heat island mitigation, carbon sequestration, pollinator habitat, and green infrastructure.