The real value of urban farming. (Hint: It’s not always the food.)

May 16, 2016 – Vox Energy & Environment During World War II, millions of Americans planted “victory gardens” in their backyards, eventually supplying a hungry nation with 40 percent of its homegrown fruits and vegetables. Once the war was over, those urban farms withered away, supplanted by increasingly efficient large-scale rural agriculture. Now urban farming is staging a curious comeback. In recent years, US cities like Detroit,Washington, DC, and San Francisco have set up programs encouraging people to grow crops in vacant lots or on rooftops. Michelle Obama has promoted the resurgence of community gardens. Advocates sometimes tout urban farming as the solution for “food deserts” in poor neighborhoods.  More