Concerns of Urban Agriculture

By Kymisha Montgomery, CGC Urban Agriculture Coordinator

My first experience with growing my own food was at the West End Community Garden here in Cincinnati. I was a new bright-eyed gardener. I had never put a seed in the ground and watched it grow. As a nutrition expert, I had always connected fresh food and its nutritional value to processed food and its lack thereof, but I quickly realized that there were more concerns with growing food in an urban environment than I thought.

As a new gardener, I didn’t know much about the impact of urban industrialism, soil compaction and soil contamination—especially how much it played a part in growing food. These factors just weren’t relevant to me, but as I went out into the community to meet new urban gardeners, I realized that these issues cause the majority of the problems when trying to grow food in urban spaces.

Soil Compaction

As urban populations increase, the interest in urban farming practices and strategies to overcome key barriers in urban agriculture do, too. Typically, soil compaction is the first challenge you’re likely find with urban settings. It can be caused by stress applied to the soil by feet or heavy vehicles. In an urban setting, the presence of concrete, construction vehicles and other trash due to dumping are the basic causes of soil compaction. Compaction affects the soil by reducing the movement of gases into and out of it—particularly the inflow of oxygen, which roots require to function properly, and the removal of carbon dioxide.

Adding organic material to your soil can help reduce soil compaction, as can growing crops with longer roots and always keeping something growing in the soil, like using a cover crop to add nutrients into the soil in between growing seasons.

Soil Contamination

Certain chemical elements exist naturally in soil yet may be toxic at high concentrations. Manmade materials can become toxic to plants and soil organisms when they decompose. The problem is particularly serious if the soils are contaminated with heavy metals, herbicides, pesticides and industrial waste. Removing soil and replacing it with topsoil that has little biodiversity or organic matter is one of the barriers caused by industrialism in urban settings.

There are several ways to mitigate your soil of contaminates, such as physical or biological soil remediation techniques, but these can be costly. Adding a thick layer of organic material where there is little chemical contamination can improve the soil that is already there.

Land Use Regulations & Policies

In many cases, zoning codes and the need for special-use permits may be a concern to urban gardening. Zoning codes can prohibit or limit urban agriculture by banning activities such as composting, keeping chickens or growing vegetables in your front yard. Knowing your local zoning codes and being an advocate for local food can help communities revise these codes to allow urban agriculture and decrease barriers.

Land Access

Lack of access to land is often raised as a barrier to gardening. Although access to land for urban agriculture projects can be an obstacle, people have found a variety of creative ways to overcome this barrier. Accessing public land through city land auctions and community land trusts, accepting temporary access, and sharing other people’s property are a few ways to overcome this barrier.

Learn to Grow in Urban Settings with CGDT

Our Civic Gardener Development Training, CGDT, is now open for registration. Whether you’re a backyard gardener or a community gardener, no matter your level of experience, CGDT is a great first step toward growing food wherever you are. Learn more and register here!