Hands & hearts THE STRENGTHS OF URBAN FARMING

My goal was to explore how urban agriculture is contributing to community resilience (economic, social, environmental) and food security in central and western Europe. I also explored how these projects relate to the New Zealand context and what lessons might be applied here.

I spent an entire week on high-speed trains, and visited 15 urban farms in six countries. These included a visionary rooftop farm in Antwerp’s Green Quarter, a CSA 20 minutes by bike from central Amsterdam; an edible town in northern England; a growing initiative enabled by the city of Paris (Parisculteur); and a farm in coastal Oslo where the community has built a bakery in the form of a Viking ship.

MUCH MORE THAN FOOD

The farms were diverse in terms of why and how they started, what benefits they bring their local communities and their income streams. For some, urban agriculture is primarily a means through which a