by Cheryl Saito 

November 16, 2011 - Urban farming.  What was once a contradiction in terms is now a growing symbol of innovation and efficiency in response to an impending food shortage.

With the realization last month our planet reached a record seven billion people, the highest in its 4.55 billion year history, this is both a timely and important topic as we search for modes of creating a resilient and sustainable future.  

Coupled with this population explosion (a mere one billion people were on earth at the beginning of the 19^th century), one must also grapple with the recognition that rural populations are on the decline in Canada and elsewhere around the world.  

The influx of people to urban areas means smaller populations in rural areas, and fewer and fewer individuals farming land and growing crops.  Quite simply, food comes from farming.  

With the arrival of industrialized agriculture following upon the heels of World War II, large industrialized farms began to emerge across Canada and the US.  The small family farm that produced a number of crops and animals through considerable physical labor is something most of us in the Western world have only read about.   

The USDA definition of a food hub is a 'centrally located facility with a business management structure facilitating the aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, and/or marketing of locally/regionally produced food products.' On a more holistic level, it provides people the opportunity to use land within a city and experience food and agriculture at a very personal level.  

So what does this mean for business?  

Cities pivot around their economic and social existence. To take on a leadership role and collaborate with food hubs as an active supporter, business can invest in the communities in which it operates and act as a catalyst to strengthen community assets.

Urban farming provides an opportunity for business to cultivate partnerships with small local hubs and adopt regionalism in local economic development, providing food to schools, hospitals, restaurants and retail locations. 

The growing interest in regionalized food systems has resulted in more food variety being sourced locally.  Many now want better access to fresh, healthy food and they want to support an environmentally friendly agriculture.  With these movements emerging within urban locations around the globe, stronger regional food economies means maintaining existing jobs and providing new jobs in this sector. 

According to Janine de la Salle, Director of Food Systems Planning at HB Lanarc Consultants based out of Vancouver, B.C., "with public demand for locally produced food soaring, and political and funder interest / partnership potential growing in building a sustainable green economy, there is now a significant window of opportunity for successfully developing food hubs across the country." 

She notes that there has been so much interest in establishing food hubs that funders and partners have been unable to keep up with the demand. 

Doors are being opened for entrepreneurs to start their own urban agricultural businesses and harness economic possibilities through the creation of a new eco-system. Organic farming and eco-villages are responding to a new way of living, and people young and old are beginning to take control over feeding themselves through small urban agricultural businesses.  

At the core of this topic is the fact that most city dwellers are dependent upon someone else to provide them food.  Self-sufficiency in food production is a rural skill that is rarely experienced in cities. 

Food hubs provide people with an opportunity to learn a much-needed skill that has been vastly on the decline in Western society over the past 60 years.  This food model embraces a new way of doing things and empowers people with skills and education. Websites for individual urban land-exchange programs are sprouting up too. Sharingbackyards.com was created in response to a shortage in space at city-run community gardens in Victoria, B.C. 

The different models currently being integrated into cities are dependent upon many factors.   Land availability, community and stakeholder engagement, and government policy on land use are all taken into consideration.  The 'community model' is designed to provide locally grown food to residents in need and create social equity within urban areas. 

One such model is the very successful The Stop Community Food Centre located in Toronto, ON. Its mission is to strive to increase access to healthy food in a manner that maintains dignity, builds community and challenges inequality. 

City planners are now addressing the challenges of a surging population and the obvious pressures placed upon agricultural supply and demand by integrating these hubs into long-term city planning.

And the benefits are as abundant as the produce itself. Community collaboration, new skill development, strengthened local economies, reduced energy use and gas emissions, an understanding and appreciation for food cultivation, and an opportunity to experience a sustainable way of living are just a few.

Not a bad business to be in.

Cheryl Saito is a Toronto based freelance writer