SWIHA Blog

The Call to Switch Directions

Urban Farming brings consciousness to the health of our bodies and the health of the planet through the practice of local farming and environmental education. With the increasing number of pesticides in our food and water each year, Americans have begun to experience a decline in their overall health. According to The World Health Organization, excessive consumption of pesticides can contribute to adverse health effects including cancer, and immune system dysfunction. The pollution of the planet has begun to reflect the effects of mass production and unconscious farming practices. According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, commercial farming contributes to 21 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions; this number does not include other related greenhouse gas emissions such as shipping produce or driving to the store.

There is hope with Urban Farming; you do not need to live off-grid, to implement urban farming practices. It can be as simple as growing lettuce on your apartment balcony or herbs on your kitchen window sill. Urban Farming connects us back to our food, and the natural world. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Less than 100 years ago, 60% of Americans grew a percentage of their food, today that number has dropped to 2%. These statistics are concerning considering the density of populations in rural areas will continue to grow, potentially creating a supply and demand conflict, which may cause stores to value quantity over quality when it comes to produce. The goal of Urban Farming is to continue giving people access to quality produce. By taking Urban Farming you will learn how to grow quality produce for your family, as well as have the potential to expand this gift into the community.

The Health Benefits of Growing your Own Crops

Typical American farming practices focus on “monoculture” or producing the same crop repetitively within a section of soil. This can lead to nutrient depletion within the soil. This nutrient depletion will affect the vitamin and mineral content in our fruits and vegetables. This means we will have to eat, for example, 5 tomatoes to get the same lycopene as 1 tomato 20 years ago. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, 33 percent of the Earth’s soils are already degraded and over 90 percent could become degraded by 2050. Urban Farming teaches multi-cropping and soil-enriching techniques to ensure you will get the most benefits out of your food as possible. Food is medicine and provides our body’s what it needs to survive and thrive.

The following is the list of vegetables with healing properties that can be enriched by Urban Farming techniques:

• Carrots (Beta Carotene) skin health, and reducing symptoms of and preventing Alzheimer’s.
• Tomatoes (Lycopene) prevents certain types of cancer
• Spinach (Folate) healthy cell growth specifically in the brain and spine

How Urban Farming Helps the Health of our Planet

Mass production contributes to mass pollution and waste. Chemicals and Pesticides that are being used on the crops for the purpose of insect control are being run off by rainwater into our streams and water reservoirs. This is affecting the wildlife and sea life that habitats those oceans, lakes, and streams. Urban farming has much less of an “eco-footprint” on the world because its primary focus is on sustainability and ethical practices. This means reducing plastic and chemical waste.