Building Opportunities for our Youth: Year of Urban Agriculture
Ok, Happy New Year or Gung Hay Fat Choy or is it Happy Fat Tuesday!??! All of them really....so, the new Mayor of Seattle, Mike McGinn and City Council Member Richard Conlin announced that 2010 is the Year of Urban Agriculture!! Yeah!
Now what? How do we hold them accountable to support the manifestation of opportunities for communities that have been negatively affected by a lack of access to healthy food, fresh food, and programs that support the development of small sustainable agricultural production?
Growing food is NOT just planting seeds and harvesting them. Growing healthy soil (dirt), worms, compost tea, flowers, bees, and even fish are realities in cities across the US. However in Seattle this system is just beginning to take shape in a way that serves more than one or two populations.
Historically Latinos, Chicanos, First Nation Peoples, and African-American (Diaspora) have not been a part of the urban food system outside of serving food or working at grocery stores. Sharecropping, slavery, and migrant farm experiences have kept many of these groups from growing food in their communities outside of a backyard or at their churches.
This has to change and learning to grow food is just the first step to creating careers in soil sciences, biology, botany, water sciences, environmental sciences, horticulture, aquaculture, permaculture, landscape architects, land management, and other critical "green" collar jobs.
The Year of Agriculture is a good start....what is the community's next step to making it a tangible, meaningful reality for our youth, teens, and young adults?
Thoughts? Comments? Ideas?
Now what? How do we hold them accountable to support the manifestation of opportunities for communities that have been negatively affected by a lack of access to healthy food, fresh food, and programs that support the development of small sustainable agricultural production?
Growing food is NOT just planting seeds and harvesting them. Growing healthy soil (dirt), worms, compost tea, flowers, bees, and even fish are realities in cities across the US. However in Seattle this system is just beginning to take shape in a way that serves more than one or two populations.
Historically Latinos, Chicanos, First Nation Peoples, and African-American (Diaspora) have not been a part of the urban food system outside of serving food or working at grocery stores. Sharecropping, slavery, and migrant farm experiences have kept many of these groups from growing food in their communities outside of a backyard or at their churches.
This has to change and learning to grow food is just the first step to creating careers in soil sciences, biology, botany, water sciences, environmental sciences, horticulture, aquaculture, permaculture, landscape architects, land management, and other critical "green" collar jobs.
The Year of Agriculture is a good start....what is the community's next step to making it a tangible, meaningful reality for our youth, teens, and young adults?
Thoughts? Comments? Ideas?
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© 2012 Created by Jon Ramer.
