Urban Farming in Boston

vanshnookenraggen said:
So... does anyone want to do a little reading up on urban farming before they start yelling they ignorant opinions? Anyone?

Pro tip to BostonUrbex: Don't ever start a sentence off with "I haven't read into it but...". It turns anything else you have to say on that topic into white noise.

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Aaaaannnnyway. Since most people don't seem to have a realistic understanding of what urban farming is let me throw some knowledge at you.

The point of urban farming is not to grow crops/raise livestock as a means to "green" up a city or to compete with large landed farmers. The point is about getting healthy food to the least fortunate in a way that brings a community together and betters the urban environment.

Obviously the best use of urban land is for development. But a plot of land in a ghetto is far less valuable than one in the heart of downtown or a posh neighborhood. The places where urban farming is being promoted are the poorest sections of the city where it doesn't make sense to develop every plot of land.

Also the residents of these areas usually have the terrible options for healthy food (see: food deserts). Even worse is that this creates a cycle where each generation is deprived of healthy food options and are not aware of their options.

The point of urban farming takes a community with high poverty, low healthy food options, and lots of demoralizing vacant lots and tries to educate the people about healthy eating by teaching them how to grow their own food. Hands on education like this does wonders to build community by getting people active and participating in their community. To top it all off at the end of the day they go home with a new skill and good food.

Community gardens also transform a neighborhood from a bombed out dystopia into a lush and beautiful place to be. They function as parks in areas that don't have real parks. They also improve the air quality in areas that are notorious for having the highest asthma rates in a city.

So I applaud Menino for taking this step and I see this as a very progressive program that should be introduced in more place.
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Thank you. When do we upgrade the forum to something with a 'like' button?
 
Justin7 said:
Thank you. When do we upgrade the forum to something with a 'like' button?
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I've seen forum software with a "Thank User for this post" button and you see how many ppl have thanked them. That would be great as Facebook has also made me too lazy to respond with anything other than a click some times.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
I've seen forum software with a "Thank User for this post" button and you see how many ppl have thanked them. That would be great as Facebook has also made me too lazy to respond with anything other than a click some times.
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The latest vB SEO includes a Like button. Not sure who here manages the add-ons and finances.
 
bbfen said:
Is anyone talking about acres and acres of pig farms and factory farms? I thought this was essentially a zoning thing mostly to allow the chickens and temporary use of vacant lots?

Take your hands away from your pearls, please.
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Actually no one's really said sizes at all yet. Just vacant lots which can vary in size. Which is where I said farming in cities needs to be kept in check. But fun facts for you. First most inner city neighborhoods have access to produce. 2nd every McD's has a garden salad option. So if you think growing a few home grown carrots is going to change the inner-city problems. Keep to your class rooms.
 
McDonald's as a healthy food decision? Wow.... just, wow. You're missing the entire point of urban gardening/farming and nothing anyone writes here will change your mind.

Moving right along.

EDIT: grammar
 
My point is, that McDonalds, which as a whole is very unhealthy, has healthy food options and are a plenty in the inner city. So that along w/ the grocery stores, especially the corner stores, give poorer neighborhoods access to produce. Could there be more access, I guess. But there are plenty of places in Dot and Rox where one can get or make a salad.
 
GW2500 said:
My point is, that McDonalds, which as a whole is very unhealthy, has healthy food options and are a plenty in the inner city. So that along w/ the grocery stores, especially the corner stores, give poorer neighborhoods access to produce. Could there be more access, I guess. But there are plenty of places in Dot and Rox where one can get or make a salad.
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Wow. When was the last time you've been to have been to a corner store in Dot or Rox? Having a shitty head of lettuce, half rotten from its 3000 mile journey from California, which by the way has almost NO nutrients because of how we factory farm in America, is hardly a source of good food.

Also, the point is educating the public. If you have s community that doesn't know anything about healthy eating do you honestly think they are going to walk into McDonalds and think "hmm.. you know I love these fries but I think I'll try that strange looking, bland tasting salad."
 
A lot of the McD's salads are less healthy than many expect anyways. This is about having access to fresh vegetables for them to cook with, to maybe skip out on getting KFC one night.
 
I've been to plenty of Caribbean grocery stores in Malden, Everett, Somerville, that all had produce that seemed good. I'm not as well traveled in Dot. or Roxbury, but I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts there are these same types of stores are there. Seeing how there is a sizable Caribbean presence in those comunities.

Maybe these comunities would like to garden some of their own vegtables. In small amounts it probably is perfectly fine. But spare me the bleeding heart bullshit about they can't eat produce right now. They can, and those that don't, only choose not to. McD's salad is a salad, your going to have to come to grips w/, some would say their burgers are crap too and yet people elect to eat them.

And what is this study that sights healthy places to eat in poorer neighborhoods. By healthy do they mean organic, healthy, trendy, over priced, karma oozing lifestyle eateries. Or do they mean a place that dosen't clog your heart w/ fast food. If they mean non fast food, options do exist. Also lets point out that the suburbs are just as saturated w/ fast food. And suburbanites eat from the big American farm machine.

These are all nitty gritty details of pointlessness. I'm not in favor of farming in urban areas becoming really big, IMO it's just not what makes a city a city.
 
GW2500 said:
These are all nitty gritty details of pointlessness. I'm not in favor of farming in urban areas becoming really big, IMO it's just not what makes a city a city.
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That's a fair position but don't take it because it's based on totally ignorant beliefs.
 
Some facts:

http://www.baystatebanner.com/local11-2011-11-17

According to Boston Public Health Commission data, Roxbury and Dorchester have fewer grocery stores per capita than other neighborhoods in Boston. Roxbury has a grocery store for every 16,783 residents, and Dorchester has a grocery store for every 20,803 residents. These rates are nearly half that of the Fenway/Kenmore neighborhood, which houses a grocery store for every 9,941 residents. Mattapan has no full-service grocery stores within its borders.

This disparity is even more pronounced when compared to Central Square in Cambridge. Within walking distance from the Square are two Whole Foods, a Trader Joe’s, a Shaw’s, the Harvest food co-op and a few smaller grocery stores. This small neighborhood has nearly the same number of grocery stores as all of Roxbury and Dorchester combined.
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blade_bltz said:
Some facts
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Do we really need facts? Guy has been to a Caribbean grocery store and is aware that McDonald's offers a salad so we already knows everything there is to know about this issue.
 
Mattapan has no full-service grocery stores within its borders.
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This is false. There's a big Shaw's on River St in Mattapan.

Boston in general is pretty woefully under-served as far as supermarkets go. This is true even for neighborhoods in the core. The North End, for example, has zero supermarkets. Likewise for Downtown. South Boston has one supermarket within its borders (including Fort Point and the Seaport). I don't think it's a conspiracy to keep supermarkets out of poor, minority neighborhoods as those statistics seem to imply.
 
GW2500 said:
Actually no one's really said sizes at all yet. Just vacant lots which can vary in size. Which is where I said farming in cities needs to be kept in check. But fun facts for you. First most inner city neighborhoods have access to produce. 2nd every McD's has a garden salad option. So if you think growing a few home grown carrots is going to change the inner-city problems. Keep to your class rooms.
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Did you actually read any of the information available about this? It's two lots, that are still available for construction. The farms will be there until somebody wants to develop the land, then they will leave. The farms will be run by two social service agencies, using them as part of their treatment programs for recovery from abuse. The farms are not a threat to our urban environment, any more than the occasional urban wild.
 
briv said:
This is false. There's a big Shaw's on River St in Mattapan.

Boston in general is pretty woefully under-served as far as supermarkets go. This is true even for neighborhoods in the core. The North End, for example, has zero supermarkets. Likewise for Downtown. South Boston has one supermarket within its borders (including Fort Point and the Seaport). I don't think it's a conspiracy to keep supermarkets out of poor, minority neighborhoods as those statistics seem to imply.
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One of the best grocery stores in the city is in Roxbury. I agree that it's not a conspiracy so much as land in Boston is expensive, and grocery stores require lots of land. The bigger issue when it comes to access is transportation. I do have the luxury of a walkable grocery store in my neighborhood, but most do not. If you have a car, that's not much of a problem, but if you depend on the bus, buying fresh produce becomes a much harder proposition.
 
Justin7 said:
Do we really need facts? Guy has been to a Caribbean grocery store and is aware that McDonald's offers a salad so we already knows everything there is to know about this issue.
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Where is that *like* button?
 
Justin7 said:
Do we really need facts? Guy has been to a Caribbean grocery store and is aware that McDonald's offers a salad so we already knows everything there is to know about this issue.
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The main reason I'm not into urban farming is b/c it dosen't fit into what I think of urban qualities being, especially if it becomes larger scale. That's really it, I think farms left cities a while ago for good reason. But what are you saying, these grocery stores don't exist and don't offer produce to these communities. My point is they do. PC police on here want to turn this into poor people have NO access to produce and I gave two examples off the top of my head that state otherwise. I'm not against an increase of healthy foods in Dot. But maybe the best way to do that is with a store that can sell them in bulk year round.


Oh yea another fact for you, back when Chelsea was pretty ruff, there were neighborhoods growing corn on their front yards. It didn't change shit. Only when people with money saw the potential of the area did things change in some parts of Chelsea.
 
briv said:
This is false. There's a big Shaw's on River St in Mattapan.

Boston in general is pretty woefully under-served as far as supermarkets go. This is true even for neighborhoods in the core. The North End, for example, has zero supermarkets. Likewise for Downtown. South Boston has one supermarket within its borders (including Fort Point and the Seaport). I don't think it's a conspiracy to keep supermarkets out of poor, minority neighborhoods as those statistics seem to imply.
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Briv -- well said -- In Lexington (30,000 people) we have one fulll service supermarket inside the Town limits -- a large though not super sized Stop and Shop

Howevr, there is a very large Market Basket in Burlington almost on the Lexington line, likewise we have a Shaws just over the line in Waltham

again just outside Lexington there are Trader Joe's in Bulington and Arlington

I even think fairly close to the border with Belmont that there is a super market of some type

So clearly Lexington is the subject of discriminatory policies -- for some reason all the other towns surrounding Lexington have at least 2 full service supermarkets (as well as Home Depot, Lowe's, Pet R Us, etc.)

Of course on the bright side -- we do have Wilson's Farm which features a lot of fresh produce and such

No -- I think that developers and store operators chose to put full service supermarkets (also Big Box stores and lumber yards) where there are a lot of people within a reasonable radius and where there is a big piece of land for the big store and he parking -- one of the reasons that you don't find many in heavily urbansized areas
 
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Wilson's Farm easily makes up for any lack of chain supermarkets in Lexington. You also have Busa Farm on Lowell Street near the Arlington line.
 
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