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TechnoratiThe Locavore's Dilemma: Finding Places to Plant
On your left! Slow Food, coming up fast. A movement once associated with European elites will be convening in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend, bringing an advertised 50,000 devotees along to celebrate the virtues of thinking globally but eating locally.
The centerpiece of the event will be a strip of little round planters billed as a "victory garden"-a nostagic evocation of The Greatest Generation's attempt to have food self-sufficiency during World War II-plopped down right in the middle of the lollipop tree arcades that delimit San Francisco City Hall's Beaux Arts promenade.
I almost remember the victory garden in our urban St. Louis neighborhood, where we had both backyards and streetcars, an increasingly rare combination of amenities. I think it was in the vacant lot at the corner, which after the war was over became an exciting unstructured play space for neighborhood kids.
My mother, now almost 93, remembers it better. They grew tomatoes and "something in the ground, maybe carrots." She says "it really didn't work very well," though it was fun.
Here's Willow Rosenthal, who runs City Slicker Farms in Oakland, expounding on the victory garden dream on the Slow Food Nation Convention's website, slowfoodnation.org:
"So what are the possibilities in San Francisco? Because of our long growing season in the Bay Area, intensive urban agriculture can provide from one to three pounds of produce per square foot per year. Each person consumes approximately 300 pounds of fruits and vegetables per year. That means a space of 10'x10' to 20'x20' (100-300 square feet of growing space, not counting paths) would be needed to grow ALL of the fruits and vegetables for each person.
"An average San Francisco backyard (25x40), if cultivated intensively could grow all of the fruits and vegetables for one person. A goal of growing 20-40 percent of the fruits and vegetables consumed in San Francisco could be achieved through a combination of backyard gardening, community gardening, school gardens and increasing urban agriculture on currently unused municipal land (if we assume each household has five members that means the backyard could grow 20 percent of the household food needs; since not all households will grow food, add to that other urban farming lands)."
Just do the numbers: sounds lovely, doesn't it? I'm ready for it myself. I don't have a backyard as such, but I do have four tomato plants growing on a flat roof.
But there's a catch, a big one. The commendable push to get you to eat food grown near home, especially in your city backyard, is likely to run smack up against another equally Greenish cause, urban infill. For at least 10 years backyards and their proprietors have been the target of scorn by some of those who want to preserve farms in, for example, Brentwood.
One of the endorsers of the upcoming Slow Show is Greenbelt Alliance, whose bread-and-butter for the last eight or 10 years has been endorsing-for a consideration, of course-the kind of development optimistically labelled Smart Growth. And the Smart-Growthers' favorite derogatory epithet is N.I.M.B.Y.: Not In My-yes-Backyard.
Greenbelt Alliance has a whole division devoted to endorsements, with an archive listing all of the building projects they've blessed since 2000. It's sobering reading, for those who follow urban issues. The now infamous Oak-to-Ninth project in Oakland, target of various lawsuits by environmentalists and preservationists, is on there, for example.
And then there's the project listed from 2001 as "Patrick Kennedy's Jubilee Courtyard Apartments" at 2700 San Pablo in Berkeley. For a brisk history of how that one got started, complete with an assortment of political fast footwork, check out Will Harper's 2001 Eastbay Express story.
His tale ends with Kennedy deriding the concerns of neighbor Howie Muir: "As far as Kennedy is concerned, the only reason Muir objects to the four-story project is that it will block his view of the Marin Headlands. 'It's classic NIMBYism,' he says."
With many twists and turns, the project was eventually approved, and Howie Muir moved up to the Sierras, disappointed in Berkeley. Kennedy's approved entitlements for 2700 San Pablo were sold to new owners and a different and even uglier building-now condos instead of affordable rentals-was eventually built.
Fast forward to 2008. Gale Garcia brought Planet readers up to date in a July letter:
"Newspaper ads for the condos began in December 2007 with a catchy new project name: 'Avenue West is just steps away from the shops and restaurants of Berkeley's exciting Left Bank!' When I attended an open house tour, only two units seemed to be complete.
"In late February 2008, mechanics' liens against the property began appearing at the Alameda County Recorder's Office, eventually totaling 49 liens filed. The amount still owed to contractors is approximately $1,036,468.
"The two completed units at 2700 San Pablo, 210 and 406, were advertised vigorously until early May, when advertising ceased. Number of condominium sales recorded: zero. Property transfer tax added to city coffers: zero.
"On June 2 a Notice of Default was filed at the Recorder's Office. The construction loan of approximately $9.5 million appears to be in arrears.
"What will become of 'Avenue West'-a featureless stucco box in financial trouble? It's difficult to imagine someone buying and completing it-there's no sign of a thriving rental market on San Pablo Avenue, and the market for new condos is dead."
In other words, the green-washed project turned brown, and then died. And another open space is gone.
The problem is that it's all too easy for all of us to march in different directions, all flying our personal green flags. Plausible-sounding plans to fill up every remaining open space in our already developed urban areas could mean that there will be nowhere left to put our victory gardens. The lovely Spiral Gardens plot on Martin Luther King, for example, is now a parking lot and will soon be a building site.
A few years ago we attended an intimate benefit brunch to raise funds for the late Karl Linn, an urban gardener who, according to his memorial website, "spent the last 44 years of his life guiding the transformation of abandoned vacant lots and drab institutional settings into vibrant community spaces." The hostess, a prominent local politician, saw no apparent irony in the fact that all the other invited guests except for us were developers (and generous campaign contributors, including the omnipresent Kennedy) who spent their lives transforming abandoned vacant lots and vibrant community spaces into drab condominium complexes.
If the "locavore" idea is to get any major traction, its proponents will have to come to terms with the prospect that city back yards, front yards and vacant lots are becoming endangered species, just like family farms. If residents on streets like Berkeley Way which parallel arterials like University have their yards shaded out by megaplexes like the Trader Joe's building, they won't be able to grow many tomatoes. Preserving the last remaining green spaces in already dense places like San Francisco and Berkeley must become part of the "eat local" agenda.
--Becky O'Malley
18 Comments so far
Show Allkatnip kid, thank you for your response and advice. I've started a compost heap but I have a question or two. I know I'm not to put meat in it but is it okay to put leftover seafood in it or shells from shrimp? Also, is there any vegetable matter I shouldn't be throwing into the pile? I realize I could Google this information but I like this method better. Thanks again.
Alternet Refugee,
You mention in your post that you are going to truck in soil because you have clay soil. I have many years of gardening experience. You may not have to truck in soil, although that is indeed a very fast and extremely effective solution to your problem. Have you taken your soil to a local Ag extension office for a soil test? They might reccommend gypsum ( a mineral available in garden centers)to break up the clay. I have clay soil, and never got the gypsum, although I probably should, as I still have a problem with clay. I still get big lumps of it. Instead, I added all the compost and decayed leaves I could make and also added peat moss when I could afford it and well decayed horse manure, which is often free for the taking from stables. I worked this into only the top 8 inches of the soil, no deep digging. I grew annual things each year so that each year the soil could be enriched and the tilth improved. After about 8 years, the soil is wonderful, although the drainage is still poor and annual vegetables and flowers are still the best bet for success. Winter freezes and poor drainage kill perennial plants,with a few exceptions. I hope this info helps.
The person who raves about grass/hemp, etc., how did you get the impression that the author of this article, or Slowfoodnation is happy "with Big Government and Big Business shoving corn/grain shit down animal's throats to plump them up along with the antibiotics that wouldn't be necessary for grass-fed ones and then topping it off with growth hormones to further fatten up them volumes sales." Seems a bit over the top to me.
"Wouldn't you think most Chinese or Indians would like to go back 2 or 3 generations and limit population for an improved situation?"
This asinine argument will eventually end up like bush's WMD's. While population levels are marginally responsible for standard of living issues, the real problem is disparity in income levels and socio-economic stratification that causes problems in ancient societies like India and China. Despite hundreds of years of Imperial domination and plunder by us (the West), those societies are gradually pulling themselves out of poverty and the economic devastation we caused.
Ofcourse, stupid Americans are only too happy to point out the sad predicament of other societies while we blithely ignore the fact that 16% of Americans survive on less than one square meal a day, while spending trillions of dollars fattening the pockets of our corporate masters.
Growing a garden is hard work, through no apparent fault of the gardener, the rewards often fails to recoup the investments in time and effort. If it is nutrients you seek, why not look into keeping a few chickens? Following the example of a fellow we know who runs a graduate school of a top rated university, and who lives in a congested urhan area, my wife and I spent the past year learning to deal with chickens. But now we can confidently hatch chicks, harvest a dozen eggs a day for our own (and dog and cat) use, and serve an occasional chicken dinner of the first order. If you are afraid of cholesterol, get ready to be shocked by the facts, at www.westonaprice.org.
As usual, this article sounds a bit too elitist given that it focuses only on the big cities such as Sanfranciso, oh and St Louis. Anyone in rural CA want to tell me if "slow food" has caught up there?
P.S.: And what about grass/pasture/hemp fed meat, eggs, and milk? No mention of that even on slowfood.com . I take it they're happy with Big Government and Big Business shoving corn/grain shit down animal's throats to plump them up along with the antibiotics that wouldn't be necessary for grass-fed ones and then topping it off with growth hormones to further fatten up them volumes sales. Obesity, cancer, heart disease, etc ... did not exist in the days grass/pasture/hemp fed animals were mainstream and far less fossil fuels were burned whereas all that corn/grain shit along with antibiotics and growth hormones were not in use. "Slow food" had better include the grass/hemp/pasture fed meats or shut the hell up and admit that they're no better than PETA !
Rawguy.
Promoting Permaculture is good.. but that requires a level of population control too.
MOther Teresa always ran around said there was enough room for everyone but she wasn't an ecologist and didn't have any understanding of how the earth worked.
We do have to work harder on population controls. If a humans only needs 1-2 acres per person..... we still need to control population numbers. Ecology is complex. You need wild untouched land for wildlife.
We seeme to be one of those species that doesn't adjust it's population very well.
Also. You have to take into account that we have a lot of OTHER needs that is basically poisoning the planet and the oceans. We have effectively ruined large areas of land.... You can't go into the city and plant food in a vacant lot unless you truck in the soil.
You can't just take over golf courses because they have a ton of pesticides and herbicides on them!... that stuff lingers.
We have royally screwed our planet.
Alaskamaid's got it so right---the devil with the golf courses! Let's go for victory gardens instead (or "community gardens", as she terms them).
rawguy, I'm curious about that 7 acres per person. Does it include Antarctica, desert areas and other parts of the world where farming is impossible?
I disagree that there is "plenty of room for all of us and a few more." We're already fighting over energy resources and it's only a matter of time before we begin fighting over fresh water and food. Animals react the same way to crowded conditions.
I already have 5 of "my" 7 acres, but unless I want to chop down every tree on the property, the only place for a garden is a plot that's about 8'x 12'. I plan to use that next spring but in order to I'll have to truck in some decent soil because it's all clay here.
OK, klever i looked up Lifeboat, the film. I also found sites that critique the "lifeboat" theory of earth that argues that the earth is a like a lifeboat and that's why we need to limit population growth. Interesting stat on one of them: there are seven acres of land per person on earth. If it only takes 1 - 2 acres to grow enough food per person, then there's plenty of room for all of us and few more. Now please take a permaculture course and go do some aid work in a the fetid country of your choice.
If we headed for "fetid conditions" it isn't because there are too many immigrants, it's because your average american thinks food come from the supermarket not from the Earth. I'd rather have as neighbors immigrants that know how to garden than your average Amerikan anyday.
Supply follows demand--If enough people demand locally grown produce then someone will find a way to expand the acrage devoted to such.
Even if they have to take over vacant lots, use roof tops, or replace grass lawns with food yielding gardens.
How about using school athletic fields for community gardens--You want physical fitness, science, math, and other curriculum enhanced-- a garden will do it!
rawguy; Was expecting contrary opinions-yours is mild-though I would prefer "writing" to "spewing".
Wouldn't you think most Chinese or Indians would like to go back 2 or 3 generations and limit population for an improved situation? If you think crowded fetid conditions are no big deal-o.k.-that's where we're headed.And regarding food specifically-overpopulation greatly increases the likelihood of famine.
I'll take a permaculture course if you'll track down the old movie "Lifeboat".
I am fully supportive of any community garden efforts, but judging with my pathetic experience in my own backyard, I would say that we would be better at getting rid of lawn and increasing habitat and leaving the local food production to the local small farmers. After all, they know what they are doing. I am puttering around and to wit, this summer my "crop" consists of 2 tomatoes and a handful of wax beans. However, my habitat restoration has been very successful. Instead of the monoculture of grass that we had when we bought this house, we now have no grass and native plants, shrubs, trees have completely taken over. I can count at least 100 bees (bumble and other kinds) in my flower gardens. So indirectly, I am helping the small farmer by increasing the habitat for birds and bees, who are essential in pollination of their crops. Some lots just have crappy soil. We are working on fixing ours by composting, but it is not there yet. But for now it works fine for various native plants, including delicious fruit bearing black and red raspberries, a mulberry tree and a hazelnut bush
Freia
Madison, WI
klever -- what a simplistic, jingoistic proposition: "ZPG and tightly controlled borders" will solve how we manage growth?! I beg to differ. It's not how much growth, but HOW: whether urban areas are productive in terms of food, provide a quality of life to citizens (rather than profits to corporations); whether rural agriculture continues to be based on factory farms, or family farms; whether people start to become participants in their ecosystems, rather than destroyers of them, etc. Klever please engage your brain, or do some research before spewing out anti-immigrant stances and zero population growth as the solutions to a sustainable future. I suggest you take a permaculture course asap.
The US is overpopulated now with nothing but serious misery in the future if things don't change soon.Without strong measures at better birth control and closed borders there will be at least 600 million people here in 50 years or less.China and India didn't act in time to keep a reasonable style of living.Must we leave our children the same kind of a crowded stinking mess?
ZPG and tightly controlled borders or there won't be enough space for food to be grown anywhere.
okay, people, it's time to Take Over the Golf Courses and Turn them into Community Gardens !
So, urban gardens versus urban infill. Urban infill is supposed to make neigborhoods denser, more walkable, more livable. Well, there needs to be town hall meetings all around the country looking at the appropriate balance between gardens and infill to suit existing realities and the community's vision for the future. And it would sure help a lot if the different communities compared notes along the way in a worldwide network. Now it's not going to make any sense to let the elites (or their agents) sit in on these meetings. You know what will happen. They will manipulate the project into yet another mechanism of wealth redistribution from people to elites. All these people "marching in different directions, flying our personal green flags" can come together and assign themselves different tasks so one presents to the meeting a model for denser urban neighborhoods and another presents a model for the suburbs, and the final formula comprehensively covers all the variety. Suburbia will generally have more gardens, obviously because there is more space. Another thing - restaurants and groceries need to sell food at a discount instead of wasting it.
Sounds like what city folks did 50 years ago. Nothing new under the sun. City folks also raised rabbits and fowl for food also. I think that type of farming in the city is getting a bad rap. its too bad - whole families were raised of rabbit on sunday dinner. Its not bad stuffed with figs or prunes with a walnut cream sauce.