Public Produce: The New Urban Agriculture

Arguing for a systematic overhaul to the modern American way of growing and processing their food, city planner Nordahl condemns ""petrophile agribusiness"" as no less than a threat to national security. To combat the growing crisis in health and consumption, Nordhal advocates a common-sense reassessment of local food practices, in which forgotten public spaces like empty lots and curbsides are reclaimed and seeded with fruits and vegetables; public gardens and parks, too, can easily blend aesthetically pleasing plant-life with functional food producers. Considering practical questions of policy and maintenance, Nordahl introduces innovative ways to feed a locality while helping ""build revenue and community pride""; he cites cases like U.C. Davis, where groundskeepers transformed the campus's problematic olive trees (a perennial, path-slicking hazard for bicycles) into a profitable olive oil label. The paradigm shifts necessary to transform a community's relationship to agriculture are, in Nordhal's explanation, simpler than most would think, beginning with easy steps like public ""food festivals"" and city measures encouraging the planting of fruit trees and vegetable gardens. Nordhal's vision of a quiet revolution is vividly outlined in this volume, which should doubtless catch on among the slow food, locavore, and community gardening movements.