22. The development of urban farming
Urban farming in the United States began in the 1940s, with community gardens sponsored by private groups. By the 1980s numerous cities offered garden plots in parks for residents. In some cities, gardens originally planted as Victory Gardens during the Second World War returned to use, and coalitions of restaurant owners and shops in urban markets grow the fresh produce they sell to consumers within their city’s corporate limits. Rooftop farms convert dead space into productive farms, providing fresh produce while at the same time reducing oxygen and contributing to the cooling of the city during the growing season.
Chicago, unlike the rest of America’s major cities, never outlawed the rearing of livestock for slaughter within the city limits. Other cities have followed their philosophy, allowing the slaughter of chickens in city markets, as long as the act isn’t visible to the public. Numerous cities established apiaries on urban farms, raising bees and producing honey for sale on the premises, and in markets. Urban farms include the vertical walls of buildings in some cities, where herbs and other vegetables grow on what otherwise would be empty space. Rooftop and urban farming is a growing industry throughout the United States, contributing fresh fruits and vegetables and other farm products directly to the communities which support them.