Where was the header image taken?

I was talking to Sudhir this afternoon and he said he had the TV on and saw an ad for MetroHealth promoting City Fresh. I saw the same ad tonight, during the Channel 8 news. That is fantastic - an ad for local food and its champion. They also have a fresh stop...

116th and Buckeye

Thursdays 4 - 6 pm

Contact: dkaiser(at)metrohealth.org

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You and me both!  Looks like we like the company of dead people.  Yeah, I have a lot of friends, but they're not on line!

In this report on WKYC, Morgan Taggart of Ohio State University Extension says "research shows, with the right crops, urban farmers can earn $68,000 on a half acre." The report also says "more than 180 vacant lots have been transformed into fertile community gardens and farms", and "Urban agriculture is catching on." Let's see how well it grows...
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This is a report of a visit to urban food growing projects in the United States by a group of four people from different organisations based in London. 

It was organised by Sustain's London Food Link officer, Ben Reynolds, and funded by the US Embassy, who had previously brought Will Allen to London to talk about his project, Growing Power, in the USA. 

The group visited an inspiring range of projects in Milwaukee, Chicago and New York and noted a number of similarities to and differences from urban agriculture initiatives in London, including:

• A commercial element to many of the US projects, which is much less common in the UK;
• A more liberal situation in the US than in the UK to encourage composting, but less willingness than in the UK to include animals in some urban agriculture projects;
• Different approaches to fencing and public access to projects, which varied within the US, depending on context;
• Imaginative and productive ways of growing without access to subsoil, either in raised beds on hard surfaces or, in one case, in hydroponics on a barge;
• Inspiring use of an holistic and sustainable approach to fish farming in an urban area which produces marketable quantities of tilapia.

The trip stimulated a number of ideas for how to promote more food growing in more cities.  These include:

• Using the many possibilities of urban tree planting to promote traditional varieties of fruit and nuts;
• Untapping the potential of both Royal Parks and other parks to accommodate some food growing in their grounds;
• Exploring under-utilised spaces such as derelict council property, private gardens and social housing to grow food;
• Making use of the abundant buildings in urban areas to grow food on rooftops, up walls and in window boxes;
• Building on the food growing expertise that already exists in a multicultural community, as well as providing education and training for new growers.

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  Yes--and Metrohealth should be giving them some credit and help.  Darren and Johanna are doing their best to revive a great neighborhood.   We have a lot of smart, young couples moving to the most walkable,  GARDEN neighborhood in the city.  And, these folks don't move away once their kids hit school age.  They are finding that the diversity here is the best way to raise a child to be an adult. 

I've added photos from our victory garden here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brewedfreshdaily/sets/72157606012693482/

Vacant Lot Becomes a Garden