An unusual way to use vacant lots in big cities has more and more enthusiasts

How many vacant lots are there in Moscow, more or less than in Chicago? Despite the fact that in both cities land is very expensive, there are a lot of uselessly used, or even simply abandoned, plots in both places. What to do with them? A professional fighter against environmental pollution, a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Chicago, Ken Dunn, proposed creating beds and building greenhouses in such wastelands. In 2002, in Chicago, on the border of the poor Cabrini Green district and the fashionable Gold Coast, the Urban Farm was spread over an area of about 70 acres.

There are greenhouses, beds, and hotbeds here. By covering the ground with a layer of compost and digging, urban farmers get perfectly usable soil. The farm harvests two to three tons of tomatoes per year alone, and also grows carrots, beets, garlic, cucumbers and much more. Vegetables are sold to nearby restaurants and markets, with revenue reaching $60,000 a year. Two or three full-time employees work here, but every year about 800 volunteers are recruited from among city residents who are simply interested in tinkering with the land.

Of course, the question arises as to how safe it is to eat vegetables and herbs that have grown amid city exhaust fumes and harmful emissions. To this, supporters of urban farms respond that next to ordinary plants, they specially, not for sale, grow crops that absorb harmful substances - mustard and spinach. In addition, urban farmers, unlike ordinary farmers, do not treat their crops with pesticides and substances that allow the fruits to be stored longer during transportation. Finally, if vegetables and herbs are grown right next to your home, the environmental damage caused by smoky trucks is minimized.

Urban agriculture is becoming increasingly popular around the world. Here are some more examples from the life of urban gardeners.

USA

Journalist and author Novella Carpenter is a dedicated "urban farmer." On her property in Oakland, California, she grows herbs and vegetables, raises chickens, rabbits and even goats. This confused the Oakland administration: when Carpenter, having purchased the site a year and a half ago, came to the administration for permission, she was told that the relevant laws would only be developed in six months. But soon the Oakland administration began to receive complaints from Carpenter’s neighbors and animal activists (for example, a circle of rabbit lovers), who suspected that she was raising the four-legged animals for food. Carpenter was fined $5,000 in March.

Great Britain

In January 2009, the mayor of the British capital, Boris Johnson, with the assistance of public organizations, launched the Capital Growth project. He expects there will be 2,012 new vegetable growing sites in London by 2012. The city undertakes the search and allocation of a site, provides volunteers with free equipment for the construction of greenhouses and beds, theoretical support and compost. The volunteers themselves will have to spend money on seeds and tools. To date, 890 greenhouses and vegetable gardens have been opened as part of the project.

Vegetable garden in the city