Crossing the Internal Frontiers - Agri-culture: Reconnecting People, Land and Nature - page 185

The Magic Gardeners
This topic has mostly been about the redesign of rural landscapes and
communities. Yet, there will soon be more urban than rural people. Urban
people already play two potentially critical roles in rural redesign: by
buying food and by visiting rural landscapes and wild areas. There is,
though, a third opportunity that is helping to encourage the internal
transformations necessary for a more sustainable world. This is urban
gardening. At first glance, this might appear a marginal activity, even the
word 'gardening' implies a leisure activity for those with time to spare. But
urban gardeners, both individual and collective, are also part of this new
agricultural revolution. In developing countries, it is already common for
large numbers of urban families to be directly engaged in food production.
It has been estimated that 100-200 million urban households farm in
the city, providing food some for 700 million people. 19 In some Latin
American and African cities, up to one third of vegetable demand is met
by urban production; in Hong Kong and Karachi it is about half; and in
Shanghai more than four-fifths. In Cuba, it is a central part of the whole
country's food security . In industrialized countries, far fewer people grow
their own food. For those who do, though, it is an increasingly important
source of psychological well-being.
In the UK, home gardens and allotments used to be vital sources of
food. During the early 20th century, there were 1.5 million hectares of
allotments producing about half of all fruit and vegetables consumed
domestically. Today, the area has fallen to less than 15,000 hectares, eroded
by dying interest and growing urban development. Nonetheless, the
300,000 families who garden these allotments are estimated to produce
in excess of 200,000 tonnes of fresh produce each year, worth UK£560
million pounds. 20 In the US, the National Gardeners Association estimates
that 35 million people grow food in their back gardens and allotments,
annually producing 6 billion kilogrammes of food worth US$12 billion
to US$14 billion per year. Elsewhere in Europe, urban gardening is hugely
popular in Germany, with 50,000 Berliners growing their own food, and
in Russia, where urban and rooftop gardens are now common.
But why do people bother, when modern agriculture is so successful
at producing large amounts of food for industrialized economies? For
some, the food is vital, particularly in economies in transition where food
supply is still insecure. But for most people, it is primarily a matter of
psychological well-being and improved social relations, supplemented by
the bonus of nutritious and healthy food. 21 Urban gardens are special
places in the city, oases of tranquillity and repose. They tend, though, to
be invisible amongst the pace and dynamics of the city, and so are easily