Urban Agriculture. Keeping Livestock In Our Towns and Cities

Transcription

1 Urban Agriculture Keeping Livestock In Our Towns and Cities

2 BACKYARD FARMING

3 Difference Between Gardener & Backyard Farmer Gardener Grows vegetables Sometimes also grows fruit Manages garden beds for food production Backyard Farmer Grows vegetables Grows fruit Manages entire property for food production Urban scale livestock integrated into landscape

4 Ivywild A & N Farm

5 Fundamental Questions: 1. Why would we want to reintroduce urban scale livestock into our cities and town? 2. How do we maintain a noise-free, smell-free, and visual blight free environment?

6 PEAK EVERYTHING

7 Oil, Water, Soil, & Knowledge Availability of many resources has peaked Resources are finite Population has continued to rise even as resources are being depleted Competition for resources is increasing

8 HISTORY OF FOOD PRODUCING ANIMALS IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

9 Myth of Agricultural Primacy Jane Jacobs book The Economy of Cities Cities actually came before agriculture (cities developed as hunter/gather toolmaking and trading settlements) Seed and livestock trade were early features of cities Some agriculture eventually drifted to the newly termed rural areas, but much remained Food was produced where people lived

10 The French Intensive Method Dr. Gerald Stanhill s An urban agro-ecosystem: The example of nineteenth-century Paris Most productive food producing system documented Roughly 1/6 of Paris was under cultivation; Paris was exporting food to London Dependent on horse manure from public transportation stables Disappeared when automobile began to replace horse and demand for plots of land inside city of Paris increased

11 The Vegetarian Myth Lierre Keith Many vital nutrients are only found in animal based foods Animals heal the earth and soil Pasture raised animals are sustainable landscape wide, grain based, petroleum dependent agriculture is not

12 Historically Common Urban Agricultural Animals Pigeons Chickens Ducks Geese Turkeys Rabbits Pigs (Ancient China ancestors of Vietnamese Pot-bellied Pigs) Goats Honey bees

13 REMOVAL OF URBAN LIVESTOCK

14 Kicked Out Of Urban Areas

15 The Problem Is Not Animals Intensity of production Intensity of consumption CAFO s Grain fed Antibiotic use Inhumane treatment Inhumane slaughter

16 System Separation Flora Fauna

17 Waste Streams Resource Demands Water run-off from CAFO Fertilizer

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20 System Integration

21 CURRENT BARRIERS TO LIVESTOCK ANIMALS IN URBAN AREAS

22 Barriers to Urban Livestock Local zoning and regulations Animal control authority objections HOA s Neighbor s objections Property value concerns Legitimate noise, smell, and visual blight concerns Concern about attracting wild predators Doesn t solve grain dependency issue

23 BALANCE ON THE URBAN LANDSCAPE

24 Limitations Carry capacity of land must be honored Fossil fuel based grain dependency should be mitigated Be wary of longer tail pipe phenomenon Slaughtering of food animals inside city limits is not allowed Urban livestock cannot provide all caloric needs of average household in an urban environment

25 Carrying Capacity Appropriate Not Carrying Capacity Appropriate

26 Fundamental Questions: 1. Why would we want to reintroduce urban scale livestock into our cities and town? 2. How do we maintain a noise-free, smell-free, and visual blight free environment?

27 Benefits Increased soil fertility Local food source Better control over quality of food (non GMO, non pasteurized, no antibiotics, no growth hormones) Reduced environmental impact Control over quality of life issues for animals Humane slaughter

28 Fundamental Questions: 1. Why would we want to reintroduce urban scale livestock into our cities and town? 2. How do we maintain a noise-free, smell-free, and visual blight free environment?

29 Thoughtful Reintroduction Stay within the letter of the law Keep the peace with your neighbors Keep your livestock show quality Maintain curb appeal Honor the limits of the land Honor the animals for its uniqueness and inherent traits Consider growing animal feed sources

30 FINAL THOUGHTS

31 Livestock Animals Should Be Allowed In Our Towns & Cities Keeping these animals forces us to examine CAFO s and their impacts on the land and water Caring for livestock increases awareness of and empathy for the plight of CAFO livestock Makes a dent in the need for local food Builds soil naturally and sustainably Can move us away from grain dependency

32 Forests precede us and deserts dog our heels. ~Derrick Jensen

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