Urban Agriculture and Your Health

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For my capstone project, I will be focusing on Urban Agriculture and how it can affect the health of those who participate. Urban agriculture has been defined as “Urban agriculture, urban farming or urban gardening is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around a village, town, or city. Urban agriculture can also involve animal husbandry, aquaculture, agroforestry, urban beekeeping, and horticulture.”

When economic difficulties began to be experienced in recent years, people began to explore alternative ways to feed their families. In the United States, “food deserts” appeared in places like Detroit and Los Angeles,as grocery stores closed, and food could only be found at convenience stores or fast-food restaurants. As these places generally only carry “junk” or low quality food, obesity and health problems began to run rampant in these areas. To provide a source of healthy food without having to spend lots of money, many people began to turn to urban agriculture. This can include everything from large community gardens to small patio container gardens.

Studies have been done on the health effects of participating in urban agriculture: results include everything from increasing exercise, to increasing the amount of vegetables children eat. I will produce an infographic and a video that will focus on urban gardening (as it is the easiest urban agricultural practice to get involved with), highlighting some of the health benefits and how people can begin to get involved for themselves. I will include resources to investigate urban agriculture locally.

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