Kyle Crichton is a summer intern for OneGreenThing. A recent graduate of Bucknell University, Kyle's blog for OneGreenThing highlights his thoughts on the potential for urban farming.
What did you have for dinner? Do you know where that food came from? Do you know how old it is? How much effort went into making it? How much energy was expended? How much carbon was emitted?
Well, there is a concept in urban agriculture known as metabolic rift. Nathan McClintock, a professor in Quebec, has written several papers about metabolic rift. McClintock states that,
“...the expansion of capitalist agriculture in Europe and North America led to a soil fertility crisis during the 19th century. A mad dash for new sources of fertility ensued alongside a nascent synthetic fertilizer industry. The scramble to locate new sources of fertility drove imperialism expansionism that ultimately displaced the metabolic drift elsewhere.”
What I see as the impact of the metabolic rift today is that the huge divide between urban and rural areas (and thereby consumerism and food production) has resulted in a dysfunctional system that not only pollutes our planet, impacts our agriculture and affects human well-being but also threatens society.
What we are doing in the agricultural sector isn't sustainable. The world has been showing signs of reaching its limits for decades and we have to switch away from what? mass production and return to local agriculture. McClintock discusses the benefits of urban farming and the role in combating this problem with metabolic rifts.
“This concept of returning nutrients to agricultural soils in the form of urban waste is vital to overcoming the ‘antithesis between town and country’ and is fundamental to a ‘restitutive’ agriculture.”
This is quite significant because fertilizers are toxic to the environment in which they are applied. Returning nutrients back to the soil is essential and removing pesticides is even better.
I agree with the author that urban agriculture is important because it is needed to create direct connections with the community and nature. “...The development of capitalism alienated humans from the natural environment and disrupted our traditional forms of ‘social metabolism’, the material transformation of the biophysical environment for the purpose of social reproduction.”
There is a disassociation between society and the origin of our food. People don’t know where their food comes from. People are used to seeing fresh vegetables and fruits on the shelves all year long. Seasonality no longer affects the consumer and this is unnatural. Urban agriculture is a step in the right direction.
Having produce from around the world featured on our grocery store aisles year-round, has its perks but there the cons are staggering. The first negative implication is that it requires a lot of energy to ship food. As of 2022 food transportation “...takes a lot of energy to move food from the farm to the table ~ 1.4 quadrillion Btu of energy, to be precise. The transportation sector includes air freights, container ships, railways and road transport. Altogether, transportation makes up 14 percent of the energy used for food production.” This is insane to think about so I did a deep dive into the food that is currently in my pantry. My cashews are from Illinois, my sour cream is from Texas, and my frozen dumplings are from California.
A lot of these items had to be refrigerated or frozen which requires even more energy. I know none of the food items I listed can be grown with urban agriculture but I used it to prove a point. My tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers were not bought at the local farmer’s market so I do not know from where they came but in all likelihood, they were shipped across the country and in some cases the world. The significance of urban agriculture is that people would be growing as much of their own food as possible. This movement would have a significant impact on the environment.
So what’s the point?
Another reason why we should be doing more urban agriculture is because our current farm system is not that great. Most meat is farmed through Concentrated Agricultural Feeding Operations (CAFOs). Google it to see the images that pop up. It might change your views on the food you eat.
These CAFOs were created to maximize the number of chickens, pigs, and cows that can be bred for consumption. They pack the animals in farms in very unhealthy and unsanitary conditions. The CAFOs also want to maximize the amount of meat per animal so they overfeed the livestock. They also use pesticides, fertilizers, and machinery to maximize their profits, all while heavily polluting the environment. CAFOs pay their workers minimum wage and they treat them horribly. These people are typically immigrants who don’t have many other options when it comes to work.
This relates to all three types of rifts that we discussed earlier. A lot of supporters of CAFOs have a point that you do get a higher yield in industrial farming. This may feel like the only option but it isn’t.
A lot of office space is freeing up after COVID all over the world because companies are realizing that they can work virtually anywhere, and they don’t need an office space. So a lot of places are available and probably will stay available. If we started converting some of those areas into urban farms it would be able to produce enough food using techniques like hydroponics to maximize the space. People just have to think outside the box, while going back to basics.
Urban agriculture is a step, or more precisely several steps, in the right direction. If we start building the connection between people and their food there will be a tremendous trickle down effect. By growing some of our own products, buying local food, and reducing the amount of meat we eat, we are actually helping to create a healthier planet. Yes, eco-anxiety is real but paralysis is not the answer. Small steps will lead to bigger ones. It is important to solve the metabolic rift in our society.
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