PHIL 287-06E

Annotated Bibliography
Economic Benefits of Urban Agriculture
Ackerman,Kubi,etal."SustainableFoodSystemsForFutureCities:ThePotentialOfUrbanAgriculture."
EconomicAndSocialReview45.2(2014):189206.EconLit.Web.7Dec.2016.
ThissourceisastudyfromColumbiaUniversityaboutthepotentialofurbanagriculture.Specificallythestudy
evaluatestheeconomic,societal,andtheenvironmentaleffectsurbanagriculturecanhaveoncities.Formyportion
oftheproject,Inotedtheeconomicbenefitsofurbanagriculture.Thegreatestadvantageurbanagriculturecanserve
isincreasedfoodsecurityformetropolitanareasthroughincreasedqualityandquantityofproduce.Inaddition,UA
cancontributetoahouseholdsincome,dependingonthescaleofproduction.Furthermore,urbanagriculturehas
thepotentialtooffsetfoodexpendituresforconsumerssincefarmersmarketpricesaretypicallylowerthangrocery
storeproduce.Lastly,embracingurbanagriculturecancreateavarietyofjobsinlowincomeareaswhere
unemploymentisparticularlyhigh.

Golden,Sheila."UrbanAgricultureImpacts:Social,Health,andEconomic:ALiteratureReview."UCDavis
AgriculturalSustainabilityInstitute.AgriculturalSustainabilityInstituteatUCDavis,3Nov.2013.
Web.8Dec.2016.
ThissourceisaprojectevaluatingoftheimpactsofurbanagriculturefromtheUCSustainableAgricultureResearch
andEducationprogram.Again,Ifocusedoneconomicadvantages.Theprojectnotedfourmaineconomiceffectsof
UA.Firstofall,UAcreatesjobsandincubatesbusinesses.Second,UAprovidesanopportunityformarket
expansionforfarmers.Next,theprojectnotedUAcouldsaveconsumersmoneyonfoodbyprovidinglowerpriced
produce.Lastly,UAcanincreasehomevaluesbecausestudiescorrelateurbanfarmsandcommunitygardensto
increasinghomevalues.Unfortunately,thiscanalsoleadtogentrification.Eventhoughmypartoftheproject
focusesoneconomicbenefitsofUA,itissignificanttonotethisdownside.

Kumar,Rohit."HowUrbanAgricultureIsRevitalizingLocalEconomies."TheHuffingtonPost.
TheHuffingtonPost.com,04Aug.2013.Web.08Dec.2016.
ThissourceisanarticlefromtheHuffingtonpostabouthowurbanagriculturecanbenefitlocaleconomies.One
importantstatisticthisarticleprovidesisthefactthatcitiesarehometoover80percentoftheUSpopulation,yet

onlyabout20percentofUSfarmlandislocatednearmetropolitanareas.Thearticlelaysoutfourmainwaysurban
agricultureisstimulatinglocaleconomies.Firstofall,localfoodproductionkeepsmoremoneycirculatingwithin
communitiesratherthanoutofthem.Next,UAcreateslocaljobsbecauseitleadstoincreasingopportunityforlocal
foodstartups.Inaddition,urbanfarmstakeadvantageofwastestreamsandturnaprofitfromthem.Forexample,a
farminMilwaukeeuses44millionpoundsoffoodwasteperyeartoproduceaboutonemillionpoundsof
organicallygrownfoodeachyear.Lastly,urbanagricultureisstimulatinglocaleconomiesbypromotingthe
developmentofmarketabletradesandcraftssincegardeningandfarmingrequiresalargeanddiversesetofskills.