Environment170′s Weblog

The idea of urban green seems to be a growing trend throughout the United States in the past decade, but what I find more amazing is the urban green happening elsewhere. The video on permaculture in Cuba really surprised me, not only due to the economic crisis faced by Cuba after the collapse of the Soviet Empire, but how the people were able to resort back to such a natural way of living to minimize the effect of the famine within their country. Urban grown agriculture became the solution for some of Cuba’s problems, but the more I looked into permaculture the more I find that it may be the way to help our own country as well.
The reality of it is that, at least in the city of Los Angeles, many people don’t even have a backyard to their name to grown their own produce. This is where farmers markets come into play. With such local grown produce the effect of carbon emissions due to transporting the food is greatly reduced. Also, a lot of these products are grown organically without pesticides and unnatural fertilizers, which reduce wastewater run-off into our oceans. Many people do not realize that agriculture produces a great deal of the pollution in today’s world. Fertilizer run-off into the ocean creates a large array of algae blooms that effect local flora and fauna of the coastal areas. This produces a large amount of the human caused ocean desiccation today. Also, by growing and shopping locally emissions from transportation are also greatly reduced. Transport diesel trucks produce most of the vehicle carbon emission, and even when they are transporting organically grown food the impact is still negative for our environment.
Also, another factor that would add to the push of permaculture is the appreciation gained from harvesting your own food, even in small amounts. Growing, processing, and packing the foods our population eats on a day to day basis is being done by a deceasing percent of our population, 2 percent I believe. Getting into farming isn’t something that is really possible now days, due to the large cost to buy land, but because of industrialized farming the public have forgotten the value of food all together. When I was growing up I lived in an area considered agricultural land, not because people had farms or anything like them, but because you could have agricultural animals on your land, like horses and goats. A lot of people grew things on their land as well. I had about two and a half acres of backyard growing up; my next-door neighbor had horses, goats, and pigs, and just about everyone had large dogs. We grew pumpkins for Halloween, had fruit trees, and I was always trying to plant some sort of seed when I was little. I feel like growing up where is did is very different than a lot of people’s upbringings. I would actually eat things grown in my own yard, and especially in the city sections, that is almost impossible for a lot of individuals today. Having that appreciation for life and growth, I feel, is important, even if the only way you can stay connected in through shopping at a farmers market, it still gives you that experience, while helping to fight maladies of our environment.

-Ellen Dempsey

I was intrigued by the way that Mr. Smith decided to approach and expand his business, Urban Green. By using the 3 permaculture ‘core ethics:’ care for the people, care for the earth, and fair share, Mr. Smith has built a food business based on sustainability and the “human connection.” I was impressed by Urban Green’s use of only personally grown food that was supplemented by farmers markets, and if needed vendors only within a 10 mile radius. Food distribution is an area of great concern for the sustainability of our environment, and Mr. Smith’s use of farmers markets shows us just one of the many possible solutions for that problem. Additionally, by buying specifically from farmers markets he is not only being more environmentally friendly, but is also stimulating the business for farmers in these farmers markets, helping to ensure that they stick around through the high competition prevalent in the food industry today. Though he does mention that the extensive use of farmers markets is something unique to California I think we need to work on spreading farmers markets around the US in areas where the climate and fertility permit. The land use solutions presented also appealed to me, particularly the usage of foreclosed homes as areas that could be made into edible gardens, at least until the real estate agencies were able to sell them to a new homeowner. Though Mr. Smith did acknowledge that he’s experienced some issues with the complaints that it would be a waste or urban land, I find conversely that the idea is an incredibly creative solution to a growing land-availability issue as well as the problems of what to do with the mass quantities of foreclosed homes. Similarly, the use of rooftops and state parks helps to increase available, usable land without the need to create more space in this extremely urbanized environment. Overall, I was impressed by the steps Mr. Smith has made to create a sustainable, green business and in the additional ‘green work’ he has done through the nonprofits he couples with as well as his work with using architectural devices, such as the prefab homes. With even the packaging of his products being compostable (banana and tea leaves) he is exemplifying what the next step is for many businesses to be more environmentally friendly. If more businessmen approached their businesses in similar ways to Mr. Smith we would be working more efficiently toward a green economy.

Sarah Y