Urban Farming

Sweet potatoes roof-top farm in Tokyo, Japan

Urban argiculture/farm is pretty common in Japan. It account for 25% of farming households in Japan. Here are some roles of urban agriculture:

• Source of fresh and safe products, including organic and low-chemical crops, that are increasingly demanded by urban consumers. These can be locally produced and consumed based on relationships of trust between farmers and city dwellers.
• Opportunity for urban residents’ engagement in agricultural activities, both directly (e.g., allotment gardens) and through exchange between producers and consumers with the sales of agricultural products at local farm stands.
• Open space for disaster management, including fire spread prevention, evacuation space for earthquakes and open space in case of other disasters.
• Resource for recreation and well-being, including green space for personal leisure and spiritual comfort.
• Education and awareness-raising for improving urban residents’ understanding of agriculture and food issues.

I'm recommending this interesting article written in New York Times here and a good blog to read called City Farmer, to get more insight about urban farming.

My favorite thing right now is this verticulture media (shown below). The reason why I like this, because it is light and easy to resembled. With the help of two people, you'll be able to move your "garden" from the front porch to the back yard ^_^

Plus, if you purchase this, it comes with free instruction how you can built your own verticulture media and other free instructional CD related to aquaphonic, etc.

I hope there will be more individuals, companies, even government institutions in big cities in Indonesia started to grow their own gardens, using empty spaces at the front/back yard and even the roof tops.