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The Backyard Solution

By Panita Khampoosa

The empty space around Srithan elementary school in Khon Kaen, Thailand is strewn with rows of old, ripped tires. The tires seem misplaced, but a closer look shows that they are filled with vegetables and herbs. Beyond the tire pots are vegetable beds, flourishing next to a pond full of enough fish to feed the entire school. On the opposite side of the pond are even more beds, but these are different. Whereas the first set of plots belongs to the students of Srithan School, this plot belongs to the villagers of Srithan community. The garden is full of Chinese kale, crisphead lettuce, morning glory and coriander—everything necessary for a traditional Thai meal. This scene could be found in any rural area, but Srithan community is not rural—it’s in a major city in Northeastern Thailand.

Scenes like this are becoming more common all over the world. More urban communities are growing their own food than ever before as part of a worldwide urban agriculture movement. Urban agriculture, which encompasses things like fish farms, farm animals raised at public housing sites, municipal compost facilities, schoolyard greenhouses, and window box gardens, uses limited space to grow food in the most unlikely places.

Each city has its own style. In Chicago, the Ivy Crest Garden project converted a vacant lot into an organic flower and vegetable market where over 30 ducks provide pest control and fertilizer. The urban gardens in Kampala, Uganda, have prevented starvation for thousands of single mothers and their children. Residents of Vancouver, B.C., can visit a demonstration garden in the middle of the city to learn how to grow things in their own backyard. In Brisbane, Australia, rooftop gardens grow vegetables and herbs used to feed patients in the city’s hospitals. The St. Petersburg Downtown Gardening Club in St. Petersburg, Russia, maintains gardens and greenhouses next to city factories that provide factory employees with food.

Why are more and more urbanites taking steps towards self-reliance by growing their own food instead of driving to the supermarket?

The average food item in a grocery store in North America travels between 1,500 to 2,500 miles before it hits the shelves; 25 to 50 percent of which is lost to spoilage in transit. An incredible amount of energy is consumed and pollution created transporting food in order to offer consumers a choice between fourteen varieties of lettuce.

Consumers are also becoming more aware of how many chemicals are used in their supposedly “fresh” produce. Most farmers who use chemicals do not even eat the food they grow because they know about the potential health effects. Urbanites are recognizing that growing food in cities is both possible and important—they have