Great comment on our #PandemicGardening survey "#Urbanagriculture has always been practised in #Australian cities...our 'allotments' were our backyards. As Andrea Gaynor has so beautifully documented in Harvest of the Suburbs, [our] backyards produced large amounts of food...
...with urban consolidation, millions of Australians no longer have large yards in which to grow food. We need to learn how to get productive growing space into cities-in public spaces, on the privately owned common property in strata schemes, on balconies, on verges, & on roofs.
#Covid19 has hopefully concentrated people's minds on the fragility of food supply lines. The supermarkets will not always have food in them. If we can supplement our food supply with leafy greens, herbs and fruit from our own gardens, we will be much more #foodsecure.
Cities will never be self-sufficient - only people who have never grown food would claim they can be. (Cities could actually be defined as places where people live with insufficient space to produce their own food).
But it is incredibly important that city dwellers (the majority of Australians) understand how food is grown. It is the only way they will have some understanding of what farmers are doing, what it takes to put food on their plates, how hard it is to grow food organically...
...what seasons food grows it, and even whether food grows on trees or in the ground! When we stop to think about it, it is bizarre that the vast majority of people have little or no idea how the one thing they depend on for their very existence is produced"
What is your experience of #ediblegardening during #COVID19? What are your views on the #sustainability & fairness of the Australian #foodsystem? Take 8 mins to complete our survey & help build the case for recognition & support for #urbanagriculture
uaf.org.au/covid19-urban-…
uaf.org.au/covid19-urban-…
