Rethinking How City Dwellers Get Their Food

Abstract

Do you perhaps live in a city, or have you visited one? Cities are exciting places where there is often a lot going on. They offer a variety of job opportunities and many leisure activities, like movie theaters, shopping malls, parks, and museums. Currently, Earth’s greatest population growth is happening within cities. Even though cities cover only 2–3% of the land, they consume approximately 75% of the world’s energy and they produce 80% of the carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere. Until now, cities have not needed to grow their own food, but this makes them dependent on food sources that can be quite far away. This article will describe how urban agriculture can help cities to better deal with climate change and other environmental problems, and how this food-growing method can improve the living environments for the people in cities at the same time.