Abstract
Urban agriculture (UA) is cropping up in backyards, vacant lots, rooftops, and city parks across North America. Despite popular interest, zoning often serves as an obstacle to UA's expansion. In this reflective case study, we document the efforts of the Oakland Food Policy Council (OFPC) to develop recommendations for urban agriculture zoning in Oakland, California, as a means of fostering UA's expansion. First, we focus on the role of zoning in urban agriculture planning, draw¬ing on best practices from around the country. Then we provide an overview of Oakland's food system and place the OFPC within the context of local food justice initiatives. Next, we outline the process by which the council prioritized food system goals before focusing more specifically on its efforts to create new zoning definitions and operating standards for UA, including both successes and obstacles to gaining the attention of city officials and moving the policy agenda forward. We conclude by reviewing the OFPC's lessons learned.
Highlights
Statistics portray a bleak picture of food access in Oakland, California: 87% of schoolchildren receive free or reduced lunch; 20% of families live below the federal poverty line; one in three children will develop diabetes; one third of Alameda County residents are food insecure (Beyers et al, 2008; Oakland Food Policy Council (OFPC), 2010)
We briefly review the history of the Oakland Food Policy Council and the process of identifying first policy steps
During their first year serving as an active council, OFPC members assessed the data and community input gleaned from studies on the Oakland food system and from HOPE’s community-engagement process and discussed a wide range of ideas for food system transformation
Summary
Statistics portray a bleak picture of food access in Oakland, California: 87% of schoolchildren receive free or reduced lunch; 20% of families live below the federal poverty line; one in three children will develop diabetes; one third of Alameda County residents are food insecure (Beyers et al, 2008; OFPC, 2010). The slow (and as of yet incomplete) process of developing UA zoning has involved a growing coalition of stakeholders advocating for the expansion of UA This coalition includes urban farmers and gardeners as well as stakeholders from food justice and urban sustainability organizations, community groups, and public officials from a range of agencies, from planning to public health workers and parks and recreation, to the school district. Food systems and UA advocates have worked with planners and food policy councils to inventory vacant and underutilized land for potential agricultural use in cities such as Portland (Balmer et al, 2005), Vancouver (Kaethler, 2006), Seattle (Horst, 2008), Oakland (McClintock & Cooper, 2009), Detroit (Colasanti & Hamm, 2010), and Toronto (MacRae et al, 2010), among others. Some residents may be concerned that allowing sales, especially in residential zoning districts, will create nuisances new requirements or standards will create additional costs, barriers, or other burdens on practitioners
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