Pittsburgh City Council’s continued financial support of urban farming projects in the city is the right move at a time when food insecurity is on the rise nationwide fueled by the coronavirus pandemic and high unemployment.
Council recently approved two transfers — $41,296 and $167,048 — to fund the CityFarms project, a concept to bring agriculture to urban communities to serve as both a teaching opportunity for area youth and a source of fresh produce for local food banks.
Council member Anthony Coghill sees the CityFarms project as a way to turn a portion of Brookline Memorial Park in his district into a community farm, where residents would engage in “collective farming” with produce being donated to food banks. Fellow council member Deb Gross has similar hopes for a Polish Hill site in her district.
Urban farming projects also serve as education centers for city youth, based on the “teach a man to fish” concept. Providing farming knowledge leads to skills that can be used for a lifetime.
These are worthwhile projects that communities should embrace and continue to support.