UEP Student Jamie Fanous
The 4th Annual Urban Farming Conference (UFC) was a full day event comprised of interactive panels, workshops, and discussion addressing a vast number of topics related to urban farming. The UFC brought together multi-sectoral stakeholders such as farmers, land trust managers, policy makers, innovators, activists, investors, and many others, to discuss barriers and opportunities for the urban farming community. The UFC provides a forum which cultivates opportunities for networking, information sharing, and innovation.
Speakers included local urban farmers, environmentalists, educators, government representatives, and activists. The keynote speaker Greg Watson from the Schumacher Center presented on the Cuban Urban Agroecology Movement, discussing the history of Cuba and why they currently have such a vast urban farming system. Discussion panels were held throughout the day focusing on various subjects including beekeeping, food justice, and soil management. A discussion which I attended, entitled, “Thinking Outside the Raised Bed” included a panel of urban farmers and city planners. The discussion focused on how to engage your community in urban farming, the panel discussed the barriers they face when engaging youth, specifically youth from minority and low-income communities. Overall the UFC was a successful conference fueling new ideas and paths forward for the urban farming community.