With food insecurity why doesn't the government push urban gardening

[Texashiker]

Serious question people. With a record number of people on food stamps, why isn't the US government pushing urban gardening and urban farming?

Instead of shade trees at public housing projects, plant fruit trees. Instead of shrubs, plant blueberries.

Get donations from local hardware and lumber stores and build a chicken yard at the public housing projects. Require people who live in HUD funding homes to work a community garden.

In the early 1900s the federal government was asking people to grow their own food and have their own chickens.

Today, the government is signing people up on welfare rather than teaching them how to grow their own food.

An urban dweller would not be able to grow enough food to feed their whole family. But if they can do to help themselves, why not?

Why not hand out information on gardening and seed packs to people on welfare? Have government employees go by where people on welfare live, ask why they are not growing food. See that spot in the backyard, you can have some snap beans there.

Lets make growing your own food a requirement to stay on welfare. If you are collecting food stamps, then you should be growing something around your house or apartment.

If you have room for flowers, then you have room for spinach or tomatoes.

How did we get to this point where the needy are taught to remain dependent on the system?

How many millions of dollars could we save if every public housing project was required to have a garden and chicken yard, and everyone who lived in those projects required to donate X number of time to work that garden every week.

 

[Newell Steamer]

Yup - lets make it so a .05 cent carrot costs $5.75 to grow and cultivate.

 

[OCGuy]

go ask your parents

 

[gevorg]

it goes against the policy of a nanny state

 

[Genx87]

Cant tax free food.

 

[fskimospy]

Cant tax free food.

Well that and the fact that the residents of those places have no experience or training for growing food, the amount they could grow would be trivially small as compared to population density, etc, etc.

It's a dumb idea.

 

[Texashiker]

go ask your parents

When I was growing up my dad always had a small garden in the back yard.

At my grandparents farm one time we grew so many peas they filled the bed of a chevy short wheel base truck. No joke, the peas were above the top of the bed.

My wife and I have three rows of potatoes planted.

We are waiting for the rain to stop so we can plant squash, peas, beans, watermelons and zucchini.

Okra goes down in May.

Well that and the fact that the residents of those places have no experience or training for growing food, the amount they could grow would be trivially small as compared to population density, etc, etc.

It's a dumb idea.

Have you ever raised anything in your life?

 

[IronWing]

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda...=true&contentid=grant_program_recipients.html

90 seconds on Google. OP, you should try it sometime.

 

[dphantom]

Well that and the fact that the residents of those places have no experience or training for growing food, the amount they could grow would be trivially small as compared to population density, etc, etc.

It's a dumb idea.

No, it is a very good idea. I do not understand why one would discount the intelligence of people. Most people are in fact smart enough to figure out how to grow what and where. A small container garden on a patio can grow a surprisingly large amount of food.

I have a small plot roughly 6x25. It grows all the beans, carrots and squash to last me a year. Enough tomatoes for 3 months and potatoes for 6. That is for the two of us. I also can what we cannot eat immediately.

Additionally, I have strawberries in another 2x25 plot that gives me enough for strawberry jam - 6 months worth

Finally, and most city dwellers may not be able to do this but I have access to wild blueberries and blackberries. I make jam from them as well lasting at least a year depending upon how much I and my wife want to pick. Oh yes, that is hot, sweaty dirty, thorny work. But I have not bought any jam for over 10 years now.

 

[brycejones]

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda...=true&contentid=grant_program_recipients.html

90 seconds on Google. OP, you should try it sometime.

"The People's Garden" that sounds socialist.....

 

[fskimospy]

No, it is a very good idea. I do not understand why one would discount the intelligence of people. Most people are in fact smart enough to figure out how to grow what and where. A small container garden on a patio can grow a surprisingly large amount of food.

I have a small plot roughly 6x25. It grows all the beans, carrots and squash to last me a year. Enough tomatoes for 3 months and potatoes for 6. That is for the two of us. I also can what we cannot eat immediately.

Additionally, I have strawberries in another 2x25 plot that gives me enough for strawberry jam - 6 months worth

Finally, and most city dwellers may not be able to do this but I have access to wild blueberries and blackberries. I make jam from them as well lasting at least a year depending upon how much I and my wife want to pick. Oh yes, that is hot, sweaty dirty, thorny work. But I have not bought any jam for over 10 years now.

Public housing in NYC frequently holds thousands of people in a very compact area. The amount of food you are going to grow in the open space in and around them is, once again, trivially small.

 

[fskimospy]

Have you ever raised anything in your life?

Yeap, I used to grow tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, raspberries, blueberries, etc, etc.

Why do you ask?

 

[Genx87]

I am looking forward to adding cilantro to my small garden this year.

 

[ivwshane]

Any farming by non farmers hurts farmers. The government doesn't give out farm subsidies for no reason.

So I'd ask; why not end farm subsidies?

 

[dphantom]

Public housing in NYC frequently holds thousands of people in a very compact area. The amount of food you are going to grow in the open space in and around them is, once again, trivially small.

container gardens, both inside an apartment and if you have a balcony on the balcony. Sheesh man, think about it. You are so locked into "farming" that you miss the obvious.

All you are seeing is how people can't do something. Figure out how we can. That is what made this country. We did not sit back and say "oh well, I can't do it someone else has to". No, we did what needed to be done. Sometimes poorly, badly, but more often well and right.

Those people are not helpless. They can do more for themselves.

 

[fskimospy]

container gardens, both inside an apartment and if you have a balcony on the balcony. Sheesh man, think about it. You are so locked into "farming" that you miss the obvious.

All you are seeing is how people can't do something. Figure out how we can. That is what made this country. We did not sit back and say "oh well, I can't do it someone else has to". No, we did what needed to be done. Sometimes poorly, badly, but more often well and right.

Those people are not helpless. They can do more for themselves.

So if this is now happening in each individual apartment how are we monitoring compliance? That was TH's point after all, that people in housing should be forced to do this.

If we are forcing them (or even if we aren't), where are the supplies for this gardening coming from? We will of course have to supply those materials. If we're supplying those materials, is this more or less expensive than giving them money for food that they aren't growing? I have a pretty strong suspicion that it will be significantly more expensive.

They aren't helpless, but this seems ill conceived and more expensive than just doing what we're doing now.

 

[Texashiker]

Yeap, I used to grow tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, raspberries, blueberries, etc, etc.

Why do you ask?

Because you are talking out of your ass.

If a family can grow some food to help take the burden off tax payers, why not.

 

[brycejones]

If a family can grow some food to help take the burden off tax payers, why not.

I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea but I think your assumption that it is going to be a net saver of money is hopelessly optimistic. Gardening is great, but it isn't exactly free either.

 

[smackababy]

Any farming by non farmers hurts farmers. The government doesn't give out farm subsidies for no reason.

So I'd ask; why not end farm subsidies?

Farm subsidies serve a much greater purpose than just "not hurting farmers". At least, corn subsidies. In the event of a political or economic situation were we can no longer import vast numbers of food, what is America going to eat? Oh yeah... All that corn and corn products the government ensures we can grow to sustain our population.



As for the OP, the cost of urban farming is probably equal or greater than simply purchasing the food and importing it to the inner cities. With space in such high demand / low supply, areas set aside for farming would be prohibitively expensive or so small the very few vegetables you get per year would not amount to the cost savings you expect.

 

[Veliko]

Because you are talking out of your ass.

If a family can grow some food to help take the burden off tax payers, why not.

You are genuinely mental.

Mass farming techniques means that supermarkets can sell vegetables for a few pence; why do you think that it would be economical for people to grow their own?

 

[WHAMPOM]

Serious question people. With a record number of people on food stamps, why isn't the US government pushing urban gardening and urban farming?

Instead of shade trees at public housing projects, plant fruit trees. Instead of shrubs, plant blueberries.

Get donations from local hardware and lumber stores and build a chicken yard at the public housing projects. Require people who live in HUD funding homes to work a community garden.

In the early 1900s the federal government was asking people to grow their own food and have their own chickens.

Today, the government is signing people up on welfare rather than teaching them how to grow their own food.

An urban dweller would not be able to grow enough food to feed their whole family. But if they can do to help themselves, why not?

Why not hand out information on gardening and seed packs to people on welfare? Have government employees go by where people on welfare live, ask why they are not growing food. See that spot in the backyard, you can have some snap beans there.

Lets make growing your own food a requirement to stay on welfare. If you are collecting food stamps, then you should be growing something around your house or apartment.

If you have room for flowers, then you have room for spinach or tomatoes.

How did we get to this point where the needy are taught to remain dependent on the system?

How many millions of dollars could we save if every public housing project was required to have a garden and chicken yard, and everyone who lived in those projects required to donate X number of time to work that garden every week.

Where in low rent public housing is there room left for such a thing? LOL Besides a weed growing out of a concrete sidewalk, a nearby vacant lot covered in spent needles and the nearest park maybe in a twenty block radius.

Maybe you are just ignorant of the attempts to build Green Spaces and Community Gardens against dire opposition.
Zoning laws that only allow you domestic pets or grass to be grown in your front yard. Look up how long it took to get zoning laws changed to allow chickens to be raised in suburban backyards. You could blame Corporate Farm Lobbyists. Government backing Citizen Grown Victory Gardens don't put money in Corporate pockets.

 

[dphantom]

They aren't helpless, but this seems ill conceived and more expensive than just doing what we're doing now.

Just write out a check, no sense requiring something, too much effort.

 

[MixMasterTang]

I can only imagine the response of some people being "the fuck I'm gonna do with this pepper?".

 

[desy]

My mom was a nurse at a psych hospital where they used to have gardens to feed the inmates. Even in a institution they said they couldn't have them as 'slaves' although it was great therapy, exercise, creating work ethic, a sense of worth and accomplishment, nutritious food for the facility. Instead it was better to have them inside watching TV all day. . . .

 

[moonbogg]

No law stopping people from growing food. Most people are poor and occupy a small space on a cement square in the middle of a crappy city. Carrots don't grow in Compton, fool.