In the later half of the 19th century, urbanization was a sign of progress. But as land was developed and millions left the country for the city, feeding the nation was left to fewer farmers on fewer acres. During World War II, because of the threat of food and fuel shortage, 20 million Victory Gardens were tilled in non-rural areas. Today, especially in its cities, America faces a serious shortage of healthy, fresh produce in addition to many other social and environmental problems. The Victory Garden movement can be used as inspiration for the current promotion of urban agriculture. America is fighting a different war now, a war on hunger and malnutrition, joblessness, and environmental degradation, but this war is taking place within our borders. Only by approaching the challenges we face like the Victory Garden movement of World War II, will Americans be able to reshape the urban landscape so as to sustain a healthy population.
I'm a huge fan of urban agriculture, so I love this topic. The facts and the support will come from the study of the necessity for urban gardens, but I think what will be most fun is to talk about the design of modern urban agriculture plots that have been constructed recently. There are some really cool developments in NYC and Brooklyn that would be cool to look at - talking about design and the marriage of urban architecture forms with agriculture (which has been counterintuitive I think throughout history) would be a cool approach.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you're planning on talking about Michelle Obama working on the new White House garden and becoming a spokesperson for the local food movement.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to relate this topic to Yale, you could talk about collegiate support of this movement through programs like Harvest and the increase in sustainable food/ingredients in the dining hall.
This is great!
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