Breaking Through Concrete: Building an Urban Farm Revival

"There's a conviction among many sustainable agriculture advocates that the best way to move agriculture forward is to look back. The hope is to return to an exalted era in agriculture, to the kind of rural scene fit for a Rockwell painting or a Shaker Village--to food grown the old fashioned way. Breaking Through Concrete is not that, which is exactly the point. This ode to urban farming is not nostalgic (those are skyscrapers in the background, not silos), but instructive. It's a beautiful, gritty and very real portrait of the possibilities for the future of food." — Dan Barber, Executive Chef and Co-owner of Blue Hill

"A road map to the future of America. A blueprint of possibilities. A book full of remarkable stories of neighborhood visionaries, stories of people who grow community in their gardens. Where others see trouble, they see food and hope." --NPR's Kitchen Sisters

"Finally, a book on the full continuum of urban agriculture in America, replete with inspiring images of the people and places behind today's city-grown food. Hanson and Marty tell these stories with such admiration for their subjects you'll want to bestow hero status to city farmers." --Darrin Nordahl, author of Public Produce: The New Urban Agriculture

"Breaking Through Concrete will satisfy readers hungry for a broad perspective on urban agriculture. The beautiful stories and photographs of successful programs throughout North America, combined with practical 'how to' guides, provides a valued resource for practitioners, advocates, scholars, and gardeners." --Laura Lawson, author of City Bountiful: A Century of Community Gardening in America

People have always grown food in urban spaces--on windowsills and sidewalks, and in backyards and neighborhood parks--but today, urban farmers are leading an environmental and social movement that transforms our national food system. To explore this agricultural renaissance, brothers David and Michael Hanson and urban farmer Edwin Marty document twelve successful urban farm programs, from an alternative school for girls in Detroit, to a backyard food swap in New Orleans, to a restaurant supply garden on a rooftop in Brooklyn. Each beautifully illustrated essay offers practical advice for budding farmers, such as composting and keeping livestock in the city, decontaminating toxic soil, even changing zoning laws.

David Hanson is a freelance writer and photographer. Edwin Marty is founder of Jones Valley Urban Farm in Birmingham, Alabama. Michael Hanson is an award-winning travel photographer. Mark Winne is the author of Food Rebels, Guerrilla Gardeners and Smart-Cookin' Mamas: Fighting Back in an Age of Industrial Agriculture.

Foreword by Mark Winne

Preface by David Hanson

Introduction by Edwin Marty

1. P-Patch Community Garden Program, Seattle, Washington • The Neighborhood Garden

HOW TO: Change Your City's Urban Agriculture Zoning Codes

2. Homeless Garden Project, Santa Cruz, California • The Farm as Therapy

HOW TO: Grow Good, Safe Food

3. Fairview Gardens and the Center for Urban Agriculture, Santa Barbara, California • The Historic Farm

HOW TO: Plant Perennial Fruit Trees in the City

4. Denver Urban Gardens, Denver, Colorado • The Garden as Community

HOW TO: Turn Your Waste into Black Gold Compost

5. Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture, Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri • The Farm for Profit

HOW TO: Access Start-Up Capital for Urban Food Projects

6. Versailles Community, New Orleans, Louisiana • Backyards of Bounty

HOW TO: Develop a Congregational Urban Farm

7. Jones Valley Urban Farm, Birmingham, Alabama • The Education and Production Farm

HOW TO: Engage the Community with Education Programs

8. Greensgrow, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • The Nonprofit, For-Profit Farm

HOW TO: Rehabilitate Contaminated Soils

9. Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, Brooklyn, New York • The Rooftop Farm

HOW TO: Convert Rooftops to Residential Gardens and Urban Farms

10. Catherine Ferguson Academy, Detroit, Michigan • The Alternative Curriculum Farm

HOW TO: Raise Urban Livestock

11. Growing Home's Wood Street Urban Farm, Chicago, Illinois • The Job Training Farm

HOW TO: Extend the Growing Season with Hoop Houses and Greenhouses

12. Sandhill Organics and Prairie Crossing, Grayslake, Illinois • The Peri-urban Farm

HOW TO: Start an Urban Farm

Conclusion by Edwin Marty

Acknowledgments

Bibliography