Today’s guest post comes from Marina Salsbury and is a contributing writer for onlinephdprograms.net.

Urban farming is a growing movement in America as people try to rediscover their roots and practice more sustainable lifestyles. Community gardens and urban agriculture programs are cropping up; more and more people are starting to keep small livestock in their backyards, such as chickens and rabbits; and colleges are starting to get involved. Even as college education turns more to technological developments like digital textbooks and online classes, some schools are also facilitating students’ access to plain old dirt and encouraging interest in natural, sustainable, and local agriculture.

The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington has formed a group called Evergreen Community Gardens. Founded in 1982, the group is active in the community by organizing workshops and work-parties, and providing five acres of gardening space to Evergreen students as well as the greater community of Olympia. They emphasize organic and eco-friendly farming practices as well as the importance of local food systems.
 Saint Michael’s College in Vermont is another college that has established an organic garden for students to use. Only organic growing practices are allowed and students get to participate and grow their own food. This program is new, just formed in the summer of 2008.

Urban farming is becoming more popular, but due to zoning issues in many cities it can be difficult and even illegal to keep chickens, rabbits, or other livestock. Some places even put restrictions on zoning for garden sizes. A woman in Michigan was facing misdemeanor charges this summer for having a vegetable garden in her front yard. While it’s beneficial to have a garden or raise chickens for eggs or meat, city zoning laws can present a serious issue.

Neighbors are another issue, especially if you are raising your own meat. Some neighbors find their patience tried just by having regular college students next door, and might not like the thought of rabbits or chickens being slaughtered, or the noise they might make regularly. Opposed neighbors might cause problems by summoning animal control or a code enforcer, and some have even been known to misleadingly tip off animal rights activists to make trouble for urban farmers. College students thinking about getting into any kind of urban agriculture or raising livestock should talk to their neighbors to make sure they’re fine with it. 
Another option particularly well-suited for students is to set up a co-op with family and friends where everyone chips in for feed and shares the bounty when harvest time comes. Of course, with a co-op there can be difficulty determining what’s a fair share for someone to take home. Members of co-ops should either pay a flat rate or contribute evenly in order to get their fair shares. People in co-ops also might not always agree on how things are done. When forming or joining a co-op, be sure to have all the terms agreed upon up front so there are no misunderstandings later down the road. 

All difficulties aside, the benefits and rewards of urban farming outweigh everything. To be able to know exactly what you are eating and how it was grown and harvested is what makes it all worth it. The flexibility of being a college student presents an excellent opportunity to explore urban agricultural practices, and organized farming or gardening groups at some colleges offer prime sources of shared expertise and cooperative support for students looking to get started. College is the time for learning how to live as well as whatever else one studies, and what better way to do that than getting back to the real basics: the earth and good food.

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