Urban agriculture has the potential to contribute solutions to multiple contemporary issues, including food security, sustainable development, and climate change mitigation.  The Northeast United States is an excellent region to serve as a research testbed to examine the dimensions of urban agriculture and the potential that urban agriculture poses.  The region is a microcosm of urban agricultural issues found across the country: dense population, small land area, large cities, and diverse peoples.  Further, the Northeast has a significant concentration of Land-grant Universities and Experiment Stations.  Institutional proximity (to each other and to urban areas) constitutes a powerful, accessible intellectual framework.  Leveraging the research capabilities and outreach expertise of the regional Land-grant Universities and Experiment Stations is a powerful approach to addressing the challenges of urban agriculture.

While the challenges faced by urban agriculture in the Northeast are multidimensional, they are not intractable.  The challenges include: equality and equity surrounding information access and understanding on the part of growers, access to growing space (ownership of space and long-term use), soil suitability, natural resource management, economic viability, agricultural sustainability, and access to growing resources.  We propose to examine these challenges, and in doing so, lead research efforts that seek to expand urban agriculture and explore strategies to increase community engagement, promote equitable development of urban agriculture sites, ensure food sovereignty, and provide sustainability of urban agri-food systems.

Our project has four objectives dedicated to: examining how the regulatory environment impacts urban ag; assessing the natural resource inputs for urban ag; identifying the challenges and opportunities for urban ag, farm to table; and determining the human impact of urban ag on community diversity, equity, inclusion, and One Health.  The overarching goal of this multistate project is to assess impact and improve outcomes of urban ag on environmental quality, socioeconomic vitality, food security, and community resilience, and equity.