The back cover proclaims:
“Greenhaven Press’s At Issue series provides a wide range of opinions on individual social issues. Each volume focuses on a specific issue and offers a variety of perspectives…to illuminate the issue.”
My library in Lincoln had a large selection of “Opposing Viewpoints” books (also by Greenhaven Press), and I loved seeing different perspectives on a variety of social issues. Reading the different essays and excerpts in those books stretched my mind and exposed me to a variety of opinions on any given issue. They forced me to look at things from different perspectives. I loved them.
So I was excited to see what appeared to be a book with a similar bent about Urban Farming. I’ve read a few articles about urban farming – and I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading Wichita and Sedgwick County’s municipal codes related to animal husbandry within our (mostly urban) county and city. In general, I’m a fan of gardening and of raising animals to eat. My grandparents were rural farmers and my mother a prodigious in-town gardener. I know of research that suggests that children who help raise vegetables eat more vegetables, so I encourage mothers to try a little gardening with their youngsters (even if it’s just growing herbs on a window sill). So I figured it would be interesting to read more about the pros and cons of Urban Farming.
Unfortunately, Urban Farming did not provide pros and cons. With the exception of one article, all of the articles were unequivocally in support of urban farming, giving a variety of potential benefits (while not giving a whole lot of research on whether those benefits are more than just potential.) Most of the articles were case studies that were fascinating but that fail to provide any substantitive information as to whether urban agriculture should or should not be permitted and/or supported by regulation.
So, if you want to know what supporters of urban farming think, go ahead and read this book. If you want to be challenged to think critically about the issue of urban farming, this is going to be unhelpful. Bummer.
Rating: 2 stars
Category: Contemporary Issues
Synopsis: Urban Farming proponents detail the benefits of urban farming.
Recommendation: The articles inside aren’t bad, but they fail at their stated purpose of “[providing] a wide range of opinions”.