BACK TO THE FUTURE

  In the olden times when population was minuscule, one person used to be extremely popular in every village or for that matter every settlement during the time. He was the medic with whom everyone consulted their health problems. As time passed by legal systems came into existence. There came another popular figure with whom people started to engage. This was the legal representative for communities. Moving further ahead, government implied policies and taxes. Anyone who earned money had to pay taxes. The citizens started discussing tax benefits with a person who knew his numbers and used to keep books. As people progressed in life they were getting health conscious. They started receiving health tips from knowledgeable nutritionists and gym trainers followed suit.

  All the important people mentioned above are today called the doctors, lawyers, accountants, dieticians and fitness trainers. In today’s world people who live in urban settlements have their own family doctors, know accountants from whom they seek their income tax advice, some unfortunate people who face legal issues know their lawyers. Families hire nutritionist whom they either know or are referenced by someone close to the family. Same goes for fitness trainers. Most families have Sunday luncheons at a restaurant they have been visiting for years. It becomes their family restaurant. The list could go on with the number of professionals associated with one family. There is a certain trust and comfort level built over the years with these people from different professions. Though people associate with these professionals mostly occurs during crunch hour.

  Generations have gone by and there is one profession we have easily ignored to associate with; farming & FARMERS. Back in the day majority of the communities were closely knit and knew where the produce was coming from. Today in an urbanized world most of the population doesn’t know where their produce is grown. We don’t know who are our farmers. They are the ones we should be associated with. Crunch time or no crunch time we need them every day. Every family needs a farmer.

  One would argue with why should someone know their farmer. And the answer to that is you should know how your produce is grown. At the end of the day you are consuming it. Also, one of the biggest reasons is that farming and agriculture are a back bone to many economies in the world. U.S president Obama in conjunction with U.S department of Agriculture has started a campaign called “Know your farmer, know your food” (KYF2). There is an abundance of information on the net about why you should know your farmers.

As much as we would like to know our farmers, it is difficult to know them since we are soaked with other issues in life. This post is to give an insight to everyone in my small way on why we should be our own farmers.

  As mentioned earlier there should be a certain level of trust with everyone to conduct our business. One could trust himself more than anyone else when one can grow his own produce and for own consumption. Growing your own produce in your own backyard is called urban farming. Now, urban farming is not an alien phenomenon. It has been a topic of discussion for years and many people are engaging with the activity. Why urban farming is important?

Source: https://prezi.com/fhtbjn1qeowi/urban-farming/

  You grow your own produce; produce of your own choice. One can change the produce as per season as per own likeability. Reduce the embodied energy attached to bringing food from farm to your home. Conserving resources in process. You reduce urban heat island effect. Add greenery to the cities and prevent harmful run offs. Of course while engaging in urban farming one should always use organic methods to keep it environmentally sustainable.

  One of the main reasons one should start urban farming is the rapid urbanisation. The statisticians are predicting that by 2050 two – thirds of the population is going to live in the cities. According to the UN, the urban population by 2045 is going to reach 6 billion and rural population will be 3.1 billion in 2050 reducing from 3.4 billion in 2014. Now, farming is traditionally a rural profession and might remain so to feed a staggering number of 10 billion people. If we have influx of people coming to the city and the rural population declining, who is going to farm our lands in the future? Post 2050 the rural population is only going to decline.  With the advancement in technology we might have robotic farming. But the future is blur in those terms.

  I can only propose to engage in urban farming. Get back to barter system. Trade different fruits and vegetable with friends and neighbours in the community just like old times. This is one of the safest sustainable urbanism activities for the future.

References:

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=KYF_MISSION

Howard, B. C. (n.d.). Urban Farming Is Growing a Green Future. Retrieved from National Geography: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com.au/environment/photos/urban-farming/#/earth-day-urban-farming-new-york-rooftop_51631_600x450.jpg

The United Nations. (2014, July 10). World’s population increasingly urban with more than half living in urban areas. Retrieved from The United Nations Web site: http://www.un.org/