User:S an editor/warinya ej urban ag

Environmental Justice in Urban agriculture

Urban agriculture may advance environmental justice and food justice for communities living in food deserts. First, urban agriculture may reduce racial and class disparities in access to healthy food. When urban agriculture leads to locally grown, fresh produce sold at affordable prices in food deserts, access to healthy food is not only a luxury for those who live in wealthy areas, thereby leading to greater equity in rich and poor neighborhoods.

Improved access to food through urban agriculture can also help alleviate psychosocial stresses in poor communities. Community members engaged in urban agriculture improve local knowledge about healthy ways to fulfill dietary needs. Urban agriculture can also better the mental health of community members. Buying and selling quality products between local producers and consumers allows community members to support one another, which may reduce stress. Thus, urban agriculture can help improve conditions in poor communities, where residents undergo higher levels of stress due to hopeless caused by a lack of control over the quality of their lives.

Urban agriculture may improve the livability and built environment in communities that lack supermarkets and other infrastructure due to the presence of high unemployment caused by deindustrialization. Urban farmers who follow sustainable agriculture methods can not only help to build local food system infrastructure, but can also contribute to improving local air, and water and soil quality. When agricultural products are produced locally within the community, they do not need to be transported, which reduces CO2 emission rates and other pollutants that contribute to high rates of asthma in lower socioeconomic areas. Sustainable urban agriculture can also promote worker protection and consumer rights. For example, communities in New York, Richmond, and Illinois have demonstrated improvements to their local environments through urban agricultural practices.

However, urban agriculture can also present urban growers with health risks if the soil used for urban farming is contaminated. Although local produce is often believed to be clean and healthy, many urban farmers ranging from New York urban farmer Frank Meushke to Presidential First Lady Michelle Obama have found their produce contained high levels of lead, due to soil contamination, which is harmful to human health when consumed. The soil contaminated with high lead levels often originates from old house paint containing lead, vehicle exhaust, or atmospheric deposition. Without proper education on the risks of urban farming and safe practices, urban consumers of urban agricultural produce may face additional health related issues