Why Urban Farming is the Future

The first odd thing about Cam Macdonald’s Mt. Pleasant lawn is that it isn’t a lawn. It’s a farm.

Standing out amid the typical suburban sea of grass patches are his potatoes, carrots, beats, peas, shallots, squash, parsnips and more — enough to have given food to 70 people by the beginning of July.

The second odd thing is that it isn’t even Cam’s yard. It belongs to Heidi Gigler and Jug Sidhu, a non-gardening couple who heard about Cam’s soul search for right livelihood last year and agreed to let him pursue it by turning their turf into food.

Does this small but significant act of land karma represent the beginning of a profound challenge to our very notions of private property and home ownership? Or is it just a simple way for a few more people to eat a little more food from where they live — a driving force behind the soaring popularity of urban agriculture?

In any case, it’s working. Cam is on his way to what could become a career, and the couple are thrilled with the look and taste of their front yard. “The problem,” said Heidi, “is it’s hard to keep up with the food.”

The Tyee