Agrihood

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Agritopia, an agrihood in Gilbert, Arizona Gardening lots for rent at Agritopia.jpg
Agritopia, an agrihood in Gilbert, Arizona

An agrihood is a type of planned community that integrates agriculture into a residential neighborhood. The purpose is to facilitate food production as well as provide green space, recreation, aesthetics and value for a community. [1]

Contents

The Urban Land Institute defines agrihoods as "single-family, multifamily, or mixed-use communities built with a working farm or community garden as a focus." [2]

The earliest [3] use of the term "agri-hood" was back in 2009 by Dr Alec Thornton, in a journal article "Garden of Eden? The impact of resettlement on squatters' 'agri-hoods' in Fiji,", which explores the rise of food gardens in low-income settlements in Fiji. In 2014, "agrihood" was adopted by Southern California-based development company Rancho Mission Viejo LLC as a marketing trademark to target affluent millennials who wanted housing closer to fresh food. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Agrihoods are based around the concept of integrating farms and gardens into neighborhoods, allowing for the development of residential neighborhoods that have a rural feel. [1] Integrating agriculture into neighborhoods also allows for communities to supply themselves with locally produced food.

Real estate developers may find that introducing agriculture to their planned communities has a lower initial cost than typically offered amenities such as golf courses or swimming pools, and sets the development apart from the competition. [8] [9] However, developers have also discovered that running an agricultural project is not necessarily easy, inexpensive or risk-free. The best results have come from hiring agricultural staff to run the operations, rather than allowing residents free-access and free-roam of the operation. [10] [8]

As of May 2020, there were 90 agrihoods in the United States according to the Urban Land Institute. [8] [11]

There are over 100 agrihoods in the United States according to Building the Agrihood. [12]

Urban agrihood

Some community gardens in established urban neighborhoods and urban agricultural projects have used the term "agrihood" to describe their operations. Their purposes are to reduce food insecurity and to provide fresh food resources in urban food deserts. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agritourism</span> Tourism involving agriculture

Agritourism or agrotourism involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including direct-to-consumer sales such as farm stands and u-pick, agricultural education through school visits, hospitality services like overnight farm stays, recreational activities such as hunting and horseback riding, and entertainment events like hayrides and harvest dinners. These activities provide an additional source of income for farmers and help sustain small-scale farms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community-supported agriculture</span> Type of sharing system for food production and distribution

Community-supported agriculture or cropsharing is a system that connects producers and consumers within the food system closer by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the harvest of a certain farm or group of farms. It is an alternative socioeconomic model of agriculture and food distribution that allows the producer and consumer to share the risks of farming. The model is a subcategory of civic agriculture that has an overarching goal of strengthening a sense of community through local markets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban agriculture</span> Farming in cities and urban areas

Urban agriculture refers to various practices of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in urban areas. The term also applies to the area activities of animal husbandry, aquaculture, beekeeping, and horticulture in an urban context. Urban agriculture is distinguished from peri-urban agriculture, which takes place in rural areas at the edge of suburbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victory garden</span> Private food supply gardens in the World Wars

Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany during World War I and World War II. In wartime, governments encouraged people to plant victory gardens not only to supplement their rations but also to boost morale. They were used along with rationing stamps and cards to reduce pressure on the food supply. Besides indirectly aiding the war effort, these gardens were also considered a civil "morale booster" in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens a part of daily life on the home front.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Oakland, Oakland, California</span> Neighbourhood in Oakland, California

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Rancho Mission Viejo is an active 23,000 acres (9,300 ha) ranch and farm, habitat reserve, residential community, and census-designated place in South Orange County, California. Rancho Mission Viejo originated as a series of land grants to John Forster in 1845. The remaining part of Rancho Mission Viejo consists of a nearly 17,000-acre (6,900 ha) nature reserve and multiple residential communities slated to open in phases between 2010 and 2030. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 10,378.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community gardening</span> Type of horticulture and food production

A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plot and the yielding or the production of which belongs to the individual. In collective gardens the piece of land is not divided. A group of people cultivate it together and the harvest belongs to all participants. Around the world, community gardens exist in various forms, it can be located in the proximity of neighborhoods or on balconies and rooftops. Its size can vary greatly from one to another.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hobby farm</span> Farm maintained for recreational purposes

A hobby farm is a smallholding or small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income. Some are held simply to bring homeowners closer to nature, to provide recreational land for horses, or as working farms for secondary income.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban horticulture</span> Science of growing plants in urban environments

Urban horticulture is the science and study of the growing plants in an urban environment. It focuses on the functional use of horticulture so as to maintain and improve the surrounding urban area. Urban horticulture has seen an increase in attention with the global trend of urbanization and works to study the harvest, aesthetic, architectural, recreational and psychological purposes and effects of plants in urban environments.

Urban homesteading can refer to several different things: programs by local, state, and federal agencies in the USA who work to help get people into city homes, squatting, practicing urban agriculture, or practicing sustainable living techniques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community gardening in the United States</span>

Community gardens in the United States benefit both gardeners and society at large. Community gardens provide fresh produce to gardeners and their friends and neighbors. They provide a place of connection to nature and to other people. In a wider sense, community gardens provide green space, a habitat for insects and animals, sites for gardening education, and beautification of the local area. Community gardens provide access to land to those who otherwise could not have a garden, such as apartment-dwellers, the elderly, and the homeless. Many gardens resemble European allotment gardens, with plots or boxes where individuals and families can grow vegetables and flowers, including a number which began as victory gardens during World War II. Other gardens are worked as community farms with no individual plots at all, similar to urban farms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North End, Detroit</span> Cultural enclave and neighborhoods in Wayne, Michigan, United States

The North End is a neighborhood located in Detroit, Michigan. It is located in the Woodward Corridor, a densely populated region along Woodward Avenue that stretches from Downtown Detroit to the suburb of Pontiac. The North End has been home to several development initiatives, seen by many as an area for future development extending from Downtown and Midtown.

The Food Justice Movement is a grassroots initiative which emerged in response to food insecurity and economic pressures that prevent access to healthy, nutritious, and culturally appropriate foods. The food justice movement moves beyond increasing food availability and works to address the root cause of unequal access to adequate nutrition. Like other Environmental Justice initiatives, the Food Justice Movement advocates for rights-based solutions that identify the underlying human rights that allow individuals to achieve adequate food security and nutrition. This differs from policy-based solutions that focus on food availability and affordability by increasing food production or lowering the cost of food.

Keep Growing Detroit is an organization dedicated to food sovereignty and community engagement in the cities of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park. Founded in 2013, the program designs and implements initiatives that promote the practice of urban agriculture as a mode of food justice for underrepresented communities, particularly those who do not have access to healthy food options. The goals of Keep Growing Detroit are to educate and empower community members using urban agricultural practices. Programs such as the Garden Resource Program and Grown in Detroit served as catalysts, laying the foundation for Keep Growing Detroit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Fiji</span> Unauthorized occupation of land or buildings in Fiji

Squatting in Fiji is defined as being "a resident of a dwelling which is illegal according to planning by-laws regardless of whether the landowner has given consent". As of 2018, an estimated 20% of the total population was squatting, including people living on land owned by indigenous clans with informal permission. Most squatters are on the larger islands such as Vanua Levu and Viti Levu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Venezuela</span> Occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without permission of owner

Squatting in Venezuela is the occupation of derelict buildings or unused land without the permission of the owner. Informal settlements, known first as "ranchos" and then "barrios", are common. In the capital Caracas notable squats have included the 23 de Enero housing estate, Centro Financiero Confinanzas and El Helicoide, a former shopping centre which is now a notorious prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in the Philippines</span> Occupation of derelict land or abandoned buildings

Urban areas in the Philippines such as Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao have large informal settlements. The Philippine Statistics Authority defines a squatter, or alternatively "informal dwellers", as "One who settles on the land of another without title or right or without the owner's consent whether in urban or rural areas". Squatting is criminalized by the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, also known as the Lina Law. There have been various attempts to regularize squatter settlements, such as the Zonal Improvement Program and the Community Mortgage Program. In 2018, the Philippine Statistics Authority estimated that out of the country's population of about 106 million, 4.5 million were homeless.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Thailand</span> Occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without permission of owner

Squatting in Thailand was traditionally permissible under customary law and adverse possession can occur after ten years of continuous occupation. As of 2015, the capital Bangkok had over 2 million squatters, out of a population of around 10 million. A survey of slums across the country noted in 2000 that most were rented not squatted; Khlong Toei District in Bangkok contains both squatters and tenants. There are also squatters in rural areas. The 1975 Agricultural Land Reform Act aimed to redistribute land to poor people under the Sor Por Kor program and as of 2019, 36 million rai of land had been assigned.

Urban agriculture is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around urban areas. It is the growing of fresh produce within the city for individual, communal, or commercial purposes in cities in both developed and developing countries.

References

  1. 1 2 Giacobbe, Alyssa (September 27, 2017). "Inside the "Agrihood" Residential Real-Estate Boom". Architectural Digest . Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  2. "Agrihoods: Cultivating Best Practices" (PDF). Urban Land Institute. 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
  3. Thornton, A. (2009). Garden of Eden? The impact of resettlement on squatters' 'agri-hoods' in Fiji. Development in Practice, 19(7), 884–894. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520903122311
  4. 1 2 Adams, Biba (November 5, 2019). "In Detroit, A New Type of Agricultural Neighborhood Has Emerged". Yes! Magazine . Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  5. "AGRIHOOD Trademark of Rancho Mission Viejo LLC - Registration Number 5150657 - Serial Number 87102725". Justia Trademarks . Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  6. Loudenback, Tanza (October 30, 2017). "Rich millennials are ditching the golf communities of their parents for a new kind of neighborhood". Business Insider . Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  7. White, Meg (April 26, 2017). "Inside the Agrihood Trend". Realtor Magazine . Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 Brass, Kevin (October 7, 2019). "What Does the Farmer Say about Agrihoods?". Urban Land Magazine . Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  9. Erbentraut, Joseph (August 17, 2015). "'Agrihoods' Offer Suburban Living Built Around Community Farms, Not Golf Courses". Huffington Post . Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  10. Albright, Mary Beth (June 23, 2014). "It's a Beautiful Day in the Agrihood". National Geographic . Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  11. More, Melissa Erickson (May 12, 2020). "It's a beautiful day in the agrihood". Gillette News-Record . Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  12. "Building the Agrihood". Building the Agrihood. Retrieved March 8, 2022.

Further reading