Urban Farming

Rapid ubanization has been a fact of life as far back as we can remember. As the population increases, more and more people flock to urban economic centers in the hopes of forging a better life for themselves. The sleepy farmland of 20 years ago could be the sprawling suburb or commercial center of today.

In fact, militaries across the world have recognized the impact that rapid urbanization would have on military operations. It is estimated that 75% of the world's population currently live in urban areas. This is why Military Operations in Urban Terrain (or MOUT for short) is in the forefront of military training and planning. It describes the military doctrine and tactics to be used when attacking or defending an urbanized area.

Within this environment of increased competition for resources plus the current global economic uncertainty, different households are increasingly turning towards backyard farms or what I'd like to call urban farms in order to supplement their daily food supply and decrease their food expenses. It's also a good idea given the prevalence of pesticide use and GMO produce in some countries.

Aside from making households less dependent on public markets, urban farming also makes them more resilient in situations that would affect food supply such as typhoon-devasted farmlands, transport strikes or rising fuel costs. Those living in condominiums or high-rise apartments face a greater challenge in terms of growing their own food, but enterprising families have made do with growing tomatoes or other small plants in pots scattered in the terrace.

Given the economic times and the increasing spate of natural disasters that are affecting food growing regions, it makes sense for more and more households to take advantage of any idle patches of land within their property. In fact, a lot of households also make use of any empty lots that may be beside their property. After all, the empty lots are not doing much good to anyone, so might as well use it for growing food. It also doesn't take a lot of money to throw seeds in the area so it's not as much of an economic loss if the lot owner finally decides to construct something on the lot. Of course, it's best to get official approval from the empty lot's owner although this is not always possible.

Some of the more common, nutritious yet hardy crops to grace urban farms are the malunggay (moringa) tree and the kamote (sweet potato) plant. Just these two vegetables already pack a lot of nutrients and are relatively easy to grow and maintain. Papaya and banana trees are also a common sight in urban farms although more enterprising "farmers" add a variety of other vegetables such as okra, tomatoes, lettuce and others. It's entirely up to the creativity and industriousness of the urban farmer.

In case you may decide to put up your own urban farm, also consider growing simple medicinal plants. Pancit-pancitan is good for gout attacks; makahiya, a common weed, is supposed to be good for arthritis and UTI; tanlad (lemongrass) is good in regulating blood pressure; citronella is a good anti-mosquito grass; speaking of mosquitos, the tawa-tawa plant (snake weed) is said to be effective against dengue. Mr. Ramon Tan, President of Carica Philippines, is said to be an advocate of the tawa-tawa plant and I heard that Carica Philippines is giving away tawa-tawa plants for FREE every Saturday (this needs to be confirmed).

However which way you look at it, urban farming seems to be the trend of the future. Even if one household growing their own food may not seem like much, if almost all the households within a certain community start growing their own food, it will definitely have an effect on their private food supply. Neighbors can cooperate with growing and maintaining the vegetables and even trade produce with other neighbors. Aside from the immediate benefit of bartering, it also fosters a sense of community spirit and cooperation that can only be beneficial during times of hardship.