Could urban farming feed the world?

"In 1982, artist Agnes Denes planted 2.2 acres of wheat on waste ground in New York's Battery Park, near the recently completed World Trade Center. The towers soared over a golden field, as if dropped into Andrew Wyeth's bucolic painting Christina's World. Denes's Wheatfield: A Confrontation was a challenge to what she called a powerful paradox: the absurdity of hunger in a wealthy world."

"The global population in 1982 was 4.6 billion. By 2050, it will be more than double that, and the prospect of feeding everyone looks uncertain. Food insecurity already affects 2.3 billion people. Covid-19 and extreme weather have revealed the fragility of the food system. Denes was called a prophet for drawing attention to ecological breakdown decades before widespread public awareness. But perhaps she was prophetic, too, in foreseeing how we would feed ourselves."

"In the 1970s and 80s, the green guerrilla movement farmed hundreds of vacant lots across Manhattan. In the 1990s, the UN recognised urban agriculture as crucial to development. During the Syrian civil war, citizens of besieged eastern Ghouta farmed mushrooms in their basements. The pandemic spurred a brief urban farming boom, with 4.5bn invested in vertical farming startups in 2021. Many folded as the world emerged from lockdown, suggesting the UA bubble had burst."

Agnes Denes planted 2.2 acres of wheat on waste ground in New York's Battery Park in 1982, juxtaposing skyscrapers and a golden field. The work highlighted the absurdity of hunger amid wealth. Global population rose from 4.6 billion in 1982 and is projected to more than double by 2050, while 2.3 billion people already experience food insecurity. Covid-19 and extreme weather exposed vulnerabilities in the food system. Urban agriculture spans vertical farming, hydroponics, aeroponics, aquaponics, and guerrilla gardening. Historical precedents include victory gardens, Manhattan vacant-lot farming, UN recognition in the 1990s, wartime and siege farming, and a pandemic-driven investment boom that collapsed. New research centers and urban farms are emerging worldwide.

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