WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Not all of agriculture looks like rolling hillsides or big red barns. While much of American farming remains rural in its location and culture, the agriculture times are changing.
John Nettleton, a senior associate in Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) in New York City explained some of those changes this past fall at an urban agriculture seminar for U.S. Senate and House staff on Capitol Hill. Hiram Larew, a legislative fellow in the office of Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), organized the briefing.
New York City provides a model of cutting-edge efforts in urban farming. Nettleton described how city dwellers and rural producers across America are finding creative ways to get into niche farm-market production and direct marketing. He talked about how these programs work, what is being learned from them that may influence thinking about agriculture in the future and how the upcoming Farm Bill could respond to these changes.
Farmers are producing an array of ethnic and specialty crops to satisfy local demand. Corner-lot farmers' markets are thriving and there is a burgeoning interest in how best to link urban-perimeter farmers with urban markets.
Over the past three years, the number of farmers' market days has doubled in New York City, Nettleton said. Since there is no single, major grocery store chain there, it is easier for producers to enter the grocery trade with a large number of small-scale enterprises. "This situation gives you an in," said Nettleton.
About 60 percent of the children in the New York City public school system have at least one foreign born parent, which provides growers an opportunity to consider new and alternative crops for a multi-ethnic population. For example, upstate growers are experimenting with crops such as bok choy and collard greens, in an effort to directly market to cultural tastes in the city. "This is a growing national trend in a number of metropolitan areas and it's generating increased interest on the part of producers and of the food sector, like restaurants and retail stores," Nettleton said.
Nettleton also explained CCE's role in New York City. By conducting ethnic market research, CCE helps upstate growers understand the urban market, he said. And he discussed the migrant farming initiative in New York City, a CCE program, that introduces urban immigrants (who were farmers in other countries) to nearby growing opportunities. CCE also conducts training and education programs for new farmer development.
"The demand for fresh produce is increasing at a very high rate," said Nettleton. "And for Cornell Cooperative Extension educators in New York City, it's an opportunity to help both urban consumers and rural producers."
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