london yields

In recent years the notion of urban agriculture has been gaining increased currency. Triggered by concerns about food prices, food miles and the environment it is also a response to the desire to live healthier, more sustainable lives. Despite good intentions, large-scale examples are hard to find however recent initiatives such as London Food promise much.




Can we reduce our reliance on imported food?
Where is the investment going to come from?
How can we change consumer spending habits and promote fresh food?
Do we need to be at the brink of catastrophe before urban agriculture is widely implemented?

two conferences are being held rather close together to begin addressing the questions above and dreaming new responses to these implications. one was held on may 27 and has a great review on bldgblog under london yields harvested and i recently stumbled upon another conference to be held on july 1 first called london's conference on urban farming that seeks to build conversation on the same topics...

here's an excerpt from london yields: urban agriculture;

In 2007 Lord Cameron of Dillington, first head of the Countryside Agency, famously remarked Britain was ‘nine meals away from anarchy.’ Our food supply is almost totally dependent on oil (95% of the food we eat is oil-dependent) and if the oil supply to Britain were suddenly cut off Lord Cameron estimated it would take just three full days before law and order broke down. We rely on a particularly vulnerable system. Britain needs to seriously invest in agriculture infrastructure if we are to avoid food crisis.

Cities are the most likely to feel the effects of any food shortages. In 2000 consultants Best Foot Forward estimated that Londoners consumed 6.9 million tonnes of food per year, of which 81% came from outside the UK. With a weakening pound importing food has become increasingly expensive. The transformation of cities from consumers of food to generators of agricultural products not only increases food security but contributes to sustainability, improved health and poverty alleviation.

This exhibition demonstrates various methods by which food production can be incorporated into the urban environment at both an industrial and domestic level. We hope to help stimulate the debate and raise public awareness of our increasingly fragile relationship with the food on which we rely on and the method of bringing it to our table.