I remember going to Haiti when I was in third grade and was just fascinated by the presence of farm animals living among the people. Of course today I recognize this type of environment as both potential public health and environmental hazard, however, as a little girl the idea of little goats and pigs readily available pet throughout the neighborhood was my fantasy. The term "urban agriculture," initially seemed to be an oxymoron because I never imagined agriculture occurring in an urban environment.
Nonetheless, urban farming frightens me just a bit. Land use and property values have an undeniable relationship with one another. Thus, I am concerned about the potential outcome of urban agriculture to existing and future housing development for the poor. The article co-written by Professor Butler analyzed livestock in municipalities, with Tallahassee being one of the sampled locations. What interest me most from the list of cities, was the fact none of them were truly (forgive me Tallahasseeans) large urban cities except maybe Kansas City, San Antonio, and Seattle. How can something like this be implemented in New York City with limited green spaces? How do municipalities intend to control the waste products of livestock in cities? A recent trip to Wakulla Springs informed me that pets are very detrimental to a local/regional cycle as their wastes consists of nitrates, an extremely hazardous toxin to the environment, to be more particular, drinking water. While nitrates are great for fertilizing grass, they do not belong near water sources.
What goes up, must come down; so with that being said: what can planners do to assess the long term and short term impacts to the environment and public health?
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