This sounds like a great idea. There’s so much that urban agriculture *could* do. Yes there is. And there is a much shorter list of why it won’t work that comes to one word. People.

We’ve started where we were, growing to a level to be able to move onto a larger property. The “great ideas” and “support” turned into one actual signup. So it doesn’t look like, for the time being, land is reachable. But we can do what we can where we’re at right?! That’s what we’ve been doing. Urban agriculture, after all, is the wave of the future.

The problem is in an urban area there are more people. More people mean more people to complain. Noise, even of hens. Traffic. Manure, compost, or just the fact that it’s there! After all how much noise and disturbances do rabbits make?

Like solar, wind and other great ideas, urban agriculture depends on those around it. The availability of clean land, the ability of meeting the challenges while at the same time watching a careful balance of productivity, water control, air control and soil health. The difficulty in finding manure for compost is one of the things manure from the birds and rabbits is appreciated…it keeps our garden areas fertile.

Not all appreciate outdoor keeping of stock. Increasingly, in rural and urban areas, they must be inside for their own protection and to keep a low profile, enabling the enterprise to continue.

The sad thing is, all agriculture depends on the majority, and if there are complaints it affects large and small alike. For too many, just seeing animals is objectionable, a compost pile is automatically a source of smell and flies.

While we can keep our places clean, changing the minds of the public is more difficult. It may not be your food choice today, but are you sure what tomorrow holds?