Policy Research

The second green revolution: Innovative urban agriculture's contribution to food security and sustainability – A review

Dian T. Armanda, Jeroen B. Guinee, Arnold Tukker

Summary

Since 2010 urban agriculture has been changing into more innovative urban agriculture, starting what many call the Second Green Revolution. This could be a way of meeting growing demand for food and contributing to food security and environmental sustainability. These innovations are defined in the study by involving at least one technological innovation, including things such as indoor agriculture, vertical agriculture, and soilless agriculture. This practice of urban agriculture contributes to food security by stabilizing local food production and are more sustainable in the sense that it will reduce the miles traveled by food, however all of this innovation may be more about bells and whistles than it is increasing desired outcomes.

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Policy Implications

The US is currently the global leader of Urban Agriculture however there is still lots of room for growth. The increase of innovation in urban agriculture will continue to increase the amount of local agriculture that is accessible to people as well as fill the gap of fresh produce due to food desserts in many US cities. Globally, this could also empower more urban poor to become subsistence farmers and grow produce for personal use for less cost than buying. The issue is however that more traditional urban agriculture will likely be better for outcomes of food security and environmental sustainability, however more. Research is needed to solidify this claim. There has been a lot of praise for urban agriculture in Detroit in particular and this is a trend that should continue to grow in the coming years.