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posted by martyb on Wednesday February 13 2019, @08:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the Balconies-and-roofs dept.

Phys.org:

Urban farming has grown by more than 30 percent in the United States in the past 30 years. Although it has been estimated that urban agriculture can meet 15 to 20 percent of global food demand, it remains to be seen what level of food self-sufficiency it can realistically ensure for cities.

One recent survey found that 51 countries do not have enough urban area to meet a recommended nutritional target of 300 grams per person per day of fresh vegetables. Moreover, it estimated, urban agriculture would require 30 percent of the total urban area of those countries to meet global demand for vegetables. Land tenure issues and urban sprawl could make it hard to free up this much land for food production.

Is urban farming a pipe dream, or can appropriating vacant lots for traditional farming or employing hydroponics make it work?


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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday February 14 2019, @03:57AM (2 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday February 14 2019, @03:57AM (#800871) Journal

    People buy and eat mushrooms, so there could be value in growing them in a city. And it's probably the most practical option out of all of the things urban farming can produce.

    100 grams of mushrooms [google.com] has some potassium, fiber, and protein, some traces of vitamins, and some unproven compounds [nytimes.com]. I'd have no problem eating a pound of them every day, cooked or raw, and I can get it as cheap as around $1.20-$1.50/lb sometimes. 1 lb of white mushrooms would provide around 27% DV of protein, 40% DV of potassium, and 18% DV of fiber, in just 100 calories (based on Google link).

    We had a story about blending mushrooms with ground beef in hamburgers [soylentnews.org]. It's not something I've done (I don't eat a lot of beef), and it does lower the overall protein content, but the calorie reduction could be helpful and the taste combo [wikipedia.org] is good.

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  • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday February 15 2019, @01:51AM (1 child)

    by Reziac (2489) on Friday February 15 2019, @01:51AM (#801333) Homepage

    A pound of mushrooms per day might not be such a good idea. Even some (maybe all) edible mushrooms contain toxins, and they may be cumulative.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4206786/ [nih.gov]

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