EPA Brownfield Conference 2009

It was so appropriate for the EPA to hold their Brownfield Conference in New Orleans this year.  Urban agriculture was on the agenda.  I was invited by Ann Carroll out of D.C. as she heads up a new program called “How Does Your Garden Grow?”  The aim is to get cities to clean-up brownfields and turn them into productive gardens.  The Department of Labor has classified urban agriculture as “green jobs” that qualify for job training funds.

Federal agencies are making great efforts to work together and maximize impact with their funding.  For so long, the built environment and transportation have been the focal point of reducing environmental degradation without addressing food systems.  Now, there is the epiphany among planners, city, state and federal officials that we have to fix the food system as we build appropriate houses and offices with appropriate transportation.

Could we now have the awakening that fixing our food system is the same way to fix health care?

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