Urban Farming is one solution to agricultural emissions. Approximately 30 percent of Greenhouse Gas emissions are from agriculture and the food system, so finding ways to drastically reduce emissions is in this sector is key. Urban farms often feed local residents, which eliminates much of the emissions produced by transportation. They are also often farmed agroecologically, which is a kind of agriculture that promotes environmentally sustainable and socially just farming practices. For a transcript, please visit https://climatebreak.org/urban-farming-with-paul-bernstein/
For a transcript, please visit https://climatebreak.org/urban-farming-with-paul-bernstein/
Ethan: Can urban agriculture help solve climate change? This is Ethan Elkind from Climate Break. I spoke with Paul Bernstein, a volunteer at Gill Tract Farm in Albany, California about how urban farming can store carbon while providing fresh food. The Gill Tract is UC Berkeley owned land that has been left undeveloped for local volunteers, as Berstein describes.
Mr. Bernstein: Before COVID, we'd open the gates and whoever wanted to come in during those hours we were there could come, participate in the farm, help grow food, harvest some for their dinner. And also participate in things like our weekly farm stand, where we distribute to the broader community.
Ethan: More green matter in urban spaces means more carbon stored in plants and soil instead of trapping heat in our atmosphere. And many urban farms follow sustainable practices that release less carbon than conventional agriculture, like non-till or no-till farming. That’s when farmers don’t plow the soil after harvest.
Mr. Bernstein: Because that releases carbon and it also destroys the natural soil structure that develops on agricultural land, the web of microorganisms that live there and all the other living things.
Ethan: Because the food sector contributes to approximately 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, practices like these are key. To learn more about how to support the Gill Tract or start your own urban farm, visit climatebreak.org or wherever you get your podcasts.