“Building knowledge in urban agriculture: the challenges of local food production in São Paulo and Melbourne”

Urban agriculture as a creative response to the climate crisis

By José Tadeu Arantes
Agência FAPESP
2024-07-17

Excerpt:

“We compared urban agriculture in São Paulo, Brazil, and Melbourne, Australia. Its complexion in these two cities is very different. In Melbourne, it’s linked to public health strategies such as promoting exercise and other activities to control overweight and combat obesity. In São Paulo, it’s either socio-educational and run by volunteers along agri-ecological lines, as in the case of Horta das Corujas in Vila Madalena, or for income generation, mainly in outlying southern and eastern suburbs,” Lourenço said.

In Melbourne, he added, urban agriculture is conducted on both public or private land, and may be individual or communal in nature. In either case, it is regulated by policy guidelines defining the areas where community gardens, orchards, urban farms and so on can be established, and recommending precautions such as testing the soil for contamination. Users of shared spaces pay a monthly subscription fee. No such model exists in São Paulo.

“A conspicuous aspect of urban agriculture in São Paulo is that initiatives appear and disappear very quickly. Because they’re run by volunteers, they’re easier to begin than to continue. The exceptions involve a leader who’s deeply committed. An example is Neide Rigo, a nutritionist, food consultant and influencer who publishes a blog called ‘Come-se’ and cares for a highly successful community garden in City Lapa [a São Paulo neighborhood]. One of her contributions is the promotion of ‘non-conventional crops’, which are plants that can withstand adverse weather better than most and provide important nutritional options in a time of climate change,” Lourenço said.

Creativity is a difference that gives São Paulo a boost, he added. Things are more organized in Melbourne, while innovative solutions predominate in São Paulo. “The Australian co-authors were excited by São Paulo’s organic agriculture initiatives,” he said.

Read the complete article here.