Farmville, for real
August 21, 20122
By Yael Chanoff
In the next few months, San Francisco will lose some of its most beloved urban farms.
The City Hall victory garden is now reduced to dirt. The grants that kept afloat Quesada Gardens Initiative, which creates community gardens in Bayview, were temporary and are now drying up. Kezar Gardens, funded by the Haight Asbury Neighborhood Council recycling center, is facing eviction by the city.
Time is up for Hayes Valley Farm, on the old freeway ramp, where developers are now ready to build condos.
St. Paulus Lutheran Church has also announced that it wants to sell the land that the Free Farm uses at Eddy and Gough.
"There's the old joke about developers," said Antonio Roman-Alcalá, co-founder of Alemany Farm and the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance. "God must be a developer, because they always seem to get their way."
At the same time, new urban agriculture projects have sprung up across San Francisco. Legislation authored by Sup. David Chiu will create a city Urban Agriculture Program, with the goal of coordinating efforts throughout the city.
So is the movement to grow food in the city progressing? It's a tricky question that gets down to one of the oldest conflicts in San Francisco: The best use of scarce, expensive land.
Read full article here.
By Yael Chanoff
In the next few months, San Francisco will lose some of its most beloved urban farms.
The City Hall victory garden is now reduced to dirt. The grants that kept afloat Quesada Gardens Initiative, which creates community gardens in Bayview, were temporary and are now drying up. Kezar Gardens, funded by the Haight Asbury Neighborhood Council recycling center, is facing eviction by the city.
Time is up for Hayes Valley Farm, on the old freeway ramp, where developers are now ready to build condos.
St. Paulus Lutheran Church has also announced that it wants to sell the land that the Free Farm uses at Eddy and Gough.
"There's the old joke about developers," said Antonio Roman-Alcalá, co-founder of Alemany Farm and the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance. "God must be a developer, because they always seem to get their way."
At the same time, new urban agriculture projects have sprung up across San Francisco. Legislation authored by Sup. David Chiu will create a city Urban Agriculture Program, with the goal of coordinating efforts throughout the city.
So is the movement to grow food in the city progressing? It's a tricky question that gets down to one of the oldest conflicts in San Francisco: The best use of scarce, expensive land.
Read full article here.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
San Francisco Legitimizes Urban Farming
January 27, 2012
By Catherine Adams
San Francisco took a bold step in 2011 further legitimizing urban agriculture in the city. With the passage of the Planning Code Amendment on Urban Agriculture (ordinance 66-11), commercial garden and small farm sites are now legal city-wide. The ordinance received unanimous support from the Board of Supervisors in April before it was approved by Mayor Ed Lee.
This ordinance allows properly permitted and code-abiding gardeners and farmers to sell any produce they grow directly to the public on site. Growers were previously required to haul their bounty to a third party commercial zone, like a farmers market, or sell through a distributor. The permit does not, however, allow for value-added products, such as pickles or jam, or animal products, such as honey and eggs, to be sold at garden sites in residential areas. These products can, however, be sold on production sites within commercial zones. Growers can apply for a permit through the Planning Department for approximately $350.
While the ordinance makes it legal to sell produce directly from a production site, according to Diego R. Sánchez of the city Planning Department, only one application for the new permit has been filed so far. Some growers, however, can start selling produce without a permit. Under the new ordinance, a permit is only required if commercial production is the principle use of the site. Gardeners growing produce primarily for personal use do not need to apply for the new permit.
Read full article here.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Across the Bay Area, Urban Farming is in Season
July 31, 2011
By Lee Romney
In a dense pocket of the Mission Terrace neighborhood, a quiet grid of streets near the city's southern edge, the afternoon fog rolls in over a rare sight: nearly an acre of land sandwiched between homes and planted with kale, exotic salad greens, bursts of flowers and fragrant herbs.
The women who work this plot are pioneers. Their Little City Gardens recently became the first legal commercial farm within city borders. Thanks to them, San Francisco leaders revised zoning laws to allow the cultivation and sale of produce in all neighborhoods.
Read the full article here.
By Lee Romney
In a dense pocket of the Mission Terrace neighborhood, a quiet grid of streets near the city's southern edge, the afternoon fog rolls in over a rare sight: nearly an acre of land sandwiched between homes and planted with kale, exotic salad greens, bursts of flowers and fragrant herbs.
The women who work this plot are pioneers. Their Little City Gardens recently became the first legal commercial farm within city borders. Thanks to them, San Francisco leaders revised zoning laws to allow the cultivation and sale of produce in all neighborhoods.
Read the full article here.
City Welcomes Urban Agriculture
July, 2011
By Mary Purpura
Last April Mayor Ed Lee signed a new ordinance governing urban growing practices in San Francisco. “The ordinance makes it explicitly clear that gardens, commercial and non-commercial, are welcome in San Francisco,” explained Eli Zigas, co-coordinator of the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance, which promotes food growing in the City, and was central in the effort to pass the urban agriculture ordinance. Prior to passage of the law, areas of Chinatown and elsewhere were zoned “neighborhood commercial,” where gardening was prohibited.
Read the full article here.
By Mary Purpura
Last April Mayor Ed Lee signed a new ordinance governing urban growing practices in San Francisco. “The ordinance makes it explicitly clear that gardens, commercial and non-commercial, are welcome in San Francisco,” explained Eli Zigas, co-coordinator of the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance, which promotes food growing in the City, and was central in the effort to pass the urban agriculture ordinance. Prior to passage of the law, areas of Chinatown and elsewhere were zoned “neighborhood commercial,” where gardening was prohibited.
Read the full article here.
'Urban agriculture' takes root with law
April 21, 2011
By John Coté, Michael Cabanatuan, Heather Knight, Will Kane
It's no longer illegal to grow Swiss chard in your backyard and sell it to the corner restaurant.
Mayor Ed Lee on Wednesday signed legislation that allows for "urban agriculture" throughout the city, including the sale of garden produce.
Other Bay Area cities are following suit.
Berkeley soon will take up a measure to allow residents to sell raw agricultural products from home without a costly permit. And Oakland has pledged to one-up its neighbors by tackling the raising of backyard animals as a personal food source.
Read the full article here.
By John Coté, Michael Cabanatuan, Heather Knight, Will Kane
It's no longer illegal to grow Swiss chard in your backyard and sell it to the corner restaurant.
Mayor Ed Lee on Wednesday signed legislation that allows for "urban agriculture" throughout the city, including the sale of garden produce.
Other Bay Area cities are following suit.
Berkeley soon will take up a measure to allow residents to sell raw agricultural products from home without a costly permit. And Oakland has pledged to one-up its neighbors by tackling the raising of backyard animals as a personal food source.
Read the full article here.
Restrictions On Local Food Growers Lifted, SF Now "on the cutting edge of the urban agriculture movement"
April 20, 2011
By Dan McMenamin
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee signed into law today an ordinance that he said will expand urban agriculture in the city by loosening restrictions on local food and plant growers.
Lee joined several other city officials and community members at an urban garden in the midst of homes in the city's Mission Terrace neighborhood today to sign the legislation, which was approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors last week.
Read the full article here.
By Dan McMenamin
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee signed into law today an ordinance that he said will expand urban agriculture in the city by loosening restrictions on local food and plant growers.
Lee joined several other city officials and community members at an urban garden in the midst of homes in the city's Mission Terrace neighborhood today to sign the legislation, which was approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors last week.
Read the full article here.
San Franciscan Gardeners Permitted To Sell Their Crops
April 20, 2011
By Tim Ryan
The vegetable garden police are out of business in San Francisco. With the signature of Mayor Ed Lee, volunteer vegetable plots such as Brooke Budner’s Little City Gardens in the Mission Terrace neighborhood became a business.
Read the full article and listen to the audio report here.
By Tim Ryan
The vegetable garden police are out of business in San Francisco. With the signature of Mayor Ed Lee, volunteer vegetable plots such as Brooke Budner’s Little City Gardens in the Mission Terrace neighborhood became a business.
Read the full article and listen to the audio report here.
Urban farming ready to take root with approval from San Francisco
April 20, 2011
By Alexis Terrazas
In an urban setting in which the term "produce" is synonymous with supermarkets, city farmers can now return to their earliest agricultural roots to cash in on homegrown crops.
About 70 farmers, politicians, reporters and ordinary folk gathered at the Little City Garden urban farm in the Excelsior district Wednesday to witness Mayor Ed Lee sign an ordinance to allow city farmers to legally sell their produce.
Read the full article here.
By Alexis Terrazas
In an urban setting in which the term "produce" is synonymous with supermarkets, city farmers can now return to their earliest agricultural roots to cash in on homegrown crops.
About 70 farmers, politicians, reporters and ordinary folk gathered at the Little City Garden urban farm in the Excelsior district Wednesday to witness Mayor Ed Lee sign an ordinance to allow city farmers to legally sell their produce.
Read the full article here.
Cultivation Meets Regulation: Bay Area Urban Agriculture
April 18th, 2011
By Twilight Greenaway
Good News for SF Farmers
San Francisco urban agriculture advocates are rejoicing after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted last week to amend the zoning code to allow small-scale commercial farming in areas previously deemed residential.
The shift will allow farming enterprises under an acre in size to grow and sell produce within city limits without an expensive conditional use permit (CUP) (previously around $3,000) or a lengthy bureaucratic process. Little City Gardens, the only for-profit farm in San Francisco, has been engaged in a year-long process with the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance (SFUAA) and the Mayor’s office to draft new legislation for urban agriculture and shepherd it through the approval process. The cost of a permit is now only $300 and urban farmers will also be allowed to sell value-added products such as jams, salsa, and herb salts along with produce they grow.
Read the full article here.
By Twilight Greenaway
Good News for SF Farmers
San Francisco urban agriculture advocates are rejoicing after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted last week to amend the zoning code to allow small-scale commercial farming in areas previously deemed residential.
The shift will allow farming enterprises under an acre in size to grow and sell produce within city limits without an expensive conditional use permit (CUP) (previously around $3,000) or a lengthy bureaucratic process. Little City Gardens, the only for-profit farm in San Francisco, has been engaged in a year-long process with the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance (SFUAA) and the Mayor’s office to draft new legislation for urban agriculture and shepherd it through the approval process. The cost of a permit is now only $300 and urban farmers will also be allowed to sell value-added products such as jams, salsa, and herb salts along with produce they grow.
Read the full article here.
San Francisco Passes Progressive Urban Agriculture Policy
April 14th, 2011
By Antonio Roman-Alcalá
This week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed one of the most progressive pieces of legislation for urban agriculture in the nation. The new legislation has amended the zoning code to allow agricultural activities in all parts of the city, as well as defining the parameters by which urban agriculturists can sell their products. It doesn’t address the touchier subjects of animal husbandry or marijuana cultivation, but has created opportunities for and the legitimacy of urban fruit and vegetable cultivation.
The legislation was the result of a rare combined and cooperative effort between city officials and urban agriculture practitioners and advocates. This was accomplished mainly through the work of the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance (SFUAA), an organization of which I am a member, which formed nearly a year ago to coalesce the various efforts and projects focusing on local food and agriculture into a cohesive political voice. The coalition is made up of over 300 individual and 40 organizational members, and its formation turned out to be very well timed.
Read the full article here.
By Antonio Roman-Alcalá
This week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed one of the most progressive pieces of legislation for urban agriculture in the nation. The new legislation has amended the zoning code to allow agricultural activities in all parts of the city, as well as defining the parameters by which urban agriculturists can sell their products. It doesn’t address the touchier subjects of animal husbandry or marijuana cultivation, but has created opportunities for and the legitimacy of urban fruit and vegetable cultivation.
The legislation was the result of a rare combined and cooperative effort between city officials and urban agriculture practitioners and advocates. This was accomplished mainly through the work of the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance (SFUAA), an organization of which I am a member, which formed nearly a year ago to coalesce the various efforts and projects focusing on local food and agriculture into a cohesive political voice. The coalition is made up of over 300 individual and 40 organizational members, and its formation turned out to be very well timed.
Read the full article here.
San Francisco passes urban agriculture zoning changes
April 13, 2011
By Johanna Silver
GREAT news! Remember the push to make urban agriculture a more achievable reality in San Francisco?
I'm pleased to announce that the Board of Supervisors voted yesterday to pass the new urban agricultural zoning ordinanance that encourages edible gardening and urban farming within the city. Especially big props to Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor David Chiu for their support.
The best part? Gardeners can now sell their produce on site, allowing them to actually earn a living from all that hard work.
Read the full article here.
By Johanna Silver
GREAT news! Remember the push to make urban agriculture a more achievable reality in San Francisco?
I'm pleased to announce that the Board of Supervisors voted yesterday to pass the new urban agricultural zoning ordinanance that encourages edible gardening and urban farming within the city. Especially big props to Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor David Chiu for their support.
The best part? Gardeners can now sell their produce on site, allowing them to actually earn a living from all that hard work.
Read the full article here.
Urban Farming: Spinach and Skyscrapers in San Francisco
April 13, 2011
By Jon Bristow
In a unanimous vote, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has passed a zoning revision that will allow for more urban farming. KGO's Jon Bristow reports that it may even allow residents to sell a portion of the produce they grow.
Listen to the audio archive here.
By Jon Bristow
In a unanimous vote, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has passed a zoning revision that will allow for more urban farming. KGO's Jon Bristow reports that it may even allow residents to sell a portion of the produce they grow.
Listen to the audio archive here.
Supes OK Farming Ordinance, Giving S.F. the Nation's Most Progressive Urban Ag Rules
April 13, 2011
By John Birdsall
After yesterday's unanimous vote by the Board of Supervisors, San Francisco now has the most progressive laws on urban agriculture in the nation. The new rules ― introduced by Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor David Chiu ― make it easier and cheaper to grow and sell produce on private land in the city, wiping out the need to obtain a conditional-use permit and opening up every city neighborhood to urban ag.
"There's nothing quite like this anywhere else," Dana Perls, co-coordinator for the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance, tells SFoodie. "This really puts San Francisco at the forefront." The new rules allow urban farms like Little City Gardens, Brooke Budner and Caitlyn Galloway's 3/4-acre farm in a residential neighborhood in the Outer Mission, not only to sell to restaurants and at farmers' markets, but to set up a farmstand on their property. And in an amendment approved last month by the Land Use Committee, farmers are allowed to sell value-added products, jam or pickles, say, made from the things they harvest.
Read the full article here.
By John Birdsall
After yesterday's unanimous vote by the Board of Supervisors, San Francisco now has the most progressive laws on urban agriculture in the nation. The new rules ― introduced by Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor David Chiu ― make it easier and cheaper to grow and sell produce on private land in the city, wiping out the need to obtain a conditional-use permit and opening up every city neighborhood to urban ag.
"There's nothing quite like this anywhere else," Dana Perls, co-coordinator for the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance, tells SFoodie. "This really puts San Francisco at the forefront." The new rules allow urban farms like Little City Gardens, Brooke Budner and Caitlyn Galloway's 3/4-acre farm in a residential neighborhood in the Outer Mission, not only to sell to restaurants and at farmers' markets, but to set up a farmstand on their property. And in an amendment approved last month by the Land Use Committee, farmers are allowed to sell value-added products, jam or pickles, say, made from the things they harvest.
Read the full article here.
SF Supervisors Vote to Encourage Urban Farming
April 12, 2011
San Francisco Supervisors will vote today on rules to encourage urban farming. The Supervisors' vote would help by making it easier for urban farms to get permits. KQED's Lauren Sommer reports, the city's action is part of a nationwide movement.
Listen to the audio archive here:
San Francisco Supervisors will vote today on rules to encourage urban farming. The Supervisors' vote would help by making it easier for urban farms to get permits. KQED's Lauren Sommer reports, the city's action is part of a nationwide movement.
Listen to the audio archive here:
Zoning can boost urban agriculture's renaissance
April 8, 2011
By Francesca Vietor, Malia Cohen
A renaissance is happening right here in San Francisco. Next week, the Board of Supervisors will have the opportunity to approve an urban agriculture zoning proposal that would revise city planning code to welcome vegetable gardens in all areas of the city and provide the ability to sell produce from those gardens. The spirit and intent of the ordinance represent a giant leap forward for urban farmers who yearn for a simpler, more hybrid urban lifestyle that combines traditional city living with more agrarian sustainable food practices.
Most important, the new ordinance will legitimize the production and sale of locally grown produce and end the permitting issues that have long plagued small-scale urban farmers here in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area.
Read the full article here.
By Francesca Vietor, Malia Cohen
A renaissance is happening right here in San Francisco. Next week, the Board of Supervisors will have the opportunity to approve an urban agriculture zoning proposal that would revise city planning code to welcome vegetable gardens in all areas of the city and provide the ability to sell produce from those gardens. The spirit and intent of the ordinance represent a giant leap forward for urban farmers who yearn for a simpler, more hybrid urban lifestyle that combines traditional city living with more agrarian sustainable food practices.
Most important, the new ordinance will legitimize the production and sale of locally grown produce and end the permitting issues that have long plagued small-scale urban farmers here in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area.
Read the full article here.
Inner-City Agriculture Brings Locals Down to Earth
March 24, 2011
By Courtney Lee and Eva Morgenstein, The Lowell
From the earliest harvest celebrations to WWII victory gardens to the farmer’s market last weekend, agriculture has always been a part of human nature. Living in a densely populated peninsula city like San Francisco, a farm is hard to come by. But hardworking people creatively combine their love for land and city to find ways to grow organic foods on roofs and abandoned dumps, continuing a pattern of urban agriculture that nurtures hidden land to feed city residents. Here’s the lowdown on everything green in the 7x7 mile radius of San Francisco, from community gardens to commercial food production.
Read the full article here.
By Courtney Lee and Eva Morgenstein, The Lowell
From the earliest harvest celebrations to WWII victory gardens to the farmer’s market last weekend, agriculture has always been a part of human nature. Living in a densely populated peninsula city like San Francisco, a farm is hard to come by. But hardworking people creatively combine their love for land and city to find ways to grow organic foods on roofs and abandoned dumps, continuing a pattern of urban agriculture that nurtures hidden land to feed city residents. Here’s the lowdown on everything green in the 7x7 mile radius of San Francisco, from community gardens to commercial food production.
Read the full article here.
San Francisco urban farms closer to legitimacy
March 28, 2011
By Brent Begin for San Francisco Examiner
The Board of Supervisors is one step closer to turning the phrase “down on the farm” on its ear.
“Urban agriculture” legislation sponsored by Mayor Ed Lee and Board of Supervisors President David Chiu would update zoning regulations to explicitly permit gardens in all areas of The City and allow for the sale of produce from those gardens.
The legislation breezed through the board’s Land Use and Economic Development Committee on Monday.
"Urban agriculture not only increases people's access to locally grown, healthy and sustainable food, but it also converts unused land to productive green spaces, revitalizing neighborhoods and creating green jobs," Lee said in a statement.
“Our legislation would place San Francisco at the forefront of urban agriculture policies nationwide,” Chiu said in a statement. “My hope is that this is the first of many changes The City makes to increase the viability and scale of urban agriculture in San Francisco.”
The proposal allows for gardens of less than one acre, while gardens one acre or larger would require a special Planning Commission exemption.
The full board will vote on the legislation April 5.
Read more at the San Francisco Examiner here.
By Brent Begin for San Francisco Examiner
The Board of Supervisors is one step closer to turning the phrase “down on the farm” on its ear.
“Urban agriculture” legislation sponsored by Mayor Ed Lee and Board of Supervisors President David Chiu would update zoning regulations to explicitly permit gardens in all areas of The City and allow for the sale of produce from those gardens.
The legislation breezed through the board’s Land Use and Economic Development Committee on Monday.
"Urban agriculture not only increases people's access to locally grown, healthy and sustainable food, but it also converts unused land to productive green spaces, revitalizing neighborhoods and creating green jobs," Lee said in a statement.
“Our legislation would place San Francisco at the forefront of urban agriculture policies nationwide,” Chiu said in a statement. “My hope is that this is the first of many changes The City makes to increase the viability and scale of urban agriculture in San Francisco.”
The proposal allows for gardens of less than one acre, while gardens one acre or larger would require a special Planning Commission exemption.
The full board will vote on the legislation April 5.
Read more at the San Francisco Examiner here.
Mr. Vegetable Goes to the Planning Commission
February 22, 2011
By Heather Smith for Mission Local
Christina Olague, vice president of the San Francisco Planning Commission, stares in disbelief at the stack of comment cards in front of her. “None of you are opposed to this,” she says. “I don’t want to put you on the spot, but is anyone opposed?”
The room is silent. Meetings of the Planning Commission can be among the most contentious in the city. (See: CPMC’s plans for St. Luke’s, or American Apparel’s plans to open a store in the Mission, or any number of planning disputes.)
But make a proposal [PDF] to simplify permits for small-time gardeners in San Francisco to sell their own produce, and suddenly the wood-paneled room becomes a giant love-in. In a town like this, who comes out against food?
Olague tries another tack. “Those of you who are in favor, stand up and show your support.”
There is scuffling of feet. Everyone in the room who is not associated with the Planning Commission stands up. Most of them sport various signifiers of the new urban agrarians: Carhartts, beards, fedoras, plaid flannel, large-gauge earrings, artfully knotted scarves, feather earrings, sweaters with reindeer on them, clogs. A few of them are recognizable from a recent New York Times pictorial on the Bay Area food movement. Through the doors, even more people can be seen hovering, blocked from entry by a fire-code-conscious security guard.
Read the rest of the article here.
The room is silent. Meetings of the Planning Commission can be among the most contentious in the city. (See: CPMC’s plans for St. Luke’s, or American Apparel’s plans to open a store in the Mission, or any number of planning disputes.)
But make a proposal [PDF] to simplify permits for small-time gardeners in San Francisco to sell their own produce, and suddenly the wood-paneled room becomes a giant love-in. In a town like this, who comes out against food?
Olague tries another tack. “Those of you who are in favor, stand up and show your support.”
There is scuffling of feet. Everyone in the room who is not associated with the Planning Commission stands up. Most of them sport various signifiers of the new urban agrarians: Carhartts, beards, fedoras, plaid flannel, large-gauge earrings, artfully knotted scarves, feather earrings, sweaters with reindeer on them, clogs. A few of them are recognizable from a recent New York Times pictorial on the Bay Area food movement. Through the doors, even more people can be seen hovering, blocked from entry by a fire-code-conscious security guard.
Read the rest of the article here.
Help Make Urban Farming in San Francisco a Reality
February 10, 2011
By Johanna Silver for Sunset Magazine
One-Block farming might become a lot easier for San Francisco residents should the SF Board of Supervisors pass some vital zoning changes.
Remember Brooke Budner and Caitlyn Galloway of Little City Gardens from the February issue of Sunset? They were #35 in our "Sunset 100" for their bold efforts to call the city out on advocating for healthy food yet making urban farming prohibitively expensive. Fingers were crossed when we went to press that they would have their time in front of the Board of Supervisors. Good news: The time is here!
Brooke and Caitlyn, along with the support of the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance, is having the first meeting with the Planning Commission this coming Thursday, February 17th. Are you an SF voter? There's still time to sign the petition. Do you have lunch plans next Thursday? The SFUAA is hoping for a big presence at the meeting. Wear some green, and I'll meet you there:
Thursday, February 17th
1:30 PM
City Hall, Room 400
Learn more: SFUAA FAQ about the zoning changes
Remember Brooke Budner and Caitlyn Galloway of Little City Gardens from the February issue of Sunset? They were #35 in our "Sunset 100" for their bold efforts to call the city out on advocating for healthy food yet making urban farming prohibitively expensive. Fingers were crossed when we went to press that they would have their time in front of the Board of Supervisors. Good news: The time is here!
Brooke and Caitlyn, along with the support of the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance, is having the first meeting with the Planning Commission this coming Thursday, February 17th. Are you an SF voter? There's still time to sign the petition. Do you have lunch plans next Thursday? The SFUAA is hoping for a big presence at the meeting. Wear some green, and I'll meet you there:
Thursday, February 17th
1:30 PM
City Hall, Room 400
Learn more: SFUAA FAQ about the zoning changes
Urban Agriculture Zoning Proposal Hearing February 17
February 3, 2011
By Heather Knape for the SF Examiner
Following in the footsteps of Chicago, Kansas City, Seattle and Cleveland, San Francisco may soon update its zoning code to increase opportunities for growing food within the city. The proposed legislation will allow farms of less than one acre in size, often called market gardens, to be in all areas of the city and will allow produce from such farms to be sold legally.
Started as an offshoot of Mayor Gavin Newsom’s July 2010 Executive Directive for Healthy and Sustainable Food, the Urban Agriculture subgroup of the San Francisco Food Policy Council has been working to promote food gardens in the city by increasing access to land, education and technical support. In 2010 the council completed a survey of unused public land in the city that resulted in plans for some parcels to be converted to garden space. In addition, their work produced anamendment to the zoning code prepared by the SF Planning Department that updates rules related to urban agriculture.
Read the rest of the article here.
Started as an offshoot of Mayor Gavin Newsom’s July 2010 Executive Directive for Healthy and Sustainable Food, the Urban Agriculture subgroup of the San Francisco Food Policy Council has been working to promote food gardens in the city by increasing access to land, education and technical support. In 2010 the council completed a survey of unused public land in the city that resulted in plans for some parcels to be converted to garden space. In addition, their work produced anamendment to the zoning code prepared by the SF Planning Department that updates rules related to urban agriculture.
Read the rest of the article here.
Urban Agriculture: SF considers allowing sales
December 23, 2010
By Robert Selna for the San Francisco Chronicle
With all the talk about locavores, victory garden revivals and residents raising chickens and bees, a San Franciscan might be surprised to learn that he can't just sell produce out of his backyard. Not without running afoul of the law, that is.
While vacant real estate increasingly is being reclaimed for nonprofit and community gardens, old zoning laws prohibit selling homegrown produce without a costly permit and a hearing in front of the city Planning Commission.
But that could soon change.
Read the rest of the article here, and our press release on this issue here.
While vacant real estate increasingly is being reclaimed for nonprofit and community gardens, old zoning laws prohibit selling homegrown produce without a costly permit and a hearing in front of the city Planning Commission.
But that could soon change.
Read the rest of the article here, and our press release on this issue here.
Legalize Urban Produce, Says San Francisco Mayor
December 16, 2010
By Allison Arieff for Good Magazine
Great news for those hoping to make a real go of it in urban agriculture: this week San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom, together with the city's Planning Department, announced the introduction of a proposal to change the city's zoning code in order to allow gardening/farming in more parts of the city, as well as permit the sale of produce grown in gardens throughout the city. (You can read about the details here.)
The outgoing Mayor has been a strong advocate of urban farming, committing the City and County of San Francisco to increase its healthy and sustainable food supply in an executive directive last year, in which he stated that, "access to safe, nutritious and culturally acceptable food is a basic human right and is essential to both human health and ecological sustainability."
Read the rest of the article here, and our press release on this issue here.
The outgoing Mayor has been a strong advocate of urban farming, committing the City and County of San Francisco to increase its healthy and sustainable food supply in an executive directive last year, in which he stated that, "access to safe, nutritious and culturally acceptable food is a basic human right and is essential to both human health and ecological sustainability."
Read the rest of the article here, and our press release on this issue here.
