Course 3 Additional Resources

Course 3: Recognizing Urban Agriculture, Materials

Course 3: Recognizing Urban Agriculture course slides

Course 3: Recognizing Urban Agriculture course transcript

Course 3: Recognizing Urban Agriculture course vocabulary

Course 3: Recognizing Urban Agriculture Action Plan template

Course 3: Recognizing Urban Agriculture, Additional Resources

1. An overview of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) from UC Davis
   • CEA can also refer to Critical Environmental Areas, which we will not cover in this course. You can learn more about this kind of CEA from New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation. This article from Civil Eats discusses the relationship between Critical Environmental Areas and urban agriculture as they relate to the legal protection of community gardens in New York City.
2. Cornell Small Farms Program at Cornell University published this national study of commercial farming in urban areas in 2019. The study explores a variety of case studies illustrating the variety of production practices, market channels, and business structures pursued by commercial urban farms.
3. Explore more information about specific marketing channels
   • The USDA’s Economic Research Service’s (ERS’s) webpage explaining wholesale retailing
   • The USDA’s National Agriculture Library hosts a webpage with a variety of resources exploring community supported agriculture (CSA). This website from the National Center for Appropriate Technology provides another perspective on CSA.
4. Business structures
• Cornell Small Farms Program provides an overview of business structures in this Guide to Farming New York State. The business structure information is generally relevant nation-wide; go to Fact Sheet 13 on page 52 for this information.
• The Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS’s) webpage covering types of exempt organizations. This website explains how different types of non-profits may be registered for tax purposes. They also host a website with more information about for profit business structures.
• Read this blog post for more information about the distinction between cooperatives and collectives.
• This entity decision-making guide from the Democracy at Work Institute provides a quick comparison of different business entities, including Cooperative Corporations. Organizations like the Cooperative Fund of the Northeast can consult with you for free if you need support with this topic.
5. Learn more about some of the urban agriculture operations we explored in this course
   • The Red Hook Initiative’s Red Hook Farms webpage and
     offer a thorough overview of Red Hook Farms
   • Explore the Brooklyn Grange website for more information about the for profit business. Learn more about Brooklyn Grange’s associated non-profit, City Growers, at the City Growers website.
   • Learn more about Gotham Greens and their vertical, indoor operations
   • The Freight Farms website has more information about their model for vertical farming inside shipping containers
   • GreenThumb is a program within NYC Parks and is considered the nation’s largest urban gardening program
   • Learn about Portland-based Growing Gardens and their many institutional partners
   • The folks at Snapfinger Farm in the Atlanta suburbs create a variety of value-added products from their farm
6. The USDA’s urban agriculture webpage provides more information on initiatives happening in this space