Urban Agriculture

The practice of urban agriculture, or growing food within cities, is a growing trend in local food systems in the United States. For several years, the City of Grand Rapids has convened an Urban Agriculture Committee. This committee is tasked with educating the public about the benefits of urban agriculture in Grand Rapids, supporting the development of urban agriculture production and infrastructure, and advising policymakers about policy changes that would better support this type of food production.

Throughout the community engagement process for the Kent County Food System Plan, we heard about some of the challenges facing urban growers, including lack of access to land, restrictive local policies that make it challenging to operate, and a dependence upon grants for these types of projects.

Given the significant community input on this topic, we’ve called out urban agriculture as a key topic area in the Kent County Food System Plan. Urban agriculture is a cross-cutting issue that touches all of the food plan goals, but especially the goals of increasing access to healthy food and investing in local food businesses. These recommendations may also be applicable to the other urban centers of Kent County, including Cedar Springs, East Grand Rapids, Grandville, Kentwood, Lowell, Rockford, Walker, and Wyoming.

In particular, we believe that these actions recommended by the Grand Rapids Urban Agriculture Committee in 2021, and included in the Kent County Food System Plan, should be adopted to advance community health, increase food access, and build strong local food businesses:

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Buildings

Goal 1: Objective 3: Action 3.1

  • Reduce barriers to growing food in urban and suburban areas by pursuing the
    recommendations of the Urban Agriculture Advisory Committee for Grand Rapids, including
  • Decrease the cost of the backyard chicken permit fee to $25 for a three-year permit
  • Create a permit process for backyard livestock similar to the chicken permit process. Specify
    which animals are permitted/prohibited. Establish defined number of animals permitted by
    right, noise/hygiene, enclosure/lot line regulations and slaughter regulations, etc.
  • Add edible trees and shrubs to the approved street tree list for city and county plantings
  • Require that 10 percent of any plantings be edibles, preferably edible perennials, within
    required Urban Open Spaces
  • Require 10 percent of the landscape buffer and/or tree canopy be edible
Utensil-Utensils

Goal 2: Objective 1: Action 1.5

  • Support agricultural producers to increase the supply of locally grown foods. Adopt the
    recommendations of the Urban Agriculture Advisory Committee to support growing food
    within city limits, including
  • Classify greenhouses and hoop houses, not as an accessory structure
  • Establish building material standards for greenhouses/hoop houses
  • Establish maximum size of greenhouses/hoop houses
  • Create a straightforward permit application process for greenhouses/hoop houses

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