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Urban Agriculture and Gardening

Posted by David Aten in Food and Nutrition Health and Safety Farming
Oct 14, 2011
A wide variety of eggplant sold at the North Carolina Farmers Market.  The North Carolina State Farmers Market is one of the local markets covered by USDA Market News.  Photo by Justin Henry.
A wide variety of eggplant sold at the North Carolina Farmers Market. The North Carolina State Farmers Market is one of the local markets covered by USDA Market News. Photo by Justin Henry.

Urban agriculture and gardening can be an important tool in confronting several key challenges that Americans face: from supporting farm viability in and around urban areas to improving access to healthful, affordable food to realizing the potential of rural-urban linkages.

While most of USDA’s authorities allow our team to support efforts in rural America, Congress has provided us with tools that can also have an impact in urban communities.  To help everyone better understand those tools, Deputy Secretary Merrigan today released a memo on programs and resources that USDA and several other Federal agencies have that can support farmers and urban communities.

You can get the memo here.  As always, you can find out more information about our programs at www.usda.gov or visiting our Grants, Loans & Support section.