Earlier this month, urban gardening advocate Dan Susman dug into how we can make positive food system change through story telling. His documentary Growing Cities, which recently reached its Kickstater funding goal and will be broadcast to millions on PBS, brings to light the work of game-changing growers and encourages everyone to grow their own food.
Inspired by Growing Cities, Sustainable America designed the urban agriculture infographic below. Leveraging data from the USDA, Worldwatch and other sources, the graphic shares some interesting statics on the benefits and potential impact of home growing. For example, while 80 percent of the U.S. population lives in cities, only 2 percent of food eaten in cities is grown locally. But with over 10 million acres of front and backyards in the U.S., it’s clear that there is ample space for people to grow more of their own food. In fact, there is the equivalent of a whopping 10 parking spaces per person. That’s a lot of fruits and veggies.
In terms of ways to jump on the gardening band wagon, the graphic highlights everything from container and windowsill growing to starting a community garden. And while home growing is far from being mainstream, the good news is that the movement is gaining steam; Thirty five percent of U.S. homes grew food in 2012, up from thirty one percent in 2008. Check out all the facts and figures below.