http://disqus.com/people/f03dc9855bc8fb22daebc8dcbebd3a37/enWed, 22 Oct 2008 16:39:38 -0000http://crispyontheoutside.disqus.com/should_we_try_to_be_like_cuba/#comment-2664521I agree that Cuba is a model for indentured farming, not progressive farming. But that does not negate the case for commercial urban farming in developed countries. It is already happening in the U.S. and Canada. As the co-author of SPIN-Farming, what I see every day are more and more entrepreneurs using SPIN’s franchise-ready farming system as an entry point into the farming profession. They are using front lawns and backyards and neighborhood lots as their land base. Perhaps most importantly, this is happening without significant policy changes or government supports. This is not subsistence farming. This is recasting farming as a small business in cities and towns and integrating it into the built environment in an economically viable manner. It is "right sizing" agriculture for an urbanized century and making local food production a viable business proposition once again.Roxanne ChristensenWed, 11 Jun 2008 12:01:38 -0000http://cookingupastory.disqus.com/a_city_looks_toward_defining_its_future/#comment-16949969Don’t forget to include the growing corps of sub-acre commercial farmers in your local food economy. As co-author of SPIN-Farming, what I see every day are more and more first generation farmers throughout the U.S. using SPIN’s franchise-ready system to take the task of relocalizing food production into their own hands, wherever they happen to live. This is happening without policy changes or government supports; it is entirely citizen-driven. These citizen-farmers are using front lawns and backyards and neighborhood lots as their land base and recasting farming as a small business in cities and towns, "right sizing" agriculture for an urbanized century. SPIN provides a replicable model for an appropriately-scaled and economically viable post-industrial agriculture that is less energy and capital intensive, more easily monitored and controlled and that produces safe, healthy food. Not only is SPIN starting to be used as a "force multiplier" to re-establish locally-based food systems, it is also serving as a catalyst for inventive activity by designers, planners and developers. By utilizing the best of the three assets we have -urbanized landscapes, technological agility and an environmental ethos - rather than pitting one against the other, we can create the best of all possible worlds.Roxanne ChristensenWed, 22 Oct 2008 16:39:38 -0000