We read your recent article in Artvoice, “Make a Plan,” and find your ideas important and compelling. We have done extensive research on urban farming and environmental justice in the Women, Children, and Social Justice Clinic at the University at Buffalo School of Law, which we believe will contribute a missing piece to your argument, bolstering your conclusion.

While we agree that city planning is crucial for city development, and we would like to contribute some empirical research to lend support to your argument. We have been studying urban food sources in Buffalo, which are increasingly necessary to sustain a healthy population, food security, beautification, and environmental justice.

Specific trends in food security necessitate planning centered on green spaces and community gardens to renew the strength of this community. Further, that beautification is an imperative strategy for city planning. Successful cities such as New York and London have integrated parks, gardens, and other green spaces into their communities, making surrounding properties more attractive and valuable to buyers. Green spaces play a vital role in the future vision of the city of Buffalo. Given the size of this city and the state of its development, it is timely and crucial for Buffalo to establish green spaces.

Other concerns, such as food security, are even more fundamental to the need for city planning than its aesthesis. The inclusion of urban farms in city plans provides not only green space, but a local source of organic, fresh foods. The specific trends in food insecurity close to home aptly portray the need for a comprehensive response throughout for Buffalo. Erie County is one of Buffalo’s major food sources. However, people in Erie County entering the farming professions have declined dramatically in the 1990s. Therefore, the creation of urban farms can help to secure sources of fresh foods for Buffalo in the face of a potential shortage of local farmers.

A distinct but equally troubling local problem is that significant number of individuals who must decide between buying food and paying for other necessities. The Western New York Food Bank has released data indicating that many of their clients have been faced with the decisions of buying food or paying necessities such as shelter, utilities, or medicine. Indeed, nearly half of their clients reported such in 2001. The presence of urban farms in communities provide inexpensive or sometimes free fresh produce to local residents and can help to ease the struggle to pay for groceries.

The effects of this food insecurity are widespread. Indeed, food security is one of the most fundamental indicators of quality of life within a given community. An individual’s access to healthy, nutritious food strongly correlates with one’s ability to succeed in school or in the work place. Those who go hungry are more apt to lose focus and to miss days at school or work due to illness, while those who fear going hungry must bear the burden of additional stress in their day. Food defines the structure of our days and often serves as the context for social interactions. The importance of establishing a system of ensuring widespread food access becomes even more pressing.

The importance of local, healthy food sources becomes still more compelling when considering specific data that accounts for health indicators in term of proximity to supermarkets. A study by Dr. Sandra D. Lane, at the University of Syracuse, revealed that the single greatest indicator, greater than income or race, of a healthy pregnancies and births is the proximity of the mother’s residence to a supermarket. The data revealed that children born with to mothers that did not live within one-half mile of a supermarket were three times as likely as children born to mothers who did to be born too small or with other serious health problems. The inference that individuals who live within one-half mile of a fresh food source are eating more nutritious food items, and are generally more healthy is self-evident. Based on this data, it is clear that without forward thinking and long-term planning the City of Buffalo will not have space to incorporate local community food sources that are vital for the sustainability of the city.

Jennifer Thompson, Anne Wheeler, Mandy Carden, Nola Cornett, and Soyoung Ahn
Women, Children, and Social Justice Clinic at the University at Buffalo School of Law

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