City Farm

City farms are agricultural plots in urban areas, which involve people working with animals and plants to produce food. City farms are usually community-run gardens which aim to improve community relationships and offer an awareness of agriculture and farming to people who live in urbanized areas. City farms are important sources of food security for many communities around the globe.

City farms vary in size from small plots in private yards to larger farms that occupy a number of acres. In 1996, a United Nations report estimated there are over 800 million people worldview who grow food and raise livestock in cities. Today, it is estimated that more than three million people visit city farms each year and around half a million people work on them as volunteers. Although some city farms have paid employees, most rely heavily on volunteer labour, and some are run by volunteers alone. Other city farms operate as partnerships with local authorities.

City farms allow urban dwellers to produce food from animals and plants. For some people who may never visit distant rural farms, city farms allow individuals to witness food production, making the link between food on their tables and the time, labor, and resources required to produce that food. At the intersection of production and awareness, city farms are often the focus for educational, environmental and conservation outreach and activities.

During the 1960s a number of community gardens were established in the United Kingdom, influenced by the community garden movement in the United States. The first city farm was set up in 1972 in Kentish Town, London. It combined farm animals with gardening space, an addition inspired by children's farms in the Netherlands. Other city farms followed across London and there are now over sixty city farms in the United Kingdom. In Australia, several city farms exist in various capital cities. In Melbourne in 1979 the Collingwood Children's Farm was established on the Abbotsford Precinct Heritage Farmlands (the APHF), the oldest continually farmed land in Victoria, farmed since 1838. In London, the city farms now have a show at an agricultural college called Capel Manor every September.

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