Government Strategies to Promote Horticulture In Urban Communities

Increasing horticulture crop use and consumption in an urban community has many benefits including increased dietary health, increased psychological and environmental health, increased property values, and decreased crime and energy costs.  Taken together, these benefits make promotion of horticulture in an urban community an attractive public policy initiative for local governments.  Local government promotion of horticulture can occur through planting of horticulture crops, hosting farmers markets and/or promotion of community gardens on public lands, and changing zoning policies to require increased plantings.  Government can also promote horticulture crop use on private lands through public education, subsidizing the purchase of horticulture crops by homeowners, and collaborating with local businesses to insure offering of and successful establishment of appropriate crops.  Success of these efforts can be increased when they are coordinated in a way as to create a citywide initiative. The pros and cons of different past urban strategies, as well as, recent efforts to promote horticulture crop use in the city of Minneapolis will be discussed.  Minneapolis offers some unique challenges for horticulture crop promotion including extremes in temperature, a short growing season, and significant variation in the economic health among neighborhoods.  How programming is being tailored to accommodate these challenges will be discussed.