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- Info
Urban agriculture in the United States
| Author: |
Bills, Nelson L. |
| Date: |
1991 |
| Periodical: |
Tthaca, NY: Department of Agricultural Economics, Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Cornell Agricultural Economics Staff Paper 91-21 |
| Abstract: |
The policy discussion over farmland in the United States includes concerns about the effect that urbanization has on availability of land for agriculture. That discussion developed after World War II when much population growth spilled aver the boundaries of established urban centers to the urban fringe. Some observers contend that the Nation's fixed land base for agriculture, combined with unchecked population growth on the urban fringe on land often well suited to farm use, places the Nation's long-term capacity to produce food and fiber commodities in jeopardy. These concerns intensified in the 1970's when production capacity in U.S. agriculture was tested by burgeoning export demand for food as fiber commodities. Rural population growth also attracted national attention in the 1970s because, for the first time this century, rural counties realized faster rates of population growth than urban counties. State and local governments stepped up their farmland protection efforts, and legislation was proposed in the U.S. Congress to provide Federal funding for stronger measures to protect agricultural land from conversion to a built-up urban use.The purpose of this paper is to discuss long-term trends in farmland use in the United States and highlight approaches and techniques state and local governments use to influence farmland conversion to urban use. Major developments in agricultural land use and production capacity for American agriculture since the turn of the century are also summarized, along with avilable evidence on conversion of farmland to urban development uses. |
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