Create Opportunities: Cultivate Safe Community Spaces, Collaborate Long Term, Build Relationships

Urban Community Agrinomics

Whether they are building fences or teaching community members about planting and growing vegetables, UCAN is making a difference. They have built and maintain a 2-acre Catawba Trail farm, run a CSA, teach agriculture through a STEM lens, and host various events that promote wellness.

Delphine credits their success to social capital and a community-centered approach.

Create Opportunities

In addition to providing access to healthy foods, urban community agritourism provides opportunities for growth and development. These activities are a platform for developing and disseminating skills, such as farming, cooking, food preservation, and sustainable living. They can also foster social capital, increase local economies, and contribute to the overall sustainability of communities (Losado-Horwitz et al., 2020).

Delphine Sellars describes the people that visit UCAN’s Catawba Trail farm as their shared family (personal communication, Oct 2, 2022). Her emphasis on social capital allows individuals from different generations, races and socioeconomic standings to come together and learn from each other while contributing to a common goal.

Not only is the food UCAN produces beneficial for health, but the act of gardening itself benefits the community’s mental and physical wellbeing. Research shows that working with soil reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, and induces relaxation. This is especially true when gardening and farming with neighbors. Urban farming can provide a sense of connection to nature and promote community resilience during times of crisis.

Cultivate Safe Community Spaces

While the goal of urban community agri-nomics may be to promote growth and development, a deeper benefit may also be to cultivate safe community spaces for residents. According to a recent study, urban agriculture can increase social interaction and help community members develop trusting relationships.

For Delphine Sellars, founder and executive director of UCAN, the most important aspect of growing the farm has been bringing together community members with different skills. She says that it is this diversity of expertise and knowledge that makes the biggest impact on the communities they serve.

One way that the city can cultivate safer community spaces for urban farming is by creating a dedicated Office of Urban Agriculture. This could be a resource to help guide New Yorkers through the process of developing a garden or farm, as well as provide the necessary support and resources. This would also help to bridge gaps between departments and allow them to work collaboratively to advance urban farming initiatives.

Collaborate Long Term

Urban agriculture projects require community buy-in to thrive. Without it, projects are more vulnerable to vandalism or other forms of community resistance. Community engagement also helps align farm services with local needs and interests.

Ultimately, urban gardens and farms promote health in a variety of ways. Research shows that gardening boosts physical activity and mental well-being. In addition, preparing and eating home-grown produce provides an opportunity for families to save on groceries and bolsters food security during times of crisis or disaster.

Planting Justice activates communities impacted by food injustice through hands-on environmental science education, soil cultivation and sustainable agriculture skills. They also provide access to nourishing foods and transformative conversations about land, race, food and power.

Build Relationships

Urban community agrinomics bring together diverse groups of people with different skill sets to work on a common goal. This helps to strengthen the community and fosters connections with individuals from a variety of cultural and economic backgrounds (Santo et al., 2022).

For UCAN, this means giving access to the Catawba Trail farm and teaching agricultural skills through a STEM lens to help participants learn how to grow their own food, and then offering classes that teach them how to process and prepare vegetables for consumption. These activities also promote physical health and mental well-being by providing a relaxing, stress-reducing activity that is engaging, social, and goal-oriented.

Delphine Sellars, the co-founder of UCAN, notes that community input is the key to the organization’s success and impact. Through this, she’s able to identify the needs of her community and create opportunities for them that will have the most impact.

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The Lifeline of Baseball Fandom: Exploring MLB Broadcasts and Global Streaming

Baseball captures the hearts of millions, and as the crack of the bat resonates through stadiums, fans around the globe clamor to witness the magic of the Major League Baseball (MLB). But not everyone can be within the echoing confines of these hallowed grounds. For those distant or tethered by daily demands, catching an MLB game becomes a digital pursuit. Enter the lifeline of baseball fandom: MLB broadcast, or “mlb중계,” the Korean term for MLB relay broadcasts.

Picture this: you, settled in the most comfortable corner of your abode, with a screen flickering alive with the sights and sounds of America’s pastime. There’s something inexplicably thrilling about tuning into an MLB game, isn’t it? It’s a dance of precision and power, a battle between pitcher and hitter played out in real time for your viewing pleasure.

Why do fans flock to mlb중계? It’s not just about reveling in home runs and double plays. It’s the stories woven into the fabric of nine innings, the legends stitched into each team’s jersey, and the collective breathe-in when the game hangs in the balance. Yes, it’s about the game, but also the community, spanning continents yet united by a shared heartbeat that pulses to the rhythm of baseball.

For those seeking to keep the score, the adrenaline fix, or just the comfort of baseball’s familiar cadence, streaming MLB games has never been easier. Websites, apps, and various streaming services now deliver games to you, not merely as a viewer, but as a participant in a larger, connected fanhood.

There’s sense in the global appetite for MLB. It offers a spectacle of athletic prowess, yes, but also undiluted human drama. Each game is a narrative unfolding, each season an odyssey. From the triumphs of underdogs to the reigns of champions, baseball reflects life’s own unpredictability and the beauty in its unfolding.

As the ninth inning wanes and tension spikes, so does the realization that MLB is more than a sport—it’s a cultural touchstone and a timeline of shared history across barriers and borders.

In conclusion, MLB’s broadcast phenomenon serves as a digital thread stitching baseball aficionados to their beloved pastime. Whether through a local language keyword-laden link or a simple online search, accessing “mlb중계” unveils a world where every pitch can shift fate’s direction, where every swing can etch names into eternal lore.

FAQs:

1. How can I access MLB broadcasts in Korea?
You can access MLB games through various online streaming services, sports channels, and websites dedicated to sports broadcasting.

2. Is it legal to watch MLB games through online streaming services?
Yes, it is legal to stream MLB games through official broadcasters and licensed streaming services intended for public viewing.

3. Can I watch MLB games in real-time from anywhere in the world?
Depending on your geographic location and the service provider, you may be able to watch MLB games in real-time. However, time zones and broadcasting rights may affect the availability of live games.

4. What is the best way to stream MLB games without interruptions?
For an optimal streaming experience, ensure you have a reliable internet connection and subscribe to a reputable streaming service that offers high-quality MLB broadcasts.

5. Are there any specific apps for MLB streaming in Korea?
There are multiple apps that might cater specifically to MLB streaming in Korea. It is best to research and choose the one that best fits your needs, offers the best quality, and complies with local broadcasting regulations.…

The Rise of Urban Agriculture

Urban Agriculture Projects

An increasing number of people are choosing to farm their own food. This new trend is known as urban agriculture.

These initiatives provide many benefits to the surrounding communities. They increase community participation, raise incomes and make use of vacant land. They also help to improve the environment by reducing pollution and the urban heat island effect.

Community Gardens

Community gardens transform vacant, blighted public and private spaces into areas of food production. This helps increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables, encourages horticultural skills development, and provides opportunities to learn about a healthy diet. They also support redevelopment efforts and revitalize communities, improving local infrastructure, reducing soil contamination, and decreasing waste in landfills.

To maximize their impact, community gardens should promote diversity and inclusion. They should strive to create a sense of place, empower residents, and provide educational programs. They should also promote community-based sustainable agriculture through research, policy advocacy, and training.

In urban centers, urban farms are becoming increasingly popular and can be located on rooftops and parking garages. They can help decrease the negative effects of urban heat islands and reduce energy costs by generating renewable electricity. Additionally, they can increase food security and improve nutrition in urban areas. In New York City, the Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm supports local food systems by providing job training and youth education on gardening and cooking.

Vertical Farms

With 80% of the world’s population projected to live in cities by 2050, finding space for agriculture is a challenge. To address this issue, many designers are exploring ways to grow food in urban areas.

One such project by architecture firm Ilimelgo is a vertical farm that uses kinetic details to maximize sunlight and ventilation for crop cultivation. The building also features social spaces and a market.

Unlike traditional farms, which are dependent on the weather, these structures allow for year-round production and can reduce food miles by growing crops closer to where they will be consumed. In addition, they can use less land and can increase crop yields up to 20 times per acre depending on the crop.

Other projects use existing buildings or warehouses as plant factories, with some utilizing greenhouse technology for indoor cultivation. Agricool, a startup that grows strawberries using an LED-light and aeroponic system in containers spread throughout cities, is another example of this trend.

Aquaponics

An aquaponic system combines fish farming tanks with greenhouses for growing plants to create an ecosystem that mimics the natural environment. By utilizing the water and waste from the fish tank to feed the plants, aquaponic farms reduce operational costs and deliver positive impacts at a city-wide scale (dos Santos 2016).

The plants receive nutrient from the biofiltration process by which beneficial bacteria convert fish waste into plant nutrients (e.g. ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates). This allows farmers to experiment with different crop species and dietary requirements while maximizing efficiency.

In addition, the indoor farm environment of aquaponics enables it to be located in urban settings where building infrastructure is available, such as warehouses or industrial sites. This has allowed BIGH to establish two commercial aquaponic farms in refurbished breweries in Brussels. This approach lowers construction and operating costs, maximizes space, and encourages local engagement and wellbeing. It also facilitates the production of high-quality, locally sourced food with minimal environmental impact.

Greenhouses

Companies like BrightFarm Systems design, build, and operate rooftop greenhouses to produce fresh fruits and vegetables in cities around the world. They help increase access to healthy foods in urban areas while reducing environmental impacts from traditional agriculture.

Other examples of urban agriculture projects include community gardens, rooftop farms, and vertical farms. These projects typically involve a range of participants, including residents and local businesses. In addition to private entities, NGOs and other charities are also involved in urban farming initiatives.

For example, Alternatives’ Feeding Citizenship is an organization that promotes urban farming and sustainable food production in Montreal, Canada. This nonprofit provides horticultural education programs and community garden spaces to low-income families.

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Enhancing Urban Environments through Agriculture

Urban Agriculture Review

Over the past decade, urban agriculture (UA) has fueled civic interest, local food projects, and scholarship. A wide range of benefits attributed to UA span city greening and beautification; public and private health; community food security; climate change mitigation, and economic development.

However, these positive impacts are often based on self-reported outcomes. Using both theoretical scholarship and case studies, this review will explore how UA improves food access.

Economic Benefits

Urban agriculture provides benefits in terms of food security and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, it can also contribute to economic development in a city by providing jobs and income opportunities. The development of UA also helps in reducing the cost of commercial produce. This is because UA requires less land and labor for production than conventional farms. Moreover, UA offers economic advantages by using existing local infrastructure and avoiding transportation costs.

Despite these benefits, the main challenge to UA is its low profitability. It is important for governments to address this issue by incorporating policies that help UA to become profitable.

Besides, a city should have policy mechanisms that protect UA from gentrification processes. This will ensure that the benefits of UA are accessible to all members of the community, especially the poor. This will also make the UA sustainable and a viable part of the city’s economy. Lastly, the city should make sure that there is enough space for urban farming in the existing urban landscape.

Environmental Benefits

While UA is gaining popularity due to its ability to support food security efforts, it also offers numerous environmental benefits. These include, but are not limited to, regenerating local ecosystems and creating social cohesion among community members through gatherings at farms. In addition, turning vacant lots into gardens can contribute to reducing crime rates. A study published in Urban Studies found that greening vacant lots improved residents’ sense of safety.

UA’s environmental benefits also extend to the cities themselves, with research highlighting its capacity to mitigate climate change. For example, the growing of crops that require less water compared to other conventional varieties can reduce municipal water consumption. Similarly, the use of plants that grow quickly in confined spaces or the implementation of vertical farming techniques can help bolster UA’s ecological sustainability.

Moreover, the development of technologies like digital agriculture and plant biotechnology can further increase UA’s environmental sustainability. These advances enable the cultivation of crops that are compatible with urban conditions and can be easily integrated into existing city infrastructure.

Social Benefits

Urban agriculture brings a broad range of social benefits to communities. Many projects involve a combination of community-building and empowerment concepts such as addressing people’s needs in poverty, political activism, social links, ecological citizenship and the like (Cohen and Reynolds, 2016).

A content analysis found that the majority of studies on urban agriculture focused on assessments that prioritized the effects on community cohesion and health and well-being outcomes. However, a growing number of studies also address issues of urban ecology and sustainable food systems.

For instance, by occupying vacant land that would otherwise be unutilized, urban farms help to reduce upkeep costs for cities. They can also enhance property values, which may attract new businesses and residents to the neighborhood. Turning unused city spaces into gardens or farms can also improve the neighborhood’s image, as evidenced by research that showed that greening vacant lots reduced crime rates in Detroit and other urban areas. Moreover, it can strengthen the sense of community and belonging among residents by providing opportunities to meet with people from different age groups, genders, races/ethnicities and socioeconomic classes.

Health Benefits

Growing your own food provides a wealth of health benefits beyond the delicious fruits and vegetables you’ll eat. The act of digging in the dirt and tending to plants provides outdoor physical activity, reduces stress levels, blood pressure and muscle tension, and improves mood.

Urban agriculture can be done in a variety of ways, from home gardens to rooftop farms and everything in between. It can include raising smaller animals like goats, chickens and rabbits if local laws allow.

This type of food production takes up space that would otherwise be used for parking or other uses and can help to reduce environmental impacts, including carbon emissions and imperviousness. It can also support biodiversity, encourage bee and insect pollination, and provide community-based regenerative land management practices. Urban farms can even offer a range of educational opportunities for youth.

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