Tyler_JC wrote:A few things pop out from that chart.
1. How much of that grassland/pasture can be converted into farmland?
2. How many acres of wetlands are legitimate wetlands and how many can be easily converted to farmland?
3. How much of the federally owned land can be converted to farmland?
4. Does that 3% figure for urban areas include the suburbs?
If the answer to those first three question is "a lot" and the last answer is "yes"...we're in pretty good shape.
Land shifting into urban uses seldom shifts back. In 15 years, only 3,000 acres shifted from urban into agricultural uses, whereas 13.9 million acres (28 percent) shifted from agricultural to urban uses.
BigTex wrote:Minimally, I think the urban rooftop garden is an under-utilized resource.
Not a solution, but there is certainly some spare capacity there.
BigTex wrote:Tyler_JC wrote:A few things pop out from that chart.
1. How much of that grassland/pasture can be converted into farmland?
2. How many acres of wetlands are legitimate wetlands and how many can be easily converted to farmland?
3. How much of the federally owned land can be converted to farmland?
4. Does that 3% figure for urban areas include the suburbs?
If the answer to those first three question is "a lot" and the last answer is "yes"...we're in pretty good shape.
Minimally, I think the urban rooftop garden is an under-utilized resource.
Not a solution, but there is certainly some spare capacity there.
eastbay wrote:BigTex wrote:Tyler_JC wrote:A few things pop out from that chart.
1. How much of that grassland/pasture can be converted into farmland?
2. How many acres of wetlands are legitimate wetlands and how many can be easily converted to farmland?
3. How much of the federally owned land can be converted to farmland?
4. Does that 3% figure for urban areas include the suburbs?
If the answer to those first three question is "a lot" and the last answer is "yes"...we're in pretty good shape.
Minimally, I think the urban rooftop garden is an under-utilized resource.
Not a solution, but there is certainly some spare capacity there.
Dude, now THAT was funny.
heroineworshipper wrote:So how much land isn't being used at all?
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
eastbay wrote:...oh. Well, I thought you were cracking a joke, a pretty good one at that, about calling the rooftops of suburban homes 'underutilized land' better suited as gardens than places for nailing shingles.
I can barely keep the shingles on mine when the wind starts cranking up. I can imagine what would happen when fall winds hit and the 45 degree angles making up my home roof were covered with fertile soil and tomato plants.
BigTex wrote:eastbay wrote:...oh. Well, I thought you were cracking a joke, a pretty good one at that, about calling the rooftops of suburban homes 'underutilized land' better suited as gardens than places for nailing shingles.
I can barely keep the shingles on mine when the wind starts cranking up. I can imagine what would happen when fall winds hit and the 45 degree angles making up my home roof were covered with fertile soil and tomato plants.
No, no, no, I'm just musing on what the post-PO city dwellers are going to do for food.
You know what, though, city parks might make good farmland.
Any lessons from Cuba of which you are aware?
***
Tomato plants on your roof is a funny thought. I live on kind of a high point and it gets VERY windy here. No plant could live on my roof, unless maybe it was a mesquite tree.
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Tanada wrote:BigTex wrote:eastbay wrote:...oh. Well, I thought you were cracking a joke, a pretty good one at that, about calling the rooftops of suburban homes 'underutilized land' better suited as gardens than places for nailing shingles.
I can barely keep the shingles on mine when the wind starts cranking up. I can imagine what would happen when fall winds hit and the 45 degree angles making up my home roof were covered with fertile soil and tomato plants.
No, no, no, I'm just musing on what the post-PO city dwellers are going to do for food.
You know what, though, city parks might make good farmland.
Any lessons from Cuba of which you are aware?
***
Tomato plants on your roof is a funny thought. I live on kind of a high point and it gets VERY windy here. No plant could live on my roof, unless maybe it was a mesquite tree.
Oh come now surely Blueberries, strwberries and other ground cover edible plants like Dandelion would do fine on your roof, if it could support the weight.
Tyler_JC wrote:4. Does that 3% figure for urban areas include the suburbs?
kpeavey wrote:Thats a fine site
Agricultural land changes, same site gives us:Land shifting into urban uses seldom shifts back. In 15 years, only 3,000 acres shifted from urban into agricultural uses, whereas 13.9 million acres (28 percent) shifted from agricultural to urban uses.
and a loss of 30,733,000 acres of cropland from 1982 to 1997
US pop
1982 231,664,458
1997 267,743,595
US cropland acres
1982 1,065,950,000=4.6 acres/person
1997 1,035,217,000=3.9 acres/person
these are the numbers I have available. I'm sure the trend over the last 11 years has been similar.
Turning fine farmland into apartment complexes and strip malls seems like a good idea to some.
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