Urban agriculture would get a small piece of the pie, if Governor Tom Wolf’s proposed first-ever Pennsylvania Farm Bill comes to pass. The bill is a $24 million package of earmarked investments in an array of programs aimed at helping the state’s large agricultural sector enter the modern era.
There are programs to lower barriers for entry for new farmers, promote new crops such as hops and hemp, expedite responses to agricultural disasters, and help farmers shift to organic practices, with the aim of making Pennsylvania the “nation’s leading organic state.” And there is an allocation of $500,000 for urban agriculture. The funds are intended to “improve agriculture infrastructure in urban areas, the aggregation of product, sharing of resources, and support for community development efforts,” according to a Department of Agriculture press release.
Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding was in Phliadelphia March 19 to talk up the bill, focusing for his city audience on the urban agriculture provision. “Urban agriculture is as much about community development as it is about economic development,” Redding said. “Gardens and farms engage and serve their neighborhoods as places to work, to meet others, and to provide fresh food for their residents.”