[Originally posted to Where] A public school in Philadelphia is training students in food production and environmental care on an urban farm. The Walter Biddle Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences is a magnet program with 600 students from throughout the city. Located in the upper Roxborough neighborhood, it includes a 130-acre farm with livestock, greenhouses, crops, and pastures.

Saul offers concentrations in Food Science, Floriculture and Greenhouse Management, Landscape Design, Animal Science, and Natural Resource Management. In addition to the agricultural program, students take a full range of high-school, advanced-placement, and college-level courses. The results are impressive. Saul’s average graduation rate is 95 percent, with 80 percent going on to college. Other students start their own businesses or are hired into skilled agricultural jobs right after graduation.

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[Originally posted to Where] According to Dmitri Orlov, Russian dachas (cottages outside of cities) helped people make it through the economic upheaval of the 1990s. Apparently, many were able to supplement their diets with food produced on small agricultural plots. Even given long winters, food products could be cured to last until spring.

From the air, the landscape surrounding Moscow is very unique. Instead of almost grid-like plots covering most of the land, there are clustered houses, arranged organically, surrounded by small gardens. I think these might be dachas (see photo from Google Maps below).

On a recent train trip, I saw what I think were dachas more closely. I wonder if it is typical for them to be located near train lines? The majority had outdoor vegetable gardens, and some had greenhouses. The countryside was a mix of cottages, forests, and heavy industry. Many of the industrial sites were abandoned. There were a few decaying cottages, but most appeared to be in use.

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The term permaculture is derived from “permanent agriculture” or “permanent culture.” It represents the design and development of self-sustaining communities inspired by natural ecosystems. Local agriculture is a key component, as well as reducing dependence on industrial production and distribution as much as possible.

The Permaculture Mandala (left) sums up the ethics and principles of permaculture design. A larger version can be viewed on Wikipedia.

Quoted from Permaculture, Wikipedia: In the mid 1970s, two Australians, Dr. Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, started to develop ideas that they hoped could be used to create stable agricultural systems. This was a result of their perception of a rapidly growing use of destructive industrial-agricultural methods. They saw that these methods were poisoning the land and water, reducing biodiversity, and removing billions of tons of soil from previously fertile landscapes. A design approach called “permaculture” was their response, first made public with the publication of Permaculture One in 1978.

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Slow Food International publishes information, organizes events, and provides education to promote sustainable food production around the world.

Photo from the Slowfood USA website

Quoted: Slow Food believes the enjoyment of excellent food and drink should be combined with efforts to save the countless traditional grains, vegetables, fruits, animal breeds and food products that are disappearing due to the prevalence of convenience food and industrial agribusiness.

Great Communities (greatcommunities.org) is a San Francisco Bay area nonprofit dedicated to sustainable planning and development. They are especially focused on reducing the need for automobile transportation at the local, regional, and state levels.

Quoted: The Bay Area has an incredible opportunity to fundamentally shift growth to be more equitable and sustainable. We can redirect growth away from natural areas and working farms, and instead reinvest in our existing communities, many of which have been ignored for too long. We can build homes that provide choices so that all residents, at every income level, can find great communities to live, work, and play: communities with access to good jobs, schools, parks, transportation, shopping, and other necessities.