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URBAN AGRICULTURE Aff
1AC 2-7
Inherency Training and Start up costs 8-9
Inherency Food Insecurity and Hunger 10-12
Inherency Land Tenure 13
Inherency Expansion of Agriculture 14
Inherency Legal action needed 15
Inherency Brownfields 16
Inherency Narrative of an Urban Framer’s Plea 17-19
Brownfield Solvency 20-26
Solvency General 27-36
Food Security Solvency 37-38
Training Solvency 39-40
Climate and Sprawl solvency 41-46
Community Adv 47-50
Market Solvency 51-53
Brownfields=Environmental Racism Adv 54-70
Brownfields Econ add-on 71
Food Security Adv 72-89
Obesity Adv 90-107
Climate and Sprawl Adv 108-112
A2 States Counterplan 113-119
CAP answers 120-131
A2 Econ Disads 132
A2 Fairness 133
Poverty Adv 134
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1AC URBAN AGRICULTURE
Contention 1: Inherency
Urban agriculture is in need of funding for start up costs, technical training and isn’t seen as a
priority for the politicians and officials for the urban food gap
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food Gap:
Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty”
Having said that, anyone who has worked in an urban environment in some form of gardening or
agriculture is aware of the extraordinary challenges that city farmers face. Jerome Kaufinan and Martin
Bailkey identified some of these in "Farming Inside Cities."
There is a great deal of skepticism toward urban garden enthusiasts ("How can you possibly expect to
grow healthy food in the city?") and urban farming in general. In most people's minds, food production is
associated with rural areas, not vacant city lots .
There is a lack of funding for urban gardening enterprises, especially to cover start-up expenses
associated with site improvements, which can sometimes be quite high depending on the site.
Urban gardening is rarely seen as the best use of vacant inner-city land by government officials, whose
first choice for land use is residential or commercial development. One of the biggest difficulties that the
Hartford Food System and Knox Parks Foundation faced was securing permanent control of, or even a
long-term lease for, a community garden site. Whether the landowner is a public or private entity, it is
rarely inclined to tie up land for a use that will generate little or no income.
Toxic soils, or the fear of such, make people uneasy about using urban land for food production. Site
testing is almost always advisable for any new garden site, but there are also mitigation methods that can
make any land short of an EPA Superfund site safe for gardening.
Crime, vandalism, and petty theft can be major obstacles. There is nothing more heartbreaking than an
earnest, hardworking gardener who arrives at his plot one evening only to find all of his beautiful vineripe tomatoes stolen.
Some cities, especially during much of the 1980s and 1990S, have been hard-pressed to provide even
basic services such as garbage pickup and police protection. Community gardening is regarded by some
people as a frivolous endeavor in light of more serious and pressing demands.
Gardening skills are not acquired overnight, and many first-time gardeners are discouraged when their
plants and crops don't look like those portrayed in the seed catalogs. A little technical assistance is often
necessary to give the neophyte gardener the resolve to try gardening for at least two seasons.
I can attest to the pleasure and pain that are the opposite sides of the gardening coin. For community
gardeners to be successful in their rugged urban environments-to say nothing of making more than a
minor contribution to closing the food gap-entities must make a serious commitment to providing land
that is suitable for gardening. Most important, that land should be available for at least five years.
Adequate funding, from public or private sources, must be available to defray some of the start-up and
infrastructure costs (fencing, plumbing, and topsoil). Training and technical assistance are essential not
only to help gardeners overcome emotional setbacks such as bug-infested plants and poor-quality crops
but also to provide an appropriate amount of organizing assistance so that community remains the most
important word in community Garden. When done right, community gardening is one of the most satisfying
endeavors in life.
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1AC URBAN AGRICULTURE
The status of poverty in America creates nutrition deficiencies, hunger, due to lack of economic
capital and increased oil prices
Walshe 09 (Sadhbh, a film-maker and former staff writer for the CBS,Our Daily Bread is a Luxury,
http://m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/gmg/op/view.m?id=109496&tid=34&cat=Food-Drink 21 June 2009)
“We are introduced to numerous men, women and children across America who are so impoverished that
they are subsisting on diets that are as monotonous as they are nutritionally deficient. Many are lucky if
they get to eat twice a day. They go to bed hungry, wake up hungry, go to school hungry and go to work
hungry. For them milk is a rarity, eggs a luxury and meat an exotic delicacy.In a compelling narrative that
takes the reader into the lives of the working poor across the United States while simultaneously offering
a condensed economic history of America in the last century, Abramsky – a regular contributor here on
Cif – exposes the disturbing truth that many low-income workers in America simply do not earn enough
money to eat. Hunger and poverty are not new phenomenons in America, but the lot of the average
worker has considerably worsened since the early 1980s. And in the past decade, two key factors –
soaring oil prices and a stagnant minimum wage – have pushed many of our poorest families over the
brink. Between 2000 and 2008 oil prices quadrupled, which in turn caused food prices to escalate. During
the same period, the federal minimum wage, which was set at $5.15 an hour in 1997, remained stagnant
for almost 10 years. The combination of these factors has had devastating consequences for America's
poorest workers, particularly those living in car-dependent regions, whose finances were already stretched
to capacity.”
Amongst all of the difficulties low income resident face they must deal with brownfields in their
neighborhoods that are a testament of urban decay and neglect to the poorest sections of cities
Stokes and Green 08( Lance and Kenneth, President and Project Director of ECI Environmental
Consultants & Engineers, and Kenneth Green, Project Manager for ECI, 2008, “Twenty-Five Years of
‘Change’ and Things Remain The Same,” online:
http://www.ejconference2008.org/images/Green_Stokes.pdf, accessed June 23, 2009
Disadvantaged communities and neighborhoods across America, have historically been plagued by
poverty, joblessness, injustice, and lack of investment. They suffer disproportionately from the
impacts of contaminated properties, known as brownfields. It is well documented1 that people who live
in lower income communities and areas with higher percentages of people of color tend to reside in
closer proximity to hazardous waste sites, industrial facilities releasing toxic pollutants, and
facilities using toxic chemicals in industrial production. These disadvantaged communities also tend to
have more blighted areas, more abandoned gas stations and buildings, and more abandoned warehouses
and vacant industrial properties. These brownfields threaten public health and the environment,
exacerbate neighborhood blight, discourage new investment and revitalization, and accelerate
patterns of poverty and decline that continue to plague disadvantaged communities.
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1AC URBAN AGRICULTURE
Advantage 1: Food Security
Food insecurity is a reality that is faced by 12 percent of Americans and feeds the food gap
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food Gap:
Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty ”
This was the physical and psychological landscape that welcomed me, one that would generally
deteriorate in the years to come. More important, it formed the backdrop to what was then and,
unfortunately, remains to this day America's food gap. As in the case of supermarket abandonment of
urban (and rural) areas, the food gap can be understood as a failure of our market economy to serve the
basic human needs of those who are impoverished. But poverty contributes to this gap, creating a
situation in which a person or household simply doesn't have enough money to purchase a sufficient
supply of nutritious food.
Hunger-the painful sensation that someone feels on a regular basis due to lack of food-is a relatively rare
phenomenon in America today, but it nevertheless afflicts a small number of u.s. residents on an
intermittent basis. The more common form of food insufficiency is known as food insecurity, a condition
experienced by a much larger number of people who regularly run out of food or simply don't know
where their next meal will come from. As part of the annual census update, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture conducts a survey that determines the number of people who are food insecure (generally
between 10 and 12 percent of the U.S. population) and severely food insecure (3 to 4 percent of the
population, until 2006 labeled "food insecure with hunger").
Abandonment of supermarkets have caused the food gap widened for low-income people
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food Gap:
Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty ”
Hunger, food insecurity, and poverty present us with a chicken and egg proposition. Can we significantly
mitigate or even eliminate the first two if we eradicate the latter? Or, if the latter can never be eradicated
(that is, as Jesus said, the poor will always be with us), should we focus society's resources on hunger
mitigation as the most humane and practical strategy? The manner in which we debate this question has
consequences for how society chooses to close the food gap. While the failure of supermarkets to
adequately serve lower-income communities represents a failure of the marketplace, the marketplace is
functioning rationally (as economists would say) by going to where the money is. In short, if
communities weren't poor, they would have supermarkets and, as we will see, the best and healthiest food
available. To move forward in our understanding of the food gap, we must also understand the role that
poverty has played in giving hunger and food insecurity such a firm foothold in the United States. And
we must understand as well why we have chosen to respond to poverty and hunger in the ways that we
have.
As an up-by-the-bootstraps kind of people, Americans have always struck an uneasy balance between
poverty and the social welfare programs that have attempted to address it. In fact, many antihunger and
antipoverty advocates assert that the public and private charitable sectors have never made a concerted
and meaningful effort to eradicate domestic poverty. It is notable, in that regard, that in the course of
reforming the country's welfare system, President Bill Clinton said we were ending welfare, not poverty, as
we knew it. With the exception of an occasional burst of rhetorical and political fervor, such as President
Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty during the 1960s, our nation's approach to poverty has been to manage
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it, not to end it. And perhaps the best examples of good poverty management practices can be found in
America's antihunger programs.
1AC URBAN AGRICULTURE
Hunger and malnutrition result from food insecurity and ensures catastrophic suffering for
millions
Keeling Buhi ’08 ( Lori Keeling, Director of Health Education at Bryan-College Station Community
Health Center http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Erg-Foo/Food-Insecurity.html)
Millions of people worldwide suffer from hunger and undernutrition. A major factor contributing to this
international problem is food insecurity. This condition exists when people lack sustainable physical or
economic access to enough safe, nutritious, and socially acceptable food for a healthy and productive
life… Food insecurity and malnutrition result in catastrophic amounts of human suffering. The World
Health Organization estimates that approximately 60 percent of all childhood deaths in the developing
world are associated with chronic hunger and malnutrition. In developing countries, persistent
malnutrition leaves children weak, vulnerable, and less able to fight such common childhood illnesses as
diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, malaria, and measles. Even children who are mildly to moderately
malnourished are at greater risk of dying from these common diseases. Malnourished children in the
United States suffer from poorer health status, compromised immune systems, and higher rates of
illnesses such as colds, headaches, and fatigue.
Thus the Plan: the United States Federal Government should substantially increase social services
for persons living in poverty by providing financial and infrastructural support and agricultural
training for urban agriculture in the United States
Contention 2: Solvency
Brownfields are the best place for urban agriculture to exist once cleaned
Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002, Urban Agriculture
Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman, http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
The regenerative effect of urban agriculture is especially visible when vacant lots are transformed from
eyesores-- weedy, trash-ridden, dangerous gathering places--into bountiful, beautiful and safe gardens that
feed peoples’ bodies and souls. With increasing “sprawl” into the suburbs, the last twenty years has seen
a common pattern of inner-city neglect in most cities across North America. For example, in the United
States, “Chicago now has an estimated 70,000 vacant parcels of land. Philadelphia has 31,000, and in
nearby Trenton, New Jersey, 900 acres--18 percent of it total land area--is currently vacant. Between 1950
and 1990 in the U.S., abandoned lots in inner-city areas remained vacant for between 20 and 30 years in
most cities. Failed businesses and homes were bulldozed, leaving relatively inexpensive lots without
much economic potential, except, that is, for those lots that have become fruitful examples of urban
agriculture. Even some of the 130,000 to 425,000 contaminated vacant industrial sites, or brownfields,
that the General Accounting Office has identified, may be safely converted to agricultural purposes when
properly redeveloped.
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1AC URBAN AGRICULTURE
Urban food production is key to the New Green Deal. It reduces pollution, lessens global warming
and creates jobs for the economy
Kimbrell in 08 {Andrew-attorney, author, activist, and executive director of the Center for Food Safety
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/11/10/101340/28/ 10 Nov 2008 Going up? Part 4 Michael Pollan and
other food authors and activists offer their elevator pitches for Obama}
Food production can play a major role in the new Green Deal. It has been shown that organic agriculture
not only reduces pollution and lessens global warming but also creates many new jobs. We need to
protect the organic standards and evolve the ethic by supporting local, appropriate-scale, humane, socially
just, and biodiverse food production that can revitalize local communities and protect our food security.
Let's get federal support for community-supported agriculture (CSAs) and urban and suburban agriculture
that, like the Victory Gardens of WWII, can make communities food sufficient and significantly lower
food prices. Let's support farmers markets in economically disenfranchised urban areas that often have no
access to supermarkets or healthy and safe food. On the governmental end, it's time to have a federal
agency completely devoted to food safety and security
The federal government must shift to the mindset of liability to make urban agriculture esstential to
the growth and redevelopment of urban centers for low-income people
Kisner 08, (Corinne , Director of Operations at Climate Institute, “International Action: Green Roofs for
Urban Food Security and Environmental Sustainability.” December 2008
Other obstacles arise from the dense concentration of humans, plants and animals sharing air, water and
soil resources. Misuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as untreated waste, can contaminate
food and water with severe environmental and public health consequences. Although problems relating
to a lack of information could be easily solved with information and extension assistance, local city
authorities have often responded instead by destroying food crops and evicting food producers from
public lands. These policies that neglect and discourage, or even repress, informal urban agriculture harm
the city’s poor. A lack of access to credit or land titles means that low-income urban producers can’t get
loans and aren’t guaranteed to receive the benefits of their work. Threats from authorities may drive
urban producers to use unsafe production methods. Without government support, producers are unlikely
to invest in the long-term fertility of the soil or consider the benefits of organic methods. To legitimize
urban agriculture, government opinion must shift from the mindset that it is a liability and instead learn to
understand the environmental, social and economic benefits. Legitimacy will allow producers to have
access to land, credit, agricultural inputs, and needed services. Urban planning has so far addressed
access to affordable housing, ease of public transportation, employment, and health; however, few urban
planners adequately consider food security or acknowledge the importance of having a percentage of the
city’s population capable of growing food, in the case that imports are unexpectedly cut off. Policies that
educate and empower urban producers rather than ignore or impede them will allow for progress in public
health, environmental sustainability, economic independence and food security. According to Mougeot,
“Urban agriculture is most viable where it is mainstreamed into robust strategies for land use, poverty
alleviation, economic development, and sound environmental management.” Governments should apply
lessons from local experiences to determine policies that have multiple-stakeholder governance for
sustainable urban agriculture.
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1AC URBAN AGRICULTURE
Brownfield cleanup will be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
further funding is needed for urban farms
EPA 09 (Environmental Protection Agency, “Brownfields Program Activities Under the Recovery
Act ” May 22, 2009, online: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/eparecovery/index.htm,accessed June
20, 2008)
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will provide $100 million to the EPA
Brownfields Program for clean up, revitalization, and sustainable reuse of contaminated properties. The
funds will be awarded to eligible entities through job training, assessment, revolving loan fund, and
cleanup grants. Communities in 46 states, four Tribes, and two U.S. Territories will share $111.9 million
in EPA Brownfields grants
These communities will share $111.9 million in EPA Brownfields grants to help revitalize former
industrial and commercial sites, turning them from problem properties to productive community use. The
grants include $37.3 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that President
Obama signed into law on February 17, 2009, and $74.6 million from the EPA brownfields general
program funding. Since the beginning of the Brownfields Program, EPA has awarded 1450 assessment
grants totaling $337.5 million, 242 revolving loan fund grants totaling $233.5 million and 538 cleanup
grants totaling $99 million.An Estimated $40 Million in Recovery Act Funds to Supplement Eligible Brownfields Revolving Loan
Fund Grants
EPA is announcing the availability of an estimated $40 million in Recovery Act funds to supplement eligible brownfields revolving loan fund
(RLF) grants. Grants eligible to request Recovery Act supplemental funds are brownfields RLF grants that have been previously awarded
competitively under Section 104(k)(3) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or that have
transitioned to Section 104(k)(3) of CERCLA, and subject to other identified criteria. Requests for funding must be postmarked and received by
email by May 1, 2009. Specific information on eligible entities and submitting a request for Recovery Act supplemental RLF funding is available
in the Federal Register Notice, Process and Consideration Guidelines (PDF) (6 pp, 178K), or can be obtained by contacting the EPA Brownfields
Contact for your region. More information about brownfields revolving loan fund grants is available online.Recovery Act Funds to be
Awarded Using FY 2009 Competition for Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup
Grants
In order to ensure that money under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is distributed
as quickly as possible, EPA will use the current Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 competition for assessment,
revolving loan fund, and cleanup (ARC) grants to award Recovery Act funds and Brownfields general
program funds to selected applicants. EPA plans to announce all successful ARC applicants in the
FY2009 competition within the coming weeks. You can learn more about assessment, revolving loan
fund and cleanup grants under the Brownfields Program on EPA's Brownfields grants and funding page.
Information about all EPA efforts under the Recovery Act is also available. Job Training Grants: EPA
Announces the Availability of an Estimated $5 Million Under the Recovery Act On March 19, 2009, EPA
issued a request for applications (RFA) from eligible governmental entities and nonprofit organizations to
provide environmental job training projects that will facilitate job creation in the assessment, remediation,
or preparation of brownfields sites for sustainable reuse. The closing date for receipt of applications is
April 20, 2009. Information about how to apply for a Recovery Act job training grant* (PDF) (35 pgs,
165K, about PDF) and more information about brownfields job training grants is available online.
The EPA Brownfields Program has been in existence since the early 1990s. In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act was passed to help states and communities around the country cleanup and revitalize brownfield sites. A brownfield is a
property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance,
pollutant, or contaminant.
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INHERENCY: TRAINING AND START UP COSTS
Urban agriculture is in need of funding for start up costs, technical training and isn’t seen as a
priority for the politicians and officials for the urban food gap
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food Gap:
Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty”
Having said that, anyone who has worked in an urban environment in some form of gardening or
agriculture is aware of the extraordinary challenges that city farmers face. Jerome Kaufinan and Martin
Bailkey identified some of these in "Farming Inside Cities."
There is a great deal of skepticism toward urban garden enthusiasts ("How can you possibly expect to
grow healthy food in the city?") and urban farming in general. In most people's minds, food production is
associated with rural areas, not vacant city lots .
There is a lack of funding for urban gardening enterprises, especially to cover start-up expenses
associated with site improvements, which can sometimes be quite high depending on the site.
Urban gardening is rarely seen as the best use of vacant inner-city land by government officials, whose
first choice for land use is residential or commercial development. One of the biggest difficulties that the
Hartford Food System and Knox Parks Foundation faced was securing permanent control of, or even a
long-term lease for, a community garden site. Whether the landowner is a public or private entity, it is
rarely inclined to tie up land for a use that will generate little or no income.
Toxic soils, or the fear of such, make people uneasy about using urban land for food production. Site
testing is almost always advisable for any new garden site, but there are also mitigation methods that can
make any land short of an EPA Superfund site safe for gardening.
Crime, vandalism, and petty theft can be major obstacles. There is nothing more heartbreaking than an
earnest, hardworking gardener who arrives at his plot one evening only to find all of his beautiful vineripe tomatoes stolen.
Some cities, especially during much of the 1980s and 1990S, have been hard-pressed to provide even
basic services such as garbage pickup and police protection. Community gardening is regarded by some
people as a frivolous endeavor in light of more serious and pressing demands.
Gardening skills are not acquired overnight, and many first-time gardeners are discouraged when their
plants and crops don't look like those portrayed in the seed catalogs. A little technical assistance is often
necessary to give the neophyte gardener the resolve to try gardening for at least two seasons.
I can attest to the pleasure and pain that are the opposite sides of the gardening coin. For community
gardeners to be successful in their rugged urban environments-to say nothing of making more than a
minor contribution to closing the food gap-entities must make a serious commitment to providing land
that is suitable for gardening. Most important, that land should be available for at least five years.
Adequate funding, from public or private sources, must be available to defray some of the start-up and
infrastructure costs (fencing, plumbing, and topsoil). Training and technical assistance are essential not
only to help gardeners overcome emotional setbacks such as bug-infested plants and poor-quality crops
but also to provide an appropriate amount of organizing assistance so that community remains the most
important word in community Garden. When done right, community gardening is one of the most satisfying
endeavors in life.
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INHERENCY: TRAINING AND START UP COSTS
Community food projects are dying due to lack of funding, technical training, and support from the
government
Connelly and Ross 07 ( Phoebe, Chelsea, writers, “Farming the Concrete Jungle” August 24, 2007
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3297/farming_the_concrete_jungle/
The massive federal subsidies received by Big Ag companies help keep food prices artificially low. That
means small-scale, sustainable agriculture must self-subsidize its prices to compete in the marketplace.
And as the profile of urban agriculture rises, urban farms are also confronting questions about whether to
participate in the high-priced, organic farmers’ markets cropping up around the country.“It’s important to
us that the food we grow here is available to people in the community,” says the Food Project’s Andrews.
“That means it’s not sold at the prices it would be if it was sold downtown.” Selling at high-end markets
is an issue that the Food Project grapples with because it has the potential to allow the organization to
sustain itself. Right now, the group makes around $20,000 off the produce grown on its Dorchester land.
If the Food Project sold it at the Copley Square farmers’ market, opposite the Neiman Marcus, Andrews
estimates they could get twice as much. “I think there is a sense at the organization that it could lend
something to the urban agriculture movement if we were economically sustainable.” So far, however, the
Food Project is opting out. “Our community is patient with what goes along with urban agriculture.
Sometimes our compost smells, or we’ll have a little rat infestation,” Andrews says. “If we were selling
downtown, it could become uncomfortable. I don’t think it would make a whole lot of sense.”Because of
funding difficulties, over the years many community food projects have died, which hurts those
communities that have come to rely on their resources.“Everyone keeps reinventing this thing over and
over again, which tells me it has a really important function, and it should be supported,” says Lawson.
“But we shouldn’t have to keep finding new land and new leaders.” For this reason, Lawson stresses land
ownership as one path to sustainability. “The exact audience will change over time—but the hardest thing
is transforming that space, that earth,” she says. “Once you have that tillable soil, it’s there for whatever
programs want to come along and claim it. The gardeners need to look at land use and ownership of sites,
and work with the city to keep them permanent.” Many hold up Philadelphia as the gold standard of land
stewardship. Founded in 1986, the Neighborhood Gardens Association (NGA) is a community land trust
that holds land reclaimed by gardeners in order to save it from development when property values rise.
(One of the quandaries urban agriculture programs face is that when they transform previous “worthless”
land, they simultaneously raise its property value and that of the surrounding area.) The NGA currently
holds 24 plots in trust. In Chicago, a similar program called NeighborSpace has been around since 1996.
Both programs focus on community gardens, but the overall aim of creating community land is one that
resonates with everyone working in urban agriculture. “If you have control over the land and the water, if
you can feed yourself, you can really transform society,” says Erika Allen. “But these communities don’t
have any of those things, so how can you have a just society?”
Many start up costs exist for urban farmers and must be further addressed
Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002, Urban Agriculture
Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman, http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
Entrepreneurs and community and backyard gardeners have start-up costs that can be an obstacle to folks
on limited incomes. Responses to this problem include: Tool banks, including donations of surplus tools,
offer gardeners the option of borrowing tools or renting them for a low fee. Foundation and government
“seed” grants provide much-needed funding for individuals and organizations. Banks and governmentfunded redevelopment plans have provided micro-credit to growers. Gardening supply businesses,
nurseries, and seed companies donate their wares. Community kitchens, offered by churches, schools, and
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other organizations provide access for food preservation and small-scale value-added production projects.
Crop or harvest loans, crop insurance, liability insurance, and equipment loans can assist the beginning
urban farmer
INHERENCY: FOOD INSECURITY AND HUNGER
To solve the injustices of the world requires listening rather than policy experts. The plan’s
emphasis on highlighting disenfranchised voices provides the best hope for solving the global food
crisis, protecting women’s rights, US crop dumping and WTO failures. Change begins with those
who have been fighting hardest for it
Patel in 08 { Raj-author of Stuffed and Starved: http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/11/10/101340/28/ 10
Nov 2008 Going up? Part 4 Michael Pollan and other food authors and activists offer their elevator
pitches for Obama }
But around the world, U.S. food policy makes it impossible for women to feed their families. The
majority of food eaten in developing countries is grown by women, yet U.S. agricultural policy abroad
strengthens the hand not of the poorest food producers but the richest ones. Today's U.S. agricultural
policies put billions in the hands of food corporations while disenfranchising small farmers -- in the U.S.,
black farmers have been hit particularly hard by USDA racism. The destructive U.S.-sponsored global
trade and intellectual property policies that lock up knowledge about seeds and drugs should be
abandoned. The insane policy of growing food not to eat but to burn, the U.S. biofuels policy for which
you've expressed great support, needs to be reversed. And we need to move towards valuing the full
environmental and social cost of food.
To solve the injustices in agriculture requires not the right cabal of policy experts, but an ear open to what
those most deeply hurt by U.S. policy are saying. Under the rubric of food sovereignty, women and men
around the world have come up with effective and practical ideas about how to feed the world
sustainably. Doing that will mean ensuring women's rights, but also preventing the dumping of U.S. crops
in foreign markets, the removal of agriculture from the World Trade Organization, and support for land
reform and sustainable agriculture. These are ideas that come directly from the fields, that are part of a
chorus of 150 million farmers, peasants, and landless people around the world who have been saying 'yes
we can,' despite violence and poverty, for two decades. Why not let the change begin with the ideas of
those who have been fighting hardest for it?"
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INHERENCY: FOOD INSECURITY AND HUNGER
Constant population growth in urban areas presents urban centers with food insecurity, poverty,
and environmental concerns
Kisner 08, (Corinne , Director of Operations at Climate Institute, “International Action: Green Roofs for
Urban Food Security and Environmental Sustainability.” December 2008
Urbanization is changing human demands and straining natural resources. In order to support this
lifestyle, cities must adapt, reconsidering food sources, water supplies, the end location of their waste, the
fuel supplying their electricity, and the overall environmental sustainability of densely concentrated
populations. Cities consume too many resources and produce too much waste, impacting land far outside
the city limits. The urban heat island effect, air and water pollution, elevated food prices and higher rates
of poverty are problems endemic to cities that contribute to health concerns, economic instability, and
environmental degradation. The current trend of urbanization means that without making our cities more
sustainable, there is little hope for a sustainable world.
The past hundred years have seen the world’s urban population swell from 15% to 50% of the total global
population, which itself has increased from 1.5 to well over 6 billion. According to the US National
Research Council, by 2030 more people will be living in urban areas (4.1 billion) than in rural areas (3.1
billion) in middle and low-income countries. In fact, the population of developing countries will expand
from 4.9 to 6.8 billion by 2020; ninety percent of the increase will occur in urban areas, meaning that
more than half of Africa’s and Asia’s populations will live in cities. In Latin America, over 75% of the
population already lives in cities.
This high concentration of people in cities has serious consequences for poverty rates and food security.
The world’s urban poor tend to lack the money to purchase food and lack the land and resources to grow
their own. More people living in cities with limited access to food will result in an increase in the level of
urban poverty from 30 to a staggering 50% by 2020. To further exacerbate the economic hardship of
city-dwellers in developing countries, the cost of feeding urban areas is high compared with rural areas.
Not only must the food be collected from many small rural farmers, packaged, transported, and
distributed, but postharvest food losses from inadequate preservation, as well as delays at checkpoints
along poorly maintained roads increase the costs even more. “Food losses can be as high as 35 percent
for perishable food products, while transportation costs can reach as high as 90 percent of the overall food
marketing margin.” With such complications and insecurities, many people have turned to urban
agriculture as a more dependable source of food over which they have control.
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INHERENCY: FOOD INSECURITY AND HUNGER
The status of poverty in America creates nutrition deficiencies, hunger, due to lack of economic
capital and increased oil prices
Walshe 09 (Sadhbh, a film-maker and former staff writer for the CBS,Our Daily Bread is a Luxury,
http://m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/gmg/op/view.m?id=109496&tid=34&cat=Food-Drink 21 June 2009)
“We are introduced to numerous men, women and children across America who are so impoverished that
they are subsisting on diets that are as monotonous as they are nutritionally deficient. Many are lucky if
they get to eat twice a day. They go to bed hungry, wake up hungry, go to school hungry and go to work
hungry. For them milk is a rarity, eggs a luxury and meat an exotic delicacy.In a compelling narrative that
takes the reader into the lives of the working poor across the United States while simultaneously offering
a condensed economic history of America in the last century, Abramsky – a regular contributor here on
Cif – exposes the disturbing truth that many low-income workers in America simply do not earn enough
money to eat. Hunger and poverty are not new phenomenons in America, but the lot of the average
worker has considerably worsened since the early 1980s. And in the past decade, two key factors –
soaring oil prices and a stagnant minimum wage – have pushed many of our poorest families over the
brink. Between 2000 and 2008 oil prices quadrupled, which in turn caused food prices to escalate. During
the same period, the federal minimum wage, which was set at $5.15 an hour in 1997, remained stagnant
for almost 10 years. The combination of these factors has had devastating consequences for America's
poorest workers, particularly those living in car-dependent regions, whose finances were already stretched
to capacity.”
Poverty and hunger need to be addressed by community gardens and other sources in the status
quo
Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002, Urban Agriculture
Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman, http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
New citywide coalitions are emerging on behalf of urban food security. Health and nutrition
advocates are joining with community gardeners, university extension services, emergency food
distributors and faith communities. Community economic development organizers, as well as
environmentalists concerned with urban waste reduction and recycling, see the potential in urban
farming. A growing consumer demand for fresh, local and organic food in its turn creates new
markets for urban food production. With growing momentum in the last decade, individuals,
organizations, communities, and governments have participated in a variety of creative efforts to develop
the capacity to raise food in and around cities. Many of these efforts specifically address the needs of
urban residents who are living in poverty, and consequently at grave risk for “food insecurity” –
that is, threatened with hunger, poor nutrition, and frequent anxiety about not having enough to
eat.
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INHERENCY: LAND TENURE
Land Tenure Challenges exist for urban farmers that governments need to address
Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002, Urban Agriculture
Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman, http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
Many involved in urban agriculture do not own the land they use to grow food. Without title or three to
five year leases, they risk losing their investment when the land is taken for other purposes. Creative
solutions to this problem include the following: Land trusts successfully secure urban and peri-urban land
parcels for agricultural purposes. Conservation easements are used to delineate environmentally
vulnerable lands that then can be used for agriculture. Communities develop inventories of surplus
properties that lead to the inclusion of agriculture in subsequent plans for the land. Many urban growers
have been able to write medium-to-longer-term leases allowing them to plan for the future
Many forms of urban agriculture are mobile and/or require little investment, and thus are well suited to
shorter-term or more uncertain leases. Some urban agriculture sites are maintained under usufruct
arrangements. This means that growers have the legal right to use public or private land as long as they
maintain it well.
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INHERENCY: EXPANSION OF URBAN AGRICULTURE
Urban Revolution in farming is growing to produce a multitude of issues in the urban centers of the
U.S.
Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002, Urban Agriculture
Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman, http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
“There is a quiet revolution stirring in our food system. It is not happening so much on the distant
farms that still provide us with the majority of our food; it is happening in cities, neighborhoods,
and towns. It has evolved out of the basic need that every person has to know their food, and to
have some sense of control over its safety and security. It is a revolution that is providing poor
people with an important safety net where they can grow some nourishment and income for
themselves and their families. And it is providing an oasis for the human spirit where urban people
can gather, preserve something of their culture through native seeds and foods, and teach their
children about food and the earth. The revolution is taking place in small gardens, under railroad tracks
and power lines, on rooftops, at farmers’ markets, and in the most unlikely of places. It is a movement
that has the potential to address a multitude of issues: economic, environmental, personal health,
and cultural.”
Urban Agriculture needs support in order to expand its potential to create massive benefits for
urban dwellers Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002,
Urban Agriculture Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman,
http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
“To grow your own food gives you a sort of power and it gives people dignity. You know exactly
what you’re eating because you grew it. It’s good, it’s nourishing and you did this for yourself,
your family and your community.”-Karen Washington Urban agriculture in the United States has been
enriched by the skills and technologies of immigrant populations, from Japanese market gardeners in
California to Italian urban gardeners in the Northeast. In addition, many inner-city communities are rich
in social and environmental capital even while they are poor in economic resources. The urban
agriculture movement, if it is supported and expanded, can build on this existence, but until then
they remain neglected or undeveloped expertise, social relationships, and the urban landscape
itself. Often some of the most vulnerable people in cities, such as the elderly and newly arrived
immigrants and refugees, have years of experience in, and knowledge about, raising and preserving
food. And many neighborhoods defy commonly held negative characterizations of urban life,
exhibiting instead enduring bonds of reciprocity and trust that tide family, friends, church
members, and whole communities over hard times. Local leaders are experienced in the
complexities of church and neighborhood politics, and in the often frustrating relationships
between low-income communities, social service agencies, and government. Such local leaders are
frequently the first to recognize the potential contribution of urban agriculture to their community’s food
security.
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INHERENCY: LEGAL ACTION NEEDED
Legal Action is needed to sustain urban agriculture in cities from developers
Kirby and Peters 08 (Ellen, Elizabeth, Editors and Analysts of Urban Farming (Community Gardening,
Page 70)
The following steps are useful when developing a small community garden. Determine who owns the
property and acquire access. Is it legal to develop a garden on the site? Laws change between
municipalities so a call to a local planner and/or permit specialist in the building department should
clarify if gardening is an accepted use on the property and if so what permits are required. Below-theradar gardening can challenge restrictive policies or transform a vacant lot with an absentee owner.
However, it is not unheard of for well-established and beloved community gardens to be bulldozed by
developers because legal permissions weren't obtained. The resources expended to create a garden are
significant, and if a legal mechanism exists that will support community gardeners, it should be pursued.
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INHERENCY: BROWNFIELDS
Brownfields have been a blight to low-income residents and their current condition are a threat to
us
Green and Stokes 07 ( Kenneth,Lance President and CEO, is the Principal of ECI Environmental
Consultants & Engineers, LLC. and ECI consultant “Twenty-Five Years of ‘Change’ and Things Remain
The Same” 2007
Disadvantaged communities and neighborhoods across America, have historically been plagued by
poverty, joblessness, injustice, and lack of investment. They suffer disproportionately from the impacts of
contaminated properties, known as brownfields. It is well documented that people who live in lower
income communities and areas with higher percentages of people of color tend to reside in closer
proximity to hazardous waste sites, industrial facilities releasing toxic pollutants, and facilities using toxic
chemicals in industrial production. These disadvantaged communities also tend to have more blighted
areas, more abandoned gas stations and buildings, and more abandoned warehouses and vacant industrial
properties. These brownfields threaten public health and the environment, exacerbate neighborhood
blight, discourage new investment and revitalization, and accelerate patterns of poverty and decline that
continue to plague disadvantaged communities.
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INHERENCY: NARRATIVE OF A URBAN FARMER’S PLEA
Will Allen, Founder of Growing Power made a plea to the government for comprehensive
treatment for urban agriculture in the Status quo
Allen 09 ( Will, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Growing Power “A Good Food Manifesto for
America” http://mediacompost.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/a-good-food-manifesto-for-america-by-willallen/ May 8, 2009
When fuel prices skyrocket, as they did last year, things go awry. When a bubble like
ethanol builds and then bursts, things go haywire. When drought strikes that valley in
California, as is happening right now, things start to topple. And when the whole
economy shatters, the security of a nation’s food supply teeters on the brink of failure.
To many people, this might sound a bit hysterical. There is still food in the suburban
supermarket aisles, yes. The shelves are not empty; there are no bread lines. We haven’t
read of any number of Americans actually starving to death. No, and were any of those things to happen,
you can rest assured that there would be swift and vigorous action. What is happening is that many
vulnerable people, especially in the large cities where most of us live, in vast urban tracts where there are
in fact no supermarkets, are being forced to buy cheaper and lower-quality foods, to forgo fresh
fruits and vegetables, or are relying on food programs – including our children’s school
food programs – that by necessity are obliged to distribute any kind of food they can
afford, good for you or not. And this is coming to haunt us in health care and social costs.
No, we are not suddenly starving to death; we are slowly but surely malnourishing
ourselves to death. And this fate is falling ever more heavily on those who were already
stressed: the poor. Yet there is little action. Many astute and well-informed people beside myself, most
notably Michael Pollan, in a highly persuasive treatise last fall in the New York Times, have issued these
same warnings and laid out the case for reform of our national food policy. I need not go on
repeating what Pollan and others have already said so well, and I do not wish merely to
add my voice to a chorus. I am writing to demand action.
It is time and past time for this nation, this government, to react to the dangers inherent
in its flawed farm and food policies and to reverse course from subsidizing wealth to
subsidizing health. We have to stop paying the largest farm subsidies to large growers of unsustainable
and inedible crops like cotton. We have to stop paying huge subsidies to Big Corn, Big Soy
and Big Chem to use prime farmland to grow fuel, plastics and fructose. We have to stop
using federal and state agencies and institutions as taxpayer-funded research arms for the
very practices that got us into this mess.
We have to start subsidizing health and well-being by rewarding sustainable practices
in agriculture and assuring a safe, adequate and wholesome food supply to all our
citizens. And we need to start this reform process now, as part of the national stimulus
toward economic recovery. In my organization, Growing Power Inc. of Milwaukee, we have always
before tried tobe as self-sustaining as possible and to rely on the market for our success. Typically, I
would not want to lean on government support, because part of the lesson we teach is to
be self-reliant.But these are not typical times, as we are now all too well aware.
As soon as it became clear that Congress would pass the National Recovery Act, I and
members of my staff brainstormed ideas for a meaningful stimulus package aimed at
creating green jobs, shoring up the security of our urban food systems, and promoting
sound food policies of national scope. The outcome needed to be both “shovel-ready” for
immediate impact and sustainable for future growth.
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We produced a proposal for the creation of a public-private enabling institution called
the Centers for Urban Agriculture. It would incorporate a national training and outreach
INHERENCY: NARRATIVE OF A URBAN FARMER’S PLEA CONT…
center, a large working urban farmstead, a research and development center, a policy
institute, and a state-of-the-future urban agriculture demonstration center into which all of
these elements would be combined in a functioning community food system scaled to the
needs of a large city.We proposed that this working institution – not a “think tank” but a “do tank” – be
based in Milwaukee, where Growing Power has already created an operating model on
just two acres. But ultimately, satellite centers would become established in urban areas
across the nation. Each would be the hub of a local or regional farm-to-market
community food system that would provide sustainable jobs, job training, food
production and food distribution to those most in need of nutritional support and security.
This proposal was forwarded in February to our highest officials at the city, state and
federal level, and it was greeted with considerable approval. Unfortunately, however, it
soon became clear that the way Congress had structured the stimulus package, with funds
earmarked for only particular sectors of the economy, chiefly infrastructure, afforded
neither our Congressional representatives nor our local leaders with the discretion to
direct any significant funds to this innovative plan. It simply had not occurred to anyone
that immediate and lasting job creation was plausible in a field such as community-based
agriculture. I am asking Congress today to rectify that oversight, whether by modifying the current
guidelines of the Recovery Act or by designating new and dedicated funds to the
development of community food systems through the creation of this national Centers forUrban
Agriculture.Our proposal budgeted the initial creation of this CUA at a minimum of $63 million
over two years – a droplet compared to the billions being invested in other programs both
in the stimulus plan and from year-to-year in the federal budget.
Consider that the government will fund the Centers for Disease Control at about $8.8
billion this year, and that is above the hundreds of millions more in research grants to
other bio-medical institutions, public and private. This is money well spent for important
work to ensure Americans the best knowledge in protecting health by fighting disease;
but surely by now we ought to recognize that the best offense against many diseases is
the defense provided by a healthy and adequate diet. Yet barely a pittance of CDC money
goes for any kind of preventive care research. In 2008, the Department of Homeland Security approved
spending $450 million for a new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility at Kansas State University, in
addition to the existing Biosecurity Research Institute already there. Again, money well spent to
protect our food supply from the potential of a terrorist attack. But note that these
hundreds of millions are being spent to protect us from a threat that may never
materialize, while we seem to trivialize the very real and material threat that is upon us
right now: the threat of malnourishment and undernourishment of very significant
number of our citizens. Government programs under the overwhelmed and overburdened departments of
Agriculture and of Health and Human Services do their best to serve their many masters,
but in the end, government farm and food policies are most often at odds between the
needs of the young, the old, the sick and the poor versus the wants of the super-industry
that agriculture has become. By and large, the government’s funding of nutritional health comes down to
spending millions on studies to tell us what we ought to eat without in any way guaranteeing that
many people will be able to find or afford the foods they recommend. For instance, food
stamps ensure only that poor people can buy food; they cannot ensure that, in the food
deserts that America’s inner cities have become, there will be any good food to buy.
We need a national nutrition plan that is not just another entitlement, that is not a matter
of shipping surplus calories to schools, senior centers, and veterans’ homes. We need a
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plan that encourages a return to the best practices of both farming and marketing, that
rewards the grower who protects the environment and his customers by nourishing his
soil with compost instead of chemicals and who ships his goods the shortest distance, not
the longest. If the main purpose of government is to provide for the common security of its citizens,
INHERENCY: NARRATIVE OF A URBAN FARMER’S PLEA CONT…
surely ensuring the security of their food system must be among its paramount duties.
And if among our rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we are denied all
those rights if our cities become prisons of poverty and malnutrition.
As an African-American farmer, I am calling on the first African-American president of
the United States to lead us quickly away from this deepening crisis. Demand, President
Obama, that Congress and your own Administration begin without delay the process of
reforming our farm and food policies. Start now by correcting the omission in your
economic stimulus and recovery act that prevented significant spending on creating new
and sustainable jobs for the poor in our urban centers as well as rural farm communities.
It will be an irony, certainly, but a sweet one, if millions of African-Americans whose
grandparents left the farms of the South for the factories of the North, only to see those
factories close, should now find fulfillment in learning once again to live close to the soil
and to the food it gives to all of us. I would hope that we can move along a continuum to make sure that
all of citizens have access to the same fresh, safe, affordable good food regardless of their cultural, social
or economic situation.
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Brownfields Solvency
Brownfield redevelopment solves many urban problems, including environmental justice.
Walker 04 [Kristi, Ph.D., Public Policy Administration, “Locating Opportunities for Brownfield
Redevelopment in St. Louis,” July,
http://www.ewgateway.org/pdffiles/library/blueprint/brownfieldredevinurbanstlouis.pdf]
In 1995, the GAO estimated that approximately 150,000 to 300,000 brownfield sites exist nationwide. To
date the EPA estimates the number of brownfields to range from 500,000 to one million nationwide
(White House Press Release, 2002 January 11). Brownfield sites and the associated disinvestment within
urban neighborhoods are the product of multiple social, political, and economic forces. These include the
loss of population from central cities to suburbs, the expansion of transportation routes, advancements in
technology and global competition (mobile capital), the persistence of racially and economically
segregated communities, and lack of regional planning, (EPA 1999, Orfield 2002, Jackson 1985).
Brownfield sites in the City of St. Louis range from abandoned gas stations in urban neighborhoods,
underutilized industrial property, to the redevelopment of asbestos and lead contaminated buildings into
downtown hotels and residential lofts. Brownfields may also be found in the midst of residential areas in
the form of vacant lots, vacant housing units, and vacant and vandalized buildings. Brownfield
redevelopment is more than just removing barriers and recycling underutilized land. Additional
goals of brownfield redevelopment include: smart growth, pollution prevention, sustainable
development, encouragement of green business development, small business development, and the
application of environmental justice principles to redevelopment strategies (EPA 1999, NEJAC
1996, Swearengen 1999)
Brownfields can be used to create green space that encompasses urban farms with the potential to
feed and employ the poor
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food Gap:
Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty”
In addition to supplying low-income residents with healthier and more nutritious food, community
gardens have been tagged with many other beneficial characteristics by their advocates. Among those
cited by Jerome Kaufman and Martin Bailkey in their paper "Farming Inside Cities" are reducing the
amount of vacant and unproductive urban land, improving the public image of troubled neighborhoods,
increasing the amount of neighborhood green space, developing pride and self-sufficiency among innercity residents who grow their own food, and providing jobs for youths and adults.
The assumptions about vacant land and job Opportunity benefits are interesting. They suggest that an
activity such as community gardening is designed to assist poor people or the neighborhood where they
reside and that it is based on the need to put something that is of no value to anyone else to use. Indeed,
the amount of vacant land in many of America's cities is, according to Kaufman and Bailkey, astounding
and a painful testament to the decline of urban areas in this country. In 2000, Philadelphia had 3 0,900
vacant lots, an increase of almost 100 percent since 1992. New Orleans had 14,000 vacant lots, and at
least one-quarter of the properties in most of Chicago's poorest areas were abandoned. With the loss of
half a million people since World War II, St, Louis has assumed control of 13,000 tax-delinquent parcels
totaling 1,200 acres. Americans abhor waste, whether it's land, food, or simply open space, and what
better way to use something that has fallen outside the standard utilitarian economic model than to feed or
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employ the poor?
Brownfields Solvency
Brownfield redev solves multiple economic problems, benefits outweigh economic risks
Meyer, Van Landingham 00 (Peter B and H. Wade, Director, Center for Environmental Policy and
Management and Assoc. CEPM , “Reclamation and Economic Regeneration of Brownfields”, August,
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:Z0iHkcWafUIJ:www
.eda.gov/PDF/meyer.pdf+%22Brownfield+Sites:+Causes,+Effects,+and+Solutions%22&hl=en&ct=clnk
&cd=3&gl=us)
Local communities and EDOs have many reasons to want to redevelop brownfields despite the
obstacles involved. Not only may such redevelopment promote new economic activity and jobs, but it
also helps to reduce negative neighborhood spillover effects. Without redevelopment, many such
sites become “attractive nuisances,” providing locations for drug-related or other undesirable
activities. Moreover, businesses and residents in the areas immediately adjacent to brownfields often
suffer lost revenues and declining property values due to the stigma associated with pollution. This
is especially problematic because brownfields are often located in older areas with low income and
minority residents suffering from economic decline and environmental justice problems. EDO
redevelopment planning, if based on traditional industrial development approaches with minimal
community consultation and input, however, may raise similar environmental justice concerns associated
with cleanup standards and proposed new land uses. The benefit of redevelopment of brownfields extends
beyond the site itself to the wider community (33, 64, 86, 125). Redevelopment of brownfield sites in
poor areas offers many opportunities including: -the possibility of new employment for local
residents, -reduced risks from past contamination and a lower likelihood of additional pollution, increases in the tax base associated with new activities and, -increased attractiveness of the
community at large to other new businesses. Hence, when measuring the costs and benefits of
brownfields redevelopment, the public sector should look beyond the site-specific impacts to
consider the broader community impacts as well (63, 74, 105). Many of the case studies profiled in
Appendix B offer descriptions of the wider community benefits associated with such projects
Brownfield remediation solves tax base, health, crime problems
Felten 6 (Jennifer, Former President of the Ventura County Escrow Association, “BROWNFIELD
REDEVELOPMENT 1995-2005: AN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE SUCCESS STORY?”, Real
Property, Probate and Trust Journal. Chicago: Winter 2006. Vol. 40, Iss. 4; pg. 679, 26 pgs, proquest)
Abandoned sites abound in poor and minority communities. Unremediated Brownfields
create many negative financial effects on their communities. The underutilization of these sites
reduces the tax base, which can reduce the amount of funds available for other services.10
Brownfields also tend to reduce property values for the surrounding community, which
adversely affects the municipality and the local residents." Redevelopment, on the other
hand, helps to increase the tax base and can attract businesses to an area.12
Abandoned sites also have negative health consequences on the surrounding communities.
Contaminants present on a site, if untreated, may leech into the air and water, affecting the
health of those in a surrounding community.13 The abandoned sites may also attract children,
who have few play areas available to them. '4 Furthermore, an abandoned site can be quite
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appealing to criminals looking for a place to sell drugs or conduct other types of illegal
activities.15 Brownfield redevelopment generally helps alleviate these problems.16
Brownfields Solvency
Cleaning brownfields is key to revitalize urban economies, promote human health, and protect
ecosystems
Peter Meyer, consultant for E.P. Systems Group, a consulting firm specializing in brownfields
redevelopment, December 1999, “Assessment of State Initiatives to Promote Redevelopment of
Brownfields,” online: http://www.huduser.org/publications/econdev/assess.html, accessed July 9, 2008
The economic development of distressed neighborhoods and communities is a multifaceted challenge
but one issue lies at its core: the difficulty of redeveloping many previously used sites into
employment, housing and community facilities that will help to bring about a transformation of these
areas as economic centers. Central to the prospects for economic development efforts is the
environmental condition of these properties, because many past uses have resulted in on-site
contamination that threatens human health and ecosystems. The importance of environmental issues
in site re-use first came to the fore in national policy with the 1980 passage of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, (CERCLA), or the Superfund law. The latter
half of the 1990's has witnessed a widespread effort on the part of state legislatures to respond to local
redevelopment barriers posed by past pollution in relation to CERCLA requirements. State after state
promulgated “voluntary cleanup programs” (VCPs) intended to relieve developers of uncertain liability
risks and otherwise support regeneration efforts. Over 90 percent of states have some form of VCP in
place as of late 1999. Many of these programs combine regulatory flexibility and liability relief with
various forms of financial support for redevelopment. Some are targeted specifically at individual
contaminated sites or neighborhoods in which such sites are common. The sites are often labeled as
“brownfields” and can be characterized as abandoned, idled or underutilized industrial or
commercial facilities, where redevelopment or expansion is complicated by suspected or identified
past pollution. A large proportion of brownfields have been contaminated by leaking storage tanks
for fuel and other petroleum products that, while excluded from CERCLA requirements, still pose
problems for redevelopment, especially when groundwater pollution and in-soil migration of liquid
contaminants has occurred. The redevelopment problem also arises from contamination of property
previously committed to residential uses, where exceptional costs may arise from cleanup of lead,
asbestos, PCBs, and other dangerous substances.
Urban agriculture bring economic development and promotion of property values
Mazereeuw 05 (Bethany, Health Promotion Officer for Region of Waterloo November 10th 2005; Urban
Agriculture Report PAGE 12)
The circle of prosperity considers economic and financial aspects of a community such as employment
and unemployment. Urban agriculture initiatives provide economic benefits to communities. Community
gardens can boost economic development and tourism in a community. Gardens attract businesses and
promotion of inner-city revitalization. In one study of community gardens, realtors and enhanced
neighborhood desirability for residents and businesses, this increased property values. The same study
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also found that community gardens likely contribute more to the upgrading of property values than they
take away by not producing taxes.
Brownfields Solvency
Urban agriculture hones the economic potential of past vacant lots and provide local fresh food to
communities
Hurdle 08, (Jon “Where Industry Once Hummed, Urban Garden Finds Success” National Desk; Pg. 18
May 20, 2008
Amid the tightly packed row houses of North Philadelphia, a pioneering urban farm is providing fresh
local food for a community that often lacks it, and making money in the process. Greensgrow, a one-acre
plot of raised beds and greenhouses on the site of a former steel-galvanizing factory, is turning a profit by
selling its own vegetables and herbs as well as a range of produce from local growers, and by running a
nursery selling plants and seedlings. The farm earned about $10,000 on revenue of $450,000 in 2007, and
hopes to make a profit of 5 percent on $650,000 in revenue in this, its 10th year, so it can open another
operation elsewhere in Philadelphia.In season, it sells its own hydroponically grown vegetables, as well as
peaches from New Jersey, tomatoes from Lancaster County, and breads, meats and cheeses from small
local growers within a couple of hours of Philadelphia.The farm, in the low-income Kensington section,
about three miles from the skyscrapers of downtown Philadelphia, also makes its own honey -- marketed
as ''Honey From the Hood'' -- from a colony of bees that produce about 80 pounds a year. And it makes
biodiesel for its vehicles from the waste oil produced by the restaurants that buy its vegetables. Among
urban farms, Greensgrow distinguishes itself by being a bridge between rural producers and urban
consumers, and by having revitalized a derelict industrial site, said Ian Marvy, executive director of
Added Value, an urban farm in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn.It has also become a model for others
by showing that it is possible to become self-supporting in a universe where many rely on outside
financial support, Mr. Marvy said.Mary Seton Corboy, 50, a former chef with a master's degree in
political science, co-founded Greensgrow in 1998 with the idea of growing lettuce for the restaurants in
downtown Philadelphia.Looking for cheap land close to their customers, Ms. Corboy and her business
partner at the time, Tom Sereduk, found the site and persuaded the local Community Development
Corporation to buy it and then rent it to them for $150 a month, a sum they still pay.They made an initial
investment of $25,000 and have spent about $100,000 over the years on items that included the plasticcovered greenhouses and the soil that had to be trucked in to cover the steel-and-concrete foundation of
the old factory site.
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Brownfields Solvency
Urban gardens create the potential to reduce crime in urban areas
Mazereeuw 05 (Bethany, Health Promotion Officer for Region of Waterloo November 10th 2005; Urban
Agriculture Report PAGE 16)
Reduced crime has been associated with communities that have community gardens. The mere
presence of people spending time outside in community gardens may discourage crime. In fact,
widely-spaced vegetation, such as a community garden, can deter crime by increasing surveillance
and mitigating some of the psychological precursors to violence. When people have invested in a
community garden, they are present in it (providing surveillance) and they are more apt to want to
protect it from crimes such as vandalism. Community gardens also provide safe places for residents
in high-risk communities, including places for children to play and learn. A local example of how
community gardens can decrease crime is the Victoria Hills neighborhood of Kitchener. After a
community garden was established on a vacant lot in the centre of that community, police incidents
decreased by 30% the first summer, and almost 56% by the end of the third summer. In addition to
these statistics, people from the community have also indicated that they felt safer in their
community after establishment of the community garden. Reasons for this feeling of safety included
“the physical presence of people in the garden late into the evening”; the fact that they “knew more
people in their neighborhood”; and the feeling that “neighbors were also watching out for them,
their children and property”.
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Brownfields Solvency
Brownfields are the best place for urban agriculture to exist once cleaned
Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002, Urban Agriculture
Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman, http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
The regenerative effect of urban agriculture is especially visible when vacant lots are transformed from
eyesores-- weedy, trash-ridden, dangerous gathering places--into bountiful, beautiful and safe gardens that
feed peoples’ bodies and souls. With increasing “sprawl” into the suburbs, the last twenty years has seen
a common pattern of inner-city neglect in most cities across North America. For example, in the United
States, “Chicago now has an estimated 70,000 vacant parcels of land. Philadelphia has 31,000, and in
nearby Trenton, New Jersey, 900 acres--18 percent of it total land area--is currently vacant. Between 1950
and 1990 in the U.S., abandoned lots in inner-city areas remained vacant for between 20 and 30 years in
most cities. Failed businesses and homes were bulldozed, leaving relatively inexpensive lots without
much economic potential, except, that is, for those lots that have become fruitful examples of urban
agriculture. Even some of the 130,000 to 425,000 contaminated vacant industrial sites, or brownfields,
that the General Accounting Office has identified, may be safely converted to agricultural purposes when
properly redeveloped.
Brownfield redevelopment is a critical for environmental justice – it spills over to empower
communities and raise standards for environmental equality
EPA 8 (Environmental Protection Agency, “Brownfields and Environmental Justice,” February 5, 2008,
online: http://www.epa.gov/region8/land_waste/bfhome/bfej.html, accessed July 9, 2008)
Environmental justice, by definition, means no community should be subject to a disproportionate
amount of environmental hazards such as toxic emissions or excessive noise from factories, airports,
highways, and other facilities. In other words, being poor or a minority shouldn't justify one having to
live in a dangerous environment. The environmental justice movement's goal is to promote
awareness and public dialogue so communities can be players in the cleanup and development
process. If communities know what is going on, then they can make informed decisions about whether
they want a facility in their neighborhood. For more information on environmental justice and numerous
related links, visit the Region 8 Environmental Justice Web site. Environmental Justice and Brownfields
Redevelopment
Environmental justice is also becoming an increasingly important component of brownfields
redevelopment.Since Brownfields are generally concentrated in communities of color and other
low-income areas, stakeholder involvement in such projects is inherently an environmental justice
issue. As cities become aware of the effect that abandoned industrial sites have had on the residential
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communities in which they are located, brownfields redevelopment offers the city and the community
a chance to reverse patterns of neglect in inner city neighborhoods. It is important to remember that
redevelopment does not happen in a vacuum. Site plans should reflect the community's opinion of the
impact of development on the community. The bottom line is to give the people who will be most
impacted by future land uses the chance to reach a majority consensus on how those land uses will
affect the community.
Brownfields Solvency
Brownfield redevelopment empowers communities to take back their localities and remedy
environmental injustice
EPA 8 (Environmental Protection Agency, “Brownfields and Environmental Justice,” February 5, 2008,
online: http://www.epa.gov/region8/land_waste/bfhome/bfej.html, accessed July 9, 2008)
Former EPA Administrator Carol Browner characterizes the initiative as one that . . . "bring[s] all the
people to the table and give[s] them an opportunity to shape the decisions that will affect the
community they live in." In order for the Brownfields projects to be responsive to communities, it is
important that the affected community be informed and consulted throughout the process. It is also
important to look for creative uses for existing resources in order to maximize the effect achieved. These
resources provide a vehicle to provide information and education to the pertinent stakeholders
resulting in more effective community input into the process, and tools which may allow the lead
agency to address community concerns. EPA is not only interested in bringing in the environmental
activists to the table -- everyone should be involved. Enhanced stakeholder involvement, in the oversight
of both cleanup and development, is imperative, both to ensure that Brownfields revitalization serves
affected neighborhoods and to reduce the likelihood that projects will face serious health, economic,
legal, and political obstacles after significant decisions and investments have been made. These
communities see brownfields as providing an opportunity to get involved early in the process and address
problems in the city, an opportunity for jobs and a chance to reverse the fiscal deterioration that has
drained resources from their neighborhoods. Furthering environmental justice goes hand in hand with
brownfield redevelopment. By ensuring that environmental justice has to be considered in the
permitting process and bringing affected communities to the table, residents are learning that they
can take over their own communities and bring in clean industries.
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Solvency General
Urban Farming has been tested and is proven to work to clean up urban environments and produce
currency and fresh produce
Urban Agriculture Committee of the Community Food Security Coalition ’02
http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanagpaper.pdf
In Santa Cruz, CA the Homeless Garden Project raises vegetables, herbs and flowers on 3.5 acres. Daily,
25 garden workers eat lunch freshly made from the garden’s produce. The remaining vegetables are sold
wholesale, distributed to their community supported agriculture (CSA) subscribers, and donated to a soup
kitchen and an AIDS project. Their estimated annual income from all sales, including dried flower
wreaths and other crafts as well as fresh produce, is $26,000. In Holyoke, MA, Freshmarket Aquafarm
raises tilapia fish in tanks. The company projects a market goal of 100,000 pounds of live fish per year
sold regionally through ethnic markets, fish markets, and groceries. In Buffalo, NY Village Farms, owned
and operated by a New Jersey-based for-profit corporation, sold 7-8 million pounds of tomatoes grown
off-soil on 35 acres of “brownfields”, contaminated industrial land, using hydroponic techniques and
greenhouses. In Chicago, IL youth with the Ivy Crest Garden Project cleared away 3000 tires on nine
contiguous vacant lots to build an organic flower and vegetable market garden where 30 ducks provide
pest control and fertilizer.
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Solvency General
Low-income communities with lack of access to fresh food build social connections and address the
issue of privilege
Connelly and Ross 07 ( Phoebe, Chelsea, writers, “Farming the Concrete Jungle” August 24, 2007
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3297/farming_the_concrete_jungle/
Moreover, organic food is still largely inaccessible to low-income communities and communities of color.
And the costs associated with being certified organic have led many urban agriculture programs to shy
away from being certified. “We are what most folks would consider organic, but we’re not certified,” the
Food Project’s Burns says. “That’s not as important to us. We’re in the community; folks can just come
by and see our practices. It’s about transparency.”Accessibility is at the heart of what these groups call
food security. “It’s about everyone having access to culturally appropriate and nutritional food at all
times,” says Danielle Andrews, who heads up farming for Food Project’s Dorchester plots. “We’re using
food to make social connections,” says Growing Power’s Allen. “It’s not just about growing food—it’s
about practices and how people form relationships, get comfortable with each other and learn to
communicate through really owning the food system.”
Forming such sustainable relationships inherently requires addressing issues of privilege. Growing Power
manages a farm on the edge of Cabrini Green, Chicago’s most notorious housing project. The site is
owned by Fourth Presbyterian Church, the wealthiest congregations in the city. “The work that we’re
doing is social justice work,” says Allen, who is bi-racial. “For white folks to support and ally with people
of color and communities that are struggling, they have to understand that it’s not just about knowing how
to grow lettuce. It’s important that people doing these projects are very transparent about why they’re
there.”
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Solvency General
The growing urban population and its youth can be aided by the use of urban gardens that give
access to jobs and fresh food
Connelly and Ross 07 ( Phoebe, Chelsea, writers, “Farming the Concrete Jungle” August 24, 2007
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3297/farming_the_concrete_jungle/
“The biggest crisis in our food system is the lack of access to good, healthy, fresh food, for people living
in cities, particularly in low-income communities,” says Anna Lappé, co-founder with her mother Frances
Moore Lappé of the Small Planet Institute. “Urban agriculture work is one of the most powerful solutions,
because it brings food directly into the communities.” In her book, City Bountiful: A Century of
Community Gardening In America, Laura Lawson charts a movement that stretches back to the 1880s.
Lawson, a professor of landscape architecture at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, says that
urban gardening programs have had three missions: bringing nature to the city, offering educational
opportunities to low-income and immigrant children, and cultivating a self-help ethos in a democratic
space. “The garden itself,” she writes, “is rarely the end goal but rather facilitates agendas that reach
beyond the scope of gardening.” The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC), a food policy
organization with more than 200 member groups, defines urban agriculture as “the growing, processing,
and distribution of food and other products through intensive plant cultivation and animal husbandry in
and around cities.” It divides urban agriculture into commercial farms, community gardens and backyard
gardens. But programs like Boston’s Food Project have begun to collapse such distinctions. They run
commercial farms, but they also invest in their communities and create local supply networks. According
to the 2000 Census, 80 percent of the U.S. population lives in cities or suburbs. Food travels 25 percent
farther that it did in 1980, and fruits and vegetables spend up to 14 days in transit. The CFSC notes,
“Most fruit and vegetable varieties sold in supermarkets are chosen for their ability to withstand industrial
harvesting equipment and extended travel, not for their taste or nutritional quality.” The Food Project
began on Ward Cheney’s farm in Lincoln, Mass., about 24 miles west of Boston, with the goal of
strengthening young people’s connection to the land. They started by busing city kids out to the country,
but the group now farms five urban plots—a total of 2.5 acres. Each summer the Food Project employs 60
kids to work on both the urban and rural farms. After the summer, the youth can return as interns to learn
how to run the project’s farmers’ markets and commercial kitchen
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Solvency General
Food projects around the nation are having successful results to fight obesity, economic hardship
and health concerns
Mark 07 ( Jason E., “Street Beets: Urban Farmers Get Hip to Growing ” The Environmental Magazine,
Mar/Apr2007, Vol. 18, Issue 2)
It's a chilly December day in Oakland, California — overcast and gray — and most folks are staying
indoors. But outside a modest bungalow on the city's impoverished West Side, three young women
volunteers are busy building a backyard garden for a local resident. They dump loads of dark, rich soil
into a three-foot by eight-foot planter bed. Fruit and vegetable shoots sitting on the ground offer a glimpse
of harvests to come — strawberries and chard, lettuce, herbs and shelling peas.The backyard garden
construction is a project of City Slicker Farms, a local nonprofit that provides fresh food to a
neighborhood better known for its railyards and warehouses than for its green spaces. In just seven years,
City Slicker has become a vital part of the West Oakland landscape. Its six market gardens grow a range
of organic fruit and vegetables, eggs and honey for sale at a neighborhood produce stand. Judging by the
reception from neighborhood residents, the program is a success. "I buy all my vegetables here, and so
does my wife," says Tony Lejones, a local truck driver, as he perused the offerings at the City Slicker
stand. "The whole neighborhood comes here — black, white and brown," he says. "They do a fine
job."City Slicker Farms is not alone. Across the U.S., an urban agriculture movement is flowering. In
Birmingham, Alabama, Jones Valley Urban Farm is reclaiming abandoned lots and using them to grow
organic produce and flowers. Chicago's Ken Dunn takes over unused parking lots and uses the sites to
grow heirloom tomatoes. In St. Louis, a housing developer, Whittaker Homes, is setting up an organic
farm within a new subdivision.Veteran environmental activists and community organizers say the recent
increase in urban food production marks a real change. "Whether it's the Food Project or Redhook Farm
or countless other projects, urban agriculture is definitely increasing," says Betsy Johnson, executive
director of the American Community Gardeners Assocation (ACGA). "I think the trend is very
positive."There are several concerns propelling the renaissance in city agriculture: the country's obesity
epidemic, the drive for more sustainable economies and the fact that horticulture — with its regular,
seasonal rewards — is an ideal vehicle for community organizing, especially when it comes to youth."The
drivers come from the public health community and the urban planning community that wants to green
cities," says Tom Forster, policy director of the Community Food Security Coalition. "And I think the
other big driver is homeland security, which now embraces food production at the local level."Such
worries are motivating more urban food production in Houston, according to Bob Randall, who directs an
organization there called Urban Harvest. The group sponsors a series of vegetable growing classes, as
well as a permaculture design course. Urban Harvest also launched Houston's first farmers' market, and
organizes a yearly fruit tree sale that brings in nearly $50,000 in revenue over a weekend. Randall says
increased interest in their programs is in part due to the promise of fossil-free local food production.
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Solvency General
Urban food production keys the New Green Deal. It reduces pollution, lessens global warming and
creats jobs for the economy
Kimbrell in 08 {Andrew-attorney, author, activist, and executive director of the Center for Food Safety
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/11/10/101340/28/ 10 Nov 2008 Going up? Part 4 Michael Pollan and
other food authors and activists offer their elevator pitches for Obama}
Food production can play a major role in the new Green Deal. It has been shown that organic agriculture
not only reduces pollution and lessens global warming but also creates many new jobs. We need to
protect the organic standards and evolve the ethic by supporting local, appropriate-scale, humane, socially
just, and biodiverse food production that can revitalize local communities and protect our food security.
Let's get federal support for community-supported agriculture (CSAs) and urban and suburban agriculture
that, like the Victory Gardens of WWII, can make communities food sufficient and significantly lower
food prices. Let's support farmers markets in economically disenfranchised urban areas that often have no
access to supermarkets or healthy and safe food. On the governmental end, it's time to have a federal
agency completely devoted to food safety and security.
We cannot effectively explore the issue of food and agricultural policy without first attaining a
baseline of cultural competency. The plan is a precursor to manifest the historic opportunity for
fair and equitable food systems to be developed in the nation
Allen in 08, {Erika-Chicago Projects Manager, Growing Power:
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/11/10/101340/28/ 10 Nov 2008 Going up? Part 4 Michael Pollan
and other food authors and activists offer their elevator pitches for Obama}
With this hope, let's get moving! As an African-American woman of mixed heritage, born out of the civil
rights movement, I would like to see our true diversity represented in our nation's capital to provide
much-needed perspective to our leadership. We also must take a more active role in forming and
influencing the new policies and programs that impact our environment and food system with a
realization that our actions impact our brothers and sisters globally. This takes on more relevance when it
is claimed and worked on by members of the communities most affected. For it is clear that the reeducation of our communities, in terms of food and taste literacy, should coincide with our efforts to
rebuild our family farms and food systems, and to do so, we must attain a baseline of cultural competency
and reckoning of the baggage many of our constituents face on a daily basis. This is an opportunity for
communities of color and the impoverished to grow fair and equitable local food and community food
systems for the first time in our nation's history.
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The federal government must shift to the mindset of liability to make urban agriculture esstential to
the growth and redevelopment of urban centers for low-income people
Kisner 08, (Corinne , Director of Operations at Climate Institute, “International Action: Green Roofs for
Urban Food Security and Environmental Sustainability.” December 2008
Other obstacles arise from the dense concentration of humans, plants and animals sharing air, water and
soil resources. Misuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as untreated waste, can contaminate
food and water with severe environmental and public health consequences. Although problems relating
to a lack of information could be easily solved with information and extension assistance, local city
authorities have often responded instead by destroying food crops and evicting food producers from
public lands. These policies that neglect and discourage, or even repress, informal urban agriculture harm
the city’s poor. A lack of access to credit or land titles means that low-income urban producers can’t get
loans and aren’t guaranteed to receive the benefits of their work. Threats from authorities may drive
urban producers to use unsafe production methods. Without government support, producers are unlikely
to invest in the long-term fertility of the soil or consider the benefits of organic methods.
To legitimize urban agriculture, government opinion must shift from the mindset that it is a liability and
instead learn to understand the environmental, social and economic benefits. Legitimacy will allow
producers to have access to land, credit, agricultural inputs, and needed services. Urban planning has so
far addressed access to affordable housing, ease of public transportation, employment, and health;
however, few urban planners adequately consider food security or acknowledge the importance of having
a percentage of the city’s population capable of growing food, in the case that imports are unexpectedly
cut off. Policies that educate and empower urban producers rather than ignore or impede them will allow
for progress in public health, environmental sustainability, economic independence and food security.
According to Mougeot, “Urban agriculture is most viable where it is mainstreamed into robust strategies
for land use, poverty alleviation, economic development, and sound environmental management.”
Governments should apply lessons from local experiences to determine policies that have multiplestakeholder governance for sustainable urban agriculture.
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Solvency General
Urban farming is necessary to extract the multiplicity of solvency mechanisms for the environment,
food insecurity, and urban low-income plight
Urban Agriculture Committee of the Community Food Security Coalition ’02
http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanagpaper.pdf
Across North America, city dwellers have increasing access to a variety of foods raised in all manner of
urban sites. Urban agriculture includes greenbelts around cities, farming at the city’s edge, vegetable plots
in community gardens, and food production in thousands of vacant inner-city lots. Further, urban
agriculture comprises fish farms, farm animals at public housing sites, municipal compost facilities,
schoolyard greenhouses, restaurant-supported salad gardens, backyard orchards, rooftop gardens and
beehives, window box gardens, and much more. Urban farming includes horticulture, aquaculture,
arboriculture, and poultry and animal husbandry. The potential for food production in cities is great, and
dozens of model projects are demonstrating successfully that urban agriculture is both necessary and
viable.2 New citywide coalitions are emerging on behalf of urban food security. Health and nutrition
advocates are joining with community gardeners, university extension services, emergency food
distributors and faith communities. Community economic development organizers, as well as
environmentalists concerned with urban waste reduction and recycling, see the potential in urban farming.
A growing consumer demand for fresh, local and organic food in its turn creates new markets for urban
food production. With growing momentum in the last decade, individuals, organizations, communities,
and governments have participated in a variety of creative efforts to develop the capacity to raise food in
and around cities. Many of these efforts specifically address the needs of urban residents who are living in
poverty, and consequently at grave risk for “food insecurity” – that is, threatened with hunger, poor
nutrition, and frequent anxiety about not having enough to eat.
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Solvency General
City dwellers gain advantages to their health, environment, raise revenue for local economies, and
help people increase safe farming practices with urban farming
McLaughlin 08 ( Lisa, Time Editor, Time Magazine: “Inner-City Farms” Vol. 172, Issue 5
These days, urban gardeners are waging lots of different wars--against global warming, foreign-oil
dependence, processed food, obesity and neighborhood blight. Turning an old parking lot into a working
farm not only helps reduce a city's carbon footprint but can also generate revenue for a down-and-out part
of town. To demonstrate how much food can be grown in a small space, a 2006 pilot project on a sub-acre
lot on the outskirts of Philadelphia hauled in $67,000 from crops like salad greens and baby vegetables. In
Milwaukee, a 1-acre (0.4 hectare) farm filled with greenhouses, tilapia tanks and poultry pens grossed
more than $220,000."It's a way to address a lot of pressing urban issues," says John Bela, a landscape
architect who is designing the garden at San Francisco's city hall. He's also working with a group called
SF Victory Gardens 2008+ to coordinate a backyard-garden program aimed at increasing access to
healthier food among lower-income families.There was a time when city dwellers could more or less
provide for their own food needs, but since the Industrial Revolution, the distance from field to fork has
greatly increased--the average meal now travels 1,500 miles (2,400km) to reach your plate. And, notes
Bela, "the hidden cost of the food chain is the transport." Thus urban agriculture aims to help people save
money as well as the environment. The trend toward city farming is already big in Canada and Europe
and is gaining ground in the U.S. amid escalating concerns about the environment, pesticides and food
safety in general. "Knowing exactly where your food comes from is a concern for a lot of people in the
face of salmonella and E. coli scares," says Johanna Rosen of West Philadelphia's Mill Creek Farm. As
Rosen and other activists can attest, horticulture (urban agriculture)--with its regular, seasonal rewards--is
also an ideal vehicle for community-organizing. For instance, in Portland, Ore., where vacant lots are
scarce, an ad on Craigslist asking for unused land gave rise to City Garden Farms, a quarter acre (0.1
hectare) spread out over 12 backyards. Not much arm-twisting was involved. "This adds to the value of
our community," says co-founder Martin Barrett. Indeed, edible gardens have become so trendy that in St.
Louis, Mo., a housing developer is including an organic farm as a subdivision amenity, and in Queens,
N.Y., the current exhibition at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center is a stylish farm.
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Solvency General
Growing Power engages in sustainable farming practices that are passed on to other to maximize
their social, political, and economic benefits of urban agriculture
Bonfiglio 09 ( Olga, Professor and acting Chairperson of the Education Department at Kalamazoo
College “Milwaukee's urban farmer” in The Christian Science Monitor Jan 29, 2009. pg. 25.
Whenever Will Allen arrives in a neighborhood, scores of curious children seem to come out of nowhere
to see what he's about. His pickup truck carries spades, hoes, earthworms, seeds, and a truckload of
compost - all the components needed to make a garden. Mr. Allen knows a garden not only gives innercity kids something to do, but it can also feed them good, nutritious food and invigorate the community at
the same time. This vision of symbiosis between an urban setting and locally grown food is what
prompted Allen, a 6 ft., 7 in. former professional basketball player, to purchase the last three farm acres in
Milwaukee 16 years ago and invite inner-city youth to help him grow vegetables."Food is at the very
foundation of community development," Allen says. His efforts have paid off in significant ways. Today
his nonprofit, Growing Power, operates a handful of urban farms and community growing centers around
Milwaukee and downtown Chicago. In addition, Growing Power is helping to develop urban gardening
sites and training centers in several other states and two international centers in Kenya and Ukraine. Its
website, www.growingpower.org, posts research on its farming techniques as well as various how-to
gardening videos. Allen's low-tech, low-cost farming approach has earned him a reputation as a leader in
the urban gardens and sustainability movement and a "genius grant" from the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation.
Yet Allen doesn't want to just grow food, he wants to build healthy communities. The strength of
Growing Power's success is centered on the philosophy that a community must literally be grown from
the ground up."Every human being should have access to affordable food," he explains. Around this
concept of good food for all, Allen has built a network of relationships among neighborhoods, schools,
universities, government, and funding agencies. "Everyone has to be involved. Everyone!" he says.
To achieve an organic label for its produce, Growing Power makes 6 million tons of compost for its soil
each year from the collected food wastes of grocery stores, wholesale produce companies, and moldy hay.
But the success of Growing Power relies on more than just rich soil. Its programs are a shining example
of "sustainability," a key buzzword in the local-food movement. In addition to providing local alternatives
to processed food found at corner stores, its viable urban farms create jobs, develop small businesses, and
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keep precious dollars in the community, says Jerry Kaufman, a professor emeritus of urban planning at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Solvency General
Industrial farming is taking negative effects on the environment and we need to take alternative
measures to agriculture that promote ecological practices, biodiversity, sustainable production
Miguel Altieri ‘08 is Professor of agroecology at the University of California, Berkeley. Center for Ecoliteracy
“Taking Back Our Food”http://www.ecoliteracy.org/publications/miguel_altieri.html
Before the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, humanity is quickly realizing that the fossil
fuel-based, capital-intensive, industrial-agricultural western model is not working to meet the food
demands of various countries. Soaring oil prices will inevitably increase production costs and food prices,
which have already escalated to the point that today one dollar purchases 30 percent less food than one
year ago. This situation is rapidly being aggravated by farmland being turned from food production to biofuels; it is also being aggravated by
climate change, which has reduced crop yields as a result of droughts, floods, and other unpredictable weather events. Expanding land areas
devoted to biofuels and transgenic crops will further exacerbate the ecological impacts of vast monocultures. Moreover , industrial
agriculture presently contributes at least one-quarter of current greenhouse gas emissions, mainly methane
and nitrous oxide. Continuing this dominant degrading system, as promoted by the current economic
paradigm, is no longer a viable option.
The immediate challenge for our generation is to transform industrial agriculture by transitioning the
world's food systems away from reliance on fossil fuels. We need an alternative agricultural development
paradigm: one that encourages more ecological, biodiverse, sustainable, and socially just forms of
agriculture. Reshaping the entire agricultural policy and food system in ways that are environmentally
sound and economically viable to farmers and consumers will require major changes in the political and
economic forces that determine what is being produced, by whom, and for whom. Out-of-control trade
liberalization, which forces developing countries to open their markets to subsidized crops coming from the North, is the key mechanism driving
farmers off their land and the principal obstacle to local economic development and food security. Only by challenging the control
that big multinational corporations exert over the food system and changing the export-led and free-trade
based agriculture model can the downward spiral of poverty, low wages, rural-urban migration, hunger,
and environmental degradation be halted.
The concept of food sovereignty, as promoted by the world's movement of small farmers, Via Campesina,
constitutes the only viable alternative to the current and collapsing global food system, which failed in its
assumptions that international trade was the key to solving the world's food problem. Instead, food
sovereignty focuses on closed local circuits of production and consumption and community action for
access to land, water, and agrobiodiversity, which are of central importance for communities to control in
order to be able to produce food locally with agroecological methods.There is no doubt that an alliance between
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farmers and consumers is of strategic importance. In addition to moving down the food chain – that is, eating less animal protein – consumers
need to realize that their quality of life is intractably associated with the type of agriculture practiced in neighboring rural areas, not only because
of the quality of the food produced, but also because agriculture is multifunctional, producing a series of environmental services such as water
quality and biodiversity conservation. But this multifunctional production can only emerge if agricultural landscapes are dotted by small,
diversified farms, which, as studies show, can produce from two to ten times more per unit area than larger, corporate farms. In the United States,
the top 25 percent of sustainable agriculture farms, which are mostly small-to-medium size, exhibit higher yields than conventional farms, and
exert a much lower negative impact on the environment, reducing soil erosion and conserving biodiversity. Communities surrounded
by populous small farms experience less social problems and have healthier economies than do
communities surrounded by depopulated large, monoculture, mechanized farms. Thus it should be
obvious to city dwellers that eating is both an ecological and political act; that buying food at local
farmers markets will support the type of beyond-peak oil agriculture that is urgently needed; and that
buying food in supermarkets perpetuates an unsustainable agricultural path.
Food Security Solvency
To solve the food deserts urban agriculture provides better food for healthy diets and gardening
programs
Connelly and Ross 07 ( Phoebe, Chelsea, writers, “Farming the Concrete Jungle” August 24, 2007
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3297/farming_the_concrete_jungle/
In West Oakland, home to City Slickers and People’s Grocery, liquor stores outnumber grocery stores 40
to one. The most readily available food is fried. On the other side of the country, in Added Value’s
Brooklyn neighborhood, the last grocery store shut its doors in 2001. Federal studies classify such
communities as “food insecure,” but they are popularly known as “food deserts.” A study in the June
2001 Journal of Nutrition found that women living in “food insecure” areas were more likely to be
overweight and thus at risk for obesity-related illnesses like diabetes and heart disease.
To counter the harm caused by food deserts, urban agriculture focuses on high-density food production—
optimizing the amount of food grown on the least amount of land. City Slicker grew 6,500 pounds of
produce last year on less than one acre of land. “If the average person eats three to four hundred pounds
of produce per year, that doesn’t feed that many people,” says City Slicker’s Rosenthal. “But I’m not
saying it’s insignificant, because those couple dozen people improved their diet.”
These projects also help people sustain themselves. Both City Slicker and Food Project run backyard
gardening programs that provide lead testing to determine the safety of soil, wooden planters, seeds,
seedlings and ongoing assistance for the life of the garden.
Urban agriculture reduces travel distances for food and provides essential produce for a healthy
diet
Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002, Urban Agriculture
Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman, http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
What does small-scale farming contribute to food security in the United States? It provides a more
adequate income to the farmers themselves, thereby diminishing their food insecurity. Local fresh
vegetables and fruit can have twice the vitamins and essential micro-nutrients available from stale
supermarket produce at the same price. Local and regional food is safer and more secure than the
products of industrial agriculture that typically travel long distances. Urban agriculture produces
a range of products well matched to the food needs and demands of diverse urban populations, thus
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assuring them of a more balanced diet. In addition, farming in the city conserves natural resources
and contributes to a healthy environment for living.
Food Security Solvency
Organic food grown from urban farms helps create better health for children and adults in urban
settings
Furhman 05 (Joel , Nutritionist 2005; Urban Farming (Facts on Hunger,
http://www.urbanfarming.org/hunger.htm)
The office of Children's Health Protection at the Environmental Protection Agency declares that:
"Children are at greater risk of pesticide exposure than most adults" and goes on to warn that AND
"pesticides may cause a range of harmful health effects" including cancer, and injury to the
nervous system, lungs and immune system. Eating organic decreases pesticide levels in kids; a
recent study by Environmental Health Perspectives (March, 2003) found that children who ate
primarily organic fruits, vegetables and juice had one-sixth the level of pesticide byproducts in their
urine compared with children who ate non-organic food.THE Levels of antioxidants including vitamin
C are about 30% higher in organic vegetables and fruit than vegetables and fruit sprayed with
pesticides. Average levels of essential minerals were much higher in organically grown fruits and
vegetables than conventionally grown produce. Organically grown food averages over 60% higher
levels of calcium, over 70% higher in iron, over 115% higher in magnesium, over 90% higher in
phosphorus, over 123% higher in potassium and 60% higher in zinc. The organically raised food also
averaged 29% lower in mercury than conventionally grown food.
Urban farming has an array of mechanisms to solve for the food gap crisis in the U.S.
Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002, Urban Agriculture
Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman, http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
Across North America, city dwellers have increasing access to a variety of foods raised in all manner
of urban sites. Urban agriculture includes greenbelts around cities, farming at the city’s edge,
vegetable plots in community gardens, and food production in thousands of vacant inner-city lots.
Further, urban agriculture comprises fish farms, farm animals at public housing sites, municipal compost
facilities, schoolyard greenhouses, restaurant-supported salad gardens, backyard orchards, rooftop
gardens and beehives, window box gardens, and much more. Urban farming includes horticulture,
aquaculture, arboriculture, and poultry and animal husbandry. The potential for food production
in cities is great, and dozens of model projects are demonstrating successfully that urban
agriculture is both necessary and viable.
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Training Solvency
Technical training and resources to potential urban farmers proves to be successful, Harford
proves
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food
Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty”
Starting in the 1970s, community gardening in Hartford was supported by the Knox Parks Foundation,
which secured sites, made minimal physical improvements (such as bringing in an initial load of topsoil
and compost), and organized the allocation of plots. Including Knox in the Hartford Food System was an
attempt to give all its members access to Knox's technical expertise, while also putting more resources
and effort into expanding gardens into underserved low-income communities. Lerza projected that
gardens would save their participants money on food, while also providing seasonal jobs for youths,
whose wages would be paid by city and nonprofit agencies (which usually received funding for summer
youth employment programs from the federal government). The hope was that community gardening in
Hartford would join the expanding national gardening movement and begin to close the food gap,
improve residents' quality of life, and create educational and employment opportunities for unemployed
or underemployed people, primarily youths.
The hope exemplified by Hartford was not unlike the quasi-utopian vision that often propelled community
gardening enthusiasts and their more ambitious cousins, urban farmers. Their language and dreams often
suggested that rubble-strewn lots could be turned into oases where the urban desert could bloom.
Although something approximate to this has happened on occasion over the years, the reality has
generally been less paradisiacal. Granted, a little patch of green sprouting in an otherwise unforgiving
urban landscape is desirable for many reasons, not the least of which is the relief it gives the eye. But as
Jack Hale of the Knox Parks Foundation readily admits, Hartford's community gardens have made only a
marginal contribution to the city's food security, with the exception of a relatively small number of ardent
gardeners who have significantly augmented their food supplies. That being said, it has proven
worthwhile for communities to make a public commitment to providing land, horticultural training, soil
and compost, and other means of support to enable people who want to gar- den to do so. Whether people
are motivated by the myth of self-reliance, the fear of a cataclysmic event, or simply the wish to make
something ugly into something beautiful, society should permit them to stand in humble repose on their
own tiny plots of land and to make what magic they can of it. Doing so affords them the opportunity to
come together in community to grow plants and to experience for themselves the pulse of the seasons
marked by the productions of the earth.
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Training Solvency
Urban farming helps to gear youth toward gaining social and other beneficial skills for life
Bonfiglio 09 ( Olga, Professor and acting Chairperson of the Education Department at Kalamazoo
College “Milwaukee's urban farmer” in The Christian Science Monitor Jan 29, 2009. pg. 25.
Children are the immediate beneficiaries of urban gardens. By involving scores of youngsters in his
projects, Allen hopes to give them a sense of purpose and belonging as an alternative to joining gangs.
Through Growing Power programs young people gain practical skills such as operating power tools and
teamwork. They learn marketing by selling their produce at farmers markets. And they absorb gardening
know-how such as building "hoop houses" (greenhouses with arched roofs) and raised beds, vermiculture
(worm farming), and composting. Applying their reading and math skills in the garden also helps to
improve their grades at school. As a result, an increasing number of schools are signing up for Growing
Power's six-week hands-on courses to learn about sustainable farming methods, entrepreneurial skills, and
healthy eating habits.The simplicity and practicality of Growing Power's mission has attracted attention
from the halls of higher education as well. College students from Grinnell in Iowa and Oberlin in Ohio
have worked in Growing Power's greenhouses, milked goats, fed animals, and made compost.The
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Great Lakes WATER Institute consults with Allen's aquaculture
(fish farming) operation, which raises 10,000 yellow perch and tilapia a year on its urban farms. Allen's
system costs $3,000 to build, as opposed to a $50,000 conventional system."You need an engineering
degree to operate one of these [conventional] systems. I can teach you our system in a five-hour
workshop," says Allen, who also consults Madison's microbiology department. "Our object is to make it
as simple as possible."Urban farming has its challenges, and the key to its success is the soil, especially
when the land may be contaminated from past uses, he says. "Without good soil, crops don't get enough
of the nutrients they need to survive. When plants are stressed, they are more prone to disease and pest
problems."
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Climate and Sprawl Solvency
The benefits of urban agriculture are numerous, spanning the economic, social, and environmental
sectors to create sustainable urban communities for the poor that need access to better food
Kisner 08, (Corinne , Director of Operations at Climate Institute, “International Action: Green Roofs for
Urban Food Security and Environmental Sustainability.” December 2008
According to estimates by the United Nations Development Program, 800 million people partake in urban
agriculture worldwide, producing 15% of the world’s food. The motives are various, with formal and
informal agriculture for subsistence or supplemental food production, depending on the distance to rural
farmlands and the ease of food transport to the city. The methods are also various, ranging from
cooperative community gardens, private backyard plots, or public institutional gardens managed by
schools, hospitals, prisons or factories. Urban agriculture is necessarily opportunistic, making use of any
available plot of land on rooftops, in window boxes, in vacant lots, and beside railroads. A supply of
homegrown food, and especially fresh nutritious vegetables, makes a difference in the lives of the urban
poor, not only contributing to improved nutrition but allowing families to spend more of their incomes on
other expenses, such as education.
The benefits of urban agriculture are numerous, spanning the economic, social, and environmental
sectors. Urban agriculture contributes to the greening of cities, curbs air pollution, increases humidity,
lowers temperatures, and reduces the number of trucks entering the city to deliver food. Converting
organic waste to manure helps improve the ecosystem’s health in an otherwise environmentally degraded
urban area. Urban agriculture provides the urban poor with a fresh source of local food that costs less by
eliminating transportation costs and price increases due to middlemen. It also closes the gap between the
consumer and producer of food, solving the consumer’s ignorance about the origin of their food and
creating personal interest and investment in food production. Furthermore, money spent on produce
grown locally and sold in farmer’s markets stays in the community, raising incomes and creating jobs.
Lastly, women, the predominant urban producers, gain access to income and control over household
resources and decisionmaking. These positive aspects of urban agriculture contribute directly to the
United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and
achieving environmental sustainability.
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Climate and Sprawl Solvency
Urban agriculture allows individuals to feed themselves, rather than solely depend on industrial
farms and transforms pockets of cities into productive green spaces.
Kisner 08, (Corinne , Director of Operations at Climate Institute, “International Action: Green Roofs for
Urban Food Security and Environmental Sustainability.” December 2008
As developed and developing countries alike face the consequences of climate change, their governments
must adapt policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The current system of industrial agriculture is
unsustainable and needs significant reforms. Although there is clearly an enormous number of people to
feed worldwide, the high yields associated with monocropping are not worth the long-term environmental
and health costs of using fossil fuels and degrading the soil with chemical inputs. Society does not place
a monetary value on preserving the environment, so there are still economic incentives to produce food
unsustainably. However, individuals and governments are now realizing the short-sightedness of spewing
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and have therefore begun to change their habits, seeking another
way to feed the growing population. Urban agriculture allows individuals to feed themselves, rather than
depend on industrial farms. It transforms the endless concrete of cities into productive green spaces. It
provides a viable means for small-scale organic agriculture, producing vegetables using local resources
for a local market. It combats the urban heat island effect, lowering temperatures and purifying the air
city-dwellers breathe. Although there are numerous benefits to urban agriculture, it will not be widely
implemented in cities across the world without government support and individual dedication. With
government policies that provide financial incentives for long-term environmental conservation, urban
agriculture will be one of many methods to make the lifestyle of the billions of people sharing one planet
more sustainable. Urban agriculture is not only advantageous but crucial in efforts to reduce
environmental stress, combat hunger and poverty by providing food security for the urban poor, and make
cities more livable for future generations.
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Climate and Sprawl Solvency
Urban agriculture complements rural food supplies to produce the maximum food production and
reduces the concrete jungle effect to ensure our survival
Kisner 08, (Corinne , Director of Operations at Climate Institute, “International Action: Green Roofs for
Urban Food Security and Environmental Sustainability.” December 2008
A report by the International Food Policy Research Institute found that "urban agriculture complements,
rather than supplants, rural supplies and imports of food and will continue to do so. Cities will continue to
depend largely on rural agriculture for bulkier, less perishable foodstuffs. But urban agriculture can
provide significant amounts of food at small scales and for specific items. It can generate goods valued at
tens of millions of dollars in any given major city. By growing their own food, cities lower their food
deficits and obtain an important source of fruits and vegetables and livestock products, including dairy.
Urban agriculture provides an estimated 15 percent of all food consumed in urban areas and is likely to
double that share in the next couple of decades.”
Whether driven by the need to provide food for a city’s poor or by the desire to mitigate climate change,
urban agriculture is logical and beneficial. It uses otherwise neglected spaces, such as vacant lots or
roofs, which previously produced nothing for the city. The opportunistic ideology of capitalizing on
every available plot of land in a city is becoming increasingly necessary as urban populations surge and
cities grow crowded. Planting vegetation in cities helps to cancel the concrete jungle effect, wherein
temperatures rise, polluted air isn’t filtered, and rainwater isn’t absorbed into the ground. In the future,
cities will house over half of the world’s population; urban agriculture is one way to maintain a
connection with the environment despite the dense living conditions humans are increasingly favoring.
Bringing plants back into cities is important to remind people of the inherent value of preserving nature
and of the invaluable services that the environment performs. Without a regard for that which sustains us,
there is little hope for future generations’ survival.
Phytoremediation and bioremediation can be used as a mechanism to clean up brownfields
Zizel 08 ( Lovén, Changing Brown to Green, Time Magazine, Vol. 55, Issue 4, May2008)
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Shuttered industrial operations often leave behind land poisoned with toxic substances, particularly lead
and mercury. These "brownfields" are now being rehabilitated using nature's own cleaning crew: plants
and microbes. Phytoremediation and bioremediation, as these processes are called, not only make the sites
safer; they are reclaiming the land for ecologically vital open spaces and even urban farms.In the past,
most brownfield sites simply deteriorated into eyesores. A few were "capped and covered"; that is, turned
into parking lots and the like. At best, the contaminated soil was excavated and replaced with clean
fill.Now, carefully selected plants and microbes are used to extract, filter, or bind up toxins in the soil. In
Hartford, Connecticut, for instance, at the site of a former paint store, students from Trinity College used
mustard plants to extract lead from the soil. A garden and a soup kitchen turned the space back into a
valuable community asset, says Diane Kelley, the EPA's brownfields coordinator for New
England.Mustard is one of the most commonly used plants in brownfields, as are poplar and willow trees.
The trees are effective because they "grow rapidly, have many and deep roots, and take up large quantities
of water," report Lynne M. Westphal and J. G. Isebrands (now retired) of the USDA Forest Service.
Climate and Sprawl Solvency
Urban biodiversity and cleaner air result from urban agriculture that are able to curb the impacts
of climate change
Bellows, Brown, and Smit 2004 (Anne C., Kathrine,Jac, Representatives from the Community Food
Security Coalition's North American Initiative on Urban Agriculture “Health Benefits of Urban
Agriculture” A paper from members of the Community Food Security
Coalition's North American Initiative on Urban Agriculture. 2004
Gardeners and farmers “create nature” and enjoy being “in nature” within urban built
environments. They work hard to improve the physical environment of their neighborhoods and
communities.86 The beauty gardeners develop enhances their physical environment that in turn
advances gardeners’ psychosocial87 as well as physical health. One study found that access to
gardens, along with improved housing fixtures and dwelling type, location and adequacy of
housing space was positively associated with how respondents self-assessed their health.88
Urban area gardens and farms improve air quality. On the local level, plant foliage reduces
carbon dioxide, ozone concentrations (heavy, low-lying gas), and lowers urban mass
temperatures.89 On a more macro scale, locally grown food reduces the present average of 1300
less polluting, and has a relevant and substantial impact on our health.90
Urban gardens and farms increase urban bio-diversity. They attract beneficial soil
microorganisms, insects, birds, reptiles, and animals. Gardens play a role in species preservation
for birds and butterflies by providing food, resting spaces, and protection along migratory flight
paths.91Urban food production improves urban and urban fringe soils. Rooted plants stabilize the
ground and reduce soil erosion. Cared-for soils absorb rainfall that then does not run over
exposed, compacted dirt and pavement absorbing toxic debris and dumping it into storm drains.
Urban compost systems can transform significant amounts of a city’s waste (organic waste from
yards, parks, food establishments, etc.) for beneficial re-use.9
Urban agriculture allows for a decrease and travel costs and increases food security and access to
fresh produce for urban dwellers
Mazereeuw 05 (Bethany, Health Promotion Officer for Region of Waterloo November 10th 2005; Urban
Agriculture Report page 11,)
Citizens in a community can benefit from increased space for urban agriculture. Initiatives such as
community or rooftop gardens contribute to urban food self-sufficiency and food security by
helping to provide all citizens with increased access to nutritious foods. Urban sprawl has
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contributed to a loss of productive agricultural land. Compounding this loss, a growing urban
population contributes to increased food demand. Growing food in urban areas plays a role in local
food security by providing much needed space to grow produce. The food produced in community
gardens or rooftop gardens are local sources of food that require minimal travel distance to reach
consumers. This reduction of food-travel to reach the consumer results in improved food quality,
fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and often reduced costs. In terms of volume of food, one study
estimated that if 6% of rooftops in Toronto were ‘greened’ and only 10% of these rooftops grew food, a
yeild of 4.7 million kilograms of produce per year would be generated. It has also been documented
that community gardeners consume more fruits and vegetables than non gardeners. A diet high in
fruit and vegetables has been linked to numerous health benefits. Food produced in urban gardens can
also benefit citizens who cannot afford fresh produce. For instance, food produced can feed citizens
who live on low income bracket or could supply local soup kitchens. Rooftop gardens have also been
used for commercial food production. Such commercial food production has the associated benefit
of food cost savings that result in increased profit. For instance, the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in
Toronto saves an estimated $30,000 annually in fresh vegetable and herb costs.
Climate and Sprawl Solvency
Urban heat islands are an environmental threat to urban dwellers that can be solve with urban
agriculture
Mazereeuw 05 (Bethany, Health Promotion Officer for Region of Waterloo November 10th 2005; Urban
Agriculture Report PAGE 11)
Another environmental benefit associated with green roofs is the reduction of the urban heat island effect.
The urban heat island effect is when a metropolitan area is significantly warmer than its surroundingsnearby rural areas or countryside. On hot summer days and nights, temperatures in urban centers can be
anywhere from 2 to 6°C warmer than the surrounding countryside. There are several causes of urban heat
island, one of which is directly surrounding countryside. There are several causes of urban heat island,
one of which is directly attributed to vegetation being replaced by asphalt and concrete for roads,
buildings, and other structures necessary to accommodate growing populations. The expanse of hard and
reflective surfaces, such as roofs, absorbs solar radiation and re-radiates it as heat. A consequence of this
urban heat island is increased energy requirements for cooling like air conditioning and refrigeration,
especially in peak times. This, in turn, results in increased air pollution. Another consequence is increases
in heat-related illness and mortality. Heat islands are considered a growing concern for urbanized centers.
Green roofs and rooftop gardens work to reduce the urban heat island effect by reducing the area of hard
dark surfaces that tend to attract heat. Instead of such concrete building surfaces absorbing the sun’s rays
and converting it to thermal energy, green roofs or rooftop gardens allow for the majority of solar
radiation to be absorbed by the vegetation and used for photosynthesis. Green roof or rooftop garden sun
absorption therefore limits solar radiation release into the surrounding environment that would have
contributed to temperature increases. It has been suggested that in Toronto, covering only 6% of rooftops
with vegetation would result in a 1 to 2°C (1.7 to 3.6°F) reduction of the heat island effect. Although it
can be very difficult to calculate the energy cost saving derived from reducing the urban heat island
effect, green roofs are considered to be a powerful way to counteract the urban heat island effect and
achieve related environmental and energy-saving goals.
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Climate and Sprawl Solvency
The New Green Deal is Key to the reduction of green house gas emissions
Jacobson 09 ( Lisa, Executive Director of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy “Executive
Director of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy “Tuesday Feburary 3, 2009)
Executive Director of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy President Barack Obama took office in
January amid the worst economic crisis this nation has faced since the Great Depression. As
unemployment rises and businesses struggle, this administration must propose bold solutions suited to our
times—not a New Deal, but a Green Deal.A Green Deal would revive the economy by directing massive
new investment into cleaner, more efficient and reliable energy infrastructure. It would call for the rapid
and aggressive deployment of renewable energy, energy efficiency investments, a smarter energy grid and
effective use of clean fossil fuels, such as natural gas.In the short run, such investments would generate
large numbers of high quality jobs in the clean energy sector, bolstering business suppliers, boosting
consumer spending and lifting consumer confidence. Research conducted by the Apollo Alliance in
conjunction with the non-partisan Perryman Group confirms that large but feasible investments in
renewable energy and energy efficiency would add several million jobs over the next decade.Long term, a
Green Deal would help our nation meet growing demands for energy, reduce energy costs, and address
the challenge of global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.Their analysis found that
investments of $50 billion in renewable energy technologies could result in nearly 1 million new jobs;
$76 billion invested in manufacturing of energy efficient durable goods would create over 900,000 new
jobs; $90 billion directed to building energy efficiency would yield over 800,000 jobs; and $100 billion
invested in public transit and transportation infrastructure would create over 650,000 new jobs. In order to
spawn additional jobs and stabilize the economy, Congress must support funding and incentives for:
· Building and business owners to invest in energy efficiency, renewable energy and efficient distributed
generation systems
· Manufacturing facilities to re-tool using clean energy products and components
· States to invest in clean energy infrastructure and efficient transportation
· Investment in an improved, expanded and “smart” electricity transmission system
· Greater use of low emission vehicles, more efficient temperature control equipment and auxiliary power
technologies to reduce idling in the transportation sector
· Workforce training and education relating to clean energy industries
· Improvements to the renewable energy tax incentives so they are able drive new renewable energy
generation, given current economic conditions
In ordinary times, such a dramatic program to shift national priorities in favor of cleaner energy and a
sustainable environment would face legitimate complaints about budget constraints and unwelcome
deficits. But economists of almost every persuasion agree that now is the time to get the economy
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moving. Let’s turn this economic crisis into an opportunity to make a Green Deal with sustainable
investments in a healthier, energy independent and more competitive nation.
Community Adv
A tighter knit community brought by the urban gardens has benefits for urban dwellers
Ellen Kirby and Elizabeth Peters, 2008; Editors and Analists (Community Gardening, Page 8)
Community gardening has been a lifesaver for many people. Over half of the world's people now live in
large cities. Increasing density within these cities leads residents to seek space where they can enjoy the
satisfaction of gardening, grow food, and interact with others in a safe environment. Exercise, stress
reduction, nutrition education, and recreation all take place in community gardens. Community gardens
can be neighborhood crossroads. Gardens (They) foster bonds of friendship and support among diverse
people, shape the life of a neighborhood, and provide needed community services. Residual benefits
include safer neighborhoods, leadership development, and economic revitalization. (Also) Studies have
shown that crime is lower in areas that have community gardens, largely due to the fact that more people
are "out on the street" and aware of negative behavior. Good neighborhood communication systems grow
out of a garden; likewise gardens provide a chance for plain old friendship and the evolution of
neighborhood support groups.
Urban agriculture causes the growth of social capital and low income people’s access to fresh and
local produce
Bellows, Brown, and Smit 2004 (Anne C., Kathrine,Jac, Representatives from the Community Food
Security Coalition's North American Initiative on Urban Agriculture “Health Benefits of Urban
Agriculture” A paper from members of the Community Food Security Coalition's North American
Initiative on Urban Agriculture. 2004
Urban agriculture contributes to community food security.41 Times of war and conflict render tenuous
our dependence on distant food sources, especially in this post-9/11 world.42 A local agri-food system
provides a relatively secure and more locally controlled source of food. Better interaction between local
consumers and farmers increases awareness of local food options. Enhanced communication also
augments knowledge and commitment to healthy, sustainable, and secure food products and practices.43
Urban gardening contributes to local food security. Gardeners report that sharing food with friends,
families, neighbors, and/or needy members of their community in need is one of the important reasons
that they grow produce.44 This generosity has been organized into programs that maximize contributions
to soup kitchens and pantries, for example, through the “plant-arow” project that encourages gardeners to
set aside a specific space for donations.Strategies to buy locally have surged.46 States and regions have
instituted “buy local” policies.47 Community supported agriculture (CSA) has linked buyer collectives
with local farmers; some CSAs strive to make opportunities available to low-income groups.48 Local
farmers are in such demand that many large and small towns now compete to have farmers participate in
their farmers markets.49 Low income group access to fresh and local produce is increasingly
addressed.50 U.S. federal programs encourage direct marketing of fresh produce through farm stands and
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farmers markets. Many of these programs also incorporate voucher and electronic benefits transfer (EBT)
redemption programs51 at the markets to augment fruit and vegetable consumption in vulnerable
population groups -- seniors, low-income, and single parent families. Through donations and gleaning
opportunities, urban area farmers contribute to urban food banks and emergency food assistance
programs.52
Community Adv
Urban agriculture can transform communities into beds of social capital and safe havens for low
income people that occupy urban centers
Bellows, Brown, and Smit 2004 (Anne C., Kathrine,Jac, Representatives from the Community Food
Security Coalition's North American Initiative on Urban Agriculture “Health Benefits of Urban
Agriculture” A paper from members of the Community Food SecurityCoalition's North American
Initiative on Urban Agriculture. 2004
Gardens and farms enhance the informal and the formal economies of social environment The effort to
develop and sustain urban food production inside cities builds social capital – trust, civic engagement, the
development of community leaders, and the sharing of goods (“vegetable capital”), services, and
information.73 Bringing people together, building community, andimproving neighborhoods are some of
the reasons gardening empowers its participants.74 Socialengagement is positively correlated with
personal attention to health care and wellness.75 Food production teaches job skills and offers
entrepreneurial opportunities.76 Reports find that lowincome communities particularly value the
community building benefits of urban agriculture.77 Innovative prison garden programs strive to improve
personal health and mental outlook through pride in nurturing the life of a garden and understanding and
connecting nutrition and bodily self-respect.78 Urban community gardens and farms help overcome
social, health, and environmental justice challenges.79 Safe and pleasant neighborhoods promote active
lifestyles and outdoor exercise that counteract the physical passivity associated with the obesity epidemic.
Participating in beautifying a neighborhood builds a constructive, collective consciousness. The presence
of vegetable gardens in inner-city neighborhoods is positively correlated with decreases in crime, trash
dumping, juvenile delinquency, fires, violent deaths, and mental illness. Gardens link different sectors of
a city—youth, elders, and diverse race, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.81 Gardeners, especially older
ones, feel safe and have a purpose for leaving their households and engaging in a wider landscape; they
literally and figuratively broaden their horizons.82 Adults feel more secure allowing young persons to
move freely in safe, green, cared-for, and populated
environments.
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Community Adv
Urban agriculture would provide more recreational and leisure space for urban residents for
community building
Mazereeuw 05 (Bethany, Health Promotion Officer for Region of Waterloo November 10th 2005; Urban
Agriculture Report PAGE 9-10)
Urban agriculture initiatives can improve aesthetic value of a community and provide more outdoor space
for residents and visitors. Rooftop gardens provide a pleasing and convenient space for residents. Studies
show that leisure activities in natural settings such as gardens and parks are important for helping people
cope with stress and in meeting other non-stress related needs. Widespread implementation of rooftop
gardens and community gardens could potentially provide more recreational and leisure space for urban
residents. Green space is also increasingly being recognized as a vital component to improved quality of
life. In one study, low crime with safe streets and access to greenery and open space where he major
elements cited as crucial for a satisfactory quality of life. In fact, the 1995 New York Governor’s Report
on Open Space recommended a minimum of 2.5 acres for open space per 1000 people. Other
organizations, including the Council on the Environment, the Neighborhood Open Space Coalition, and
the Trust for Public Land, have asserted that open space is crucial to quality of life of city residents. The
Region of Waterloo has recognized the importance of green space and has responded by developing and
implementing a Green lands Strategy which seeks to balance anticipated growth with the environmental
planning and stewardship. As demonstrated by using this healthy community’s framework, urban
agriculture has the potential to positively impact a community’s health environmentally, socially, and
economically.
Community empowerment and self determinate can be created due to production of one’s own food
system
Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002, Urban Agriculture
Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman, http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
Urban farming is an essential tool that addresses a number of these problems in agricultural efforts to
green cities. Economic development and community innovative ways. Environmental stewardship is
enhanced through urban revitalization are also achieved through urban farming when neighborhoods take
new pride in a community garden, when inner-city residents gain the ability to grow and market their own
food, when inner-city farmers’ markets provide new opportunities for entrepreneurs and commercial
farmers. Individual health and a sense of empowerment and well-being are created when urban dwellers
have access to local food and greater control over their own food system. Urban farming takes account of
the real cost of food, and the real benefits from local and regional food.
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Community Adv
Organizing around urban issues is an effective way to commit to community
Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002, Urban Agriculture
Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman, http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
“Whether a community is faced with the challenge of cleaning up an abandoned lot in their
neighborhood, fighting a local polluter or creating economic opportunities in their downtown area,
community organizing is a means by which those affected by an issue are able to participate in the
creation of solutions.” 1[35]
Growing Communities Curriculum In order to meet their commitment to food security, urban
agriculture growers and their supporters have had to respond creatively to a number of complex
challenges. This section reviews some of the main challenges that urban agricultural activities encounter,
and for each of these challenges, provides some of the responses that have helped counter them.
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Market solvency
A market based approach is critical to developing the assets of a particular community and
allowing them to reach their potential- activism alone cannot reverse the dearth of investment.
Weissbourd and Bodini 05 (Robert and Riccardo, President and Senior Associate of RW Ventures, consultants for community
economic development, “Market-Based Community Economic Development,” for the Brookings Institute,
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/umi/20050314_communitydev.pdf)
Community development is deeply rooted in the civil rights and political empowerment movements,
and it has typically focused on deficiencies: what is wrong, missing, inequitable, or needed? Once the
field identified needs, such as poor housing or high crime, it employed programmatic approaches,
often based in organizing and advocacy, to develop targeted services . The strategies were primarily political and
social, commensurate with the original barriers they sought to address. Even when the strategies focused on economic needs, they
rarely sought to understand the local economic failure or to intervene to affect the market economy. During the last several
decades, the field has gradually added a different, asset-based approach. Addressing poverty requires
creating wealth, and wealth is created in poor communities just as it is anywhere else: by identifying
and investing in assets. Practitioners, therefore, shifted focus from deficiencies to assets. Strategies
now focused not only on establishing a formal right to a piece of the pie (civil rights), or on taking a piece
through the political process (empowerment), but also on how to make a “bigger pie” by creating new wealth in
poor communities. 7 Community development practitioners thus began focusing on economic assets, giving rise to the field of
community economic development, and particularly asset-based development. This asset-based approach offers several benefits. It
focuses on the positive features of lower-income communities rather than perpetuating negative stereotypes. It recognizes that
temporary services or even income, as important as they are, do not create the long-term wealth
necessary to climb out of poverty that asset accumulation does. It reconnects poorer communities to
the mainstream rather than creating alternative, programmatic “solutions” that further isolate and 4 stigmatize them. Finally, it
aligns the interests of economic development and business organizations because deploying previously
underused assets also provides new opportunities for market expansion and profitable investments,
increasing the overall efficiency of the economy. This alignment of business and community interests
creates opportunities for new partnerships and increases business engagement. 9 Although the focus shifted to assets,
in its early stages the work often remained centered on organizing and advocacy. The field may have focused on economic assets, but it
barely applied economics. Advocates for affordable housing or for better job training programs often had only limited understanding
of how the economy might be tapped to achieve their objectives10 —with good excuse: the field of economics, by and
large, had little to offer, given its limited interest in inner-city development and its theoretical directions, which
did not lend themselves to the analysis of economic activity across small geographies. 11
Fortunately, a few decades of community
economic development work have brought the field a long way. 12 Focusing on strengths, rather than weaknesses, of
distressed neighborhoods, companies such as Shorebank and others have shown that disinvested communities do
indeed offer undervalued real estate, business and human assets, and opportunities for individual,
business, and community wealth creation. These companies have pioneered business and market-based approaches to
identifying and investing in those assets, demonstrating both the profit opportunity and the potential for these
businesses to bring jobs, business opportunity, and economic growth to inner-city neighborhoods. As
the field demonstrates the efficacy of an asset- and business-based approach to community development, its focus on economic assets (housing or
employment, for example) and attracting investment in assets has increased interest in economics and, at the systemic level, in how wealth is created.
Despite the anecdotal successes of varied businesses and the practices of innovative companies like Shorebank in inner-city markets, it is clear from the
extent of underinvested assets that conventional markets are still not functioning well in many urban neighborhoods. Remarkably little is known, either by
community development practitioners or by economists, about how neighborhood assets get connected, or not, to the broader economic systems that could
To understand this, we must develop a more sophisticated understanding of markets,
and particularly of how they can be influenced to include nner-city assets. In other words, we need to
put more economics in the practice of community economic development.
fully realize their value.
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Market solvency
Community development programs build up the assets that neighborhoods need to
empower themselves.
Rubin 95 (Herbert J., Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Northern Illinois University, “Renewing Hope in the Inner city: conversations with
community-based development practitioners,” Administration & Society 27:1, 127)
Business disinvestment from communities of the poor has deprived individuals of meaningful jobs, while the
callousness of slumlords and the virtual termination of federal housing efforts has reduced the stock of
affordable, decent housing. In response to these desperate circumstances, development activists have reenergized the
community-based development movement. Community-based development organizations (CBDOs) and community development
corporations (CDCs) are nonprofit organizations whose missions are to build homes, offices, and commercial
centers, and to increase job opportunities within communities of the poor. Development organizations package business and
housing projects by combining their own equity, government and foundation subsidies, and private investments, often supplemented with the "sweat equity" or
voluntary labor contributions from community members. In addition, CBDOs establish profit-making subsidiaries; own, manage, rehabilitate, and market housing;
provide entrepreneurial training; teach people job skills; and broker economic development deals. In many neighborhoods, CBDOs assist small businesses, either
through administering revolving loan funds or by providing technical assistance to would-be community entrepreneurs (Dreier, 1989; Kelly, Kelly, & Marciniak,
1988; Peirce & Steinbach, 1987, 1990; Perry, 1987; Shavelson, 1990; Vidal 1989). The first CBDOs were formed in the early 1960s as part of the War on Poverty.
With a few notable exceptions, the movement had been stagnant until the last decade and a half (Peirce & Steinbach, 1987; Zdenek, 1990). Since then, CBDOs have
developed "320,000 units of affordable housing" while "creating and retaining almost 90,000 permanent jobs." In addition, community-based development
organizations have supported microenterprises and aided in "implementing comprehensive social and economic approaches to community renewal" (National
Community-based development organizations are niche
organizations that link public and private funders and investors to projects within communities from which
resources have been withdrawn. As part of this bridging role, CBDO leaders try to reconcile the production orientation held by government,
Congress for Community Economic Development [NCCED], 1991b, p. 1).
foundations, and capitalistic investors with the nonprofit's ideological goals of bringing about community empowerment and local economic transformation. Research
on nonprofits based upon the new institutionalism paradigm suggests that under such circumstances, nonprofits will adopt the values of their funders, but do so
through ongoing negotiations (Powell & DiMaggio, 1991). This article examines three ways in which funder pressures create value conflicts for directors of CBDOs.
The article suggests how CBDOs attempt to accommodate to pressures from funders without surrendering their social transformation goals. The discussion is based on
extensive ethnographic interviews with leaders of community-based organizations, supplemented by observations of conferences sponsored by their trade
associations.(1) NICHE ORGANIZATIONS AND VALUE CONFLICTS CBDOs work in markets from which many for-profit firms and investors have
withdrawn. They do so with small staffs, with inadequate administrative budgets, and without extensive internal expertise. They are financially dependent on other
organizations, surviving in large part through packaging resources from government and foundations with investment funds provided by the for-profit sector (Vidal,
1989). In many cities, CBDOs receive aid from developmental partnerships that act as conduits for funds and technical assistance from government, corporations,
and foundations. In addition, national intermediaries such as the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) package funds from banks, corporations, and
foundations for CBDOs (NCCED, 1991b; Peirce & Steinbach, 1990). The economic contribution of intermediaries is dramatic; for example, "during its first decade,
LISC alone assembled $300 million, leveraging over $1.3 billion of direct investment for 760 CBDOs" (NCCED, 1991a, p. 4). Aid from partnerships and
intermediaries is vital for the work of CBDOs, yet there is a negative side, as these larger organizations attempt to set the developmental agendas for the CBDOs.
THE IDEOLOGY OF SOCIAL CHANGE Many CBDOs are descendants of neighborhood associations or protest groups of the 1960s that determined that
empowerment is better obtained through control of the economic resources within their communities rather
than through advocacy tactics. Whereas CBDOs concentrate on building homes or creating jobs, to activists,
community-based development is far more than bricks-and-mortar enterprises. It is a political and social
movement that reaffirms the possibility for renewed hope in poor communities. Community-based
development enables the deprived to control material assets and allows the poor to gain respect and dignity as
players in the economic and housing field. Community-based development organizations focus on restoring
places that the conventional development industry has ignored. During a postconvention tour of a declining neighborhood, one
community development corporation (CDC) director was asked why he picked a particular derelict building to redevelop, rather than adjacent property in somewhat
better condition. He answered, summarizing much of the philosophy of the movement: Because that is where the CDC should be, where the private sector, where the
If the CDC can resurrect the
worst properties, others from the for-profit sector may try to improve the rest. Anyone can market decently
maintained properties or create commercial successes in vibrant communities. In contrast, Non-profit development
private market doesn't operate, doesn't function. The buildings are abandoned and we are trying to acquire them.
corporations . . . can do the deals that might be marginal. Can do the deals that can save the neighborhood. They can do the deals to lead the way and provide the
window of opportunity for private development to take place. . . . Because we are not in it solely for the tangible numbers or money profit. Further, there is a moral
obligation to take up the efforts where others have abandoned hope; where for-profits fear to go, not-for-profits have an obligation to try. It is a tough row to hoe
these days, especially since financing has just dried up . . . that is why we are doing it. That is why not for profits do it, because it is tough, because the for-profits
CBDOs do more than work in places that for-profits avoid. They work to balance the bricks-andmortar projects with activities that empower individuals. For example, one CDC orchestrated a development
won't do it.
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program that taught community members how to repair homes, then repaired the homes to the standards
required for certification for home day care centers. Simultaneously, the CDC taught women who were on AFDC to become home day
care providers, helped them obtain ownership of the homes, started them in the day care business, and encouraged the newly employed women to form a workers'
cooperative so they would learn how to manage their own business (Rubin, 1993). This is far more than simply physical development; it is working to achieve an
empowerment- and capacity-building agenda.
Market solvency
Market based approaches to community development are critical in developing the assets these
communities need to empower themselves.
Helling et al 05 (Louis, Rodrigo Serrano, and David Warren, Staff Writers for the Social Protection
Discussion Papers for the Worldbank, “Linking Community Empowerment, Decentralized
Governance, and Public Service Provision Through a Local Development Framework,”
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTCDD/5440901138724740952/20802848/decnetralization05.pdf)
Unless the local private sector grows, local development will remain fragile and difficult to sustain.
Only when households, communities and local governments are increasingly reliant on their
own economic assets will they be able to take greater responsibility for their own continuing
development. Putting in place the mechanisms to encourage private sector growth and can
contribute significantly to people’s empowerment by increasing their ability to meet their
own needs and invest in their own future. Empowerment of local producers, processors and
traders involves increasing the economic opportunities available to them and increasing their
capabilities to take advantage of these opportunities. Often disadvantaged segments of the
population are unable to avail themselves of existing opportunities due to their limited
capabilities rooted in low endowments of critical resources: human, financial, informational,
and organizational. By supporting the accumulation of assets by the poor and other
marginalized groups and by targeting efforts to build their capabilities to exploit these
opportunities, public and non-profit organizations can promote economic empowerment in the
context of local private sector growth. Through their participation in the economy the poor not only
increase consumption in the short run but also increase their ability to invest in their own
development. When the poor do invest available resources to improve their skills and increase
their productivity, this virtuous cycle opens the way to progressive increases in capability,
and thus empowerment, as households and communities accumulate wealth and invest in
their own education and enterprise. Three principle areas of intervention support enabling local
private sector growth in the context of an integrated approach to local development: access to
economic infrastructure and services; strengthened human, social and institutional capital; and a
favorable local business enabling environment. Each is described below. It should be noted that the
scope and complexity of these types of economically oriented interventions are considerable. They
often require specialized expertise. One is not arguing that all local development programs directly
address all aspects of private sector development. In many cases, partnerships between multisectoral local development programs or agencies and specialized local economic development
organizations or agencies will be an appropriate way to ensure that this dimension of local
development receives adequate attention., Depending on the nature of the local environment and
economy as well as the availability of required expertise and institutional capacities, specialist
organizations may be supported to provide training and technical assistance to local governments,
NGOs, associations and firms in order to promote the development of the local private sector.
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Brownfields= Environmental Racism Adv
Abandoned brownfield sites across the nation contribute to the status of environmental racism for people of color. The harmful health
effects of the poor in urban areas is a testament of neglect of low-income people and a continual source of racial subordination.
Bullard et al 8 (Robert D., Director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta
University, Paul Mohai, Professor of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Robin Saha, an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Montana, and
Beverly Wright, Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University,
“Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty: Why Race Still Matters After All These Years,” 38 Environmental
Law, 371, Lexis)
Despite progress in research, planning, and policy, low-income and people of color
neighborhoods and their residents suffer from greater environmental risks than the larger
society. For example, lead poisoning continues to be the number-one environmental health threat to
children in the United States, especially poor children, children of color, and children living in
older housing in inner cities. n20 "Black children are five times more likely than white children to have lead poisoning"
n21 and "one in seven black children living in older housing has elevated blood lead levels." n22
About 22% of African American children and 13% of Mexican American children living in pre-1946 housing suffer from lead
poisoning, compared with 6% of white children living in comparable types of housing. n23 Recent [*378] studies suggest that a young
person's lead burden is linked to lower IQ, lower high school graduation rates, and increased delinquency. n24 Lead poisoning causes
about two to three points of IQ lost for each 10 ug/dl lead level. n25
The nation's environmental laws, regulations, and policies are not applied uniformly,
resulting in some individuals, neighborhoods, and communities being exposed to elevated
health risks. In 1992, staff writers from The National Law Journal uncovered glaring inequities in the way the federal EPA
enforces its laws. n26 The authors write:
There is a racial divide in the way the U.S. government cleans up toxic waste sites and
punishes polluters. White communities see faster action, better results and stiffer penalties
than communities where blacks, Hispanics and other minorities live. This unequal protection
often occurs whether the community is wealthy or poor. n27
These findings suggest that unequal protection is placing communities of color at special risk.
The National Law Journal study supplements the findings of earlier studies and reinforces what many grassroots leaders have been
people of color are differentially impacted by industrial pollution and they
also can expect different treatment from the government. Environmental decision making
operates at the juncture of science, economics, politics, special interests, and ethics. The
question of environmental justice is not anchored in a debate about whether or not decision
makers should tinker with risk management. The framework seeks to prevent environmental
threats before they occur. n28 The U.S. Government Accountability Office (formerly the U.S. General Accounting Office) estimates
that there are up to 450,000 brownfields (abandoned waste sites) scattered throughout the
urban landscape from New York to California - most of which are located in or near low
income, working class, and people of color communities. n29 More than 870,000 of the 1.9
million housing units for the poor, who are mostly minorities, sit "within about a mile of
factories that reported toxic emissions to the Environmental Protection Agency." n30
saying all along: namely,
More than 600,000 students in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and California attend nearly 1200 public schools with [*379] populations largely made up of African Americans and other children of color - that are located within a half mile of federal
Superfund or state-identified contaminated sites. n31 An astounding "68 percent of African Americans live within 30 miles of a coalfired power plant - the distance within which the maximum effects of the smokestack plume are expected to occur" - compared with
56% of white Americans. In September 2005, the Associated Press (AP) released results from its analysis of an EPA research project
showing African
Americans are "79 percent more likely than whites to live in neighborhoods
where industrial pollution is suspected of posing the greatest health danger." n33 Using EPA's
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own data and government scientists, the AP study, More Blacks Live with Pollution, revealed that
"in 19 states, blacks were more than twice as likely as whites to live in neighborhoods where
air pollution seems to pose the greatest health danger." n34 Hispanics and Asians also are
more likely to breathe dirty air in some regions of the United States.
Brownfields= Environmental Racism Adv
Brownfields cause a domino effect of urban decay throughout inner cities, causing crime,
pollution, and the destroying urban tax base. Incentives are critical to reversing this trend
Joel Wimbiscus –J.D. candidate at the University of Memphis school of law- 2008- Remediating the Brownfield Brownout: Why
Brownfield Legislation Falls Short and How a Clustered Approach Can Onlinehttp://www.abanet.org/environ/committees/lawstudents/pdf/Wimbiscus.pdf
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines brownfields as “abandoned, idled, or under-used
industrial or commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental
contamination.”1 Brownfields may be abandoned factories, office buildings, gas stations, dry cleaners, parking lots or other facilities
that potentially have contaminated the underlying soil. All abandoned properties are possible brownfields where
testing is needed to determine the level of contamination. Only a minority of properties qualify for the Superfund
National Priorities List, which contains properties with such severe contamination that immediate remediation is necessary.2
However, while the majority of brownfields do not qualify for this list, they still must undergo costly testing and remediation before
they can be reused.3 If contamination is present, it may seep into the ground water and present health risks to nearby residents. 4 If
the site is not cleaned up, contamination may spread to neighboring properties.5 In addition to the
environmental risks, brownfields worsen a city’s social and economic troubles. Contamination lowers the property values
of a brownfield because potential buyers are wary of purchasing a property that must undergo assessment
and remediation. Many brownfield owners simply abandon the property instead of paying for assessment and
cleanup costs.6 Abandoned properties are not maintained and bring down the value of the surrounding
properties because people do not want to live next to an eyesore.7 This devaluation is a double-edged sword as it
creates a decline in the income tax base due to the loss of jobs and a decline in the property tax
revenue due to the drop in property value. Social decline often comes hand in hand with the economic
decline. Vacant properties may draw arson, loitering, drug activity or prostitution. Vacant properties frequently become
a canvas for area graffiti artists. Such activity drives away present and prospective homeowners. The domino effect created
by brownfields produces a cycle that is difficult to stop. The loss of industry lowers the tax base which
lowers funding for the local schools, police force, and other city services. The abandoned property has
the effect of a black hole, sucking the vitality, safety and property value out of the surrounding
neighborhood. This process encourages those residents who are able to relocate to move to “greener” pastures. New industry is
discouraged from reusing the abandoned properties because of extensive assessment and cleanup costs.8 Brownfields, while not the
only cause of suburban sprawl, have greatly contributed to the settlement and asphalting of outlying rural areas. Federal tax
money is diverted from the inner city to the new suburbs in order to build new roads, sewers, and
schools.9 This duplication of infrastructure not only leads to higher taxes, but also leaves the urban infrastructure to rot.
Furthermore, this sprawl extends cities, disperses the population and creates greater traffic congestion and longer commutes.
Additionally, sprawl’s effect is more damaging because it is becoming so exacerbated at a time when
world’s ability to supply petroleum is declining. In order to stop this cycle, the government must
create an incentive to curtail contamination, redevelop and repopulate these areas.
the
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Brownfields= Environmental Racism Adv
Environmental Racism marks inner city areas as human sacrifice zones- relegating
residents of the inner city to sub human status
Robert Doyle Bullard - Robert professor at Georgia's Clark Atlanta - -1993- Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices from the
Grassroots- p. 11- 12
The practice of targeting communities of color for the siting of unpopular industrial facilities is a
form of environmental racism. Government has been slow to address environmental and other forms racism. Part of the problem
lies in the continued denial of the existence of racism by government officials and policymakers. Who benefits from and who pays for
our modern industrial society? Environmental and health costs are localized: risks increase with proximity to the source
and are borne by those living nearby, while the benefits are dispersed throughout the larger society. Communities that host
hazardous waste disposal facilities (importers) receive fewer economic benefits (jobs) than do communities that
generate the waste (exporters). The people who benefit the most bear the least burden. Persons of color who live in
contaminated areas are often victims of a "double whammy" in that they are exposed to elevated risks,
while at the same time they often have problems getting access to health and medical facilities. East St Louis,
Illinois, typifies this (Kozol 1991). In general, inner-city hospitals are closing in record numbers, while environmental
and health problems in these areas are on the rise. The federal government has made only minimal attempts to level the
playing field. Communities of color are still confronted with rules, regulations, and policies governing them that are not applied
uniformly across the board. A case in point is the conditions under which farmworkers must labor. Thousands of migrant farm workers
(over 90 percent of whom are person of color) and their children are poisoned by pesticides sprayed on crops. These individuals are
'second-class" workers and are consid- ered expendable. Of course, there is no uniform set of standards sped- ered expendable. Of
course, there is no uniform set of standards speci- fying "acceptable" levels of pesticide exposure for plant workers who manufacture
the pesticides, nearby community residents who are ex- posed to plant emissions, farmworkers who apply the pesticides,
and consumers who eat the food on which pesticide residue may be found. Yet the health and safety of farmworkers and their families
receive the least amount of consideration and protection (Moses 1989). Millions of inner-city children (many of whom
are African-American and Latino) are poisoned by lead-based paint from old houses, drinking water
from lead-soldered pipes and old water mains, soil contaminated by industry, and air pollutants from smelters. Lead
poisoning is considered the number one environmental health problem facing children in the United States (Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry 1988). Yet, little has been done over the past 20 years to rid the nation of this preventable
childhood disease. The nation is also now faced with a garbage and hazardous waste crisis. States are grappling
with the question of what to do with their mounting wastes and the federal government is confronted with mount- ing nuclear and toxic
wastes from its weapons and military installations. Tougher environmental regulations and increased public opposition have made it
difficult to site any new waste management facilities, ranging from recycling centers and garbage incinerators to radioactive storage
dumps. Communities of color have become prime targets as a solution to the facility siting gridlock
(Angel 1992). Some communities have been turned into "human sacrifice zones? Places like Chicago's
South Side. Louisiana's "Cancer Alley," and East LosAngeles share two common characteristics 1 )
they already have more than their share of environmental problems and polluting industries, and 2) they are still
attracting new polluters. Past discriminatory facility-siting and land-use practices appear to guide
future public policy decisions. Site selection is rationalized by arguing that an area already has multiple facilities. Of course,
any saturation policy derived from past siting practices perpetuates and worsens environmental inequities
(Bullard 1990).
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Urban minority communities are being left to die on the front lines of America’s war against the
planet
Wiley 06 (Maya, Director of the Center for Social Inclusion, Summer 2006, “Overcoming Structural Racism,” Race, Poverty, and the
Environment, Vol. 13, No. 1, online: http://www.urbanhabitat.org/node/504, accessed July 12, 2008
When entire communities of color are marginalized and excluded from a region’s civic and political life, they
become invisible to the white communities. Whites will fight tooth and nail against the location of a waste
treatment facility or an incinerator in their own neighborhoods, but accept their location in the “invisible”
poor neighborhoods. (One example of an environmental insult is the attempt to create a landfill in the East New
Orleans wetlands, strongly opposed by the Black and Vietnamese communities who wish to rebuild their homes
there.)9 These privileged communities are thus able to avoid the questions raised by their unbridled consumerism
and its effect on the environment.
On the other hand, if the government works to reduce poverty in urban communities of color, it has the effect
of creating more jobs and reducing poverty in surrounding regions.10 When communities of color are able to
participate in civic and political life, they are better able to attract investments to build and strengthen local
economies and defend themselves against environmental insults.
Racialized Poverty and Global Warming
At a recent conference on the racial and socio-economic implications of the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, Laurie
David, a Hollywood producer and tireless anti-global warming activist, spoke passionately about the climate
crisis we face and the importance of U.S. leadership on carbon emissions reduction. When asked about the role
of racialized poverty in New Orleans, David responded that the reality of global warming was such that a lot of
people will get hurt. David is certainly right, and we all have to care about climate change. But we also need to
have a better answer to the question of race and poverty in global warming.
The floodwaters of Lake Ponchartrain washed away any illusions of a racially equitable society. Although about 28
percent of New Orleans’ population was poor, there were many more poor African Americans (35 percent) than
poor Whites (11.5 percent).11 And of all city dwellers, nearly one-third of all Black households did not have access
to a car while only 10 percent of White households lacked auto access.13 While there were no evacuation plans for
the poor, the elderly, and the disabled either, it was common knowledge that the lowest ground in New Orleans was
occupied by communities of color, which made up nearly 80 percent of the population in these flooded
neighborhoods.14 It is no wonder then that most of the faces in the Superdome were Black.
Racialized poverty puts the poor communities of color at the frontlines of our war with our planet. They are,
as Professor Lani Guinier points out, our miner’s canaries. Their vulnerabilities shine a light on everyone’s
vulnerabilities and we should pay careful attention to them when dealing with our public resources.
How do our Gardens Grow?
The environmental justice community understands that racial inequity is one of the biggest barriers to
healthy communities and a healthy nation.15 Nature is not bound by governmental jurisdiction. It may, however,
be influenced by race and political privilege. So it is up to the privileged, the resourced, and the included, to
work with communities of color, and not just for them. It requires funders to resource communities of color
for civic engagement. It also requires us to build a public will for a government that will strengthen the social
safety net for our most vulnerable communities and rein in corporate prerogative.
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Federal Government directly involved in racist expansion by subsidizing white flight. core
capitalist suburban hubs preserved at the expense of inner city populations - must accept
their status on periphery of "urban wastelands" not worthy of economic inclusion or
empowerment
Muhammed Asadi, 2000, "Constructing a global ghetto: racism, the west and the third
world, http://www.geocities.com/globalghetto/
The US federal government was directly involved in the segregation process. To increase employment
in the construction industry and increase home ownership, the Home Owners Loan Corporation
(HOLC) was started. The HOLC initiated the process of redlining. Those who resided in the redlined areas
almost never got loans and could never move out. How the World Bank and the IMF divides up countries of the world
into zones and ratings is alarmingly similar to HOLC practices. By giving a twenty five to thirty five year loan with a 90% guaranteed
collateral payment, the FHA (Federal Housing Administration) and VA (Veteran's Administration), during the
1950s and 1960s, encouraged selective out-migration of middle class whites to the suburbs, leading to a decline
in the economic base of the city and the expansion of the ghetto. In giving out loans, the FHA determined minimum eligibility
requirements for lot size, which effectively eliminated inner city homes, thus forcing those who had got the loan to move out. Black
migration to U.S northern cities during the early 1900s related inversely with the ebb and flow of
European migration. When the economy in Europe was booming, European immigrants would move
back home creating a shortage of labor in the North. This would boost black migration to the North. In
bad times, the inverse would happen. Blacks were also not allowed membership in white unions and as such were used as ‘strike
breakers’ by employers. As the numbers of black migrants increased in northern cities, institutionalized methods were adopted to check
the expansion of black settlements. These methods, like red lining, zoning, legalized violence, private contracts
etc, made sure that African American populations got concentrated in “ghettos” that were
homogeneous, and completely isolated from the main economy ( Massey & Denton 1996:31-35).
Brownfields are the best place for urban agriculture to exist once cleaned
Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002, Urban Agriculture
Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman, http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
The regenerative effect of urban agriculture is especially visible when vacant lots are transformed from
eyesores-- weedy, trash-ridden, dangerous gathering places--into bountiful, beautiful and safe gardens that
feed peoples’ bodies and souls. With increasing “sprawl” into the suburbs, the last twenty years has seen
a common pattern of inner-city neglect in most cities across North America. For example, in the United
States, “Chicago now has an estimated 70,000 vacant parcels of land. Philadelphia has 31,000, and in
nearby Trenton, New Jersey, 900 acres--18 percent of it total land area--is currently vacant. Between 1950
and 1990 in the U.S., abandoned lots in inner-city areas remained vacant for between 20 and 30 years in
most cities. Failed businesses and homes were bulldozed, leaving relatively inexpensive lots without
much economic potential, except, that is, for those lots that have become fruitful examples of urban
agriculture. Even some of the 130,000 to 425,000 contaminated vacant industrial sites, or brownfields,
that the General Accounting Office has identified, may be safely converted to agricultural purposes when
properly redevelop
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Environmental Racism is an extension of America’s historically racist treatment of
minorities
Bullard 93(Robert professor at Georgia's Clark Atlanta - -1993- Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices from the Grassroots- p. 1518
The history of the United States has long been grounded in white
racism. The nation was founded on the
principles of "free land" (stolen from Native Americans and Mexicans), "free labor" (cruelly
extracted from African slaves), and "free men" (white men with property). From the outset, institutional
racism shaped the economic, political, and ecological landscape. and buttressed the exploitation of
both land and people. Indeed, it has allowed communities of color to exist as internal colonies characterized by dependent
(and unequal) relationships with the dominant white society or "Mother Country." In their 1967 book. Black Power, Carmichael and
Hamilton were among the first to explore the "internal" colonial model as a way to explain the racial inequality, political exploitation,
and social isolation of African Americans. As Car- michael and Hamilton write: The economic relationship of
America's black communities [to white society] ... reflects their colonial status. The politi- cal power exercised
over those communities goes hand in glove with the economic deprivation experienced by the black citizens. Historically, colonies
have existed for the sole purpose of enriching, in one form or another, the "colonizer"; the consequence is to maintain the economic
dependency of the "colonized" (pp. 16-17). Generally, people of color in the United States-like their counter- parts in formerly
colonized lands of Africa, Asia, and Latin America- have not had the same opportunities as whites. The social forces that have
organized oppressed colonies internationally still operate in the "heart of the colonizer's mother country" (Blauner 1972, p. 26).
For Blauner, people of color are subjected to five principal colonizing pro- cesses: they enter the "host" society and
economy involuntarily; their native culture is destroyed; white-dominated bureaucracies
impose restrictions from which whites are exempt the dominant group uses institutionalized racism
to justify its actions; and a dual or "split labor market" emerges based on ethnicity and race. Such
domination is also buttressed by state institutions. Social scientists Omi and Winant (1986, pp. 76-78) go so far
as to insist that "every state institution is a racial institution." Clearly, whites receive benefits from racism, while people of
color bear most of the cost. Racism plays a key factor in environmental planning and decisionmaking. Indeed,
environmental racism is reinforced by govern- merit, legal, economic, political, and military institutions. It is a fact of life in the United
States that the mainstream environmental movement is only beginning to wake up to. Yet, without a doubt, racism influences the
likelihood of exposure to environmental and health risks and the accessibility to health care. Racism provides whites of all
class levels with an "edge' in gaining access to a healthy physical environment This has been documented
again and again. Whether by conscious design or institutional neglect, communi- ties of color in urban ghettos, in rural
"poverty pockets" or on econom- ically impoverished Native-American reservations face some of
the worst environmental devastation in the nation. Clearly, racial discrimi- nation was not legislated out of existence
in the 1960s. While some significant progress was made during this decade, people of color continue to struggle for equal treatment in
many areas, including envi- ronmental justice. Agencies at all levels of government, including the federal EPA, have done a poor job
protecting people of color from the ravages of pollution and industrial encroachment. It has thus been an up-hill battle
convincing white judges, juries, government officials, and policymakers that racism exists in
environmental protection, enforce- ment, and policy formulation. The most polluted urban communities are those with
crumbling infrastructure, ongoing economic disinvestment, deteriorating housing, inadequate schools, chronic unemployment, a high
poverty rate, and an overloaded health-care system. Riot-tom South Central Los Angeles typifies this urban neglect. It is not surprising
that the "dirtiest" zip code in California belongs to the mostly African-American and Latino neigh- borhood in that part of the city (Kay
1991a). In the Los Angeles basin, over 71 percent of the African Americans and 50 percent of the Latinos
live in areas with the most polluted air, while only 34 percent of the white population does (Ong and
Blumenberg 1990; Mann 1991). This pattern exists nationally as well. As researchers Wernette and Nieves note: In 1990,
437 of the 3,109 counties and independent cities failed to meet at least one of the EPA ambient air quality standards... 57 percent of
whites, 65 percent of African Americans, and 80 percent of Hispanics live in 437 counties with substandard air quality.
The percentage living in the 29 counties designated as nonattain- ment areas for three or more
pollutants are 12 percent of whites 20 percent of African Americans, and 31 percent of Hispanics (pp.
16-17).
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Brownfields are located along class and racial lines – their continued neglect ratifies
environmental racism and inequality toward the poor
Lance Stokes, President and Project Director of ECI Environmental Consultants & Engineers,
and Kenneth Green, Project Manager for ECI, 2008, “Twenty-Five Years of ‘Change’ and
Things Remain The Same,” online: http://www.ejconference2008.org/images/Green_Stokes.pdf,
accessed July 9, 2008
Disadvantaged communities and neighborhoods across America, have historically been
plagued by poverty, joblessness, injustice, and lack of investment. They suffer
disproportionately from the impacts of contaminated properties, known as brownfields. It is
well documented1 that people who live in lower income communities and areas with higher
percentages of people of color tend to reside in closer proximity to hazardous waste sites,
industrial facilities releasing toxic pollutants, and facilities using toxic chemicals in
industrial production. These disadvantaged communities also tend to have more blighted areas,
more abandoned gas stations and buildings, and more abandoned warehouses and vacant
industrial properties. These brownfields threaten public health and the environment,
exacerbate neighborhood blight, discourage new investment and revitalization, and
accelerate patterns of poverty and decline that continue to plague disadvantaged
communities.
Pesticides harm everyone we must engage in more organic means
Furhman, (Joel 2005; Urban Farming (Facts on Hunger,
http://www.urbanfarming.org/hunger.htm)
The office of Children's Health Protection at the Environmental Protection Agency declares
that: "Children are at greater risk of pesticide exposure than most adults" and goes on to
warn that AND "pesticides may cause a range of harmful health effects" including cancer,
and injury to the nervous system, lungs and immune system. Eating organic decreases
pesticide levels in kids; a recent study by Environmental Health Perspectives (March, 2003)
found that children who ate primarily organic fruits, vegetables and juice had one-sixth the
level of pesticide byproducts in their urine compared with children who ate non-organic
food.THE Levels of antioxidants including vitamin C are about 30% higher in organic
vegetables and fruit than vegetables and fruit sprayed with pesticides. Average levels of
essential minerals were much higher in organically grown fruits and vegetables than
conventionally grown produce. Organically grown food averages over 60% higher levels of
calcium, over 70% higher in iron, over 115% higher in magnesium, over 90% higher in
phosphorus, over 123% higher in potassium and 60% higher in zinc. The organically raised
food also averaged 29% lower in mercury than conventionally grown food.
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Environmental justice must become the overriding imperative– systematic environmental racism
ensures global environmental collapse and the total destruction of humanity
Bunyan Bryant, Professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, and an adjunct professor
in the Center for Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Michigan, 1995, Environmental
Justice: Issues, Policies, and Solutions, p. 209-212
Although the post-World War II economy was designed when environmental consideration was not a
problem, today this is no longer the case; we must be concerned enough about environmental protection to
make it a part of our economic design. Today, temporal and spatial relations of pollution have drastically
changed within the last 100 years or so. A hundred years ago we polluted a small spatial area and it took
the earth a short time to heal itself. Today we pollute large areas of the earth – as evidenced by the
international problems of acid rain, the depletion of the ozone layer, global warming, nuclear meltdowns,
and the difficulties in the safe storage of spent fuels from nuclear power plants. Perhaps we have
embarked upon an era of pollution so toxic and persistent that it will take the earth in some areas
thousands of years to heal itself.
To curtail environmental pollutants, we must build new institutions to prevent widespread destruction from
pollutants that know no geopolitical boundaries. We need to do this because pollutants are not respectful of
international boundaries; it does little good if one country practices sound environmental protection while
its neighbors fail to do so. Countries of the world are intricately linked together in ways not clear 50
years ago; they find themselves victims of environmental destruction even though the causes of that
destruction originated in another part of the world. Acid rain, global warming, depletion of the ozone
layer, nuclear accidents like the one at Chernobyl, make all countries vulnerable to environmental
destruction.
The cooperative relations forged after World War II are now obsolete. New cooperative relations need to be
agreed upon – cooperative relations that show that pollution prevention and species preservation are
inseparably linked to economic development and survival of planet earth. Economic development is
linked to pollution prevention even though the market fails to include the true cost of pollution in its pricing
of products and services; it fails to place a value on the destruction of plant and animal species. To date,
most industrialized nations, the high polluters, have had an incentive to pollute because they did not incur
the cost of producing goods and services in a nonpolluting manner. The world will have to pay for the true
cost of production and to practice prudent stewardship of our natural resources if we are to sustain
ourselves on this planet. We cannot expect Third World countries to participate in debt-for-nature swaps as
a means for saving the rainforest or as a means for the reduction of greenhouse gases, while a considerable
amount of such gases come from industrial nations and from fossil fuel consumption.
Like disease, population growth is politically, economically, and structurally determined. Due to
inadequate income maintenance programs and social security, families in developing countries are more apt
to have large families not only to ensure the survival of children within the first five years, but to work the
fields and care for the elderly. As development increases, so do education, health, and birth control. In his
chapter, Buttel states that ecological development and substantial debt forgiveness would be more
significant in alleviating Third World environmental degradation (or population problems) than ratification
of any UNCED biodiversity or forest conventions.
Because population control programs fail to address the structural characteristics of poverty, such programs
for developing countries have been for the most part dismal failures. Growth and development along
ecological lines have a better chance of controlling population growth in developing countries than the best
population control programs to date. Although population control is important, we often focus a
considerable amount of our attention on population problems of developing countries. Yet there are more
people per square mile in Western Europe than in most developing countries. “During his/her lifetime an
American child causes 35 times the environmental damage of an Indian child and 280 times that of a
Haitian child (Boggs, 1993: 1). The addiction to consumerism of highly industrialized countries has to be
seen as a major culprit, and thus must be balanced against the benefits of population control in Third World
countries.
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Worldwide environmental protection is only one part of the complex problems we face today. We
cannot ignore world poverty; it is intricately linked to environmental protection. If this is the case,
then how do we deal with world poverty? How do we bring about lasting peace in the world? Clearly we
can no longer afford a South Africa as it was once organized, or ethnic cleansing by Serbian nationalists.
These types of conflicts bankrupt us morally and destroy our connectedness with one another as a world
community. Yet, we may be headed on a course where the politically induced famine, poverty, and chaos
of Somalia today will become commonplace and world peace more difficult, particularly if the European
Common Market, Japan, and the United States trade primarily among themselves, leaving Third World
countries to fend for themselves. Growing poverty will lead only to more world disequilibrium to wars
and famine – as countries become more aggressive and cross international borders for resources to ward
off widespread hunger and rampant unemployment. To tackle these problems requires a quantum leap in
global cooperation and commitment of the highest magnitude; it requires development of an international
tax, levied through the United nations or some other international body, so that the world community can
become more involved in helping to deal with issues of environmental protection, poverty, and peace.
Since the market system has been bold and flexible enough to meet changing conditions, so too must
public institutions. They must, indeed, be able to respond to the rapid changes that reverberate
throughout the world. If they fail to change, then we will surely meet the fate of the dinosaur. The
Soviet Union gave up a system that was unworkable in exchange for another one. Although it has not been
easy, individual countries of the former Soviet Union have the potential of reemerging looking very
different and stronger. Or they could emerge looking very different and weaker. They could become
societies that are both socially and environmentally destructive or they can become societies where people
have decent jobs, places to live, educational opportunities for all citizens, and sustainable social structures
that are safe and nurturing. Although North Americans are experiencing economic and social discomforts,
we too will have to change, or we may find ourselves engulfed by political and economic forces beyond our
control. In 1994, the out-sweeping of Democrats from national offices may be symptomatic of deeper and
more fundamental problems. If the mean-spirited behavior that characterized the 1994 election is carried
over into the governance of the country, this may only fan the flames of discontent. We may be embarking
upon a long struggle over ideology, culture, and the very heart and soul of the country. But despite all the
political turmoil, we must take risks and try out new ideas – ideas never dreamed of before and ideas
we thought were impossible to implement. To implement these ideas we must overcome institutional
inertia in order to enhance intentional change. We need to give up tradition and “business as usual.” To
view the future as a challenge and as an opportunity to make the world a better place, we must be willing
to take political and economic risks.
The question is not growth, but what kind of growth, and where it will take place. For example, we can
maintain current levels of productivity or become even more productive if we farm organically. Because of
ideological conflicts, it is hard for us to view the Cuban experience with an unjaundiced eye; but we ask
you to place political differences aside and pay attention to the lyrics of organic farming and not to the
music of Communism. In other words, we must get beyond political differences and ideological conflicts;
we must find success stories of healing the planet no matter where they exist – be they in Communist or
non-Communist countries, developed or underdeveloped countries. We must ascertain what lessons can be
learned from them, and examine how they would benefit the world community. In most instances, we will
have to chart a new course. Continued use of certain technologies and chemicals that are incompatible
with the ecosystem will take us down the road of no return. We are already witnessing the
catastrophic destruction of our environment and disproportionate impacts of environmental insults
on communities of color and low-income groups. If such destruction continues, it will undoubtedly deal
harmful blows to our social, economic, and political institutions.
As a nation, we find ourselves in a house divided, where the cleavages between the races are in fact
getting worse. We find ourselves in a house divided where the gap between the rich and the poor has
increased. We find ourselves in a house divided where the gap between the young and the old has widened.
During the 1980s, there were few visions of healing the country. In the 1990s, despite the catastrophic
economic and environmental results of the 1980s, and despite the conservative takeover of both houses of
Congress, we must look for glimmers of hope. We must stand by what we think is right and defend our
position with passion. And at times we need to slow down and reflect and do a lot of soul searching in
order to redirect ourselves, if need be. We must chart out a new course of defining who we are as a people,
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by redefining our relationship with government, with nature, with one another, and where we want to be as
a nation. We need to find a way of expressing this definition of ourselves to one another. Undeniably we
are a nation of different ethnic groups and races, and of multiple interest groups, and if we cannot live in
peace and in harmony with ourselves and with nature it bodes ominously for future world relations.
Because economic institutions are based upon the growth paradigm of extracting and processing
natural resources, we will surely perish if we use them to foul the global nest. But it does not have to
be this way. Although sound environmental policies can be compatible with good business practices and
quality of life, we may have to jettison the moral argument of environmental protection in favor of the selfinterest argument, thereby demonstrating that the survival of business enterprises is intricately tied to
good stewardship of natural resources and environmental protection. Too often we forget that shortsightedness can propel us down a narrow path, where we are unable to see the long-term effects of our
actions.
The ideas and policies discussed in this book are ways of getting ourselves back on track. The ideas
presented here will hopefully provide substantive material for discourse. These policies are not carved in
stone, nor are they meant to be for every city, suburb, or rural area. Municipalities or rural areas should
have flexibility in dealing with their site-specific problems. Yet we need to extend our concern about
local sustainability beyond geopolitical boundaries, because dumping in Third World countries or in the
atmosphere today will surely haunt the world tomorrow. Ideas presented here may irritate some and dismay
others, but we need to make some drastic changes in our lifestyles and institutions in order to foster
environmental justice.
Many of the policy ideas mentioned in this book have been around for some time, but they have not been
implemented. The struggle for environmental justice emerging from the people of color and lowincome communities may provide the necessary political impulse to make these policies a reality.
Environmental justice provides opportunities for those most affected by environmental degradation
and poverty to make policies to save not only themselves from differential impact of environmental
hazards, but to save those responsible for the lion’s share of the planet’s destruction. This struggle
emerging from the environmental experience of oppressed people brings forth a new consciousness – a new
consciousness shaped by immediate demands for certainty and solution. It is a struggle to make a true
connection between humanity and nature. This struggle to resolve environmental problems may force the
nation to alter its priorities; it may force the nation to address issues of environmental justice and, by doing
so, it may ultimately result in a cleaner and healthier environment for all of us. Although we may never
eliminate all toxic materials from the production cycle, we should at least have that as a goal.
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Endemic racial and class inequity forces minority populations into lives of environmental
harm – refusing the politics of environmental sacrifice zones is the only way to generate
equality
Bullard 99 (Robert D, Ware Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Director of the
Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University, “Dismantling environmental
racism in the USA”, Local Environment, Feb99, Vol. 4, Issue 1, Academic Search Premier)
Both race and class factors place low-income and people of colour communities at special
risk. Unequal political power arrangements have also allowed poisons of the rich to be
offered as short-term economic remedies for poverty of the poor. However, there is little or
no correlation between the proximity of industrial plants in communities of colour and the
employment of nearby residents. Having industrial facilities in one's community does not
automatically translate into jobs for nearby residents. More often than not, communities of
colour are stuck with the polluting industries and poverty, while other people commute in
for the jobs.
Governments must live up to their mandate of protecting all peoples and the environment.
The call for environmental and economic justice does not stop at US borders but extends to
all communities and nations that are threatened by hazardous wastes, toxic products and
environmentally unsound technology. The environmental justice movement has set out the
clear goal of eliminating the unequal enforcement of environmental, civil rights and public health
laws, the differential exposure of some populations to harmful chemicals, pesticides and other
toxins in the home, school, neighbourhood and workplace, faulty assumptions in calculating,
assessing and managing risks, discriminatory zoning and land-use practices, and exclusionary
policies and practices that limit some individuals and groups from participation in decisionmaking.
The solution to environmental injustice lies in the realm of equal protection for all
individuals, groups and communities. Many of these problems could be eliminated if existing
environmental, health, housing and civil rights laws were vigorously enforced in a nondiscriminatory way. No community, rich or poor, urban or suburban, black or white, should
be allowed to become a 'sacrifice zone' or dumping ground.
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The biopolitical racism of the status quo will not cease its authoritarian genocide
until there is a complete elimination of the racial other
Giroux 06 (Henry, the Global TV Network Chair Professorship at McMaster University in the English and Cultural Studies
Department, “Reading Hurricane Katrina: Race, Class, and the Biopolitics of Disposability,” College Literature, Vol. 33, No. 3)
Within the last few decades, matters of state sovereignty in the new world order have been retheorized
so as to provide a range of theoretical insights about the relationship between power and politics, the
political nature of social and cultural life, and the merging of life and politics as a new form of
biopolitics. While the notion of biopolitics differs significantly among its most prominent theorists,
including Michel Foucault (1990, 1997), Giorgio Agamben (1998, 2002, 2003), and Michael Hardt and
Antonio Negri (2004), what these theorists share is an attempt to think through the convergence of life and
politics, locating matters of “life and death within our ways of thinking about and imagining politics”
(Dean 2004, 17).Within this discourse, politics is no longer understood exclusively through a
disciplinary technology centered on the individual body—a body to be measured, surveilled,
managed, and included in forecasts, surveys, and statistical projections. Biopolitics points to new
relations of power that are more capacious, concerned not only with the body as an object of
disciplinary techniques that render it “both useful and docile” but also with a body that needs to be
“regularized,” subject to those immaterial means of production that produce ways of life that enlarge
the targets of control and regulation (Foucault 1997, 249). This shift in the workings of both sovereignty
and power and the emergence of biopolitics are made clear by Foucault, for whom biopower replaces the
power to dispense fear and death “with that of a power to foster life—or disallow it to the point of
death. . . . [Biopower] is no longer a matter of bringing death into play in the field of sovereignty, but
of distributing the living in the domain of value and utility. Its task is to take charge of life that needs
a continuous regulatory and corrective mechanism” (Ojakangas 2005, 6). As Foucault insists, the logic
of biopower is dialectical, productive, and positive 178 College Literature 33.3 [Summer 2006] (1990,
136).Yet he also argues that biopolitics does not remove itself from “introducing a break into the
domain of life that is under power’s control: the break between what must live and what must die”
(1997, 255). Foucault believes that the death-function in the economy of biopolitics is justified
primarily through a form of racism in which biopower “is bound up with the workings of a State that
is obliged to use race, the elimination of races and the purification of the race, to exercise its
sovereign power” (258).
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State racism gives way to the mindset of disposability, causing genocide and a multiplicity of
other negative impacts
Giroux 06 (Henry, the Global TV Network Chair Professorship at McMaster University in the
English and Cultural Studies Department, “Reading Hurricane Katrina: Race, Class, and the
Biopolitics of Disposability,” College Literature, Vol. 33, No. 3)
With the social state in retreat and the rapacious dynamics of neoliberalism, unchecked by
government regulations, the public and private policies of investing in the public good are
dismissed as bad business, just as the notion of protecting people from the dire misfortunes
of poverty, sickness, or the random blows of fate is viewed as an act of bad faith.
Weakness is now a sin, punishable by social exclusion. This is especially true for those
racial groups and immigrant populations who have always been at risk economically
and politically. Increasingly, such groups have become part of an evergrowing army of
the impoverished and disenfranchised—removed from the prospect of a decent job,
productive education, adequate health care, acceptable child care services, and
satisfactory shelter. As the state is transformed into the primary agent of terror and
corporate concerns displace democratic values, dominant “power is measured by the
speed with which responsibilities can be escaped” (Qtd. in Fearn 2006, 30).With its
pathological disdain for social values and public life and its celebration of an unbridled
individualism and acquisitiveness, the Bush administration does more than undermine the
nature of social obligation and civic responsibility; it also sends a message to those
populations who are poor and black—society neither wants, cares about, or needs you
(Bauman 1999, 68-69). Katrina revealed with startling and disturbing clarity who these
individuals are: African- Americans who occupy the poorest sections of New Orleans,
those ghettoized frontier-zones created by racism coupled with economic inequality.
Cut out of any long term goals and a decent vision of the future, these are the
populations, as Zygmunt Bauman points out, who have been rendered redundant and
disposable in the age of neoliberal global capitalism. Katrina reveals that we are living
in dark times.The shadow of authoritarianism remains after the storm clouds and
hurricane winds have passed, offering a glimpse of its wreckage and terror. The
politics of a disaster that affected Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi is about more
than government incompetence, militarization, socio-economic polarization,
environmental disaster, and political scandal. Hurricane Katrina broke through the
visual blackout of poverty and the pernicious ideology of color-blindness to reveal the
government’s role in fostering the dire conditions of largely poor African-Americans,
who were bearing the hardships incurred by the full wrath of the indifference and
violence at work in the racist, neoliberal state. Global neoliberalism and its victims
now occupy a space shaped by authoritarian politics, the terrors inflicted by a police
state, and a logic of disposability that removes them from government social
provisions and the discourse and privileges of citizenship. One of the most obvious
lessons of Katrina—that race and racism still matter in America—is fully operational
through a biopolitics in which “sovereignty resides in the power and capacity to dictate
who may live and who may die” (Mbembe 11-12).Those poor minorities of color and
class, unable to contribute to the prevailing consumerist ethic, are vanishing into the
sinkhole of poverty in desolate and abandoned enclaves of decaying cities, neighborhoods,
and rural spaces, or in America’s ever-expanding prison empire. Under the Bush regime, a
biopolitics driven by the waste machine of what Zygmunt Bauman defines as “liquid
modernity” registers a new and brutal racism as part of the emergence of a
contemporary and savage authoritarianism.
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Racism allows minorities to be designated as disposable, resulting in genocide and the
mobilization of a portion of the population for death.
Giroux 06 (Henry, the Global TV Network Chair Professorship at McMaster University in the
English and Cultural Studies Department, “Reading Hurricane Katrina: Race, Class, and the
Biopolitics of Disposability,” College Literature, Vol. 33, No. 3)
Under the logic of modernization, neoliberalism, and militarization, the category “waste”
includes no longer simply material goods but also human beings, particularly those
rendered redundant in the new global economy, that is, those who are no longer capable of
making a living, who are unable to consume goods, and who depend upon others for the most
basic needs (Bauman 2000, 2003, 2004). Defined primarily through the combined discourses
of character, personal responsibility, and cultural homogeneity, entire populations expelled
from the benefits of the marketplace are reified as products without any value to be
disposed of as “leftovers in the most radical and effective way:we make them invisible by
not looking and unthinkable by not thinking (2004, 27). Even when young black and brown
youth try to escape the biopolitics of disposability by joining the military, the seduction of
economic security is quickly negated by the horror of senseless violence compounded daily
in the streets, roads, and battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan and made concrete in the form
of body bags, mangled bodies, and amputated limbs—rarely to be seen in the narrow ocular
vision of the dominant media.
White Supremacy creates an epistemology of ignorance
Charles Mills,Professor of Philsophy at Northwestern, writes in his book the Racial
Contract in 1997 p.18-19
Thus in effect, on matters related to race, the Racial Contract prescribes for its
signatories an inverted epistemology, an epistemology of ignorance, a particular pattern of
localized and global cognitive dysfuntions, producing the ironic outcome that whites will in
general be unable to understand the world they themselves have made.
Whites signatories will live in an inverted delusional world, a racial fantasyland, a
“consensual hallucination,”to quote William Gibson. There will be white mythologies,
invented Orients, invented Africas, invented Americas, with a correspondingly fabricated
population countries that never were, inhabited by people who never were—Calibans and
Tontos, Man Fridays and Sambos—but who attain a virtual reality through their existence in
traveler’s tales, folk myth, popular and highbrow iction, colonial reports, scholarly theory,
Hollywood cinema, living in the white imagination and determinedly imposed on their
alarmed real-life counterparts.
BmOrE DeBaTe
BUDL 2009
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Brownfields= Environmental Racism Adv
Environmental racism is ordered by white supremacy which allows non-white others to be
exterminated
Dylan Rodriguez, Professer University of California Riverside, November 2007
Kritika Kultura “AMERICAN GLOBALITY AND THE U. S. PRISON REGIME:
STATE VIOLENCE AND WHITE SUPREMACY FROM ABU GHRAIB TO STOCKTON
TO BAGONG DIWA”
Available online at http://www.ateneo.edu/ateneo/www/UserFiles/121/docs/KK09.pdf)
Variable, overlapping, and mutually constituting white supremacist regimes have in fact
been fundamental to the formation and movements of the United States, from racial chattel
slavery and frontier genocide to recent and current modes of neoliberal land displacement and
(domestic-to-global) warfare. Without exception, these regimes have been differently entangled
with the state’s changing paradigms, strategies, and technologies of human incarceration and
punishment (to follow the prior examples: the plantation, the reservation, the neoliberal
sweatshop, and the domestic-to-global prison). The historical nature of these entanglements is
widely acknowledged, although explanations of the structuring relations of force tend to either
isolate or historically compartmentalize the complexities of historical white supremacy.
For the theoretical purposes of this essay, white supremacy may be understood as a logic
of social organization that produces regimented, institutionalized, and militarized conceptions of
hierarchized “human” difference, enforced through coercions and violences that are structured by
genocidal possibility (including physical extermination and curtailment of people’s collective
capacities to socially, culturally, or biologically reproduce). As a historical vernacular and
philosophical apparatus of domination, white supremacy is simultaneously premised on and
consistently innovating universalized conceptions of the white (European and euroamerican)
“human”
vis-à-vis
the
rigorous
production,
penal
discipline, and frequent social, political, and biological neutralization or extermination of
the (non-white) sub- or non-human. To consider white supremacy as essential to American social
formation (rather than a freakish or extremist deviation from it) facilitates a discussion of the
modalities through which this material logic of violence overdetermines the social, political,
economic, and cultural structures that compose American globality and constitute the common
sense
that
is
organic
to
its
ordering.
White supremacy is at the root of war and eco-crisis.
This is Tim Wise in 2006:
It is the American form of white supremacy, still, as with its predecessor rooted in the dichotomization of
peoples into good/bad, responsible/irresponsible, which leads a nation such as the U.S. to believe itself
entitled to the resources of the earth, be they oil reserves beneath the sands of Iraq, or coal deposits in a
West Virginia mountainside. That entitlement mentality precedes the drive for profit, and helps to place it
in its proper context. That same mentality then contributes to the world's ecological predicament,
including global climate change, soil and wetland erosion, polluted drinking water and air, and the related
health effects of all these.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
69
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Brownfields= Environmental Racism Adv
The environment and its relation to people of color are mediated by white supremacy
Charles Mills 01, professor of philosophy at Northwestern University, in 2001 (Faces of Environmental
Racism, Laura Westra, Bill Lawson eds. p. 89-90)
In this revised conceptual framework, then, it becomes unsurprising that the United Church of Christ’s
Commission for Racial Justice found in the first national study on the topic (1987):Race is “the single
most important factor (i.e., more important than income, home ownership rate, and property values) in the
location of abandoned toxic waste sites.”Some black residents of these areas feel “We don’t have the
complexion for protection.”A national investigation (1992) by the National Law Journal of
Environmental Protection Agency cleanup efforts concluded “that the average fine imposed on polluters
in white areas was 506 percent higher than the average fine imposed in minority communities” and that
“cleanup took longer in minority communities, even though the efforts were often less intensive than
those performed in white neighborhoods.”
Mainstream white environmentalists are perceived as caring more about parks and owls than people of
color. Institutional resistance to providing information [on environmental issues] is likely to be greater for
groups such as racial minorities.”In general, “Public officials and private industry have, in many cases,
responded to the NIMBY (Not in My Black Yard] phenomenon by using the PIBBY principle, ‘Places in
Black’s Back Yards.’”In effect, then, these spaces can be written off because these people can be written
off. The devalued space interacts with its devalued inhabitants. They are “outside” the boundaries of
empathy, not like us, not an equally valued body in the intercorporeal community that is the collective
white body. As Bill Lawson points out in chapter 3, “Living for the City: Urban United States and
Environmental Justice” (p. 41): “[R]acial and spatial difference marks important differences that must be
given weight in our moral deliberation. . . . Environmentalists have a natural conception of pollution as a
negative norm. If a place is though to be already polluted by racial identifiers, we need to contain the
pollution by keeping it in that area.” Since these are already waste spaces, it is only appropriate that the
waste products of industrialization should be directed toward them. Like seeks like—throwaways on a
throwaway population, dumping on the white body’s dumpsite. So the “environment is not the same for
these distinct and spatially segregated communities. Black relations to nature have always been mediated
by white power, the sinews and tendons running through the white body. The combination of
environmental with social justice concerns—so strange and radical from the point of view of traditional
white environmentalism—then is simply a recognition of this fact. Conservation cannot have the same
resonance for the racially disadvantaged, since they are at the ass end of the body politic and want their
space upgraded. For blacks, the “environment” is the (in part) white-created environment, where the
waste products of white space are dumped and the costs of white industry externalized. Insofar as the
mainstream enviromentalist framing of the issues rests on the raceless body of the colorless social
contract, it will continue to mystify and obfuscate these racial realities. “Environmentalism” for blacks
has to mean not merely challenging the patterns of waste disposal, but also, in effect, their own states as
the racialized refuse, the black trash, of the white body politic.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
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Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Brownfields= Environmental Racism Adv
A2: racial discomfort
Racial comfort allows for the perpetuation of racism
DiAngelo, education faculty, University of Washington, 2006 (Robin J., Whiteness Studies author,
INCLUSION IN URBAN EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS: ADDRESSING ISSUES OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND
SOCIAL JUSTICE, Edited by Denise E. Armstrong and Brenda J. McMahon, p. 216-7)
At the same time that Whites are taught to see their interests and perspectives as universal, they are also
taught to value the individual and to see themselves as individuals rather than as part of a racially
socialized group (Bonilla-Silva, 2003; McIntosh, 1988). Individualism erases history and hides the ways
in which wealth has been distributed and accumulated over generations to benefit Whites today. It allows
Whites to view themselves as unique and original, outside of socialization and unaffected by the relentless
racial messages in the culture. Individualism also allows Whites to distance themselves from the actions
of their racial group and demand to be granted the benefit of the doubt, as individuals, in all cases. Given
the ideology of individualism, Whites often respond defensively when associated with other Whites as a
group or “accused” of collectively benefiting from racism, because as individuals, each White person is
“different” from any other White person and expects to be seen as such. Whites invoke these seemingly
contradictory discourses – universalism and individualism – as needed. Both discourses work to deny the
significance of racial positions (Croteau, 1999; DiAngelo, 2004; Helms, 1990; Tatum, 1997). In the
dominant position, Whites are almost always racially comfortable and expect to remain so (Helms, 1992).
When racial discomfort arises, Whites typically respond as if something is “wrong,” and blame the person
or event that triggered the discomfort (usually a person of color). Since racism is necessarily
uncomfortable in that it is oppressive. White insistence on racial comfort guarantees racism will not be
faced except in the most superficial ways.
We need to call system what they are instead of using safe language
bell hooks, Author, Feminist, Professor at Berea College, 1996 Killing Rage: Ending Racism
The term “white supremacy” enables us to recognize not only that black people are socialized to embody
the values and attitudes of white supremacy, but that we can exercise “white supremacist control” over
other black people. This is important, for unlike the term “uncle tom,” which carried with it recognition of
complicity and internalized racism, a new terminology must accurately name the way we as black people
directly exercise power over one another when we perpetuate white supremacist beliefs.
To deny the ramification of white supremacy is ignore and reductionist
bell hooks, Author, Feminist, Professor at Berea College, 1996 Killing Rage: Ending Racismp. 187
Individual white people and even some non-whites insist that this is not a white supremacist society, that
racism is not nearly the problem it used to be (it is downright frightening to hear people argue vehemently
that the problem of racism has been solved), that there has been change. While it is true that the nature of
racist oppression and exploitation has changed as slavery has ended and the apartheid structure of Jim
Crow has legally changed, white supremacy continues to shape perspectives on reality and to inform the
social status of black people and all people of color. Nowhere is this more evident than in the university
settings. And often it is the liberal folks in those settings who are unwilling to acknowledge this truth.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
71
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Brownfields Economic Add-on
The economic and health impacts of brownfields are dangerous and unethical, they deny
communities basic health standards
Ding 08 (Eric L, Research Fellow, Harvard School of Public Health, “Brownfield Remediation for Urban
Health: A Systematic Review and Case Assessment of Baltimore, Maryland”, The Journal of Young
Investigators, http://www.jyi.org/research/re.php?id=630)
From a simple perspective, one might ask: what exactly is so dangerous and unethical about leaving
a former-industrial property idle? While it may seem that these unused lands do not cause harm,
the truth is that the continued existence of fallow brownfields has major detrimental effects on
human health and the economy.
Because brownfields may potentially be contaminated by industrial wastes and toxic chemicals,
there is reasonable biologic plausibility that such pollutants may harm humans. This can potentially
occur through increased local exposures to volatile chemicals emanating from a contaminated site,
leaching of toxins into the surrounding soil, which vegetable gardens of local residents may absorb,
or perhaps through children exploring and playing on the brownfield site and directly coming into
contact with such chemicals and industrial wastes. Any such hazardous exposures may result in
serious detrimental effects on the health of local residents.
Such scenarios of exposures from industrial sites and toxicological effects have not only been
affirmed by experts as plausible and likely (Evans 2002), but they have also indeed been
corroborated by research and historical events. One study found that increased residential proximity to industrial sites
contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) is associated with higher rates of low-birth-weight infants (Baibergenova 2003). PCBs were,
in fact, one of the categories of toxins found by researchers analyzing Baltimore brownfields (Litt & Tran 2002). Additionally, other research by
Ding et al. (2005) has shown that such environmental pollutants found in brownfields may contribute to the high infant mortality rate in
Baltimore, MD.
Brownfields are responsible for spirals of neglect and harm in disadvantaged communities
Greenberg, Lee, Powers 98 (Michael, Charles and Charles, Graduate, Center for Brownfields Research,
Rutgers University; United Church of Christ’s Commission on Racial Justice; Institute for Responsible
Management, American Journal of Public Health December 1998, Vol. 88, No. 12,
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1509054&blobtype=pdf )
The bonds between public health, civil engineering, and city planning gradually weakened as each field
formed its own professional identity.3'4 Many environmental health problems of the late 20th century-for
example, sick-building syndrome and groundwater contamination- can be at least partly attributed to
overspecialization. These and other issues prompt strong consideration of closer cooperation among
specialists. Today, an even greater challenge looms in integrating public health, environmental
quality, economic redevelopment, and protection of civil rights. The deterioration and
contamination of buildings and properties has left up to 450 000 so-called "brownfield" properties
in tens of thousands of American neighborhoods, mostly in poor communities of color. Brownfields
are usually eyesores, lowering nearby property values, driving away investors, and requiring local
governments to cordon them off to protect the public. In the worst cases, brownfields are the
neighborhood equivalent of cancer: abandoned properties become the center of illegal drug-related
activities and dumping grounds for all sorts of hazardous products. Some brownfields are so
distressing that nearby residents with any viable options leave the neighborhood; this process escalates
and leads to more property abandonment and brownfield formation. Brownfields hurt local economies
because mothballed properties do not collect sufficient tax revenues. Abandonment of properties is
exacerbated by a reduction in police, fire, sanitation, and other services. In neighborhoods
dominated by brownfields, AIDS, homicide, infant mortality, teenage pregnancy, and tuberculosis
are high because only the poorest and sickest remain in these communities.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
72
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Brownfields Economic Add-on
Undeveloped brownfields cost $26 million for Baltimore alone, cause unemployment,
decrease property values
Ding 8 (Eric L, Research Fellow, Harvard School of Public Health, “Brownfield Remediation for Urban
Health: A Systematic Review and Case Assessment of Baltimore, Maryland”, The Journal of Young
Investigators, http://www.jyi.org/research/re.php?id=630)
While health impact may be a speculated consequence of brownfields, there is virtually no debate
regarding the economic ramifications of idle brownfields. According to official EPA estimates
("Brownfields 2003 Grant Fact Sheet" 2003), Baltimore loses approximately $26 million a year in lost
tax revenues from abandoned and underused brownfield land.
Such a tremendous loss of economic potential from brownfields takes into account the estimated
loss of income from commercial property tax, loss of economic development investment, and loss of
production of goods and services. Additionally, the economy in Baltimore also suffers from loss of
employment and social revitalization as result of brownfield underdevelopment. Moreover, vacant
lots and fallow brownfields without economic vitality also decrease local property values (EnglandJoseph 1995; Greenberg 2002).
From an investment perspective, brownfields impose two additional barriers to redevelopment. First, the
potential of dangerous contamination is enough to discourage companies from being willing to
develop and reuse the brownfield land (Schoenbaum 2002). Second, even if companies are willing to
invest in cleanup and redeveloping brownfield land, financial institutions, insurance companies and
other creditors are unlikely to be willing to provide loans and funding for such projects out of fears
of hazard liability (England-Joseph 1995). Thus, fallow brownfields likely have adverse implications
on the economics of the local geography.
Brownfields cause a variety of public ills – including poor education.
Pepper 98 [Edith M., “Strategies for Promoting Brownfield Reuse in California A Blueprint for Policy
Reform,” October, http://www.cclr.org/pdfs/PolPaper02.pdf]
Left unaddressed, brownfields pose lingering public health threats, exacerbate neighborhood blight,
and serve as magnets for drug dealing and other criminal activity. They typically generate little if
any local tax revenues, causing area schools and public services to suffer greatly. When brownfields
languish for years, the surrounding neighborhood eventually begins to erode as well – a process that
is often characterized by the deterioration of older infrastructure, such as roads and water and
sewer lines.
The trend in California and elsewhere has been to leave these struggling areas behind and push
outward to ever greener pastures, installing new infrastructure and schools in emerging
communities while turning our back on existing ones. This pattern is not sustainable from an
economic or environmental standpoint over the long haul. In recent years, the plight of brownfields
has captured the national spotlight. At every level of government, it seems, there is a growing recognition
that through brownfield redevelopment, we can begin to chip away at a host of pressing and
seemingly entrenched urban problems – crime, poor housing, unemployment, poverty – while also
helping to curb the pace of urban sprawl.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
73
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Malnutrition cause harmful effects to the development of children
Myron Winick and Pedro Rosso, 1969, Department of Pediactrics, Cornell University Medical College,
University of Chile, http://www.pedresearch.org/pt/re/pedresearch/pdfhandler.00006450-19690300000010.pdf;jsessionid=KCLTJ1XhqpTt1Whc5qSkjSjxvTVRLTHtL3BPypWCGrDdz7rjkSbF!847254088!181195628!8091!-1
At present there is growing concern that malnutrition early in life may impede normal
development. Studies conducted in Africa, in South America, in Mexico, in Guatemala, and in our own
country suggest that this is true. Impeded brain growth has also been suspected in malnourished
children. The decreased head circumference often noted has been cited as evidence for retardation
in brain growth. Although numerous chemical changes secondary to under nutrition have been
shown in brain of animals, similar studies have not been available in human brain. This study
demonstrates such changes and establishes that cell division is curtailed in human brain by severe
early malnutrition. The data provide yet another link in the ever lengthening chain of evidence
linking malnutrition to faulty brain growth and development.
University of Kansas
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Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Malnourished children are at risk of impaired cognitive skills which reduce school performance
Harohalli R Shashidhar, April 9, 2009, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Chief, Division
of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, University of Kentucky Medical Center, co author Donna G
Grigsby, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Kentucky College of
Medicine, http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/985140-overview
Children who are chronically malnourished exhibit behavioral changes, including
irritability, apathy and decreased social responsiveness, anxiety, and attention deficits. In
addition, infants and young children who have malnutrition frequently demonstrate
developmental delay in delayed achievement of motor skills, delayed mental development,
and may have permanent cognitive deficits. The degree of delay and deficit depends on the
severity and duration of nutritional compromise and the age at which malnutrition occurs.
In 9 Dose-dependent relationships between impaired growth and poor school performance
and decreased intellectual achievement have been shown.
University of Kansas
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Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Food insecurity substantially stunts the social potential for children and increase health costs for
many
Weill 08 ( James D., President of Food Research and Action Center “THE EFFECTS OF HUNGER
AND FOOD INSECURITY IN AMERICA” July 23, 2008
http://agriculture.house.gov/testimony/110/h80723a/Weill.pdf
Long-term solutions are essential because the damage from hunger and food insecurity to
individuals and families, to schools and the health care system, and to our economy as a
whole is so great. I am just going to summarize how the harms play out, and then focus
briefly on a couple of particular points.Food insecurity among very young children can cause
stunted growth, iron deficiency anemia and delayed cognitive development. Cognitive delays
then can last well beyond the period of nutritional deficiency – the resulting impaired IQ, motor
skills and coordination can last into the elementary school years and beyond. � Food insecurity
harms children’s physical growth and immune systems, and causes weakened resistance to
infection. Food insecure children are far more likely to be reported in poor health, to catch colds,
and to have stomach aches,headaches, ear infections and asthma. � Food insecurity in both early
childhood and the school years means that children lag their peers and learn less, and these
learning deficits cumulate. School-agechildren who are food insecure are more likely to be absent
from school, behyperactive; behave poorly; be held back; do worse on tests; and be placed
inspecial education. All of these consequences of hunger and food insecurity result in increased
health, mental health, hospitalization, educational, juvenile justice and other costs. As just one
example,among children under age 3, according to one study, those who are food insecure are
90percent more likely to be in poor health and 30 percent more likely to require hospitalization.
University of Kansas
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Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Eliminating food insecurity is the most important impact to address pressing societal issues facing
the U.S. Government
Weill 08 ( James D., President of Food Research and Action Center “THE EFFECTS OF HUNGER
AND FOOD INSECURITY IN AMERICA” July 23, 2008
http://agriculture.house.gov/testimony/110/h80723a/Weill.pdf
What all this comes down to is that hunger and food insecurity not only are unnecessary and
immoral in our wealthy nation, but they are vastly counter-productive in every important realm.
They are a hindrance to our accomplishment of a range of essential national goals: At a time
when the nation is looking for strategies to broaden health insurance coverage and improve
quality of health care while controlling costs, eliminating food insecurity is a necessary part of an
effective and cost-effective national health strategy. As the nation struggles to address its obesity
epidemic, establishing food security and assuring that families have resources adequate to
purchase a healthy diet are essential components of a successful anti-obesity strategy. At a time
when our scientific knowledge of the critical importance of early childhood development has
been growing by leaps and bounds – although our policy development is having trouble keeping
pace – eliminating food insecurity is a prerequisite to the strongest possible early childhood
policy. As the nation struggles with education policy and the reauthorization of the No Child Left
Behind Act, eliminating food insecurity is a compelling and cost effective strategy to improve
schools and student performance. And as we struggle to restore economic growth, boost
productivity, improve our competitiveness, and keep deficits under control, eliminating food
insecurity is one important key to improving the nation’s economic and fiscal futures
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
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Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Food insecurity is a reality that is faced by 12 percent of Americans and feeds the food gap
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food
Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty ”
This was the physical and psychological landscape that welcomed me, one that would generally
deteriorate in the years to come. More important, it formed the backdrop to what was then and,
unfortunately, remains to this day America's food gap. As in the case of supermarket abandonment
of urban (and rural) areas, the food gap can be understood as a failure of our market economy to
serve the basic human needs of those who are impoverished. But poverty contributes to this gap,
creating a situation in which a person or household simply doesn't have enough money to purchase
a sufficient supply of nutritious food.
Hunger-the painful sensation that someone feels on a regular basis due to lack of food-is a
relatively rare phenomenon in America today, but it nevertheless afflicts a small number of u.s.
residents on an intermittent basis. The more common form of food insufficiency is known as food
insecurity, a condition experienced by a much larger number of people who regularly run out of
food or simply don't know where their next meal will come from. As part of the annual census
update, the U.S. Department of Agriculture conducts a survey that determines the number of
people who are food insecure (generally between 10 and 12 percent of the U.S. population) and
severely food insecure (3 to 4 percent of the population, until 2006 labeled "food insecure with
hunger").
University of Kansas
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Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Abandonment of supermarkets have caused the food gap widened for low-income people
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food
Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty ”
Hunger, food insecurity, and poverty present us with a chicken and egg proposition. Can we
significantly mitigate or even eliminate the first two if we eradicate the latter? Or, if the latter can
never be eradicated (that is, as Jesus said, the poor will always be with us), should we focus
society's resources on hunger mitigation as the most humane and practical strategy? The manner
in which we debate this question has consequences for how society chooses to close the food gap.
While the failure of supermarkets to adequately serve lower-income communities represents a
failure of the marketplace, the marketplace is functioning rationally (as economists would say) by
going to where the money is. In short, if communities weren't poor, they would have
supermarkets and, as we will see, the best and healthiest food available. To move forward in our
understanding of the food gap, we must also understand the role that poverty has played in giving
hunger and food insecurity such a firm foothold in the United States. And we must understand as
well why we have chosen to respond to poverty and hunger in the ways that we have.
As an up-by-the-bootstraps kind of people, Americans have always struck an uneasy balance
between poverty and the social welfare programs that have attempted to address it. In fact, many
antihunger and antipoverty advocates assert that the public and private charitable sectors have
never made a concerted and meaningful effort to eradicate domestic poverty. It is notable, in that
regard, that in the course of reforming the country's welfare system, President Bill Clinton said
we were ending welfare, not poverty, as we knew it. With the exception of an occasional burst of
rhetorical and political fervor, such as President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty during the
1960s, our nation's approach to poverty has been to manage it, not to end it. And perhaps the best
examples of good poverty management practices can be found in America's antihunger programs.
University of Kansas
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Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
The risk of starvation is prevalent without the fair access to healthy food to curb world hunger
Lamsal 07(Yuba Nath a senior journalist from Nepal “Agriculture, food security and poverty
alleviation “ http://www.groundreport.com/Lifestyle/Agriculture-food-security-and-poverty-alleviation
April 10, 2007
The global food production is sufficient to feed the world population. But hunger exists and tens
of thousands of people die of hunger and malnutrition annually in the world. A part of the world
dumps the surplus food into the ocean while other parts of the world starve and suffer from
chronic hunger. It is not the question of how much the world produces but it is the issue that
requires judicial distribution of food to all and fair access to production resources for the people
from the lowest economic strata. The global food balance sheet shows that over 850 million
people in the world are undernourished. To look at the present pattern of food consumption, 15
per cent people consume more than 60 per cent food in the world, while 85 per cent people live
on less than 40 per cent of food the world produces. The situation, thus, underscores the dire need
for taking more concerted and effective measures for food security to ensure that poor people get
food even at a time of crisis and save tens of thousands lives, who otherwise would die of
starvation.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
80
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Current food assistance programs are not enough there needs to be jobs that help the economic
conditions of the low-income houses
LeBlanc, Kuhn, Blaylock 05 (Michael , Betsey, James “Poverty amidst plenty: food insecurity in the
United States” Agricultural Economics, 2005, vol. 32, issue s1, pages 159-173
The United States faces domestic food security issues that differ from those encountered by many
countries. Yet, in 2001, 10.7% of U.S. households were estimated to be food insecure at some
point during the year. Food security, poverty, and food insecurity are strongly linked by economic
conditions. Job transitions, layoffs, and family disruptions result in periods of low income and
vulnerability to food insecurity. Economic and food assistance programs have helped protect
many U.S. households when the market economy has failed to do so. These programs have
reduced vulnerability to falling income and food insecurity during economic downturns in the
business cycle. However effective food assistance programs have been for reducing short-term
vulnerability, they do not enhance a household's ability to achieve sustainable food security.
Prospects for improving long-term food security are tied to the same economic forces shaping a
household's income and budget, particularly those related to labor productivity and wages.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
81
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
There is massive food insecurity in America where households can’t afford enough food
Nord, Andrews, and Carlson ’07( Mark, Margaret, Steven, USDA economists,United States
Department of Agriculture “Household Food Security in the United States, 2007”
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR66/ERR66b.pdf
About 89 percent of U.S. households were food secure throughout the entire year 2007 (fi g. 1,
table 1A). “Food secure” means that all household members had access at all times to enough
food for an active, healthy life. The remaining 13 million U.S. households (11.1 percent of all
households) were food insecure at some time during the year. That is, they were, at times,
uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food for all household members because they
had insufficient money and other resources for food. About two-thirds of food-insecure
households avoided substantial reductions or disruptions in food intake, in many cases by relying
on a few basic foods and reducing variety in their diets. But 4.7 million households (4.1 percent
of all U.S. households) had very low food security—that is, they were food insecure to the extent
that eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and their food intake
reduced, at least some time during the year, because they couldn’t afford enough food.
University of Kansas
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Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Poverty is directly related to food insecurity
(USDA)United States Department of Agriculture ’07 United States Department of Agriculture “Who Has
Trouble Putting Food on Their Table.” Economic Research Service
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/eib48/spreads/3/index.htm
Over the past decade, the prevalence rate of food insecurity has generally tracked the poverty
rate. Both fell in the 1990’s, increased beginning with the recession in 2001, and leveled off or
declined slightly after 2004. Currently about 37% of families below the poverty line have low or
very low food security.
University of Kansas
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83
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Malnutrition leads to death for unhealthy children at increased rates
Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN 02 (“The State of Food Insecurity in the World” 2002
http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y7352e/y7352e03.htm#P0_0)
Even mild-to-moderate malnutrition greatly increases the risk of children dying from common
childhood diseases. Overall, analysis shows that the risk of death is 2.5 times higher for children
with only mild malnutrition than it is for children who are adequately nourished. And the risk
increases sharply along with the severity of mal nutrition (as measured by their weight-to-age
ratio). The risk of death is 4.6 times higher for children suffering from moderate malnutrition and
8.4 times higher for the severely malnourished.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
84
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Urban Farming is main source of food security for many that allows access
Armar-Klemesu and Maxwell 00 (Margaret; Daniel G.Urban Agriculture as an Asset Strategy, S income
and Diets.” In: Growing cities, growing food: urban agriculture on the policy agenda, p. 203-208. 2000
DSE, GTZ, CTA, SIDA)
Urban agriculture was identified as an important element for a study on livelihoods, food and
nutrition in Greater Accra. Different farming types were distinguished and analysed with regard
to food security, household economics, health ecology and gender. Farming is done for three
main reasons dependent on the farming type: cash income, food subsistence and assets strategy
for emergencies. Men and women do have different roles in urban agriculture whereby women’s
activities tend to contribute more to household food security than men’s and women dominate the
marketing of crops. Urban agriculture improves food security in terms of availability and access.
Crops were analysed to assess health risks and it was found that for rural and urban crops the
main source of bacterial contamination is in the transport of the crops. Main issues for urban
farmers are land, theft and marketing. Urban agriculture is still missing from municipal planning.
The loss of agricultural land is a major reason for concern.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
85
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Food insecurity is bad for the quality of life of urban dwellers
Urban Agriculture Committee of the Community Food Security Coalition ’02
http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanagpaper.pdf
Food insecurity, whether related to actual food insufficiency, nutritional quality, or anxiety about
a future lack of food, affects the quality of life of urban residents in far-reaching ways. Inadequate
nutrition is clearly associated with school and work absences, fatigue, and problems with
concentration. Hunger and poor nutrition are also linked to the increased incidence and virulence
of infectious diseases, many of which-- such as TB--are on the rise in US cities. Furthermore, the
lack of a nutritious diet is a well-known risk factor for any number of chronic diseases such as
diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
86
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Hunger and malnutrition result from food insecurity and ensures catastrophic suffering
Lori Keeling Buhi ’08 ( Lori Keeling, Director of Health Education at Bryan-College Station Community
Health Center http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Erg-Foo/Food-Insecurity.html)
Millions of people worldwide suffer from hunger and under nutrition. A major factor contributing
to this international problem is food insecurity. This condition exists when people lack
sustainable physical or economic access to enough safe, nutritious, and socially acceptable food
for a healthy and productive life… Food insecurity and malnutrition result in catastrophic
amounts of human suffering. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 60
percent of all childhood deaths in the developing world are associated with chronic hunger and
malnutrition. In developing countries, persistent malnutrition leaves children weak, vulnerable,
and less able to fight such common childhood illnesses as diarrhea, acute respiratory infections,
malaria, and measles. Even children who are mildly to moderately malnourished are at greater
risk of dying from these common diseases. Malnourished children in the United States suffer
from poorer health status, compromised immune systems, and higher rates of illnesses such as
colds, headaches, and fatigue.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
87
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Local grown food produced by urban gardens provides essentials for alleviating poverty and its
effects
Kisner 08, (Corinne , Director of Operations at Climate Institute, “International Action: Green Roofs for
Urban Food Security and Environmental Sustainability.” December 2008
The food security that urban agriculture provides is essential as people cannot rely on industrial
farms for continuous and affordable production. Especially in cities with high rates of poverty,
such as Harare, it is imperative that people maintain control of their food supply by growing their
own vegetables, so as not to face scarcity and hunger if their access to imported food is
unexpectedly cut off or if they can no longer afford market prices for food commodities.
Community gardens foster a sense of responsibility and communal ownership over the
vegetables’ success and can bring individuals together in an often isolating urban setting. With a
personal stake in the long-term fertility of the land, urban farmers will have incentives to choose
organic fertilizers and pesticides that will preserve their plot’s productivity. This connection to
the environment’s health has positive benefits for human health as well, as it eliminates the need
for the harmful chemicals that pollute water supplies. Urban agriculture allows people to eat the
fruits of their labor and provides a steady, nutritious, and affordable source of food.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
88
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Political action is required to destroy the effects of food insecurity which will assure optimal
development and healthy food access to low-income people
COOK AND FRANK 08 ( JOHN T. DEBORAH A., Department of Pediatrics, Boston University
School of Medicine Doctors, at Boston University “Food Security, Poverty, and Human
Development in the United States” 2008
http://www.childrenshealthwatch.org/upload/resource/cook_frank_annals_08.pdf
Access to food is essential to optimal development and function in children and adults. Food
security, food insecurity, and hunger have been defined and a U.S. Food Security Scale was
developed and is administered annually by the Census Bureau in its Current Population Survey.
The eight child-referenced items now make up a Children’s Food Security Scale. This review
summarizes the data on household and children’s food insecurity and its relationship with
children’s health and development and with mothers’ depressive symptoms. It is demonstrable
that food insecurity is a prevalent risk to the growth, health, cognitive, and behavioral
potential of America’s poor and near-poor children. Infants and toddlers in particular are
at risk from food insecurity even at the lowest levels of severity, and the data indicate an
“invisible epidemic” of a serious condition. Food insecurity is readily measured and rapidly
remediable through policy changes, which a country like the United States, unlike many
others, is fully capable of implementing. The food and distribution resources exist; the only
constraint is political will. Optimal physiological, cognitive, and emotional development and
function in children and adults requires access to food of adequate quantity and quality at
all stages of the lifespan. Efficient epidemiological measurement of access to food by U.S.
populations has challenged researchers since the 1980s. Lack of access to adequate food by U.S.
households because of constrained household financial resources has been measured by questions
assessing “hunger,” “risk of hunger,” “food insufficiency,” and most recently “food insecurity.”
In 1990 an expert working group of the American Institute of Nutrition developed the following
conceptual definitions of food security, food insecurity, and hunger, which were published by the
Life Sciences Research Office of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
Food security: “Access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food
security includes at a minimum: (1) the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe
foods and (2) an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (e.g.,
without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies).”
Food insecurity. “Limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or
limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.” Hunger.
“The uneasy or painful sensation caused by a lack of food. The recurrent and involuntary lack of
access to food. Hunger may produce malnutrition over time. . .. Hunger . . . is a potential,
although not necessary, consequence of food insecurity… Food insecurity and hunger, as
measured by the FSS, are specifically related to limited household resources. Thus, by
definition they are referred to as “resource-constrained” or “poverty-related” conditions.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
89
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Urban farming solves for food insecurity and contributes to the urban and natural environment
Urban Agriculture Committee of the Community Food Security Coalition ’02
http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanagpaper.pdf
What does small-scale farming contribute to food security in the United States? It provides a
more adequate income to the farmers themselves, thereby diminishing their food insecurity. Local
fresh vegetables and fruit can have twice the vitamins and essential micro-nutrients available
from stale supermarket produce at the same price. Local and regional food is safer and more
secure than the products of industrial agriculture that typically travel long distances. Urban
agriculture produces a range of products well matched to the food needs and demands of diverse
urban populations, thus assuring them of a more balanced diet. In addition, farming in the city
conserves natural resources and contributes to a healthy environment for living.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
90
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Food Security Adv
Urban farming guarantees better quality foods in absence of the best supermarkets and increases
affordable food in urban settings
Urban Agriculture Committee of the Community Food Security Coalition ’02
http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanagpaper.pdf
Even when cash is available to low-income urban residents, food is not always so readily
accessible. Many supermarkets have closed or moved from the inner city due to complex market
forces related to the increasing impoverishment of their clientele and the deterioration and
depopulation of once vibrant communities. Unfortunately, it is not unusual for many remaining
inner-city grocery and convenience stores to hike prices, even on basic foods. “A study in Detroit
found that grocery stores near downtown and closer to lower-income neighborhoods charged on
average 10 percent more than those on the beltway. Another study of all food stores in three low
–income zip codes in Detroit found that only four out of five stores carried a minimal “healthy
food basket” (with products based on the food pyramid).”8 Low-income consumers have less
food shopping choices than middle-income consumers across the country: they have fewer retail
options, limited transportation options, and often face higher prices at chain supermarkets.9 Thus
ironically, people on limited incomes in cities are likely to pay more for their food than wealthier
shoppers in higher income neighborhoods. The range, freshness, and quality of foods are also
often compromised in inner-city groceries, thus further limiting customers’ maximal choices for
nutritious and affordable meals. As the locus of poverty shifts to urban areas, an expanded urban
agriculture program could build community food security by improving the quantity, quality,
regularity and nutritional balance of food intake, thereby reducing hunger and improving
nutrition.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
91
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
Obesity has serious effects on the heart and cardiovascular health even deathKirkey 08 (Sharon,
health journalist “Obesity harms heart more than smoking, study
finds”http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=d3ea6f54-8e3a-4ce2-842bf36d6a8dcba2 September 22, 2008 Monday
Heart attacks are hitting the overweight more than a decade sooner than "normal" weight people,
researchers are reporting. A study of more than 111,000 people is one of the first to put real
numbers to the risk of obesity and suggests "excess adiposity" - fat tissue - is more dangerous to
the heart than smoking. "The leading theory in cardiology right now is that the fat tissue is
actually producing factors that precipitate heart attacks," said lead author Peter McCullough,
consultant cardiologist and chief of nutrition and prevention medicine at William Beaumont
Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. The theory is that cholesterol builds up in the coronary arteries and
inflammatory or other chemicals produced by fat cells trigger the plaque to suddenly rupture,
causing a blood clot to form and unleashing an acute heart attack. Earlier studies "just didn't have
enough patients of different body sizes having their first heart attack to really evaluate" whether
obesity is associated with premature heart attacks, McCullough said. His team analyzed data from
a nationwide U.S. registry of people hospitalized for heart attack and unstable angina, or chest
pain, from 2001 to 2007. A total of 111,847 men and women who had experienced a first heart
attack were included in the analysis. They were grouped according to their body mass index, or
BMI, a measure of body fat based on height and weight. Researchers found that, the heavier the
person, the younger the age of a first heart attack. The most obese people had their heart attacks
when they were 59, on average. That compares with about 75 for the leanest group (average body
weight of about 103 pounds, meaning they were considered underweight), and 71 for people of
"normal" weight, where the average weight is about 142 pounds. The most obese group had a
BMI of 40 or more and weighed on average 280 pounds. The rate of diabetes was 17 per cent in
the leanest group, and 49 per cent in the most obese. "You can get a feeling of how obesity-driven
diabetes is," McCullough said. All the patients, regardless of body size, had about the same level
of LDL cholesterol, the so-called bad cholesterol thought to be a major risk factor for heart
attacks. That means the excess fat is causing heart disease in other ways, McCullough said. Rates
of smoking were equal across the board: "We really can't blame it on smoking." "Those patients
at the highest body weight on average lost 12 years of life before their first heart attack." The
second most important factor was smoking, "where they lost just under 10 years of life before a
first heart attack. "This is really the first study that shows that some factors are more powerful
than smoking in terms of the prematurity of myocardial infarction (a heart attack)," McCullough
said. The study involved a type of heart attack called non-ST-segment elevation myocardial
infarction. They always require hospitalization and have an in-hospital fatality rate of about 10
per cent, and about 20 per cent over the next six months, McCullough said. "They are not trivial
events. They account for a leading cause of patients to lose time away from work and actually
seek medical disability." The study clearly shows "that, contrary to some of the arguments out
there about whether or not excess weight may be protective ... there is a tremendous risk
difference in terms of having your first heart attack if you are overweight or obese," said. Arya
Sharma, chair of obesity research and management at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
"You're having a heart attack a decade before those who don't have a weight problem," Sharma
said. "And 59 is actually a very young age. These are people who aren't even close to retirement."
McCullough says people could reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease by losing weight and
body fat. According to the Canadian Community Health Survey, 23 per cent of Canadians 18 and
older are obese. The study appears in the most recent issue of the Journal of the American
College of Cardiology.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
92
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
Hunger, food insecurity, poverty, and obesity are interlinked and disproportionally effect lowincome communities amidst lack of access to supermarkets
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food Gap:
Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty”
As our knowledge of the connection between diet and health has increased, the food gap has
taken on yet another dimension, one that, ironically, includes the overconsumption of food. By
overconsumption we generally mean a combination of eating too much of the wrong thing and
too little of the right thing. Overweight and obese Americans now make up more than 60 percent
of the population. Because of their association with the nation's increased diabetes rate and other
diet-related illnesses, obesity and overweight are conditions that threaten the public health in
ways that generally surpass the effects of hunger and food insecurity. As such, they have become
central components of this country's food gap.
Yet as we will see, hunger, food insecurity, poverty, and overweight' obesity often have
overlapping associations and connections, and as with supermarket abandonmel1t, the
community or environmental context is just as important as the income of an individual
household. What we now call "food deserts," for instance, are places with too few choices of
healthy and affordable food, and are often oversaturated with unhealthy food out- lets such as
fast-food joints. People who live in or near food deserts tend to be poorer and have fewer healthy
food options, which in turn contributes to their high overweight/obesity rates and diet-related
illnesses such as diabetes.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
93
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
Billions of dollars in healthcare is squandered on obesity with not many effective strategies to
counteract persuasive advertisements of fast-food restaurants
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food Gap:
Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty”
Today, 60 percent of Americans are obese or overweight, with the rate of diabetes soaring in
every category of race, ethnicity, and age, especially among children. The cost of our rapid
weight gain is now estimated by the Institute of Medicine at between $98 billion and $Il7 billion
per year. Obesity is a major risk factor for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes,
certain types of cancer, arthritis, and breathing problems. The impact of obesity and its related
health complications are so severe that the U.S. surgeon general has expressed concern that this
generation of children may be the first in u.s. history to have a shorter life span than their parents.
Lack of exercise, too much television, and an obsession with computer technology have turned
Americans into a race of 250-pound weaklings. One of the biggest culprits is fast food. As Eric
Schlosser pointed out in his book Fast Food Nation, “1970 Americans spent about $6 billion on
fast food; in 2000 they spent more than $110 billion. Americans now spend more money on fast
food than on higher education, personal computers, software, and new cars.” Why? Fast food is
easy, cheap, and readily available, especially in low-income communities. In 2000, the fast food
industry spent $3 billion a year on television advertising, much of it targeted at children.
McDonald’s operates more than 8,000 playgrounds at its U.S. restaurants to lure children onto the
premises.
The role of advertising, information/misinformation and other persuasive mechanisms that
disable our rational decision-making processes is apparent in the fast food industry’s growth and
the concomitant increase in our waistlines. In lower-income communities, lower education levels
and the lack of healthy food choices make households easy targets for fast food messages,
images, and hidden persuaders. Although efforts restrict junk food advertising directed at children
have had some success, there is still not the political will or public budget to compete with the
mountains of promotional cash that junk food purveyors have available. Whereas McDonald’s
spent $500 million on its “We love to see you smile” campaign in 2000, federal spending on the
“5 A Day” campaign peaked at only $3 million the same year.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
94
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
Obesity in children, fast-food persuasion, and soaring health costs are damaging the livelihood of
many low income Americans that acquire unhealthy tastes
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food Gap:
Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty”
Children eat too much fast food; that's a fact. Do we blame them, their parents, or the
seductive scent of greasy burgers wafting across our commercial landscape? Every day, nearly
one-third of American children ages four to nineteen eat fast food, according to one study from
Children's Hospital Boston. Fast-food consumption has increased an alarming fivefold since
1970. The study estimated that the consumption off at and sugar associated with such frequent
use of fast-food restaurants adds six pounds per child per year and increases the risk of obesity. In
the classic struggle between supply and demand, one could argue that the industry is only
expanding to keep pace with demand. The Children's Hospital study's findings, however, suggest
that the increase in demand is more likely due to the increase in the number of fast-food
restaurants and the amount of fast-food marketing. There is also a relationship between the
increase in the consumption of unhealthy food and the decrease in the consumption of healthy
food. Obesity is highest among people who eat very few fruits and vegetables, and only one in
five Americans is eating the recommended five or more servings of produce each day. Our sense
of taste is complex and has been dissected by researchers and journalists alike. Michael Pollan
has provided one of the better discussions in The Botany of Desire. But surely it doesn't take a panel
of Ph.D.'s to determine that a child raised on a steady diet of Big Macs will require an
uncommonly creative and patient parent to also hook him or her on broccoli. While there is still
value in debating the causes of obesity and determining the best interventions, the costs and the
consequences of doing nothing are readily apparent. A 2005 study by Health Affairs, an online jour
nal of health policy and research, found that the cost of obesity-related care to private health
insurers rose tenfold between 1987 and 2002. In 2002, that amounted to $36.5 billion and
represented almost 12 percent of total health care spending. On average, treating an obese person
in 2002 cost $1,244 more than treating a healthy-weight person. In 1987, that gap was only $272.
And these are just the costs borne by health insurers and their members. About half of the $98
billion to $Il7 billion in obesity related costs every year are paid for by the public in the form of
Medicare and Medicaid payments. Poor diet takes a grisly toll on the human body, but it's also
taking a financial toll on private insurers and taxpayers.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
95
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
The location of many fast-food restaurants instead of supermarkets in urban areas contribute to
diet related diseases and a spiral of disadvantages, Harford proves
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food Gap:
Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty”
At first glance, given the city's high poverty rates, cheap fast food should be a blessing. If there
are no supermarkets within easy reach, people should be grateful for the clean, well-lit places that
proffer nicely packaged, brand-name merchandise. But in fact, such establishments thrive in areas
of poverty and low education. While they presumably serve a community's immediate need for
calories, they actually prey upon those who are weakened by insufficient money, choices, and
knowledge. As a result of these factors, Hartford's major food problem shifted from hunger to
heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. In light of the soaring rates of diet related diseases across the
nation as well as in Hartford, the high prevalence of unhealthy food outlets became a serious
public health issue. On Saturday, March 31, 2001, more than twenty University of Connecticut
dietetics students fanned out across Hartford and two of the city's affluent adjoining suburbs,
Wethersfield and West Hartford, to inventory and analyze the contents of two hundred restaurants
and small grocery stores. The distribution of fast-food restaurants and other low-quality retail
food outlets also was revealing. By mapping the locations of the region's fast-food outlets, the
survey found that a very high concentration of them were crouched like predatory cats within
easy walking distance of most of Hartford's lower-income residential areas. The proximity of
McDonald's, Burger King, and Kentucky Fried Chicken to the region's most impoverished and
nutritionally at-risk families was stunning. positioned as they were along the city's most traveled
commercial corridors, they created a virtual ambush for any inner-city resident walking along
these thoroughfares. By contrast, the fast-food outlets in West Hartford and Wethersfield, as they
tend to be throughout more affluent and suburbanized areas, were found along commercial strips
or in shopping centers that could only be reached conveniently by car. The good news about cardependent suburbia, where housing developments are spread out and usually located some
distance from commercial areas, is that securing a bacon double cheeseburger requires just
enough extra effort to make you think twice about whether you really want it. For Hartford's
transit-dependent shoppers, who must travel forty-five minutes to reach a decent supermarket, an
evening stroll to the corner KFC for a bucket of Colonel Sanders's fried chicken is, sadly,
considered one of the few privileges of living in a lowincome neighborhood. One irony
associated with this unhealthy food abundance was that it was partially aided and abetted by
Hartford city government and other public and private institutions. Poverty created the market,
shrewd entrepreneurs took advantage of it, and city hall nurtured the relationship. Shortly after
the Hartford Food System completed its healthy food study, the city celebrated the opening of its
eleventh Dunkin' Donuts. And celebrated is the operative word. Community leaders, representatives
of Connecticut Children's Hospital directly across the street, and government officials, including
the mayor, showed up to cut the ribbon. The Hartford Courant joined the hoopla with an editorial
praising the Dunkin' Donuts chain for its "neighborhood sensitive strategy," because the
corporation had promised to employ neighborhood residents in its new store. In a city that was
struggling to gain any job it could, any business that would provide twenty-five jobs-albeit mostly
part-time, minimum-wage jobs with no health benefits-made Hartford's economic development
officials salivate.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
96
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
New York City proves the food disparities that exist in urban areas that thrive on unhealthy food
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food Gap:
Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty”
Of course, the most defining difference between these two large New York City neighborhoods
is their poverty rates. More than 38 percent of East Harlem's residents live below the poverty
level, compared to just above 6 percent for the Upper East Side. And the food options track those
poverty rates very closely. Like the Hartford area healthy food survey discussed earlier in this
chapter, a 2004 comparison of healthy food availability in East Harlem and the Upper East Side
found that only 18 percent of the food stores in East Harlem carried low-fat, high-fiber food and
fresh fruits and vegetables. On the Upper East Side, 58 percent of the stores stocked those items.
Food is certainly easy to come by in East Harlem, and with McDonald's offering its Dollar Menu
and Kentucky Fried Chicken proclaiming that you can "feed your family for under $4 each," the
food is dirt-cheap. The only drawback is that neither the Big Mac wrapper nor the KFC bucket
comes with a surgeon general's warning that eating too many of these items is likely to cause a
slow, premature death.
The trouble with the food gap and related disparities is that they tend to widen before they
narrow. It's a curious market phenomenon that in the United States, where there is so much food
and, more important, so much interest these days in ever better and healthier food, that the haves
are constantly ascending new heights, while the have-riots continue to discover new depths. Part
of the explanation may reside with growing national disparities in income, which can be
particularly dramatic in urban areas. Although New York City has been experiencing an
economic resurgence for years, the middle class is shrinking, and the gap between rich and poor
is widening. New York City's total population by income breaks down as 41 percent high-income,
43 percent low-income, and a mere 16 percent in the middle. If you were a residential developer
or a food retailer, which market would give you the bigger return? Naturally, you would gravitate
to the high-end market, where demand is indeterminately elastic, and avoid the low-end market,
where risk and low profits abound. As the New York Times put it, "A two-tiered marketplace can
develop: Whole Foods for the upper classes, bodegas for the lower, with no competition from
stores courting the middle.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
97
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
Lack of access to quality and clean foods ensures that low-income people will have limited food
choices that are healthy
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food Gap:
Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty”
As health officials and researchers confirm the gravity of the threat of overeating and unhealthy
eating, where does that leave the threat of domestic hunger and food security that has plagued
America for the better part of the century? A couple of quick answers may suffice for the
moment. Lack of access to healthy and affordable food is a form of food insecurity. If a person
can’t easily get to sources of nutritious food and/or can’t resist the siren song of fast-food and
other unhealthy food outlets, food insecurity is a part of his or her life. Additionally, research on
hunger, poverty, and obesity suggests the following link: if you don’t have enough money to
regularly purchase sufficient quantities of food, you will be more inclined to eat high calorie,
filling food to relieve sensations of hunger. Additionally, irregular purchasing power, often a
problem in low-income households, leads to binge eating or other irregularities in food
consumption, which can contribute to obesity as well.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
98
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
Studies prove that African Americans are significantly affected by lack of access to grocery stores
and diet related diseases
Winne, 08 (Mark, Former Executive Director of the Harford Food System, 2008 “Closing the Food Gap:
Resetting the Table in the Land of the Plenty”
When the marketplace fails to serve everybody with a reasonable degree of equity, health costs in
the lower-income areas—increasingly borne by the public sector—soar. A 2006 urban Chicago
study by Mari Gallaghar not only documented the food deserts of lower income areas but also
found a statistically significant link between them and life shortening health conditions such as
diabetes, obesity, cancer, and heart disease. Gallaghar’s research found that African Americans
were most disadvantaged when it comes to food options. In general, Gallagher determined that
residents of predominantly African American neighborhoods had to travel almost twice as far as
residents of white and Hispanic neighborhoods to reach a grocery store. The results showed that
as access to grocery stores decreased, rates of obesity increased.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
99
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
Food insecure and impoverished households have a higher potential of producing obese children
Weill 08 (James D., President of Food Research and Action Center “THE EFFECTS OF HUNGER
AND FOOD INSECURITY IN AMERICA” July 23, 2008
http://agriculture.house.gov/testimony/110/h80723a/Weill.pdf
As to obesity, research has shown that obesity too can be a consequence of food
insecurity. Obesity among both adults and children means more cardiovascular disease,
diabetes, and hypertension. Among adult food insecure women who have children, the
reasons for obesity may include the ways in which low-income mothers must cope with
limited resources for food—sacrificing at times their own nutrition in order to protect
their children from hunger and lower nutritional quality. Food insecurity and poverty
may also act as physiological stressors leading to hormonal changes that predispose adult
women to obesity. But there are connections between food insecurity and obesity for children as
well. Children in food insecure households are more likely to be at risk of overweight or to be
obese. When children are both born at low birthweight and live in a family suffering
from food insufficiency, they have a 27.8 times higher chance of being overweight or
obese at age 4 ½ .
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
100
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
The government’s food stamp policy is not effective to combat the linkage of food insecurity and
obesity but exacerbates the crisis
Rector 07 (Robert , Senior Research Fellow on domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation “Hunger
Hysteria: Examining Food Security and Obesity in America”
http://www.heritage.org/research/welfare/wm1701.cfm November 13, 2007
Thus, the government's own data show that, even though they may have brief episodes of reduced
food intake, most adults in food insecure households actually consume too much, not too little,
food. To improve health, policies must be devised to encourage these individuals to avoid chronic
over-consumption of calories and to spread their food intake more evenly over the course of each
month to avoid episodic shortfalls. Yet most proposed policy responses to food insecurity call for
giving low-income persons more money to purchase food despite the fact that most low-income
persons, like most Americans, already eat too much. Such policies are likely to make the current
situation worse, not better. One commonly proposed policy, for example, is to expand
participation in the Food Stamp program. Participation in the Food Stamp program, however,
does not appear to reduce food insecurity. Households receiving food stamps do not have
improved food security compared to similar households with the same non-food stamp income
who do not participate in the program.[10] Moreover, participation in the Food Stamp program
does not appear to increase diet quality. Compared to similar households who do not receive food
stamps but have the same non-food stamp income, households receiving food stamps do not
consume more fruits and vegetables but do, unfortunately, consume more added sugars and fats.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
101
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
Obesity at an all time high globally
World Health Organization 2009,(” Obesity and overweight”
http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/obesity/en/print.html)
Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally, with more than 1 billion adults
overweight - at least 300 million of them clinically obese - and is a major contributor to the
global burden of chronic disease and disability. Often coexisting in developing countries with
under-nutrition, obesity is a complex condition, with serious social and psychological
dimensions, affecting virtually all ages and socioeconomic groups. Increased consumption of
more energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods with high levels of sugar and saturated fats,
combined with reduced physical activity, have led to obesity rates that have risen three-fold
or more since 1980 in some areas of North America, the United Kingdom, Eastern Europe, the
Middle East, the Pacific Islands, Australasia and China.The obesity epidemic is not restricted to
industrialized societies; this increase is often faster in developing countries than in the developed
world. Obesity and overweight pose a major risk for serious diet-related chronic diseases,
including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, and certain forms of
cancer. The health consequences range from increased risk of premature death, to serious
chronic conditions that reduce the overall quality of life. Of especial concern is the
increasing incidence of child obesity.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
102
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
Cardiovascular Disease is the #1 Killer in the world
World Health Organization 09 (“Cardiovascular disease”
http://www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/en/ February 2009)
Globally, cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death and is projected to remain so. An
estimated 17.5 million people died from cardiovascular disease in 2005, representing 30 % of all global
deaths. Of these deaths, 7.6 million were due to heart attacks and 5.7 million due to stroke. About 80% of
these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries. If current trends are allowed to continue, by
2015 an estimated 20 million people will die from cardiovascular disease (mainly from heart attacks and
strokes).
Obesity Increases the risk of heart disease by 104%
Richard N. Fogros M.D., 8-5-2002, http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/heartfailure/a/obesityhf.htm
Doctors have suspected for a long time that overweight patients appear to have an increased risk of
developing heart failure, but most believed that the heart failure resulted from the diabetes, high blood
pressure and coronary artery disease associated with obesity. Now, however, a new study - published in
the August 1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine - shows that obesity itself (and not just the
associated medical conditions) can lead to heart failure. Furthermore, the study shows that even excess
body weight - in people who are not considered obese - substantially increases the risk of heart failure.
The investigators followed 5881 individuals enrolled in the Framingham Heart Study, who were either
obese or merely overweight, for an average of 14 years. After adjusting statistically for other risk factors
for heart failure (such as diabetes, coronary artery disease or hypertension,) those who were merely
overweight had a risk of developing heart failure that was 34% greater than in non-overweight
individuals; while those who were obese had an incredible 104% increase in risk.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
103
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
The obesity battle starts young for urban poor and must be attacked to preserve future health
Smith ’06 (Stephen, Globe staff writer, “Obesity Battle Starts Young for Urban Poor” The Boston
Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/12/29/obesity_battle_starts_young_for_urban_poor
By the time they reach the age of 3, more than one-third of low-income urban children are already
overweight or obese, according to a study released yesterday that provides alarming evidence that
the nation's battle of the bulge begins when toddlers are barely out of diapers. Researchers armed
with scales and measuring devices visited nearly 2,000 families in 20 US cities, including Boston,
and evaluated the weight and height of 3-year-olds in an unprecedented effort to focus on obesity
among the nation's most vulnerable children. Their finding: 35 percent of the low-income 3-yearolds were overweight or obese, a result more than twice the national rate for obesity among
preschool children of all income levels and racial groups. Low-income Hispanic children, the
researchers reported in the on line version of the American Journal of Public Health , were the
most likely of all to have a weight problem, with 44 percent of those toddlers overweight or
obese.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
104
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
Lack of supermarkets in low income areas severely increase the costs of food and limited unhealthy
choices
Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002, Urban Agriculture
Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman, http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
Even when cash is available to low-income urban residents, food is not always so readily
accessible. Many supermarkets have closed or moved from the inner city due to complex market
forces related to the increasing impoverishment of their clientele and the deterioration and
depopulation of once vibrant communities. Unfortunately, it is not unusual for many remaining
inner-city grocery and convenience stores to hike prices, even on basic foods. “A study in Detroit
found that grocery stores near downtown and closer to lower-income neighborhoods charged on
average 10 percent more than those on the beltway. Another study of all food stores in three low
-income zip codes in Detroit found that only four out of five stores carried a minimal “healthy
food basket” (with products based on the food pyramid).” Low-income consumers have less food
shopping choices than middle-income consumers across the country: they have fewer retail
options, limited transportation options, and often face higher prices at chain supermarkets.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
105
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
Community farms are a way to give low income people access to fresh affordable food and potential
job training for urban agriculture
Mark 07 (Jason E., “Street Beets: Urban Farmers Get Hip to Growing ” The Environmental Magazine,
Mar/Apr2007, Vol. 18, Issue 2)
The obesity epidemic, too, has hit low-income communities hardest, since the foods that have the
most starch and fat are also the cheapest. Many urban food projects are driven by a desire to
provide poor communities with healthier options. That's the idea behind Mill Creek Farm in
Philadelphia. Started two years ago by a pair of twenty-something nutrition educators-turned
farmers, Mill Creek has turned a vacant lot into a 1.5-acre garden full of carrots, squash, tomatoes
and okra. At the height of summer, the farm's produce stand regularly sells out of goods. People
don't have the option to get fresh, affordable, good quality, organic food in their neighborhood,"
says Johanna Rosen, one of the farm's co-founders. Community involvement and the promise of
economic benefit are vital for urban agriculture projects to succeed. That's what Redhook Farm in
Brooklyn is all about, A three-acre farm built on an abandoned baseball field, Redhook Farm uses
organic farming and marketing as a way to grow economic opportunities for disadvantaged youth.
"We want to have a 21st century park that is training teens for 21st century citizenship," says Ian
Marvey, a co-founder of Redhook Farm. "That means hands-on training to build a sustainable
economy, whether learning how to grow food [or] how to build a greenhouse."At the core of
urban farming is the desire to put the culture back into agriculture. It's an effort that seeks to place
communities at the center of our food system. Back at the City Slicker garden, a cold rain has
started to fall, but Liz Monk and the other volunteers keep working. As she shovels compost out
of an old pickup truck, Monk tells a visitor that she spent a summer working on a country farm,
but says that urban farming is more rewarding. "Just having face-to-face contact — that's
something that's very positive," says Monk. "It's the kind of thing that feeds your soul."
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
106
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
There is a strong linkage of food insecurity and obesity in the ‘U.S. that the government effectively
combats
Rector 07 (Robert , Senior Research Fellow on domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation “Hunger
Hysteria: Examining Food Security and Obesity in America”
http://www.heritage.org/research/welfare/wm1701.cfm November 13, 2007
Political advocates proclaim that the USDA reports suggest there is widespread chronic hunger in
the U.S. But the USDA clearly and specifically does not identify food insecurity with the more
intense condition of "hunger," which it defines as "discomfort, illness, weakness, or pain...caused
by prolonged involuntary lack of food." What is rarely discussed is that the government's own
data show that the overwhelming majority of food insecure adults are, like most adult Americans,
overweight or obese. Among adult males experiencing food insecurity, fully 70 percent are
overweight or obese. Nearly three-quarters of adult women experiencing food insecurity are
either overweight or obese, and nearly half (45 percent) are obese. Virtually no food insecure
adults are underweight. Food insecure men are slightly less likely to be overweight or obese than
men who are food secure (70 percent compared to 75 percent). But food insecure women are
actually more likely to be obese or overweight than are women who are food secure (73 percent
compared to 64 percent)
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
107
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Obesity Adv
Urban Farming is working and makes strides to solve for obesity, environment and adds to the
economic.
Thompson 08 (Clive, Editor of Wired Magazine, http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/1609/st_thompson August 2008)
This year, Carol Nissen's crops include mesclun, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, and assorted
herbs. When she sits down to dine, she's often eating food grown with her own two hands. But
Nissen isn't tilling the soil on a farm. She's a Web designer who lives in Jersey City, New Jersey
— one of the most cramped, concrete-laden landscapes in the nation. Nissen's vegetables thrive in
pots and boxes crammed into her house and in wee plots in her yard. "I'm a micro-gardener," she
says. "It's a pretty small townhouse. But it's amazing what you can do without much space." The
term for this is urban farming — the art of growing vegetables in cities that otherwise resemble
the Baltimore of The Wire. It has become increasingly trendy in recent years, led by healthconscious foodies coveting just-picked produce, as well as hipsters who dig the roll-your-own
vibe. But I think it's time to kick it up a notch. Our world faces many food-resource problems,
and a massive increase in edible gardening could help solve them. The next president should
throw down the gauntlet and demand Americans sow victory gardens once again. Remember the
victory garden? During World Wars I and II, the government urged city dwellers and
suburbanites to plant food in their yards. It worked: The effort grew roughly 40 percent of the
fresh veggies consumed in the US in 1942 and 1943. These days, we're fighting different battles.
Developing nations are facing wrenching shortages of staples like rice. Here at home, we're
struggling with a wave of obesity, fueled by too much crappy fast food and too little fresh
produce, particularly in poorer areas. Our globalized food stream poses environmental hazards,
too: The blueberries I had for lunch came from halfway around the world, in the process burning
tons of CO2. Urban farming tackles all three issues. It could relieve strain on the worldwide food
supply, potentially driving down prices. The influx of fresh vegetables would help combat
obesity. And when you "shop" for dinner ingredients in and around your home, the carbon
footprint nearly disappears. Screw the 100-mile diet — consuming only what's grown within your
immediate foodshed — this is the 100-yard diet. Want to cool cities cheaply? Plant crops on
rooftops. This isn't just liberal hippie fantasy, either. Defense hawks ought to love urban farming,
because it would enormously increase our food independence — and achieve it without the
market distortions of the benighted farm bill. You don't need tomatoes from Mexico if you can
pluck them from containers on your office roof. Better yet, urban farming is an excuse to geek out
with some awesome tech. Innovations from NASA and garage tinkerers have made food-growing
radically more efficient and compact than the victory gardens of yore. "Aeroponics" planters
grow vegetables using mist, slashing water requirements; hackers are building home-suitable
"aquaponics" rigs that use fish to create a cradle-to-grave ecosystem, generating its own fertilizer
(and delicious tilapia, too). Experts have found that cultivating a mere half-acre of urban land
with such techniques can yield more than $50,000 worth of crops annually. But what I love most
here is the potential for cultural transformation. Growing our own food again would reconnect us
to this country's languishing frontier spirit. Once you realize how easy it is to make the concrete
jungle bloom, it changes the way you see the world.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
108
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Climate and Sprawl Adv
Observational evidence proves the globe is warming
Business Week, August 16, 2004
What scientists do know is that carbon dioxide and a number of other gases act like the roof of a
greenhouse. Energy from the sun passes through easily. Some of the warmth that normally would be
radiated back out to space is trapped, however, warming the planet. With no greenhouse gases at all in the
atmosphere, we would freeze. The earth's average temperature would be a cold -17C, not the relatively
balmy 14C it is today. But the atmosphere is fiendishly complicated. If an increase in greenhouse gases
also makes the sky cloudier, the added clouds may cool the surface enough to offset warming from CO2.
Tiny particles from pollution also exert warming or cooling effects, depending on where they are in the
atmosphere. Naysayers argue that it's just too soon to tell if greenhouse gases will significantly change the
climate. Yet the climate is changing. In the past 100 years, global temperatures are up 0.6 degrees
Celsius. The past few decades are the warmest since people began keeping temperature records -altering the face of the planet. For instance, the Qori Kalis glacier in Peru is shrinking at a rate of 200
meters per year, 40 times as fast as in 1978. It's just one of hundreds of glaciers that are vanishing. Ice
is disappearing from the Arctic Ocean and Greenland. More than a hundred species of animals have
been spotted moving to cooler regions, and spring starts sooner for more than 200 others. ``It's
increasingly clear that even the modest warming today is having large effects on ecosystems,'' says
ecologist Christopher B. Field of the Carnegie Institution. ``The most compelling impact is the 10%
decreasing yield of corn in the Midwest per degree [of warming.]''
Multiple indicators prove fossil fuel burning is causing warming
Browne 04, (john Lord Browne of Madingley is Group Chief Executive of BP, Foreign Affairs, July 2004 - August 2004
Global temperatures have risen by about 0.6 degrees Celsius since the nineteenth century. Other
measures of climate bolster the theory that the world is getting warmer: satellite measurements suggest
that spring arrives about a week earlier now than in the late 1970s, for example, and records show that
migratory birds fly to higher latitudes earlier in the season and stay later. According to the un's
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (ipcc) -- by far the most authoritative body of scientists
working on this issue -- humans are probably not responsible for all the measured warming. But the
trend is undoubtedly due in large part to substantial increases in carbon dioxide emissions from
human activity. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, the average concentration of carbon dioxide - a so-called greenhouse gas -- in the world's atmosphere has risen from some 280 parts per million (ppm)
to around 370 ppm. Burning fossil fuels account for about three-quarters of human emissions, with
deforestation and changes in land use (mainly in the tropics) accounting for the rest.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
109
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Climate and Sprawl Adv
Multiple indicators prove warming is occurring now
Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee), October 26, 2003
The U.N. points to several pieces of evidence indicating the climate is warming. The 10 warmest
years on record have occurred since 1987. The Arctic ice cover has shrunk by 10-15 percent since the
1950s during spring and summer. Ocean levels are rising and glaciers are retreating. Temperatures
in North America have risen about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the past century. Satellites and weather
balloons show little temperature change across the entire globe, especially above the world's oceans.
ORNL is one of several research facilities running computer models of various climate change scenarios
for the fourth international assessment on the possible effects of climate change. John Drake and other
ORNL researchers are concentrating on a scenario that describes low population growth coupled with a
rapid transition toward an information and service economy. Drake said the scenario assumes the use of
cleaner energy sources, global solutions and equity between developing and developed countries. "That's
one of the more optimistic scenarios," he said. Even with emissions reductions, Drake said, carbon
dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere wouldn't begin falling for 50 to 100 years. "One of the
fundamental chemical truths is (that) CO2 in the atmosphere takes a certain amount of time to wash out,"
Drake said.
Even skeptics from the U.S. Army are admitting that the earth is warming and that it’s caused by
human beings
Shachtman 08 (Noah - Army Climate Skeptic: Global Warming is Man-Made- online- http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/06/globalwarming.html 06/05/08
Global warming is real, and at least partially man-made, according to controversial Army
scientist Dr. Bruce West. Greenhouse gases have contributed to rising temperatures by as
much as 70 percent, he said during a conference call with bloggers, arranged by the military.
For several years, West, the chief scientist of the Army Research Office's mathematical and
information science directorate and an adjunct professor at Duke University, has been touting
the Sun's effects on climate change -- and warning that the "anthropogenic contribution to
global warming" has been "significantly over-estimated" by the the majority of the scientific
community. His conference call began on a similarly iconoclastic note, saying that "our
research has suggested an alternative to the apparently universally-accepted cause of global
warming. Many contend that the controversy over global warming had been resolved, with the
scientific community concurring that humanity has caused the increase in the Earth's average
surface temperature... [I] disagree." "Own our analysis of the the total solar irradiance and the
modeling of the Earth's response to change in that irradiance lead us to conclude that the Earth's
average surface temperature is directly linked to... the Sun's dynamics," he added. In some of his
scientific papers, however, West acknowledged that human society, by spewing so-called
"greenhouse gases" like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, is also having an effect. "Since
1975 global warming has occurred much faster than could be reasonably expected from the
sun alone," he wrote in a 2006 study for Geophysical Research Letters. Later in the conference
call, he sounded a similar note. "We know greenhouse gases are also contributing," West said.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
110
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Climate and Sprawl Adv
Long term- CO2 based warming leads to methane gas release - which is empirically proven to
causes extinction - Stopping methane is a moral imperative
Monbiot- Published Author of The Age of Consent-2003- Shadow of extinction - Only six degrees separate our world from the cataclysmic
end of an ancient era - George Monbiot Tuesday July 1, 2003- The Guardian – Onlinehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,988380,00.html
The events that brought the Permian period (between 286m and 251m years ago) to an end could not be clearly
determined until the mapping of the key geological sequences had been completed. Until recently, palaeontologists
had assumed that the changes that took place then were gradual and piecemeal. But three years ago a precise date for
the end of the period was established, which enabled geologists to draw direct comparisons between the rocks laid down at that time in different
parts of the world. Having done so, they made a shattering discovery. In China, South Africa, Australia, Greenland, Russia and
Svalbard, the rocks record an almost identical sequence of events, taking place not gradually, but relatively
instantaneously. They show that a cataclysm caused by natural processes almost brought life on earth to an end.
They also suggest that a set of human activities that threatens to replicate those processes could exert the same
effect, within the lifetimes of some of those who are on earth today. As the professor of palaeontology Michael Benton
records in his new book, When Life Nearly Died, the marine sediments deposited at the end of the Permian period record two sudden changes.
The first is that the red or green or grey rock laid down in the presence of oxygen is suddenly replaced by black muds of the kind deposited when
oxygen is absent. At the same time, an instant shift in the ratio of the isotopes (alternative forms) of carbon within the rocks suggests a
spectacular change in the concentration of atmospheric gases. On land, another dramatic transition has been dated to precisely the same time. In
Russia and South Africa, gently deposited mudstones and limestones suddenly give way to massive dumps of pebbles and boulders. But the
geological changes are minor in comparison with what happened to the animals and plants . The Permian was one of the most
biologically diverse periods in the earth's history. Herbivorous reptiles the size of rhinos were hunted through
forests of tree ferns and flowering trees by sabre-toothed predators. At sea, massive coral reefs accumulated, among
which lived great sharks, fish of all kinds and hundreds of species of shell creatures. Then suddenly there is almost
nothing. The fossil record very nearly stops dead. The reefs die instantly, and do not reappear on earth for 10 million years. All
the large and medium-sized sharks disappear, most of the shell species, and even the great majority of the toughest and most numerous organisms
in the sea, the plankton. Among many classes of marine animals, the only survivors were those adapted to the near-absence of oxygen. On land,
the shift was even more severe. Plant life was almost eliminated from the earth's surface. The four-footed animals, the category to which humans
belong, were nearly exterminated: so far only two fossil reptile species have been found anywhere on earth that survived the end of the Permian.
The world's surface came to be dominated by just one of these, an animal a bit like a pig. It became ubiquitous because nothing else was left to
compete with it or to prey upon it. Altogether, Benton shows, some 90% of the earth's species appear to have been wiped
out: this represents by far the gravest of the mass extinctions. The world's "productivity" (the total mass of biological matter) collapsed.
Ecosystems recovered very slowly. No coral reefs have been found anywhere on earth in the rocks laid down over the following 10 million years.
One hundred and fifty million years elapsed before the world once again became as biodiverse as in the Permian. So what happened?
Some scientists have argued that the mass extinction was caused by a meteorite. But the evidence they put forward has been undermined by
further studies. There is a more persuasive case for a different explanation. For many years, geologists have been aware that at some point during
or after the Permian there was a series of gigantic volcanic eruptions in Siberia. The lava was dated properly for the first time in the early 1990s.
We now know that the principal explosions took place 251 million years ago, precisely at the point at which life was almost extinguished. The
volcanoes produced two gases: sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide. The sulphur and other effusions caused acid rain, but would have bled from
the atmosphere quite quickly. The carbon dioxide, on the other hand, would have persisted . By enhancing the greenhouse effect, it
appears to have warmed the world sufficiently to have destabilised the superconcentrated frozen gas called
methane hydrate, locked in sediments around the polar seas. The release of methane into the atmosphere
explains the sudden shift in carbon isotopes. Methane is an even more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon
dioxide. The result of its release was runaway global warming: a rise in temperature led to changes that raised
the temperature further, and so on. The warming appears, alongside the acid rain, to have killed the plants.
Starvation then killed the animals. Global warming also seems to explain the geological changes. If the temperature of the surface
waters near the poles increases, the circulation of marine currents slows down, which means that the ocean floor is deprived of oxygen. As the
plants on land died, their roots would cease to hold together the soil and loose rock, with the result that erosion rates would have greatly
increased. So how much warming took place? A sharp change in the ratio of the isotopes of oxygen permits us to reply with some precision: 6C.
Benton does not make the obvious point, but another author, the climate change specialist Mark Lynas, does. Six degrees is the upper estimate
produced by the UN's scientific body, the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC), for global warming by 2100. A conference of some
of the world's leading atmospheric scientists in Berlin last month concluded that the IPCC's model may have underestimated the problem: the
upper limit, they now suggest, should range between 7 and 10 degrees. Neither model takes into account the possibility of a partial melting of the
methane hydrate still present in vast quantities around the fringes of the polar seas. Suddenly, the events of a quarter of a billion years ago begin
to look very topical indeed. One of the possible endings of the human story has already been told. Our principal
political effort must now be to ensure that it does not become set in stone.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
111
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Climate and Sprawl Adv
We don’t need to stop all global warming, the key to stop decrease CO2 now to stop abrupt climate
change (like a methane releases)
Union of Concerned Scientists- 07.09.2004 – Global Environment- climate science
Abrupt Climate Change- Onlinehttp://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/global_warming/page.cfm?pageID=1405
Can we avoid abrupt climate change? Yes. While abrupt climate change is not a certainty, humancaused climate change makes abrupt events more likely. What is certain is that human-caused
climate change is already under way, and is expected to continue over the next century as a result of our
emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere. Levels of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere are higher today than they have been for more than 400,000 years. Earth's surface
temperature has increased measurably over the past 100 years, and 10 of the warmest years on record
have occurred since 1990. This warming has caused changes in rainfall—some regions have become
wetter while others have become drier—and droughts and severe rainfall events have become more
common. By making choices now to reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases, we can slow the
rate of global warming and reduce the likelihood of unexpected climate changes.
Transportation and travel costs incease economic, environmental and public health costs
Brown 02,( Katherine H., Community Food Security Representative, February 2002, Urban Agriculture
Committee of the CFSC (Michael Ableman, http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html#intro)
The sheer tonnage of foods that must be transported daily to supply our cities’ residents is stunning. Our
current food systems require vast resources for complicated distribution services to move food from
where it is raised and processed to reach consumers in cities, with the average supermarket food item in
North America traveling 1400 miles. With increasing globalization, our foods now travel even further
distances than ever from all over the world. While many enjoy the advantages of this rich and nutritious
array of foods, there are significant social, economic, public health, and environmental costs to our food
system
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
112
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Climate and Sprawl Adv
Sprawl locks urban areas into a cycle of poverty.
Bare 03 (Thomas Benton III, U CT School of Law JD, 21 Va. Envtl. L.J. 455, p. 467-468, LN)
Environmental harms aside, urban sprawl and the flight to the suburbs have had a disastrous effect on
central cities across the United States. The sprawl phenomenon has led to job flight from city centers,
societal breakdown in cities and suburbs, and has left the urban poor locked in a nearly unbreakable
cycle of increased poverty. As explained in the preceding section, once the federal government began
the large-scale subsidization of highways and encouragement of individual automobile use, many urban
citizens were able to move to the suburbs and commute into the city to work. 64 Once this trend was
established, employers began to leave the central cities, and followed their employees to the
suburbs. 65 Job flight from the urban core to the suburbs started a cycle that has wreaked havoc on
many city centers. Tax bases have eroded as tax-paying businesses and their workers have fled to
newer, ex-urban areas. 66 Demands for public services have increased as growing numbers of urban
poor require more social services while their condition continues to deteriorate. 67 Businesses
continue to flee the cities, leaving the poor stranded with little hope for a better future. 68 This
increasing lack of employment opportunities has created a nearly permanent underclass of trapped
urban poor. 69 [*468] Urban property values continue to fall as cities struggle to find tenants, 70
and the number of polluted industrial brownfield sites continues to rise. 71 These effects have created a
cycle of decay, intensifying and perpetuating nearly all of these negative impacts. 72
Sprawl adversely affects minorities and the impoverished
Sakowicz 04 (J Celeste, Florida State U JD candidate, 19 J. Land Use & Envtl. Law 377, Spring, p. 386387, LN)
Abandonment of the inner core is a descriptive phrase to describe some of the ills that impact the urban
area that lost its resources to sprawl. 52 Older significant buildings that characterized neighborhoods are
either destroyed or replaced with multiple unit housing to increase their revenue stream or left to decay
and deteriorate while new lots are developed, destroying open space and increasing the demand on
infrastructure. 53 The immediate result of developers choosing to divest, or invest elsewhere, impacts
central city residents with deteriorating neighborhoods, thus driving property values drastically
downward. 54 Decreased property values lead to a decreased tax base and therefore taxes are
increased to pay for decreased revenue and social services. Concurrently with deteriorating housing,
local employers and industries depart and open new manufacturing or service sector facilities,
which results in unused or underutilized facilities. Frequently, facilities are never reoccupied because the
previous owner caused contamination and [*387] the cost to clean the site overruns the benefit of
redeveloping the site. 55 The poor and minority communities that generally comprise the majority of
urban city centers are egregiously affected by the local government development system. 56 Sprawl
wastes infrastructure, land, people, and location advantages. Cities have deteriorated naturally with
age and instead of developers seizing sites that need to be cleaned up, developers choose regions where
they begin from nothing because it is less expensive and the liability risk is lower. 57 In addition, sprawl
almost never includes plans for public transportation. 58 Minorities are twice denied
disproportionately: first, with the removal of resources to rebuild their home and work
communities and second with the denial of access to public transportation to obtain the resources
that are now located far from the city center. 59
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
113
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
A2: States Counterplan
States have to make huge budget cuts in the recession
Newsroom America, “States Planning Deeper Budget Cuts: Report” 2009-06-22,
http://www.newsroomamerica.com/usa/story.php?id=457804
As the worst recession in nearly 60 years continues to worsen, states are planning more
and deeper budget cuts to cope with funding shortfalls, The New York Times reported Monday.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, facing a $24 billion budget shortfall - the nation’s
worst - has proposed closing more than 200 parks and releasing thousands of prisoners early.
In other states like Maine, Idaho and Kentucky, administrations are planning new taxes on
everything from oil companies to candy to cell phone ring tones. Other states are planning to
furlough state workers and have cut funding to schools, forcing pay cuts for teachers, the paper
said."These are some of the worst numbers we have ever seen," Scott D. Pattison, executive
director of the National Association of State Budget Office, told the Times. Pattison said federal
stimulus program money that began flowing earlier this year is the only thing preventing
widespread paralysis among state governments."If we didn't have those funds, I think we'd have
an incredible number of states just really unsure of how they were going to get a new budget
out," he told the paper. Other analysts said state legislatures and governors haven't faced such a
dire economic crisis as the one currently in place, the paper said.
Only the federal government solves investment, strengthens the environmental justice
movement
Roberts 98–( R. Gregory Senior Note & Comment Editor, American University Law Review, Volume 48; J.D. Candidate, American
University- American University Law Review- October, 1998- 48 Am. U.L. Rev. 229- ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT:LEARNING FROM THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
The Civil Rights Movement demonstrates that community empowerment strategies are an effective
means of overcoming powerlessness. The tactics employed by the Civil Rights Movement empowered individuals,
communities, and ultimately, a national movement. n219 To succeed, the environmental justice movement must [*268] do the same.
Although specific tactics may differ, n220 the underlying concept of empowering individuals to take control of
the struggle for themselves should be at the core of any environmental justice strategy. n221 In fact, any
empowerment strategies adopted by the environmental justice movement stand a better chance of
success than those embraced by the Civil Rights Movement. First, black communities have in place
many of the institutions established during the Civil Rights Movement. n222 Second, because they have
experience with [*269] collective action through various community groups and institutions, minority
communities may be more responsive to organization efforts. n223 Third, through institutions such as the
Congressional Black Caucus, environmental justice advocates are better able to attract the government's attention to the interests and
concerns of minority communities. n224 Finally, the President has already involved himself in the environmental justice debate through
Executive Order 12,898, thus providing the movement with a degree of national legitimacy.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
114
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
A2: States Counterplan
Federal - state confusion hurts brownfields clean –up efforts
Sigurani 06-( Miral Alena an Arizona Assistant Attorney General in the Tax, Bankruptcy &
Collection Section. - December, 2006- BROWNFIELDS: CONVERGING GREEN,
COMMUNITY AND INVESTMENT CONCERNS.- 43 AZ Attorney 38- State Bar of ArizonaArizona Attorney- lexis nexis
One major disadvantage to redeveloping a brownfield site is the amount of
paperwork and number of approvals required. n34 Parties interested in a site often
need to work with multiple state and federal agencies, as well as local authorities, to
obtain permits and zoning approvals. n35 Because the process can be complicated, it
could extend the timeframe required for the completion of the project, which could
raise its cost.
Only federal government policies solve- uniformity and finality is key
Robertson 99-( Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, J.D., J.S.D., Associate Professor of Law,
Cleveland Marshall College of Law; Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Levin
College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State Univ- summer- 1999- RUTGERS LAW
REVIEW- VOLUME 51
Summer 1999 - ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE: WHY STATE
BROWNFEILD PROGRAMS CAN’T LURE BUSSINESS T THE URBAN CORES
WITHOUT FINDING THE MISSING PIECES- ONLINEpapers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1066718
Uncertain cleanup standards at the state and federal levels also hinder brownfietd
redevelopment" The ubiquitous question “how clean is clean” applies to brownfleld
cleanups just as it does to other cleanups. In addition to problems with imprecise
language regarding currently applicable cleanup standards, developers and
property own- ers wonder whether standards considered clean today will be acceptable in the future" Therefore. prospective brownfield redevelopers fear a lack of
finality.'
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
115
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
A2: States Counterplan
Perm do both – cooperation between the states and federal government is key.
Green 04 (Emily A, Enviro Policy BS, 5 J.L. Soc’y 577, Winter, LN)
An additional barrier to the purchase of a potential brownfield site is the uncertainty of whether a
developer will be subject to state regulation instead of federal regulation. States are principally
responsible for the following: (1) sites that do not contain the level of contamination necessitating federal
action, and (2) sites that a state may choose to regulate in the absence of federal regulation. 53 Flexibility
in the federal system has allowed innovation in brownfield policy at the state level. 54 This permits
states to adhere to federal standards or further expand and refine regulations. Still, the fear of
liability exists on many levels, hindering brownfields from being redeveloped at all. 55 Thus, there is a
need for cooperation between federal and state governments to achieve success. 56
Federal action is needed – the institutionalization of pollution by federal legislation has created
business perceptions freezing brownfield redevelopment
Meyer 99 (Peter, consultant for E.P. Systems Group, a consulting firm specializing in brownfields
redevelopment, December 1999, “Assessment of State Initiatives to Promote Redevelopment of
Brownfields,” online: http://www.huduser.org/publications/econdev/assess.html, accessed July 9, 2008
Major portions of historically significant urban centers, including central cities and older, industrialized
suburbs face growing problems in attracting investment capital for redevelopment of these sites.
Redevelopment might retain or increase employment, and ultimately result in increases in tax
revenues, private income and improved housing and commercial property stocks. However, as the
growing awareness and concern over environmental hazards developed and became
institutionalized in federal legislation, the relative disadvantage of “brownfields” sites increased
and the redevelopment potential of neighborhoods where such properties are located has eroded.
The CP is the status quo – current policy uses state programs.
NC Division of Waste Management 8 (North Carolina…, 7/4,
http://www.ncbrownfields.org/program_faq.asp)
The U.S. EPA began the Brownfields Initiative in 1995 and since that time the states have been
heavily involved in supporting these actions through passage of supportive state statutes. The
federal and state roles in brownfields differ, but they are all designed to encourage the cleanup and reuse
of abandoned contaminated properties referred to as brownfields.The federal program functions to
provide funding to states to develop and operate programs such as this. It also provides grants to
local governments, on a competitive basis, for assessment and cleanup of brownfields sites. The federal
brownfields statute (Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act) became
effective in 2002. It outlines environmental liability and under what circumstances it is deferred to the
state and under what circumstances it remains with the federal government.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
116
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
A2: States Counterplan
States fail – don’t address problems at a community level and tend to prioritize industrial areas
over impoverished ones
Meyer 99 (Peter, consultant for E.P. Systems Group, a consulting firm specializing in brownfields
redevelopment, December 1999, “Assessment of State Initiatives to Promote Redevelopment of
Brownfields,” online: http://www.huduser.org/publications/econdev/assess.html, accessed July 9, 2008
Part of the difficulty in addressing these questions lies in the fact that state brownfield programs focus
on individual brownfield sites, while the real economic development and community improvement
impacts are felt within an area or neighborhood. With state data that was limited to site and project
characteristics, nothing could be said definitively about the effects of VCPs on the regeneration of
distressed neighborhoods. Inferences about possible special impacts on such areas might have been
possible had the projects in the VCPs been identified with respect to their location in distressed areas.
While economic development target area locations were reported, the state priority areas were
more likely to be of exceptional environmental concern or zones of concentrated industrial activity,
rather than neighborhoods suffering particularly high levels of economic distress.
Only the federal government solves investment, strengthens the environmental justice
movement
R. Gregory Roberts -Senior Note & Comment Editor, American University Law Review, Volume 48; J.D. Candidate, American
University- American University Law Review- October, 1998- 48 Am. U.L. Rev. 229- ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT:LEARNING FROM THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT- lexis
The Civil Rights Movement demonstrates that community empowerment strategies are an effective
means of overcoming powerlessness. The tactics employed by the Civil Rights Movement empowered individuals,
communities, and ultimately, a national movement. n219 To succeed, the environmental justice movement must [*268] do the same.
Although specific tactics may differ, n220 the underlying concept of empowering individuals to take control of
the struggle for themselves should be at the core of any environmental justice strategy. n221 In fact, any
empowerment strategies adopted by the environmental justice movement stand a better chance of
success than those embraced by the Civil Rights Movement. First, black communities have in place
many of the institutions established during the Civil Rights Movement. n222 Second, because they have
experience with [*269] collective action through various community groups and institutions, minority
communities may be more responsive to organization efforts. n223 Third, through institutions such as the
Congressional Black Caucus, environmental justice advocates are better able to attract the government's attention to the interests and
concerns of minority communities. n224 Finally, the President has already involved himself in the environmental justice debate through
Executive Order 12,898, thus providing the movement with a degree of national legitimacy.
Federal - state confusion hurts brownfields clean –up efforts
Miral Alena Sigurani- an Arizona Assistant Attorney General in the Tax, Bankruptcy & Collection Section. - December, 2006BROWNFIELDS: CONVERGING GREEN, COMMUNITY AND INVESTMENT CONCERNS.- 43 AZ Attorney 38- State Bar of ArizonaArizona Attorney- lexis nexis
One major disadvantage to redeveloping a brownfield site is the amount of paperwork and number of
approvals required. n34 Parties interested in a site often need to work with multiple state and federal
agencies, as well as local authorities, to obtain permits and zoning approvals. n35 Because the process can be
complicated, it could extend the timeframe required for the completion of the project, which could
raise its cost.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
117
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
A2: States Counterplan
Only federal government policies solve- uniformity and finality is key
Heidi Gorovitz Robertson- Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, J.D., J.S.D., Associate Professor of Law,
Cleveland Marshall College of Law; Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Levin College of
Urban Affairs, Cleveland State Univ- summer- 1999- RUTGERS LAW REVIEW- VOLUME 51
Summer 1999 - ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE: WHY STATE BROWNFEILD
PROGRAMS CAN’T LURE BUSSINESS T THE URBAN CORES WITHOUT FINDING THE
MISSING PIECES- ONLINE- papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1066718
Uncertain cleanup standards at the state and federal levels also hinder brownfietd
redevelopment" The ubiquitous question “how clean is clean” applies to brownfleld cleanups
just as it does to other cleanups. In addition to problems with imprecise language
regarding currently applicable cleanup standards, developers and property own- ers
wonder whether standards considered clean today will be accept- able in the future"
Therefore. prospective brownfield redevelopers fear a lack of finality.'
Perm do both – cooperation between the states and federal government is key.
Green 4 (Emily A, Enviro Policy BS, 5 J.L. Soc’y 577, Winter, LN)
An additional barrier to the purchase of a potential brownfield site is the uncertainty of whether a
developer will be subject to state regulation instead of federal regulation. States are principally
responsible for the following: (1) sites that do not contain the level of contamination necessitating federal
action, and (2) sites that a state may choose to regulate in the absence of federal regulation. 53 Flexibility
in the federal system has allowed innovation in brownfield policy at the state level. 54 This permits
states to adhere to federal standards or further expand and refine regulations. Still, the fear of
liability exists on many levels, hindering brownfields from being redeveloped at all. 55 Thus, there is a
need for cooperation between federal and state governments to achieve success. 56
Federal action is key – the institutionalization of pollution by federal legislation has created
business perceptions freezing brownfield redevelopment
Peter Meyer, consultant for E.P. Systems Group, a consulting firm specializing in brownfields
redevelopment, December 1999, “Assessment of State Initiatives to Promote Redevelopment of
Brownfields,” online: http://www.huduser.org/publications/econdev/assess.html, accessed July 9, 2008
Major portions of historically significant urban centers, including central cities and older, industrialized
suburbs face growing problems in attracting investment capital for redevelopment of these sites.
Redevelopment might retain or increase employment, and ultimately result in increases in tax
revenues, private income and improved housing and commercial property stocks. However, as the
growing awareness and concern over environmental hazards developed and became
institutionalized in federal legislation, the relative disadvantage of “brownfields” sites increased
and the redevelopment potential of neighborhoods where such properties are located has eroded.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
118
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
A2: States Counterplan
The CP is the squo – current policy uses state programs.
NC Division of Waste Management 08 (North Carolina…, 7/4,
http://www.ncbrownfields.org/program_faq.asp)
The U.S. EPA began the Brownfields Initiative in 1995 and since that time the states have been
heavily involved in supporting these actions through passage of supportive state statutes. The
federal and state roles in brownfields differ, but they are all designed to encourage the cleanup and reuse
of abandoned contaminated properties referred to as brownfields.The federal program functions to
provide funding to states to develop and operate programs such as this. It also provides grants to
local governments, on a competitive basis, for assessment and cleanup of brownfields sites. The federal
brownfields statute (Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act) became
effective in 2002. It outlines environmental liability and under what circumstances it is deferred to the
state and under what circumstances it remains with the federal government.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
119
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
A2: States Counterplan
State environmental law lacks citizen suits, killing movements and public involvement while
undermining enforcement.
Strasser 07 (Kurt, CT Law School interim dean, Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review, 34
B.C. Envtl. Aff. L. Rev. 533, LN)
Commentators criticized the UECA for not providing greater public involvement in the form of
citizen suits. 110 An earlier draft of the UECA did provide such a remedy. 111 The argument for them
here is substantial. Local citizens' groups, including environmental groups, are quite concerned that
use restrictions and other requirements of an environmental covenant be enforced, and these groups
are likely to be well positioned to observe activity on the property and respond with an enforcement
action. This fact was much of the reason that the UECA Drafting Committee originally considered them.
Citizen suits are a very common feature of federal environmental law. 112 However, their use by
states is much more mixed; fifteen states have some form of citizen [*553] suits, although the details
are widely varied. 113 In the end, the Drafting Committee was more persuaded by this lack of uniformity
on the state level. With state practice here so non-uniform, this UECA did not appear to be the proper
vehicle to address the question of citizen suits under state law. This is a difficult policy decision and there
is room for reasonable people to disagree. Some states have authorized citizen suits for environmental law
broadly--in these states there will also be citizen suits to enforce environmental covenants. 114 The
Drafting Committee ultimately determined that this matter should be resolved on a state-by-state basis
with reference to broader state policy than that for environmental covenants. 115
States fail – don’t address problems at a community level and tend to prioritize industrial areas
over impoverished ones
Meyer 99 (Peter, consultant for E.P. Systems Group, a consulting firm specializing in brownfields
redevelopment, December 1999, “Assessment of State Initiatives to Promote Redevelopment of
Brownfields,” online: http://www.huduser.org/publications/econdev/assess.html, accessed July 9, 2008
Part of the difficulty in addressing these questions lies in the fact that state brownfield programs focus
on individual brownfield sites, while the real economic development and community improvement
impacts are felt within an area or neighborhood. With state data that was limited to site and project
characteristics, nothing could be said definitively about the effects of VCPs on the regeneration of
distressed neighborhoods. Inferences about possible special impacts on such areas might have been
possible had the projects in the VCPs been identified with respect to their location in distressed areas.
While economic development target area locations were reported, the state priority areas were
more likely to be of exceptional environmental concern or zones of concentrated industrial activity,
rather than neighborhoods suffering particularly high levels of economic distress.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
120
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
CAP Answers
Socialists approve of urban farms as a mechanism
Socialist Alliance’08 Socialist Alliance Climate Change Charter http://www.scribd.com/doc/6494898/Socialist-Alliance-Climate-ChangeCharter
Food production should be decentralized and localized to reduce the energy needed to transport and
refrigerate foods. The Socialist Alliance supports the growth of urban agriculture, especially as many
cities are built on our most fertile lands. Existing farming communities should be encouraged with income,
resources and training to make the transition to organic agriculture. Biodiversity and the survival of
native ecosystems must be promoted in order to preserve our food supplies and the diversity of native
species that make up the “web of life” on this continent. Land clearing and outdated forestry practices
such as old-growth logging are the bigges tcause of greenhouse gas emissions in Tasmania, and account
for 6%of national GHG emissions .Moreover, native forests that have not been logged store up to three
times more carbon than forests thathave been logged. To increase this “carbon sink”capacity, extensive
programs of native-forest planting must be initi-ated.
They call for capitalism to come first --- this is exactly the tool which entrenches racist and
paternalistic dogma.
ROSS, 2000 [Marlon; is Professor of English and Associate Director of the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor, New Literary History 31.4; 827-850]
Touting class or "economic justice" as the fundamental stance for left identity is just another way
of telling everybody else to shut up so I can be heard above the fray. Because of the force of "identity
politics," a leftist white person would be leery of claiming to lead Blacks toward the promised land, a leftist straight
man leery of claiming to lead women or queers, but, for a number of complex rationalizations, we in the middle
class (where all of us writing here currently reside) still have few qualms about volunteering to lead, at least
theoretically, the working class toward "economic justice." What Eric calls here "left fundamentalism," I'd call, at
the risk of sounding harsh, left paternalism. Of the big identity groups articulated through "identity
politics," economic class remains the only identity where a straight white middle-class man can still
feel comfortable claiming himself a leading political voice, and thus he may sometimes
overcompensate by screaming that this is the only identity that really matters--which is the same as
claiming that class is beyond identity. Partly this is because Marxist theory and Marx himself (a
bourgeois intellectual creating the theoretical practice for the workers' revolution) stage the model for
working-class identity as a sort of trans-identification, a magical identity that is transferable to
those outside the group who commit themselves to it wholeheartedly enough. If we look back, we
realize even this magical quality is not special to a history of class struggle, as whites during the New Negro
movements of the early twentieth century felt that they were vanguard race leaders because they had putatively
imbibed some essential qualities of Negroness by cross-identifying with the folk and their culture.
Capitalism cannot solve for sexism and racism unless other areas improve
Lorde ,Audre, Black Lesbian, feminist, Poet, “Sister Outsider: Essays & Speeches by Audre Lorde”
originally from “Sexism: An American Disease in blackface” p. 64
If the problem of Black women are only derivatives of a larger contradiction between capital and labor, then so is
racism, and both must be fought by all of us. The capitalist structure is a many headed monster. I might add here that
in no socialist country that I have visited have I found an absence of racism or of sexism, so the eradication of both
of these diseases seems to involve more than the abolition of capitalism as an institution or political system
University of Kansas
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Urban Agriculture Affirmative
CAP Answers
Cannot view Race in only the lens of Class and Capitalism
Alexander 04 ( Amanda, researcher at the Centre for Civil Society, University of
KwaZulu-Natal. “Representation, Recognition and Race: Evaluating Spaces for the
Reproduction of White Dominance” Oct. 2004
In contemporary discourse, however, these elements have been divorced. Too
often, it is assumed that efforts for economic justice can skip over a racial
dialogue (and leave it to other groups or thinkers). Some have put forth the
argument that class is a stronger factor than race in determining outcomes (here,
it is often argued that the poor are white as well as black, and thus whiteness
does not necessarily correspond with privilege). This argument has three major
flaws. First, it defies social reality, for though there are white poor, it cannot
soundly be argued that their position is the same as black poor. Class and
economic forces – particularly the affects of capitalism – interact differently with
black bodies than they do with white ones. Second, and perhaps more
profoundly, we have come to understand the indivisibility of race and class – that
race and class articulate with each other and cannot be discussed in such a
disparate manner. Finally, it shuts down discussion around issues of race by
pointing out the economic and political success of a handful of minorities. This
line of thought may hold that the United States government is no longer
managing a project of white domination, because Colin Powell and Condoleeza
Rice are in elite positions of power. However, the presence of black faces within
the white dominant power structure does not change the racist logic and practice
that drives such a power configuration. Hence, to discuss race or class
independently of each other – or to argue that one trumps the other – is to
misunderstand the workings of political economy. Sometimes activists will argue
for the centrality of race, to the detriment of class analysis. Race Traitor editor
Noel Ignatiev says in his argument for treason to the white race: “I’m black and
I’m proud is the modern rendition of ‘Workers of all countries, unite!’’ (in
Michaels, 142). When white persons are allowed to consider themselves as
revolutionary by promoting black identity, the economic analysis is weakened
and their own role within the class structure goes unexamined (because it is
considered irrelevant). The failure to recognize the differential impact of class
dynamics upon blacks and whites allows white persons to unquestioningly
assume positions of power and leadership within racial justice movements.
University of Kansas
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CAP Answers
PERM: Marxist conceptions of racism have prevented socialist movements from engaging in antiracist
activity. The only way to break the democratic socialist movement out of this circle is to be sensitized
to the critical importance of antiracist struggles
WEST Honorary chair of the Democratic Socialist of America 1988
Cornell-prof @Princeton University, DSA National Politicall Committee and a member of
its African American Commission; “Toward a Socialist Theory of Racism”;
RACE & ETHNICITY ESERV; http://race.eserver.org/toward-a-theory-of-racism.html
Socialism and Antiracism: Two Inseparable Yet Not Identical Goals
It should be apparent that racist practices directed against black, brown, yellow, and red people are an
integral element of U. S. history, including present day American culture and society. This means not
simply that Americans have inherited racist attitudes and prejudices, but, more importantly, that
institutional forms of racism are embedded in American society in both visible and invisible ways. These
institutional forms exist not only in remnants of de jure job, housing, and educational discrimination and political gerrymandering. They also
manifest themselves in a de facto labor market segmentation, produced by the exclusion of large numbers of peoples of color from the
socioeconomic mainstream. (This exclusion results from limited educational opportunities, devastated families, a disproportionate presence in
the prison population, and widespread police brutality. )
It also should be evident that past Marxist conceptions of racism have often prevented U. S. socialist
movements from engaging in antiracist activity in a serious and consistent manner. In addition, black
suspicion of white-dominated political movements (no matter how progressive) as well as the distance
between these movements and the daily experiences of peoples of color have made it even more
difficult to fight racism effectively. Furthermore, the disproportionate white middle-class composition of contemporary
democratic socialist organizations creates cultural barriers to the participation by peoples of color. Yet this very participation is a vital
precondition for greater white sensitivity to antiracist struggle and to white acknowledgment of just how crucial antiracist struggle is to the U.
S. socialist movement. Progressive organizations often find themselves going around in a vicious circle. Even when they have a great interest in
antiracist struggle, they are unable to attract a critical mass of people of color because of their current predominately white racial and cultural
to join. The only
effective way the contemporary democratic socialist movement can break out of this circle (and it is
possible because the bulk of democratic socialists are among the least racist of Americans) is to be
sensitized to the critical importance of antiracist struggles. Rather what is needed is more widespread
participation by predominantly white democratic socialist organizations in antiracist struggles. A
major focus on antiracist coalition work will not only lead democratic socialists to act upon their belief
in genuine individuality and radical democracy for people around the world; it also will put socialists
in daily contact with peoples of color in common struggle. Bonds of trust can be created only within
concrete contexts of struggle. This interracial interaction guarantees neither love nor friendship. Yet it
can yield more understanding and the realization of two overlapping goals-- democratic socialism and
antiracism. While engaging in antiracist struggles, democratic socialists can also enter into a dialogue
on the power relationships and misconceptions that often emerge in multiracial movements for social
justice in a racist society. Honest and trusting coalition work can help socialists unlearn Eurocentrism
in a self-critical manner and can also demystify the motivations of white progressives in the
movement for social justice. We must frankly acknowledge that a democratic socialist society will not
necessarily eradicate racism. Yet a democratic socialist society is the best hope for alleviating and minimizing racism, particularly
composition. These organizations are then stereotyped as lily white, and significant numbers of people of color refuse
institutional forms of racism. This conclusion depends on a candid evaluation that guards against utopian self-deception. But it also
acknowledges the deep moral commitment on the part of democratic socialists of all races to the dignity of all individuals and peoples--a
concrete antiracist struggle is both
an ethical imperative and political necessity for democratic socialists. It is even more urgent as once
again racist policies and Third World intervention become more acceptable to many Americans. A more
effective democratic socialist movement engaged in antiracist and antiimperialist struggle can help
turn the tide. It depends on how well we understand the past and present, how courageously we act, and how true we remain to our
commitment that impels us to fight for a more libertarian and egalitarian society. Therefore
democratic socialist ideals of freedom, equality, and democracy.
University of Kansas
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CAP Answers
Capitalism needed for world peace
Bandow ’05 “Spreading Capitalism is Good for Peace” Korea Herald, Bandow- special assistant to Reagan and fellow at Cato Institute.
In a world that seems constantly aflame, one naturally asks: What causes peace? Many people, including
U.S. President George W. Bush, hope that spreading democracy will discourage war. But new research
suggests that expanding free markets is a far more important factor, leading to what Columbia
University's Erik Gartzke calls a "capitalist peace." Today's corollary is that creating democracies out of
dictatorships will reduce conflict. This contention animated some support outside as well as inside the United
States for the invasion of Iraq. But Gartzke argues that "the 'democratic peace' is a mirage created by
the overlap between economic and political freedom." That is, democracies typically have freer
economies than do authoritarian states. Thus, while "democracy is desirable for many reasons," he notes
in a chapter in the latest volume of Economic Freedom in the World, created by the Fraser Institute,
"representative governments are unlikely to contribute directly to international peace." Capitalism is by far
the more important factor. The shift from statist mercantilism to high-tech capitalism has transformed
the economics behind war. Markets generate economic opportunities that make war less desirable.
Territorial aggrandizement no longer provides the best path to riches. Free-flowing capital markets and
other aspects of globalization simultaneously draw nations together and raise the economic price of
military conflict. Moreover, sanctions, which interfere with economic prosperity, provides a coercive
step short of war to achieve foreign policy ends. Positive economic trends are not enough to prevent war,
but then, neither is democracy. It long has been obvious that democracies are willing to fight, just usually not
each other. Contends Gartzke, "liberal political systems, in and of themselves, have no impact on whether
states fight." In particular, poorer democracies perform like non-democracies. He explains: "Democracy does
not have a measurable impact, while nations with very low levels of economic freedom are 14 times more
prone to conflict than those with very high levels." Gartzke considers other variables, including alliance
memberships, nuclear deterrence, and regional differences. Although the causes of conflict vary, the
relationship between economic liberty and peace remains. His conclusion hasn't gone unchallenged.
Author R.J. Rummel, an avid proponent of the democratic peace theory, challenges Gartzke's methodology
and worries that it "may well lead intelligent and policy-wise analysts and commentators to draw the wrong
conclusions about the importance of democratization." Gartzke responds in detail, noting that he relied on the
same data as most democratic peace theorists. If it is true that democratic states don't go to war, then it also is
true that "states with advanced free market economies never go to war with each other, either." The point is
not that democracy is valueless. Free political systems naturally entail free elections and are more likely
to protect other forms of liberty - civil and economic, for instance. However, democracy alone doesn't
yield peace. To believe is does is dangerous: There's no panacea for creating a conflict-free world. That
doesn't mean that nothing can be done. But promoting open international markets - that is, spreading
capitalism - is the best means to encourage peace as well as prosperity. If market critics don't realize
the obvious economic and philosophical value of markets - prosperity and freedom - they should
appreciate the unintended peace dividend. Trade encourages prosperity and stability; technological
innovation reduces the financial value of conquest; globalization creates economic interdependence,
increasing the cost of war. Nothing is certain in life, and people are motivated by far more than economics.
But it turns out that peace is good business. And capitalism is good for peace.
University of Kansas
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Urban Agriculture Affirmative
CAP Answers
Our opponents’ representations of Capitalism create it as something that can only be
defeated and replaced by a mass collective movement which they are unable to generate
solvency for and would not resolve the issues that it would purport to address. The
economy can be fragmented, which allows us to see its massive sectors that are un or anticapitalist. Viewing capitalism as a discursive construction allows uis to participate in and
reconsitute society on a daily basis
J.K. Gibson-Graham, 1996. Julie Gibson is Professor of feminist economic Geography at the University of Massachusetts in
Amherst. Katherine Graham is professor and dean of the Faculty of Public Affairs at Carleton. “The End of Capitalism (as we knew it): A
Feminist Critique of Political Economy,” Blackwell Publishers, p.263-4]-AC
One of our goals as Marxists has been to produce a knowledge of capitalism. Yet as “that which is known,” Capitalism has
become the intimate enemy. We have uncloaked the ideologically-clothed, obscure monster, but we have installed a naked and
visible monster in its place. In return for our labors of creation, the monster has robbed us of all force. We hear — and
find it easy to believe — that the left is in disarray. Part of what produces the disarray of the left is the
vision of what the left is arrayed against. When capitalism is represented as a unified system
coextensive with the nation or even the world, when it is portrayed as crowding out all other economic forms, when it
is allowed to define entire societies, it becomes something that can only be defeated and replaced by a
mass collective movement (or by a process of systemic dissolution that such a movement might assist). The revolutionary task of replacing capitalism now seems
outmoded and unrealistic, yet we do not seem to have an alternative conception of class transformation to take its place. The old political economic “systems” and “structures” that
call forth a vision of revolution as systemic replacement still seem to be dominant in the Marxist political imagination. The New World Order is often resented as political
fragmentation founded upon economic unification. In this vision the economy appears as the last stronghold of unity and singularity in a world of diversity and plurality. But why
the economy be fragmented too? If we theorized it as fragmented in the United States, we could
begin to see a huge state sector (incorporating a variety of forms of appropriation of surplus labor), a very large sector
of self-employed and family-based producers (most noncapitalist), a huge household sector (again, quite various
can’t
in terms of forms of exploitation, with some households moving towards communal or collective appropriation and others operating in a
traditional mode in which one adult appropriates surplus labor from another). None of these things is easy to see or to theorize as
consequential in so-called capitalist social formations. If capitalism takes up the available social space, there’s no
room for anything else. If capitalism cannot coexist, there’s no possibility of anything else . If capitalism is
large, other things appear small and inconsequential. If capitalism functions as a unity, it cannot be partially or
locally replaced. My intent is to help create the discursive conditions under which socialist or other
noncapitalist construction becomes a “realistic” present activity rather than a ludicrous or utopian
future goal. To achieve this I must smash Capitalism and see it in a thousand pieces . I must make its unity a
fantasy, visible as a denial of diversity and change. In the absence of Capitalism, I might suggest a different object of socialist politics.
Perhaps we might be able to focus some of our transformative energies on the exploitation and surplus
distribution that go on around us in so many forms and in which we participate in various ways . In the
household, in the so-called workplace, in the community, surplus labor is produced, appropriated, and distributed every day by ourselves
and by others. Marx made these processes visible but they have been obscured by the discourse of Capitalism, with its vision of
two great classes locked in millennial struggle. Compelling and powerful though it might be, this discourse does not allow for a
variety of forms of exploitation and distribution or for the diversity of class positions and
consciousnesses that such processes might participate in creating. If we can divorce our ideas of class
from systemic social conceptions, and simultaneously divorce our ideas of class transformation from
projects of systemic transformation, we may be able to envision local and proximate socialisms .
Defining socialism as the communal production, appropriation and distribution of surplus labor, we
could encounter and construct it at home, at work, at large. These “thinly defined” socialisms wouldn’t
remake our societies overnight in some total and millennial fashion (Cullenberg 1992) but they could
participate in constituting and reconstituting them on a daily basis . They wouldn’t be a panacea for all the ills that
we love to heap on the doorstep of Capitalism, but they could be visible and replicable now.23 To step outside the discourse of
Capitalism, to abjure its powers and transcend the limits it has placed on socialist activity, is not to step outside Marxism as I
understand it. Rather it is to divorce Marxism from one of its many and problematic marriages — the
marriage to “the economy” in its holistic and self-sustaining form. This marriage has spawned a healthy lineage
within the Marxist tradition and has contributed to a wide range of political movements and successes. Now I am suggesting that the
marriage is no longer fruitful or, more precisely, that its recent offspring are monstrous and frail. Without delineating the innumerable
grounds for bringing the marriage to an end, I would like to mark its passing,24 and to ask myself and others not
to confuse its passing with the passing of Marxism itself. For Marxism directs us to consider
exploitation, and that is something that has not passed away.
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. In this way noncapitalism is always suppressed and marginalized. Essentialist views of
capitalism reproduce the systems they criticize.
J.K. Gibson-Graham, 1996. Julie Gibson is Professor of feminist economic Geography at the University of Massachusetts in
Amherst. Katherine Graham is professor and dean of the Faculty of Public Affairs at Carleton. “The End of Capitalism (as we knew it): A
Feminist Critique of Political Economy,” Blackwell Publishers, p.7-11]-AC
Capitalism’s others fail to measure up to it as the true form of economy: its feminized other, the household economy, may be seen to
lack its efficiency and rationality; its humane other, socialism, may be seen to lack its productivity; other forms of economy lack its
global extensiveness, or its inherent tendency to dominance and expansion. No other form displays its systemic qualities or its capacity
for self- reproduction (indeed projects of theorizing noncapitalism frequently founder upon the analogical imperative of representing an
economic totality, complete with crisis., dynamics, logics and “laws of motion”). Thus despite their ostensible variety, noncapitalist
forms of economy often present themselves as a homogeneous insufficiency rather than as positive and differentiated others. To account
for the demotion and devaluation of noncapitalism’4 we must invoke the constitutive or performative force of economic representation.
For depictions of capitalism — whether prevalent and persistent or rare and deliquescent — position noncapitalism in
relations of subsumption, containment, supersession, replication, opposition and complementarity to capitalism as the
quintessential economic To take a few examples from a list that is potentially infinite; (1) Capitalism appears as the
“hero” of the industrial development narrative, the inaugural subject of “history,” the bearer of the future, of modernity, of universality. Powerful, generative, uniquely sufficient to
the task of social transformation,’6 capitalism liberates humanity from the struggle with nature. (In its corresponding role as antihero, capitalist development bears the primary
responsibility for underdevelopment and environmental degradation.) (2) Capitalism is enshrined at the pinnacle of social evolution. There it brings — or comes together with — the
end of scarcity, of traditional social distinctions, of ignorance and superstition, of antidemocratic or primitive political forms (this is the famous social countenance of
(3) Capitalism exists as a unified system or
body, bounded, hierarchically ordered, vitalized by a growth imperative, and governed by a telos of
reproduction. Integrated, homogeneous, coextensive with the space of the social, capitalism is the
unitary “economy” addressed by macroeconomic policy and regulation. Though it is prone to crises
(diseases), it is also capable of recovery or restoration. (4) Capitalism is an architecture or structure of power, which is conferred by ownership
modernization).’7 The earthly kingdom of modernism is built upon a capitalist economic foundation.
and by managerial or financial control. Capitalist exploitation is thus an aspect or effect of domination, and firm size and spatial scope an index of power (quintessentially embodied
Capitalism is the phallus or “master term” within a system of social differentiation.
Capitalist industrialization grounds the distinction between core (the developed world) and periphery (the soin the multinational corporation). (5)
called Third World). It defines the household as the space of “consumption” (of capitalist commodities) and of “reproduction” (of the capitalist workforce) rather than as a space of
Capitalism confers meaning upon subjects and other social sites in relation to
itself, as the contents of its container, laid out upon its grid, identified and valued with respect to its
definitive being. Complexly generated social processes of commodification, urbanization, internationalization, proletarianization are viewed as aspects of capitalism’s
noncapitalist production and consumption.
self-realization. (6) Capitalism’s visage is plastic and malleable, its trajectory protean and inventive.18 It undergoes periodic crises and emerges regenerated in novel manifestations
capitalism is
unfettered by local attachments, labor unions, or national-level regulation. The global (capitalist) economy is
the new realm of the absolute, the not contingent, from which social possibility is dictated or by which it is
constrained. In this formulation economic determinism is reborn and relocated, transferred from its traditional home in the “economic base” to the
international space of the pure economy (the domain of the global finance sector and of the all powerful multinational corporation). (8 ) It is but one step from
global hegemony to capital as absolute presence: “a fractal attractor whose operational arena is
immediately coextensive with the social field” (Massumi 1993: 132), “an enormous. . . monetary mass that
circulates through foreign exchange and across borders,”“a worldwide axiomatic ” (Deleuze and Guattari 1987: 453)
(thus Fordism is succeeded by post-Fordism, organized by disorganized capitalism, competitive by monopoly or global capitalism). (7) Ultimately
engaged in “the relentless saturation of any remaining voids and empty places” (Jameson 1991: 412), “appropriating” individuals to its circuits (Grossberg 1992: 132). Here the
Capitalism becomes
the everything everywhere of contemporary cultural representation . If this catalogue seems concocted from exaggerations and
language of flows attests not only to the pervasiveness and plasticity of capital but to its ultimate freedom from the boundedness of Identity.
omissions, that will not surprise us.’9 For we have devised it in line with our purposes, and have left out all manner of counter and alternative representations. Indeed, as our critics
sometimes charge, we have constructed a “straw man” — or more accurately a bizarre and monstrous being that will never be found in pure form in any other text.2° The question
what to do with the monster? Should we refine it , cut it down to size, render it once again
acceptable, unremarkable, invisibly visible? Should we resituate it among its alter and counter
representations, hoping thereby to minimize or mask its presence in social and cultural thought? These are familiar strategies for dealing with something so gauche and
ungainly, so clearly and crudely larger than life. But of course there are alternative ways of disposing of the creature , perhaps more
then becomes,
conducive to its permanent relegation. Might we not take advantage of its exaggerated and outlandish presence, and the obviousness that attends it? We can see — it has been placed
before us — that a (ridiculous) monster is afoot. It has consequently become “obvious” that our usual strategy is not to banish or slay it, but rather to tame it: hedge it with
qualifications, rive it with contradictions, discipline it with contingencies of politics or culture; make it more “realistic” and reasonable, more complex, less embarrassing, less
does not necessarily address the discursive features
and figurings that render capitalism superior to its noncapitalist others. Capitalism might still relate to
noncapitalist economic sites (in the so-called Third World and in “backward” regions and sectors in the developed world)
through images of penetration. Its body could continue to “cover” the space of the social, so that
everything noncapitalist was also capitalist (not of course a reciprocal relation). It could still be inherently
capable of initiating thoroughgoing (perhaps dysfunctional) social transformation, relegating noncapitalism
to a space of necessary weakness and defeat. It might still be driven by internal dynamics of expansion
or regeneration, taking advantage of the relative vitality and longevity such imperatives confer. And it
could still figure as a systemic totality, producing economic monism as an implication or effect . It seems
quite likely, then, that noncapitalism could continue to be suppressed or marginalized by a tamer beast . In
outrageous. But where does such a process of domestication leave us? Unfortunately, it
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the hierarchical relation of capitalism to noncapitalism lies (entrapped) the possibility of theorizing
economic difference, of supplanting the discourse of capitalist hegemony with a plurality and
heterogeneity of economic forms. Liberating that possibility is an anti-essentialist project, and perhaps the
principal aim of this book.2’ But it is no simple matter to know how to proceed. Casting about for a way to begin we have found feminist and other anti-essentialist projects of
rethinking identity and social hegemony particularly fruitful.,
Universal politics are the ultimate form of violence – exclusion of particular struggles
assures literal death for persons who do not join the affirmatives struggle
Butler Professor of Rhetoric at Berkeley 2000 Judith, Contingency, Hegemony, Universality, page 21-22
Although the individual works and lives under a regime which calls itself ‘universality’ and ‘absolute
freedom’, the individual cannot find [themselves] himself in the universal work of absolute freedom.
Indeed, this failure of the individual to find a place in this absolute system (a critique of the Terror that
anticipates Kierkegaard’s critique of Hegel himself) exposes the limits to this notion of universality, and
hence belies its claim to absoluteness. In Hegel’s view, to perform a deed one must become individuated;
universal freedom, deindividuated, cannot perform a deed. All it can do is to vent its fury, the fury of
destruction. Thus, within the condition of absolute terror, actual self-consciousness becomes the opposite
to universal freedom, and the universal is exposed as qualified, which is to say that the universal proves to
be a false universal. Because there is no room for self-consciousness or the individual under these
conditions, and because no deed can be performed that conforms with the norm of mediated selfexpression, any ‘deed’ that does appear is radically disfigured and disfiguring. For Hegel, the only deed
that can appear is an anti-deed, destruction itself, a nothingness that comes of a nothingness. In his view,
the sole work and deed of universal freedom is therefore death (para. 360).
Not only is the individual nullified and, therefore, dead, but this death has both literal and metaphorical
meanings. That individuals were easily killed under the Reign of Terror for the sake of ‘absolute freedom’
is well-documented. Moreover, there were individuals who survived, but they are not ‘individuals’ in any
normative sense. Deprived of recognition and of the power to externalize themselves through deeds, such
individuals become nullities whose sole act is to nullify the world that has nullified them. If we are to ask:
What kind of freedom is this?, the answer Hegel offers is that it is ‘the empty point of absolutely free
self’, ‘the coldest and meanest of all deaths’, no more significant than ‘cutting off a head of cabbage or
swallowing a mouthful of water’ (para. 590).**edited for gendered language **
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Referring to the US or any economy as capitalist is a violent act of naming that erases the
heterogeneous complexity of the economy
J.K. Gibson-Graham, 2001. Julie Gibson is Professor of feminist economic Geography at the University of Massachusetts in
Amherst. Katherine Graham is professor and dean of the Faculty of Public Affairs at Carleton. “An Ethics of the Local,”
http://communityeconomies.org/papers/rethink/rethinkp1.pdf ]-AC
I want to turn now to thinking about how we as local subjects might cultivate ourselves in accordance with the principles of a local
ethics, and to describe as a vehicle for that cultivation process a multi-continental program of research that is attempting to create social
and discursive spaces in which ethical practices of self-formation can occur. In introducing that research program, I invoke the term
“politics”—because I see these practices of resubjectivation or making ourselves anew as ultimately (if not simply) political (Connolly
1999).7 The research projects I will describe are focused on transforming ourselves as local economic
subjects, who are acted upon and subsumed by the global economy, into subjects with economic
capacities, who enact and create a diverse economy through daily practices both habitual (and thus
unconscious) and consciously intentional. But these practices of self-transformation rely on an initial and somewhat difficult move.
If we are to cultivate a new range of capacities in the domain of economy, we need first to be able to see
noncapitalist activities and subjects (including ones we admire) as visible and viable in the economic terrain.
This involves supplanting representations of economic sameness and replication with images of
economic difference and diversification. Feminist economic theorists have bolstered our confidence
that such a representation is both possible and productive. Based on a variety of empirical undertakings, they argue
that the noncommodity sector (in which unpaid labor produces goods and services for nonmarket circulation) accounts for
30-50 percent of total output in both rich and poor countries (Ironmonger 1996). According to the familiar definition
of capitalism as a type of commodity production, this means that a large portion of social wealth is noncapitalist in
origin. And even the commodity sector is not necessarily capitalist—commodities are just goods and
services produced for a market. Slaves in the antebellum U.S. south produced cotton and other commodities, and in the
contemporary U.S. worker-owned collectives, selfemployed people, and slaves in the prison industry all produce goods and services for
the market, but not under capitalist relations of production.8 Arguably, then, less than half of the total product of the U.S.
economy is produced under capitalism. From this perspective, referring to the U.S. or any economy as
capitalist is a violent act of naming that erases from view the heterogeneous complexity of the economy .
The particularities that are excluded by their notion of the universal become less then
human and open to annihilation
Butler Professor of Rhetoric at Berkeley 2000 Judith, Contingency, Hegemony, Universality, page 23
Although universality at first denoted that which is self-identical to all human beings, it loses that
identification as a consequence of its refusal to accommodate all humans within its purview. It
becomes not only split between an official and spectral universality, but it becomes dismembered
into an estate system which reflects the divided character of the will and the discontinuities
inherent in this version of universality. Those who are dispossessed or remain radically
unrepresented by the general will or the universal do not rise to the level of the recognizably
human within its terms. The ‘human’ who is outside that general will is subject to annihilation by
it, but this is not an annihilation from which meaning can be derived: its annihilation is nihilism.
In Hegel’s terms: “its negation is the death that is without meaning, the sheer terror of the
negative that contains nothing positive…’ (para. 594).
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The negative is the ultimate act of black mail because it engages in blatant militarism and
destruction of the other
Robinson, PhD, School of Politics, and Tormey, Prof Politics and Critical Theory at U of Nottingham, 2003
(Andrew and Simon, What is Not to be Done! Everything you wanted to know about Lenin, and (sadly)
weren’t afraid to ask Zizek, http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.tormey/articles/Zizeklenin.pdf )
Zizek’s Lenin takes his place amongst the various elements in Zizek’s theory which operate as a
conservative pull on the possibility of a transformative politics. Basically, Zizek is telling left radicals to
abandon the notion of the state - even an authoritarian or totalitarian state - as a source of unwanted
violence and oppression. Instead, he urges his readers to see the state as part of the solution to, rather than
the problem of, reorganising social life. The state is a useful ally because it is the instrument through
which to impose the Good Terror. Zizek denounces anti-statism as idealistic and hypocritical (RL 16, FA
171, DSST 271), and he attacks the anti-capitalist movement for its lack of political centralisation (RL
20). He does not offer any alternative to the violence of the existing state, or rather, the alternative
he offers is (in his own phrase) a replacement of Bad with Worse. In Zizek’s world, to misquote an
anarchist slogan, ‘whoever you fight for, the state always wins’. Opponents of imperialist war and the
arms trade, of police racism and repression against demonstrators, will find no alternative in Zizek;
while he may oppose the acts of existing states, his own preferred institutions look remarkably similar.
He offers no alternative to statist violence, only a new militarism, a Good Terror and yet another
Cheka. In this, he goes further even than Lenin, who in The State and Revolution committed himself, at
least on paper, to the eventual elimination of the state. Here is one absolute Zizek never suspends, the
universal which remains operative at the very heart of his own theory.
In a memorable cartoon, Wildcat insists: ‘I don’t just want freedom from the capitalists. I also want
freedom from people fit to take over’ (ABC 24). This sums up what is wrong with Zizek’s position: for
all his radical posturing, he restores the same kind of oppressive logic which operates in the present
social system. Granted, he wishes it to operate under the banner of a new master-signifier, and to achieve
such a displacement there needs to be a revolution. However, his entire project is geared towards the
creation of people ‘fit to take over’, prepared to do what is necessary to restore order and make sure that
the core dogmas of the Lacanian schema are not threatened by revolutionary energies which exceed
‘order’. In this way, Zizek acts as a representative of the strand of psychoanalysis which operates as
a normalising practice, entrapping desire and existence within the Oedipal cage.
This places him firmly within the ‘party of order’, not within the ‘party of anarchy’, the proletariat (see
Marx, 18th Brumaire p. 19). He may not be a ‘liberal’, but he still has little to offer politically, besides a
politics of domination. Perhaps, then, there is a need to take up against Zizek the clarion-call he sounds
against other theorists. He expects his reader to respond to his blackmail: stop shirking the Act, or
you are not a committed revolutionary! He counterposes this to the rightist blackmail: stop supporting
revolution, or you are a totalitarian! In this context, one should remember his call, during the Balkans
wars, to reject the ‘double blackmail’ (****). The path to a committed radicalism, Zizek rightly
observes, does not lead through the ‘moderation’ and ‘reasonableness’ of quasi-liberal politics. At the
same time, however, it does not lead through the Zizekian Act either. It lies in the flows of desire and
activity which exceed Zizek just as much as they exceed his opponents in their rejection of the traps of
state, Party and master-signifier. It lies with a demand for the ‘impossible’ which is not a demand for
Nothingness, but for new openings, greater possibilities and a freedom which is lived actively and without
the hierarchy and subordination we would argue is implicit to any Zizekian schema.
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Evaluation of consequences is the utmost ethical act – their ethic allows infinite violence
(Michael, Professor of International Politics at the University of Wales—Aberystwyth,
The Realist Tradition and the Limits of International Relations, p. 174-176)
Williams 2005
A commitment to an ethic of consequences reflects a deeper ethic of criticism, of ‘self-clarification’, and thus of
reflection upon the values adopted by an individual or a collectivity. It is part of an attempt to make critical evaluation an intrinsic element of
responsibility. Responsibility to this more fundamental ethic gives the ethic of consequences meaning. Consequentialism and responsibility are
here drawn into what Schluchter, in terms that will be familiar to anyone conversant with constructivism in International Relations, has called a
‘reflexive principle’. In the wilful Realist vision, scepticism and consequentialism are linked in an attempt to construct not
just a more substantial vision of political responsibility, but also the kinds of actors who might adopt it, and the kinds
of social structures that might support it. A consequentialist ethic is not simply a choice adopted by actors: it is a means of trying to
foster particular kinds of self-critical individuals and societies, and in so doing to encourage a means by which one can justify and foster a politics
of responsibility. The ethic of responsibility in wilful Realism thus involves a commitment to both autonomy and
limitation, to freedom and restraint, to an acceptance of limits and the criticism of limits. Responsibility clearly
involves prudence and an accounting for current structures and their historical evolution; but it is not limited to this, for it seeks ultimately the
creation of responsible subjects within a philosophy of limits. Seen in this light, the Realist commitment to objectivity appears quite differently.
Objectivity in terms of consequentialist analysis does not simply take the actor or action as given, it is a political practice — an attempt to foster a
responsible self, undertaken by an analyst with a commitment to objectivity which is itself based in a desire to foster a politics of responsibility.
Objectivity in the sense of coming to terms with the ‘reality’ of contextual conditions and likely outcomes of
action is not only necessary for success, it is vital for self-reflection, for sustained engagement with the
practical and ethical adequacy of one’s views. The blithe, self-serving, and uncritical stances of abstract moralism or
rationalist objectivism avoid self-criticism by refusing to engage with the intractability of the world ‘as it is’.
Reducing the world to an expression of their theoretical models, political platforms, or ideological programmes, they
fail to engage with this reality, and thus avoid the process of self-reflection at the heart of responsibility. By
contrast, Realist objectivity takes an engagement with this intractable ‘object’ that is not reducible to one’s wishes or will as a necessary
condition of ethical engagement, self-reflection, and self-creation.7 Objectivity is not a naïve naturalism in the sense of scientific laws or
rationalist calculation; it is a necessary engagement with a world that eludes one’s will. A recognition of the limits imposed by
‘reality’ is a condition for a recognition of one’s own limits — that the world is not simply an extension of
one’s own will. But it is also a challenge to use that intractability as a source of possibility, as providing a set
of openings within which a suitably chastened and yet paradoxically energised will to action can responsibly be pursued. In the wilful Realist
tradition, the essential opacity of both the self and the world are taken as limiting principles. Limits upon understanding provide chastening
parameters for claims about the world and actions within it. But they also provide challenging and creative openings within
which diverse forms of life can be developed: the limited unity of the self and the political order is the
precondition for freedom. The ultimate opacity of the world is not to be despaired of: it is a condition of
possibility for the wilful, creative construction of selves and social orders which embrace the diverse human
potentialities which this lack of essential or intrinsic order makes possible.8 But it is also to be aware of the less salutary possibilities this
involves. Indeterminacy is not synonymous with absolute freedom — it is both a condition of, and imperative toward, responsibility.
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Psychoanalytic critique causes passivity and destroys political struggle
Paul Gordon, psychotherapist living and working in London, Race & Class, 2001, v. 42, n. 4, p. 30-1
The postmodernists' problem is that they cannot live with disappointment. All the tragedies of the political project of
emancipation -- the evils of Stalinism in particular -- are seen as the inevitable product of men and women trying to
create a better society. But, rather than engage in a critical assessment of how, for instance, radical political
movements go wrong, they discard the emancipatory project and impulse itself. The postmodernists, as
Sivanandan puts it, blame modernity for having failed them: `the intellectuals and academics have fled into discourse and
deconstruction and representation -- as though to interpret the world is more important than to change it, as
though changing the interpretation is all we could do in a changing world'.58 To justify their flight from a politics holding
out the prospect of radical change through self-activity, the disappointed intellectuals find abundant intellectual
alibis for themselves in the very work they champion, including, in Cohen's case, psychoanalysis. What Marshall
Berman says of Foucault seems true also of psychoanalysis; that it offers `a world-historical alibi' for the passivity
and helplessness felt by many in the 1970s, and that it has nothing but contempt for those naive enough to imagine that it
might be possible for modern human- kind to be free. At every turn for such theorists, as Berman argues, whether in
sexuality, politics, even our imagination, we are nothing but prisoners: there is no freedom in Foucault's world, because his
language forms a seamless web, a cage far more airtight than anything Weber ever dreamed of, into which no life can break . . . There is no
point in trying to resist the oppressions and injustices of modern life, since even our dreams of freedom only add more links to our chains;
however, once we grasp the futility of it all, at least we can relax.59 Cohen's political defeatism and his conviction in the
explanatory power of his new faith of psychoanalysis lead him to be contemptuous and dismissive of any
attempt at political solidarity or collective action. For him, `communities' are always `imagined', which, in his view,
means based on fantasy, while different forms of working-class organisation, from the craft fraternity to the revolutionary
group, are dismissed as `fantasies of self-sufficient combination'.60 In this scenario, the idea that people might come
together, think together, analyse together and act together as rational beings is impossible . The idea of a
genuine community of equals becomes a pure fantasy, a `symbolic retrieval' of something that never existed in the first place:
`Community is a magical device for conjuring something apparently solidary out of the thin air of modern times, a
mechanism of re-enchantment.' As for history, it is always false, since `We are always dealing with invented traditions.'61
Now, this is not only nonsense, but dangerous nonsense at that. Is history `always false'? Did the Judeocide happen or
did it not? And did not some people even try to resist it? Did slavery exist or did it not, and did not people resist
that too and, ultimately, bring it to an end? And are communities always `imagined'? Or, as Sivanandan states, are
they beaten out on the smithy of a people's collective struggle? Furthermore, all attempts to legislate against
ideology are bound to fail because they have to adopt `technologies of surveillance and control identical to
those used by the state'. Note here the Foucauldian language to set up the notion that all `surveillance' is bad. But is it?
No society can function without surveillance of some kind. The point, surely, is that there should be a public conversation
about such moves and that those responsible for implementing them be at all times accountable. To equate, as Cohen does, a council poster
about `Stamping out racism' with Orwell's horrendous prophecy in 1984 of a boot stamping on a human face is ludicrous and insulting.
(Orwell's image was intensely personal and destructive; the other is about the need to challenge not individuals, but a collective evil.) Cohen
reveals himself to be deeply ambivalent about punitive action against racists, as though punishment or other firm action against them (or
anyone else transgressing agreed social or legal norms) precluded `understanding' or even help through psychotherapy. It is indeed a strange
kind of `anti-racism' that portrays active racists as the `victims', those who are in need of `help'. But this is where Cohen's argument ends up.
In their move from politics to the academy and the world of `discourse', the postmodernists may have simply exchanged one
grand narrative, historical materialism, for another, psychoanalysis .62 For psychoanalysis is a grand
narrative, par excellence. It is a theory that seeks to account for the world and which recognises few limits on its
explanatory potential. And the claimed radicalism of psychoanalysis, in the hands of the postmodernists at
least, is not a radicalism at all but a prescription for a politics of quietism, fatalism and defeat . Those
wanting to change the world, not just to interpret it, need to look elsewhere.
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Self-determination of identity solves all their liberal objections – what matters is confronting the
forces that constrain our ability to self-determine
Alcoff, Linda 2006, Feminist Professor, The Political Critique of Identity: from Visible Identities: Race,
Gender, and the Self.
Why is it assumed that social identities require a "solution"? This only makes sense given the liberal
conception of the self as requiring autonomy from identity in order to have rationality. After all, the fact
that a social identity was created under conditions of exclusion or oppression does not by itself entail that
its features are pernicious: oppression can produce pathology without a doubt but it can also produce
strength, perseverance, and empathy, and certainly solidarity is not an inherent evil. Moreover, the desire
to be free of oppressive stereotypes does not necessarily lead to the desire to be free of all identity; it can
just as easily lead to the desire to have more accurate characterizations of one's identity and to have the
collective freedom to develop the identity through developing culture and community as well as the
individual freedom to interpret its meaning in one's own life.
The critique of identity politics is posed in ways to increase white supremacy
hooks, 1990
bell, Black feminist theorist and Professor at Berea College, “Postmodern Blackness,1990
The postmodern critique of "identity," though relevant for renewed black liberation struggle, is often
posed in ways that are problematic. Given a pervasive politic of white supremacy which seeks to prevent
the formation of radical black subjectivity, we cannot cavalierly dismiss a concern with identity politics.
Any critic exploring the radical potential of postmodernism as it relates to racial difference and racial
domination would need to consider the implications of a critique of identity for oppressed groups. Many
of us are struggling to find new strategies of resistance. We must engage decolonization as a critical
practice if we are to have meaningful chances of survival even as we must simultaneously cope with the
loss of political grounding which made radical activism more possible. I am thinking here about the
postmodernist critique of essentialism as it pertains to the construction of "identity" as one example.
Their criticism of identity politics is simplistic – it is used to destroy coalitions and to excuse
continued oppression of all minorities
Alcoff, Linda 2006, Feminist Professor, The Political Critique of Identity: from Visible Identities: Race,
Gender, and the Self.
Without doubt, the critique of identity has worked effectively, and justifiably, against some of the
problematic interpretations of identity politics, where identity is construed in reductionist and simplistic
fashion and where its link to politics is rendered overly determinist. Nonetheless, I believe the more
significant effect of the critique has been a negative one, in discrediting all identity-based movements, in
blaming minority movements for the demise of the left, and especially in weakening the prospects for
unity between majority and minority groups, contrary to the beliefs of such theorists as Schlesinger and
Gitlin. Although the critique purports to be motivated by just this desire for unity, it works to undermine
the credibility of those who have "obvious" identities and significantly felt identity-attachments from
being able to represent the majority, as if their very identity attachments and the political commitments
that flow from these attachments will inhibit their leadership capabilities. It also inhibits their ability to
participate in coalition politics as who they fully are. In this way, the critique of identity has operated to
vindicate the broad white public's disinclination to accept political leadership from those whose identity is
minority in any respect: Catholic or Jewish, Black or Latino, Asian or Arab American.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
132
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
A2: Econ Disads
The American economic system depends on the systematic racism – the negative position
perpetuates oppression
Springer, Institute for Recovery from Racisms, 2006
(Pearlette E., Catholic Diocese of Gary, Indiana,
www.dcgary.org/pastoral/African/antiracism/articles/econracism.htm, 2/25/07
Whether we admit it or not, the United States of America is a Christian country. Contrary to Christian
teaching, European immigrants escaping from poverty and religious persecution stole and claimed this
country, never admitting that intelligent, civilized people – grounded in their God – already lived on the
land. Shortly thereafter, Africans – bought and sold as property – became a huge piece of the nation’s
economic system.
When it was decided to stop killing native peoples and enslaving African peoples (not because it was
wrong or sinful), the native people were placed on reservations (similar to prisoner of war camps) and the
African slaves were set free on the streets with no place to go, no food to eat, no roof or walls for shelter.
Needing more cheap labor, the Chinese were brought over to replace the African slave to build the
railroad system in the West on land stolen by white investors (bought from people who did not own it).
So ended the 19th century.
No separation exists between U.S. economics and racism yet; today the U.S. economic system still
depends on the heavy burdens of racism. “Racism” is the misuse of institutional power plus prejudice.
The “misuse of institutional power” is the system set in place and kept in place to oppress people. Plus
prejudice is to deliberately oppress people of color – the red people (Native Americans), yellow people
(Asians), brown people (Latinos), and black people (Africans and people of African descent) – for the
benefit of white people.
African Americans (people whose ancestors were slaves) and Native Americans (people placed in prison
camps known as reservations) have had the most difficult time obtaining equality in the United States:
equality in housing, in employment, in legal protection, in our churches, and in education. People-ofcolor communities continue to live under the thumb of institutional and systemic racism.
The U.S. economic system places the majority of people of color at the bottom of the economic ladder
with little or no possibility of making an upward move toward success. In the past, white “landowners”
justified inequality based on skin color and today white “landowners” (our institutions, such as corporate
America, Social Security, banking, insurance, legal system, the U.S. Catholic Church, etc.) still justify
and control inequality based on skin color.
People of color are entitled to equal status under a constitution that declares we are all free, equal human
beings under the law. Racism will destroy us all.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
133
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
A2: Fairness
Claims of fairness, objectivity, predictability are ways to marginalize the out group and silence our
voices
Delgado, Law Prof at U. of Colorado, 1992 [Richard, “Shadowboxing: An Essay On Power,” In Cornell
Law Review, May]
We have cleverly built power's view of the appropriate standard of conduct into the very term fair.
Thus, the stronger party is able to have his/her way and see her/himself as principled at the same
time.
Imagine, for example, a man's likely reaction to the suggestion that subjective considerations -- a woman's
mood, her sense of pressure or intimidation, how she felt about the man, her unexpressed fear of reprisals
if she did not go ahead-- ought to play a part in determining whether the man is guilty of rape. Most men
find this suggestion offensive; it requires them to do something they are not accustomed to doing. "Why,"
they say, "I'd have to be a mind reader before I could have sex with anybody?" "Who knows, anyway,
what internal inhibitions the woman might have been harboring?" And "what if the woman simply
changed her mind later and charged me with rape?"
What we never notice is that women can "read" men's minds perfectly well. The male perspective is right
out there in the world, plain as day, inscribed in culture, song, and myth -- in all the prevailing narratives.
These narratives tell us that men want and are entitled [*820] to sex, that it is a prime function of women
to give it to them, and that unless something unusual happens, the act of sex is ordinary and blameless.
We believe these things because that is the way we have constructed women, men, and "normal" sexual
intercourse.
Yet society and law accept only this latter message (or something like it), and not the former, more
nuanced ones, to mean refusal. Why? The "objective" approach is not inherently better or more fair.
Rather, it is accepted because it embodies the sense of the stronger party, who centuries ago found
himself in a position to dictate what permission meant. Allowing ourselves to be drawn into
reflexive, predictable arguments about administrability, fairness, stability, and ease of determination
points us away from what [*821] really counts: the way in which stronger parties have managed to
inscribe their views and interests into "external" culture, so that we are now enamored with that way
of judging action. First, we read our values and preferences into the culture; then we pretend to consult
that culture meekly and humbly in order to judge our own acts.
University of Kansas
Tournament 2009
134
Urban Agriculture Affirmative
Poverty Adv
Independently, poverty outweighs any other impact in the round
Gilligan 96
James, professor of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, Director of the Center for the Study of Violence, and a member of the Academic
Advisory Council of the National Campaign Against Youth Violence. Violence: Our Deadly Epidemic and its Causes.. P. 191-196.
The 14 to 18 million deaths a year caused by structural violence compare with about 100,000 deaths per year
from armed conflict. Comparing this frequency of deaths from structural violence to the frequency of those caused by major military and
political violence, such as World War II (an estimated 49 million military and civilian deaths, including those by genocide—or about eight million
per year, 1939-1945), the Indonesian massacre of 1965-66 (perhaps 575,000) deaths), the Vietnam war (possibly two million, 1954-1973), and
even a hypothetical nuclear exchange between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. (232 million), it was clear that even war cannot begin to
compare with structural violence, which continues year after year. In other words, every fifteen years, on the average, as many people
die because of relative poverty as would be killed by the Nazi genocide of the Jews over a six-year period. This is, in effect, the equivalent
of an ongoing, unending, in fact accelerating, thermonuclear war, or genocide, perpetrated on the weak and
poor every year of every decade, throughout the world. Structural violence is also the main cause of behavioral
violence on a socially and epidemiologically significant scale (from homicide and suicide to war and genocide).
The question as to which of the two forms of violence—structural or behavioral—is more important, dangerous, or lethal is moot, for they are
inextricably related to each other, as cause to effect.
White Supremacy and Class inequality create harsh reality for the black oppressed
West 01 (Cornel, Theologian and Scholar of Political Science “Race Matter” Preface 2001 pXIVXV
Yet the legacy of white supremacy lingers—often in the face of the very denials of its reality. The
most visible examples are racial profiling, drug convictions (black people consume 12 percent of illegal
drugs in America yet suffer nearly 70 percent of its convictions!) and death row executions. And the less
visible ones are unemployment levels, infant mortality rates, special education placements, and psychic
depression treatments.
The immediate consequence of the recent experience of multiracial democracy is increasing class
division and distance in American society and black communities. This is so primarily because the advent
of the multiracial American regime coincided with escalating levels of wealth inequality. The new
inclusion of people of color within the professional slices of American society occurred alongside the
expansion of unaccountable corporate power in the economy and government and unleashing of arbitrary
police power in poor communities of color, especially black, brown, and red. The result is black middle
class achievements that constitute black progress alongside devastated black working and poor
communities that yield unprecedented increases in prison populations and overlooked vicitims of police
abuse. Decrepit schools, inadequate health care, unavailable childcare, and too few jobs with a living
wage set the stage for social misery.
We have a moral obligation to the oppressed
Chemerinsky in ‘03
Erwin Chemerinsky, Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law, Spring, 2003, 6 Chap. L. Rev. 31
But it is wrong to blame the poor for their financial plight . People can become poor in countless ways that are no fault of their
own, and people often lack the means to do anything about it. Many who are impoverished - most notably children - are
truly blameless. National economic policy, discrimination and its long legacy, and inequalities in the
educational system, are among the social factors that limit the jobs available and relegate a significant [*38]
proportion of the population to poverty . Regardless, though, why people are poor, the government has a moral
obligation to care for those who are less well off. In a society with tremendous wealth - enough to spend $ 100 billion
on a war in Iraq - it is unconscionable that millions of children go to bed hungry and are without health insurance .