Commercial Urban Agriculture in Florida: Needs, Opportunities, and Barriers

Abstract

Florida, like much of the southeastern United States, is rapidly urbanizing. With this urbanization, there is an increasing interest in commercial urban agriculture (CUA) as an important sector for agriculture in the state. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture does not report data about CUA operations, thus limiting the knowledge about the status of CUA operations regarding basic features such as farm size, operator demographics, production systems, sources of revenue, barriers to business operations and profitability, and future opportunities for development. Because previous research has found differences in urban farmers’ demographics and their perceptions of barriers and opportunities, the purpose of this research was to characterize CUA operations in Florida and to understand the urban farmers’ perceptions of the primary needs, barriers, and opportunities for developing CUA, as well as CUA operators’ informational needs and preferred informational formats. We performed a cluster analysis to identify salient groups of urban growers in Florida to identify subgroups based on shared characteristics that revealed three distinct groups of urban farmers with differing perceptions of barriers, opportunities, informational needs, and preferred informational formats.

Social and Community Benefits and Limitations of Urban Agriculture

“…Commercial, non-commercial, and community-based urban agriculture can be expensive, time intensive, and difficult to develop and maintain (Dimitri et al, 2016). To be successful, these operations require specific expertise, significant staff time, and funding for labor that may not be available, especially if capital is scarce (Campbell et al, 2022). Even with initial investment capital, commercial urban farms may experience difficulty generating enough profit revenue to provide a significant number of livable-wage jobs (Daftary-Steel et al, 2015).…”

“…Meanwhile, the gentrification associated with urban agriculture development could displace or marginalize low-income residents (Alkon et al, 2019). With increasing property values in urban areas, economic sustainability and access to land can be tenuous (Campbell et al, 2022).…”

¿Qué es la agricultura urbana?

“…Debido a que la agricultura urbana incluye la jardinería comestible en residencias privadas, la escala de la agricultura urbana va desde lo más pequeño como hierbas en macetas en el balcón de un apartamento hasta granjas en tierra o convencionales de más de 10 hectáreas. En 2019, el tamaño promedio de las granjas en Florida fue de 205 hectáreas (FDACS, 2022), pero los tamaños estándares para la agricultura urbana en Florida son significativamente más pequeños, rara vez superan las 5 hectáreas (Campbell et al, 2022). En áreas urbanas densas, las limitaciones de espacio hacen que las pequeñas granjas y jardines sean más viables que las grandes operaciones de varias hectáreas.…”

“…Las frutas y verduras se cultivan en todos los tipos de agricultura urbana y son el producto agrícola urbano más cultivado (Campbell et al, 2022). Las frutas y verduras cultivadas al aire libre siguen el microclima y la temporada, mientras que el cultivo en interiores con clima controlado puede trascender la estacionalidad.…”

“…Por ejemplo, las mermeladas de frutas o encurtidos son producidos por las granjas para aumentar el valor de las materias primas y aumentar su estabilidad en los estantes (Campbell et al, 2022). En ciertas circunstancias, los alimentos con valor agregado se clasifican como "alimentos caseros".…”