Sec. 3. Findings
194 words·~1 min read·
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Congress finds the following: Dramatic economic, demographic, and land use changes have created pockets of land suitable for urban agriculture. The United States population is increasing at a rate of 0.69 percent annually, and by 2050 it is expected that the United States population will increase to 398 million. Despite the United States being an advanced economy, many neighborhoods and communities are categorically food and nutrient short populations. Advances in agricultural practices, technologies, and natural resources make production agriculture possible in previously ignored locations including urban areas that were once cordoned off from agricultural production.
There is a disconnect between daily urban life, health outcomes, and food production that urban agriculture can help address. According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, approximately 7 percent of all farms in the United States had direct sales of agricultural products totaling at least $1,300,000,000, with the highest of such sales coming from farms in metropolitan counties or in adjacent rural counties. It is imperative to ensure that advances in urban agriculture be available as a viable option to help meet the food production needs of the future and to address chronic food and nutrition shortages of communities.