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1 [1] (May 16, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govzse0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service ft fo n a th legi Ia ive debate since 1914 S May 16, 2019 2018 Farm Bill Primer: Support for Urban Agriculture Over the past decade, food policy in the United States has responded to ongoing shifts in consumer preferences and producer trends that favor local and regional food systems while also supporting traditional farm enterprises. This support for local and regional farming has helped to increase agricultural production in urban areas within and surrounding major U.S. cities. The 2018 farm bill (Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, P.L. 115-334) provides additional support for urban, indoor, and other emerging agricultural production, creating new programs and authorities and providing additional funding for such operations. The law also combines and expands existing programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide financial and resource management support for local and regional food production. Urban Farming Operations Urban farming operations represent a diverse range of systems and practices. They encompass large-scale innovative systems and capital-intensive operations, vertical and rooftop farms, hydroponic greenhouses (e.g., soilless systems), and aquaponic facilities (e.g., growing fish and plants together in an integrated system). Urban farming also includes a range of operations such as vacant city lots, city parks, churchyards, schoolyards, backyards, and community gardens. This diversity has resulted in a lack of consensus about what constitutes an urban farm. Urban agriculture is not specifically defined in statute, and the 2018 farm bill refers to this farming demographic as urban, indoor, and other emerging agricultural production but without specifically defining this term. Given the diversity in the types of urban farming operations, existing data limitations, and lack of consensus about what constitutes an urban or peri-urban farm, USDA does not report data and statistics on the number of urban farming operations in the United States. To address such data needs, the 2018 farm bill directs USDA to conduct a follow-up study to its most recent Census of Agriculture to examine U.S. urban farming operations in 2017 (§7212). This study shall provide information about community gardens and farms located in urban areas, suburbs, and urban clusters; rooftop farms; outdoor vertical production; green walls; indoor farms; greenhouses; high-tech vertical technology farms; and hydroponic, aeroponic (e.g., growing plants in an air or mist system without soil), and aquaponic facilities, among other innovations in agricultural production, as determined by USDA. The enacted law authorizes additional total appropriations of $14 million (FY2019-FY2021) for USDA's follow-up study to the 2017 agricultural census. The U.S. Census Bureau identifies two types of urban areas: (1) Urbanized Areas of 50,000 or more people and (2) Urban Clusters of between 2,500 and 50,000 people (Figure 1). An urban area represents densely developed territory encompassing residential, commercial, and other non-residential urban land uses. In contrast, rural areas encompass all population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area. Results from the most recent 2010 U.S. Census indicate that the nation's urban population increased by 12% from 2000 to 2010, outpacing the nation's overall growth of 10% for the same period. Figure I. Census Bureau Urban Designations, 2010 k; r Source: U.S. Census Bureau, https://www.census.gov/. Provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill The 2018 farm bill builds on previous support for urban, indoor, and emerging production systems as provided in the previous two farm bills-the Agricultural Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-79) and the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246) to support local and regional food production. These farm programs are administered by USDA and may be grouped into the following broad categories: marketing and promotion, business assistance and agricultural research, rural and community development, nutrition and education, and farmland conservation. Examples include USDA farmers' market programs, rural cooperative grants, child nutrition programs, and USDA research and cooperative extension service. For more information, see CRS In Focus IF10232, U.S. Farm Policy: Local and Regional Food Systems. Many of the provisions in the 2018 farm bill that support urban agriculture were derived from, or initially originated in, legislation introduced in the 115th Congress, including the Urban Agriculture Act of 2018 (S. 3005) and the Urban Agriculture Production Act of 2017 (H.R. 3699). These efforts follow other previously introduced legislation in the 114th Congress (S. 3420, H.R. 6481) and the 113th Congress (H.R. 5616, H.R. 1933). ittps:!icrsreports cong gess gc

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