For the first time ever, Columbus is hosting the Urban Food Systems Symposium. The Urban Food Systems Symposium brings together a diverse, international group of academics, policymakers and professionals to discuss how to adapt to a changing world and how urban food systems contribute to these solutions.
Qiana Mickie is the event's keynote speaker and the first Executive Director of the New York City Mayor's Office of Urban Agriculture.
Mike Hogan is the symposium's co-chair and an agriculture professor with Ohio State University Extension.
Matthew Rand: Mike, can you give us the broad view of this year's symposium and some of the major themes being discussed?
Mike Hogan: The overarching goal is to get folks together in the same room that are having some success with positively affecting the urban food system in their part of the country and the world.
We have folks from several other countries here, some of the tracks that we have, the issues that won't surprise you: climate change and resiliency as it relates to urban agriculture is one. We have one of them involving youth recognizing how important it is to get the next generations involved in agriculture.
We have a track around planning and community and economic development and the role that urban ag can play there. And then we always, at this conference and others, talk about policy and how policy changes are needed to help urban food systems thrive.
Matthew Rand: Qiana, please talk to us about your experience working in urban ag in New York City and what lessons you've been able to learn about building more a more climate-resilient future.
Qiana Mickie: Sometimes people aren't familiar with our urban landscape in New York City, but we have a long history and rich, vibrant history of urban agriculture, from community gardens to urban farms to indoor models like hydroponic farming.
So, it's great to be at a symposium here where there are researchers, practitioners, students, academics and government officials, where we're really focused right here on the food systems of urban ag, the crops that we're able to grow, and also thinking about climate-smart agriculture approaches and resiliency measures.
Matthew Rand: Mike, how do smaller cities like Columbus, Ohio compare to a city like New York?
Mike Hogan: You know, there are probably more similarities than differences. Certainly, the scope is different. You look at the Brooklyn Grange farm with the skyline of Manhattan in the back, that's obviously very iconic to those of us involved in urban agriculture.
Certainly, we have lots of urban areas in Ohio. We have as many metropolitan statistical areas as most states, except for California. And so, we also have this wonderful checkerboard in Ohio of lots of conventional agriculture. And so, we have lots of opportunities to grow our work in urban areas, lots of great work going on.
Cleveland has kind of been a poster child for many years in urban agriculture and the university's engagement with urban agriculture. But we're seeing wonderful things happening in Mansfield, Akron, Dayton, Toledo. Cincinnati has come on pretty strong just recently. So, lots of really cool and impactful urban act work is being done around the state.
Matthew Rand: Qiana, can you say a bit more about the equity piece to all of this? What are some ways to eliminate food insecurity and promote better nutrition in urban areas?
Qiana Mickie: I think what we see in big cities like New York City and small and mid-sized cities like Columbus is the need for equity. We need equitable allocation of resources.
Community stakeholders need to be able to resource the projects that they're doing, the food production that they're doing, that’s scaled for that community. But we also need to support businesses in our urban scale as well, so they're able to grow at a larger scale to meet the food needs of a larger community.
So, you know, in New York, we're trying to support ways to do it at the very hyper-local scale, where it's community gardens growing for community members, but also supporting businesses that are growing for large scale, that are even in stores.
