Food and Environment

ge•o•pon•i•ca [\jee,uh,'pon,ik,ah\] -noun: agricultural pursuits in the broadest sense, including but not limited to the art and science of agriculture

Feeding the City is one of group of research projects we are pursuing related to food production, health and the environment. Feeding the City examines the energy use and greenhouse gases associated with small-scale sustainable agriculture. The project is completing its pilot-year (2009) and is gearing up for the second year of study.

We are collecting farm-scale data on direct and indirect energy inputs in relation to outputs (e.g. yield amounts) to determine the energy efficiency and environmental footprint of food production on urban and rural farms that practice sustainable methods. We are integrating these data with detailed mapping of land-resources and population distribution to quantify changes in energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient cycling on local to national scales. With an interdisciplinary team of researchers and a growing team of community partners, we are working to envision a redesigned food system with a network of regional foodsheds.

NOTE: We are looking for additional Midwest farms to participate in our record-keeping project conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago: “Energy Use and Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Small-Scale, Diversified Farms throughout the Midwest in 2010”. See project pages for more information.

To learn more about participating in the project as a farmer, student, or potential collaborator, please contact either:
Esther Bowen, Project Coordinator and Graduate Student Researcher, eebowen@uchicago.edu OR
Pamela Martin, Principal Investigator and Assistant Professor, pmartin@uchicago.edu (773.834.5245)