Key Takeaways
- Liz Turner highlights that urban agriculture is expanding across U.S. cities, yet municipal policy remains a major constraint to its equitable and sustainable growth.
- A USDA-supported guide from the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) reviews key issues such as land access, zoning, water costs, and governance.
- Water access and utility fees are identified by Liz Turner as underused levers for supporting urban growers.
- Gentrification and rising land prices threaten long-term farm stability.
- Policymakers are beginning to view urban agriculture as a public good with broad community value.
Liz Turner on Policy Barriers and Opportunities
Urban farming in the United States continues to evolve as cities explore new ways to provide fresh food, restore green spaces, and utilize underused land. Yet, municipal regulation remains a deciding factor for what growers can achieve.
To understand the barriers, Liz Turner, Visiting Assistant Professor at Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS) and attorney at the school’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS), co-led a USDA Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP)–supported guide on municipal policy for urban agriculture.
Turner’s involvement draws on her legal background and prior experience as a student attorney in Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic, where she worked with local organizations to identify policy gaps affecting food production. “I was hired in the summer of 2023 as a fellow to work essentially on this project,” she said.
