Development Supported Agriculture

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is orphaned as few or no other articles link to it.
Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. (June 2008)

Development Supported Agriculture (DSA) is an international movement in real estate development that preserves and invests in agricultural land use. As farmland is lost due to the challenging economics of farming and the pressures of real estate development, the goal of DSA is to preserve, stimulate, and grow agriculture through intelligent and complimentary development projects.

1 Background
2 Defining Elements
3 Examples
4 Criticisms
5 See Also
6 Footnotes
7 References

[edit] Background

Development Supported Agriculture is a term first used in conjunction with the introduction of a project called Harvest http://wieler.com/communities/harvest/overview/. Planner and future Harvest resident Duane Verner collaborated with developer Nathan Wieler to preserve a long time working farm by creating a unique community to live and grow food. Development Supported Agriculture has its roots in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement. However, where CSA’s focus is usually on a system of regular delivery or pick-up of produce and a direct business relationship between consumer and farmer; DSA is primarily a response to concerns about the urbanization of agricultural land, or suburban sprawl, and associated impacts on local food systems.

[edit] Defining Elements

Development Supported Agriculture consists of a master planned community with farming as the central amenity providing residents with the benefits of, and the opportunity to experience, small-scale organic farming. The preservation of farmland, farming culture, and community-based food security are the driving forces behind DSA.

Five Points of Development Supported Agriculture

1. Farming – Preservation of farmland through limited development. When applicable, transition conventional farm to organic farming practice. 2. Partnership – Development provides farmers with the infrastructure needed to operate a farm; in return, farmers provide residents with a share of the bounty. This arrangement promotes a culture of farming and helps to ensure the long-term viability of the working landscape. 3. Design – Low impact development techniques and vernacular architecture incorporating sustainable methods, materials, and sensitive responses to the landscape. 4. Ecology - Establishment of wildlife corridors and habitats, promotion of native plant species, and protection of water quality through extensive buffers of streams and wetlands. 5. Connectivity – Open source development model providing the framework for a network of master planned farm communities integrated with local food systems.

[edit] Examples

U.S.A - Rural Examples

Harvest[1]

Harvest is a 200+ acre development introduced in 2008, sited on a long time working farm located adjacent to Jordan Lake in the New Hope River Valley{under construction} Chatham County, North Carolina. The development consists of 20 individual properties with a central farm as the primary ammenity of the community.

The farm at the Harvest site had previously been owned by long time farmer, Paul McCoy, and his wife Barbara, prior to being developed into a farm community by developer Nathan Wieler. According to Paul McCoy, the site had been used for farming since the American Revolution. During the middle of the 20th century the primary use of the farm was for growing tobacco. In the late 20th century the farm was used to grow a typical rotation of tobacco, corn, and soybeans. In 2008, the developer of Harvest began transitioning the farm from conventional operations to organic certification.

U.S.A. - Urban Examples

East Lake Commons [2] is a 20 acre cohousing community planned by Village Habitat Design located 4 miles from downtown Atlanta.

Vertical Farming

Vertical farming is a conceptual form of agriculture done in urban high-rises. In these high-rises, food such as fruit, vegetables, fish, and livestock can be raised by using greenhouse growing methods and recycled resources year-round, allowing cities of the future to become self-sufficient.