Many Burlington residents participate in food production activities in the city, including gardening, commercial farming, and keeping livestock. A number of state and municipal laws and policies affect urban agriculture in Burlington, although many of the policies were not designed specifically to apply to urban food production. A network of organizations governs and supports urban agriculture in Burlington, including
governmental and nongovernmental entities.
Through a multistakeholder process, the Task Force research process identified barriers and challenges that arise from current policy and the context of growing food in the city. This process informed the development of policy recommendations for City Council to more effectively govern and support food production in Burlington.
Participatory action research provided a useful framework for this project by ensuring that the research process actively engaged those most affected by the issues and that policy recommendations met the needs of stakeholders.
Key findings
Many urban agriculture practitioners in Burlington are interested in urban food production because they hold values related to sustainability and community resilience, a finding that is consistent with the multiple benefits of urban food production highlighted in the literature. Although the underlying drivers of social, environmental, and economic problems in the modern food system are beyond the scope of municipal urban agriculture policy, city policies can address barriers and challenges at a local level. Burlington has the opportunity to strengthen its support of urban agriculture through a variety of recommended laws and initiatives.
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The participatory process in Burlington offered an opportunity for stakeholders to witness and take part in the policy development process, thus building legitimacy for both the process and the outputs. Although the policy recommendations have not yet been adopted by the city (and if and when they are they will likely look different than the Task Force’s recommendations), the participatory process was critical to developing
recommendations generated with the intention of meeting stakeholder needs.
The multistakeholder process identified several synergies and trade-offs among stakeholder needs. In the case of conflicts, a balance must be struck between stakeholder needs to develop a workable policy that does not impose undue burdens on any one stakeholder group. For example, practitioners expressed a desire that regulations be minimal, while municipal officials expressed a need for measurable standards to ease implementation. The Task Force thus scrutinized each urban agriculture activity and recommended regulations only in cases where a legal basis seemed necessary. When regulation was not justifiable, other policy approaches were recommended, such as the use of a mediation mechanism, the promotion of educational resources, and the creation of a program to connect people with available land.
Given the complexity of needs, challenges, risks, and cultural values associated with urban food production, there is no policy silver bullet for municipal support for urban agriculture. A suite of policy approaches can be used to address the myriad issues that arise from historical land use patterns, social norms, legal precedence, and resource constraints. The policy tools framework highlights the fact that different governance approaches offer different advantage and disadvantages depending on the issue at hand.
In the Burlington context, a legal basis for governing some aspects of urban agriculture,
151
such as the humane treatment of livestock or the size of structures, is needed, but other aspects, such as managing neighbor conflicts or connecting people to available land, are not easily regulated and require innovative programming.
The City has an opportunity to partner with other organizations that are better suited to provide technical expertise to practitioners. While the City can play a critical role in setting the scope for activities, removing policy barriers where possible, and ensuring that conflicts are resolved through fair processes, it should guide practitioners to nongovernmental organizations as resources for expertise on the technical aspects of growing food in the city.
Opportunities for future research
This research thesis was a modest step towards a better understanding of the social, political, and legal context of urban agriculture in Burlington. However, future research efforts could expand this understanding through investigation on particular activities, policies, practitioner subsets, and the natural resource base upon which all these activities depend.
Quantitative data on the scope of urban agriculture activities (especially
residential activities) would be valuable for the sake of understanding the extent to which activities occur, both as a snapshot now and as a baseline for the future. The legal context for urban agriculture warrants future investigation as well, as there is not always
consensus on the implications resulting from complex interactions between state and municipal laws. Future research on certain subsets of the practitioner community, for example, residential practitioners, community gardens, commercial farmers, or the New
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Farms for New Americans program, would offer the opportunity for a deeper analysis than was possible here on the unique issues faced by each group.
Research on soil would provide local data on fertility and contamination, which could inform food safety management practices. Data on stormwater impacts from urban agriculture would also be incredibly valuable, as municipal planning and zoning
decisions are very concerned with the water quality aspects of different land uses.
Lifecycle analysis of the resources and energy used in urban agricultural production systems would yield insights as to whether the sustainability claims of local food can be supported with evidence.
These research efforts, especially if undertaken in coordination with local government agencies or organizations, could yield important evidence and insights for urban food production in Burlington. Any of these projects would be great opportunities for future UVM undergraduate or graduate students or for students at Vermont Law School.
Expected outcomes
The recommendations developed by the Task Force lay the groundwork for the City of Burlington to better govern and support current and future urban agriculture activities. The successful adoption and implementation of the recommendations will require continued work on the part of municipal officials, local advocates, and committed residents. The creation of a Burlington Food Office or Burlington Food Coordinator position within the City could provide valuable dedicated resources to support such continued efforts.
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Although the potential benefits of urban agriculture should not be exaggerated, the recommendations have the potential to transform the policy context for urban agriculture in Burlington, thereby reducing barriers to participation and increasing support for urban food production. Such policy changes are an important step for a city whose residents are interested in finding ways to support local sustainable agriculture, food security, and community resilience.
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