Under a cooperative agreement between USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and the Cornell University’s Small Farm Program, Dr. Anu Rangarajan and Molly Riordan researched factors affecting the commercial viability of urban agriculture (UA). They explored the challenges and circumstances required for urban agriculture to provide opportunities for economic gain and improve access to fresh foods in urban centers. The research focused on 14 commercial urban farms or farms where food sales are their primary activity and evaluated factors that contributed to or inhibited their successes.
For UA practitioners and interested stakeholders, USDA developed a summary of the research’s findings: Summary (pdf).
The full report is available: The Promise of Urban Agriculture