“It shouldn’t be a privilege to have access to good food.”
Yemi amu
What should the future of agriculture look like?
What if instead of focusing on growing food to feed our cities, we pivoted to growing food from within our cities? This seemingly revolutionary concept is the inspiration behind a growing number of urban farms across the country. To learn more about the power and possibilities presented by growing food in a modern American city, we sat down with Yemi Amu, founder of Oko Farms in Brooklyn. In our thought-provoking conversation we cover:
- Why aquaponics is such a revolutionary, yet surprisingly ancient, way to grow food.
- How urban farms like Oko help increase food security, mitigate climate change, increase biodiversity, and even reduce stormwater runoff.
- Why Yemi uses the term “food swamp” instead of “food desert.”
- What’s stopping urban farming from making the jump from a niche concept to a truly viable way of feeding more communities in America.
Get ready to dive into the weeds of sustainable farming and urban gardening, quite literally!
Episode Show Notes:
- You can learn more about Yemi’s work at Oko Farms on their website and Instagram.
- Some other notable urban farmers that came up in our conversation include Will Allen of Growing Power and Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm.
- Yemi recommends reading “Microbia: A journey into the unseen world around you” by Eugenia Bone.
- Yemi is a big fan of Yute, an underrated vegetable.
- Yemi’s go-to karaoke song is Pretty Young Thing by the one and only Michael Jackson.
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to listen to our conversation about farming as healing with Amber Tamm. To learn more about urban gardening, check out our episode with Ron Finley!
