Page 29 - Farm and Food Policy Strategies for 2040 Series

Gordon-Smith adds that the new technology already in place in high-cost urban vertical farms
and in high-return marijuana operations has begun to “trickle down to more traditional farmers,”
benefiting the ag sector as a whole. That’s great news, he says, because “obviously you can’t

grow everything with urban agriculture.”

Gordon-Smith sees “urban agriculture as a gateway to the agricultural system” and says one
reason USDA should encourage urban agriculture “is that it can create a new pathway for young
farmers to get into traditional agriculture.” He points out that even a small urban farm is an
important training ground, teaching basics like food safety, maximizing production, marketing to
the customer, and managing waste in innovative ways.

So, he says, urban ag today may create a new generation of ag sector winners by 2040.

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