In some of the damaged areas that lie in the floodplain, where houses and business will not be able to rebuild, the city could create a robust urban farm to support educational opportunities about nutrition, sustainability, agriculture and science. Most kids - and many adults - don't know anything about where their food comes from, and this disconnect encourages poor eating habits and an unhealthy relationship to food. An urban farm that focuses on a site of agricultural production in the city coupled with a robust educational component for our city schools would be an important and highly visible commitment to sustainability and health living.

Using the model of Jones Valley Urban Farm in Birmingham
(www.jvuf.org), the urban farm would be a space of community collaboration that celebrates the seasons and supports a connection between people and food. Like JVUF, our farm could provide produce to local restaurants and sell at farmers markets throughout the city - not only supporting the local economy, but encouraging residents to eat locally and seasonally.

In the wake of the storm, the city has a tremendous opportunity to embrace a sustainable and forward looking vision for Tuscaloosa. An urban farm could be a centerpiece of this plan. There is already a nonprofit in town - the Druid City Garden Project - that built and maintained a huge school garden at University Place. The goals of the DCGP are to expand to larger and more community based garden plots throughout the city. This could be the best opportunity for us to embrace this relatively simple and inexpensive idea that would benefit all of Tuscaloosa.