Dangers of Urban Farming

Photo by Maggie Jones Urban Photographer

I just had an interesting question about the dangers of farming by roadsides.

Whereas, here in Asia, farming in the roadside spaces happens naturally and no-one really seems to wonder about the safety of it. The opposite is true in the West. 

It seems that the modern western movement toward 'guerilla gardening' and urban farming has met with a mix of caution and paranoia. 

Urban farming should be a practical and worry free system of agricultural production. 

It requires some forethought about buffer zones, and some proper soil tests before getting started. However, the dangers appear to be minimal and only in some amount of heavy metals in leafy greens. 

Kentucky Certification Sign

Cornel has published some research on growing veggies by the road.

Agrodocks has resources in research about urban farming.