Food Production
The average food item in the U.S. travels 1,400 miles to get to the dinner table. As the cost of fuel sky rockets, so do food prices. Suburban sprawl consumes productive land and forces dependence on foreign food producers. For the first time, in 2005, the U.S. imported more farm products by value than it exported. As awareness about nutrition has risen and obesity has increased, the public pressure for nutritious, sustainably grown food is on the rise.
Utah has 16,700 farms on 11 million acres, according to the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. Many of these farms have been family-owned for several generations. In addition, a significant percentage of local food supply can be homegrown even in urbanized places such as Salt Lake City. Community gardens, urban farms, public lands, urban plots, and even roof tops are all innovative ways to address food security, environmental issues, and the need for green space in an urban setting. They also support Salt Lake City’s goal of increasing direct access to fresh foods and promoting community-based food production to minimize the environmental impacts of transporting food long distances.
What the City is Doing
Revised
Ordinances to Make It Easier to Raise
Chickens and Bees
Community Gardening
& Urban Farming
Food Policy Task Force
SLC
Fruit Gleaning Program
Sustainable Code Revision Project
Register your fruit tree with the SLC Fruit Gleaning Program
to help us cut down on fruit waste, support local fruit
production and donate to our food banks.
Learn More
To find out more about food production and
nutrition,
click here.
