Urban agriculture in Mexico City | Returning to the cultural roots of the city

Urban garden in the Álvaro Obregón Delegation.
Credit: Excelsior.

More than a fashionable ‘foodie’
trend

URBAN
GARDENING SEEN AS HEALTHY AND NECESSARY

Devon G.
Peña | Tijuana, B.C. | March 9, 2014

Note: The
source for this article is an article that appeared in the March 1 issue of the
Mexico City daily, Excelsior.
I have translated the original from
Spanish and inserted additional observations and comments.

The Colhua Mexica (Aztec) twin island cities of
Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco were filled with urban farms, home kitchen gardens,
fish-stocked ponds, and aviaries. Two large lakes south of the cities were
filled with highly productive floating gardens known as chinampas. These ancient Mesoamerican city-states were basically
food self-sufficient. The conquest destroyed most of these cultural ecological
landscapes and built Mexico City with the rubble of demolished temples,
schools, colleges, homes, and other buildings. Mexico City has never been able
to reproduce this ideal condition of food self-sufficiency and instead
basically sucks the energy out of the Mexican countryside and – ever since
NAFTA – from fresh produce and processed food imported or manufactured with
ingredients from the U.S. and other countries.

Now comes an encouraging report from the Mexican
press highlighting the rapid growth of urban agriculture in one of the world’s
largest and most expansive cities.

The famous ‘floating
gardens’ or chinampas of Xochimilco

According to the Mexico City newspaper, Excelsior, urban gardening is no longer
an activity confined to the urban margins. it is sprouting up all over the
center of the city. Due to low cost, consumer benefits, and close-at-hand
access, food production in urban gardens is taking hold in Mexico City and
officials are recognizing the need to get the city’s population to stop viewing
this as a fashionable trend and instead understand the many benefits.

Leaving behind the idea that only rural or low-income
populations have to resort to farming, many people have found that producing their
own food is an effective way to reduce costs, eat better, and decorate homes
with greenery.

“The simple act to enter the kitchen and to know that
to open the window, go to the balcony, courtyard, or garden, and a good part of
the products one needs to make a meal is there, shows the tremendous goodness
of nature,” said Antonio Guerra, president of the association Agricultura en Calle (Agriculture on the
Street).

He says the investment of time and money is small as
a vegetable garden at home or the apartment requires only a small space to place
the pots or containers in which the produce are grown.

Within the framework of the International Year of
Family Farming – decreed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO for its acronym in English) – environmental organizations and
local authorities agree on the need for the capital city’s inhabitants to
understand the opportunities they have to produce their own food.

“This needs to stop being seen as a fashion trend and
instead should be viewed as a public policy generated for the inhabitants of
the city,” said Hegel Cortés, head of the Ministry of Rural Development and Equity
for Communities (SEDEREC). The immediacy of fresh food and high quality offered
by urban gardens can consolidate this into a food security scheme for the inhabitants
of the capital and which will be reflected in improved health.

Hegel Cortés reports that since last year the
Ministry launched a program of sustainable small-scale agriculture in housing
units to transform vacant or seldom used public spaces into gardens cared for
by the residents. Just last week, residents of the residential pod Emiliano
Zapata, Álvaro Obregón Delegation, presented the first harvest of tomatoes,
which will serve for the consumption of the neighbors. The surplus will be sold
and the proceeds are reinvested in the unit.

“When a surplus begins to occur in urban gardens it is
going to become a question of marketing. Beyond food production and health,
employment and self-employment, education, and respect for the environment,
urban agriculture will create a culture of sustainability in the Mexico City,”
he said in an interview.

Preparing guardians

Hegel Cortés highlighted the involvement of children
in the care of urban gardens, whom they have named guardianes agroalimentarios (agri-food guardians) to promote the
culture of care for the environment, responsible consumption, and self-production
of food. The same occurs with older adults as they follow suit, said the head
of SEDEREC, and discover that the gardens are a productive distraction that
improves your mood and provides a living space for conviviality.

Hegel Cortés emphasized that this year the government
will provide for the installation of ten new urban gardens in housing units in the
Álvaro Obregón Delegation and five more in Miguel Hidalgo, coupled with the
budget of two million dollars to support the associations or individuals who
want to create and participate in them.

Starters for a garden at the Álvaro
Obregón Delegation unit.

Regarding the marketing of surplus urban garden
crops, he sees that in one sense this represents a form of competition since
the urban garden crops can be classified as organic due to the use of sustainable
production processes and can be sold at prices that are slightly higher than
the commercial products available in the markets.

Cortés Hegel recognizes the need to promote
regulations to make this activity more accessible in terms of cost and
procedures, and certification for produce from urban gardens from the Ministry
of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA).

“These should go toward acquisition of organic labels,
green stamps, and good practices so that the producer who does not use
pesticide chemicals or fertilizers that are derived from petroleum can demand a
better price for the procedure,” he said.

Diffusion via bicycle

Another agency that promotes family farming is the
Ministry of Environment (SEDEMA) with programs like Alcánzame (Catch Up to Me) during the first Sunday of each month on
a group bike ride through the Paseo de la Reforma. Pedestrians and drivers are
invited to learn about urban gardens at home and are provided advice on how to
install them according to Liliana Balcazar, Deputy Director of the Centers for
Environmental Education of SEDEMA, who reports that in the first two editions
of the program more than two thousand people have been served.

Woman of the Garden is another program that trains
women, housewives in situations of vulnerability, and college students. “Women
recognize that producing their own food reduces costs and is a form of savings
that contributes to the family economy,” said Rosa Gómez, Executive Director of
Urban Forests and Environmental Education, another SEDEMA agency.

She offered that the agency has already prepared a
manual so that people who wish choose to install gardens at home know the care
requirements and get good results. Meanwhile, the organization is offering
weekend courses on family gardens and urban agriculture at the three environmental
education centers. Their locations are available on the website www.sedema.df.gob.mx.

Tendency from the 70s

During the presidency of Luis Echeverría, the Mexican
Institute for Children and Families promoted home gardens in rural areas and
communities with little access to services.

In 1976, the then First Lady, María Esther Zuno, gave
instructions that promotores (advocates) from Social Group Volunteer Program
should conduct training workshops for rural women and indigenous people, giving
them the information needed to undertake home kitchen gardens. Of course, such
an idea, while perhaps well-intended, was also wrongheaded and perhaps even
racist since native peoples have always kept traditional home kitchen gardens
when they have had the time and space. It is the indigenous people who developed
the methods and practices that are today widely used in urban agriculture.

Although there were no official results of the
program, during the administration of Luis Echeverría, presidential reports constantly
gave recognition to home kitchen gardens in various states of the Republic and
acknowledged the work of supporting and guiding the families.

Benefits

Government agencies in the Federal District (DF) such
as as SEDEMA and SEDEREC seek to promote the benefits of urban agriculture.
These include the following:

• Harvesting an urban garden reduces the costs and increases
  savings that contribute to the family economy.


• Producing your own food ensures these contain no
  pesticides or fertilizers.


• Providing immediate access to fresh high quality food.


• Giving the elderly a productive and convivial distraction.


• Promoting a culture of environmental stewardship and
  responsible consumption among children.

The urban agriculture movement in Mexico City is a
process that turns a tradition full circle toward an embracing of the practices
of the original inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico. What remains unclear is if
these programs are primarily benefiting people from the middle class and other
higher income groups or if they are also reaching the urban poor and marginalized
communities. In the meantime, Mexico City is returning to its urban agricultural
roots in a big way and perhaps redefining what it means to be a Mexican and a
city-dweller.