When you hear the term “planned community,” I bet you imagine white picket fences, perfect green lawns, and cookie cutter houses. But what if a planned community also included a farm?
“Agrihoods,” or suburbs centered around community farms, are a growing trend in America. Nearly 200 such neighborhoods exist, and more are being built every year.
Agrihoods – The Future of Farming?
However, the concept of a community built on agriculture isn’t really new. For hundreds of years villages have been centered around that farms that provide their food. It just made sense to grow your food where you live, particularly in the days before refrigeration. But these days the movement is led more by environmentalism than by practical need.
The latest [Agrihood], called The Cannery, officially opened this past Saturday on a site that was previously home to a tomato cannery facility located about a mile outside downtown Davis, California. The 100-acre project of the New Home Company development company is considered to be the first agrihood to take root on formerly industrial land. All of its 547 energy-efficient homes will be solar-powered and electric car-ready, KCRA, NBC’s Sacramento affiliate, reports.
The Cannery is unique for other reasons, too. The community’s 7.4-acre farm will be managed by the Center for Land-Based Learning, a nonprofit group that plans to run agricultural education programs for students and aspiring farmers from the site in addition to a commercial operation focusing on organic vegetables once they’ve raised money for farm equipment and improved the soil, CivilEats reports.
This is an interesting trend that may one day lead to homesteading villages build around community farms. No doubt that would lead to more self-sufficient, resilient communities.
What do you think about agrihoods? Are they the wave of the future, or just a passing fad? Would you like to live in one? Let us know in the comments!
