Sowing Seeds in the City

A majority of the world's population lives in cities. Urban areas have largely been disconnected from the processes associated with producing food. A broad range of community efforts have emerged to reconnect people in urban areas to fresh foods with expected benefits for public health.  These efforts can be found in cities across the country and cross both economic and ethnic lines. They have been led by the non- scientific community and are best characterized as social movements. Expansion of agriculture to non- traditional areas including community or kitchen gardens in urban or peri- urban environments has the potential to provide a range of ecosystem services as well as reduce stressors on non- urban environments. These services/benefits include improved public health, improved human nutrition and diet, large-scale production of renewable resources, increased food security with less resilience on traditional agricultural landscapes and seascapes, enhanced ecosystem function in urban areas, and increased public appreciation for and understanding of ecosystem services.  ?

Elizabeth Hodges Snyder is an Assistant Professor of Public Health and the Master of Public Health Program Coordinator at the University of Alaska Anchorage.  She also serves as co-chair of the Alaska Food Policy Council (AFPC).  Dr. Snyder is trained in environmental health (MPH, Global Environmental Health, Emory University, 2004) and soil and water science (PhD, Soil and Water Science, University of Florida, 2009).  Her career began with a focus on environmental contaminant fate and transport, and human and ecological risk assessment, but her research program and teaching agenda has since evolved to address the fields of food security and health impact assessment.  She has co-authored several works on food security in Alaska; supervises graduate student projects addressing food access, availability, and utilization; and advocates for strengthened rural and urban food systems.  Originally from Florida, Dr. Snyder has adjusted well to the climate of Alaska - successfully raising backyard chickens, utilizing vertical drip irrigation to produce greenhouse tomatoes, growing beautiful peonies, chasing moose out of her raised beds, and instilling in her children a love for Alaska Grown carrots made sugar-sweet in the cold soil.