What is an Agrihood?
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) defines agrihoods as single-family, multi-family, or mixed-use communities built with a working farm or community garden as a focus. In addition to a focus on food production, our community is being developed in partnership with the farm family that owns the surrounding farmland. The presence of the cohousing community will help to preserve and regenerate their farmland. There are over 90 agrihoods in the U.S. located in 27 different states.
Learn more about agrihoods from Urban Land Institute reports:
The following summary of ULI’s report, Agrihoods, Cultivating Best Practices, synthesizes information from U.S. experts who are closely involved in agrihood planning, development, and operations. These individuals include farmers, developers, landscape architects, and members of nonprofit organizations who support development of agrihood projects to maximize their health, sustainability, social equity, and economic potential. Specific benefits described by the ULI include health, environmental, and financial benefits to the stakeholder, surrounding communities, and to watersheds.
Agrihoods promote health and social interaction. A community farm can be the centerpiece of a development where programming and educational opportunities can foster multi-generational community ties. Farms in communities provide residents with access to fresh produce, supporting positive health outcomes. Growing and selling food locally keeps food dollars in the community and provide jobs for farmers, thus supporting the local economy.
Clustering development around working farms allows communities to conserve productive farmland and natural areas and avoid an increase in impervious surfaces. This is especially important in rural areas that are adjacent to large urban areas, as is the case in Dickson County. The goals we share with the current landowners include conserving and sustainably farming a rural site that has been in the family for three generations.
Reversing Trends in Real Estate and Food
Increasingly, young farmers face barriers in finding affordable farmland near urban areas that serve as their market for their produce. Our community can support a farmer, be a ready market, and offer that farmer a home in our community. Agrihood farms contribute fresh fruits and vegetables to their customers, and offer community members opportunities to interact with and learn from their local farmer. Local foods are often produced organically and more sustainably which is healthier for the soils, farmers, consumers, and adjacent lands and watersheds.
Demand for access to locally harvested, sustainably farmed produce is increasing. Farmers’ markets have increased by 395 percent from 1994 to 2017, and organic food sales have increased on average of 10 percent annually since 2000. Many studies indicate a 15-30 percent increase in sales for residential properties that are adjacent to parks and open spaces, which includes working farms and community gardens.
Planning, Development, and Operations
As a key development amenity, a farm requires both upfront capital expenditures and ongoing operations support or subsidies, which can be offset by food sales, events, and other revenues streams. Integrating a farm into the cohousing community gives homeowners, realtors, and community decision-makers the opportunity to leverage direct connection with the process and products of the farm. This creates value, promotes equitable economic development, enhances environmental sustainability, and improves public health.
Here are eight reasons food production as part of a housing development is a growing trend:
1. People may not want to farm, and still want high-quality food and agriculture to be part of their lives.
2. Many consumers have a strong desire to the part of the “story of their food.”
3. Farms bring people together to share in food growing and related events.
4. Community farmers have a unique ability to inspire and educate our residents.
5. Farms can teach youth about growing food, nutrition, seasonality, and much more.
6. Health professionals increasingly promote the benefits of fresh, local, organic produce to their patients.
7. Farms can serve as event spaces or agrotourism to offset the costs of food production.
8. Combining housing development with farms can preserve the rural character of spaces and make landscapes more productive.
Our community will make decisions about how we form our agrihood, and there are many models to consider. We start with the position that building our community adjacent to land that is suitable for sustainable agriculture will enhance the quality of life and market value of our neighborhood. We believe we are creating the only cohousing community with a working farm in Tennessee. We hope we are starting a trend of future developments that incorporate food production in their plans for greater health, self-sufficiency, and resilience.
