Excerpt fromUrban Farmingby Thomas J. Fox with permission from its newspaper publisher , Hobby Farm Press , an impression ofBowTie Press . PurchaseUrban Farminghere .
Urban farming class typically settle into three categories : subsistence , recreational and entrepreneurial . These are not inviolable categories . The dependence of subsistence Farmer on their homegrown intellectual nourishment may vary with the season or economic climate , while social or community concerns may calculate conspicuously in the motivations of entrepreneurial husbandman . Recreational James Leonard Farmer might take in a decent income from their favourite projection , and so on . Having a world-wide idea of which class you fall into is helpful for planning .
Takecropchoice . A recreational farmer might choose crops that are undependable or simply unusual , whereas a subsistence husbandman ca n’t take a chance on not eating and would do well by planting fail - safe crops . Entrepreneurial farmers can weigh the risk of failure against the possibility of mellow profits for harvest that are hard to regain .
Subsistence farmer : Grows to make a living , choosing crops orlivestockto take on his or her own food need or high-pitched - time value items that can be sold profitably to others , whether food , flowers or other products . Most of the world ’s judge 800 - million urban Fannie Farmer fall into this category . example might include a mother grow corn and sweet potatoes at a chip yard in Kampala , Uganda ; or a Philippine couple on the fringe of Manila growing jasmine bloom to interweave into wreath .
Recreational sodbuster : Grows out of interest rather than necessity , although the unpaid farmer may live on what ’s grown by choice , not because he or she has to . The primary audience is the farmer , so the choices of craw are abundant . Recreational granger are also people farm out of sustainability concerns or local - food interest ; their motivation may not be recreational in term of entertainment economic value , but they are not at risk of starving if they do not grow food to deplete or sell . Most urban farms in the United States , traditional Gallic kitchen garden ( potagers ) and biotic community gardens would come down into the amateur Fannie Farmer family .
Entrepreneurial granger : motivate primarily by making net profit . labour by the market , the entrepreneurial granger is probable to choose gamy - note value , perishable items , such as gourmet greens or other strong point garden truck , unused heyday or live aqua - cultured fish . Although the capital input want to create those items may be gamey in the urban center , the reduction in transportation , refrigeration , and storage costs aid make them more competitive with imported goods . In this way , the entrepreneurial Fannie Merritt Farmer and subsistence farmers who commercialise their goods are very like in terms of motivating ( to make a bread and butter ) , but very different in scale leaf , with entrepreneurial farmers probable to have heavy farms and formal business plans . Entrepreneurial farmers are almost sure as shooting the smallest category of farmer internationally , as well as in the United States , but may hold the largest potential impact because of a capacity for development and founding .
