Glossy Covers: The New Yorker's Small Growers

Brooklyn, NY, based illustrator Peter de Seve brings the small growers market movement to life for this New Yorker cover. Back in March, a 'No Farms, No Food' rally, coordinated by the American Farmland Trust, was held in the city attended by farmers, food advocates, environmentalists and foodies. The aim was to generate awareness of the importance of New York's farming and food economy and push for funding and legislation that protects farmland for future generations, increases consumer access to nutritious, locally-grown food, and helps farmers protect water and the environment, while bringing home "the local food and farmland connection for all New Yorkers". According to AFT, New York State loses farmland to development at 9,000 acres a year, or one farm every three and a half days. 

As with Australian Stephanie Alexander's 'The School Kitchen Garden Project' and sustainable farm projects and workshops cropping up in inner-city areas, New York schools, community centres and churches are also harvesting small urban crops to encourage highly engaged grassroots interaction, and innovation, with produce, garden skills, cooking and consumption. Read up on the Five-Borough Farm Project at the Edible Queens Blog. And spot the garden gnome above.

Girl With a Satchel