How Can We Feed Philadelphia?

by Lauren F. Friedman

[ think tank ]

We have to eat to live, but every day more and more evidence reveals that the way we eat is bad for us and the Earth. "Much of the food we're eating is not food at all," says Dennis Burton, executive director of the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education.

Burton is co-organizing today's Town Square event, where panelists will discuss how local and urban agriculture can promote both sustainability and better access to safe, affordable food. "Local food takes less energy, is healthier and involves people having a better understanding of how they acquire their food," says Roland Wall, director of the Center for Environmental Policy at the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Along with Philly's own Laurie Actman, from the mayor's Office of Sustainability, panelists will include representatives from Sustain London and the Center for Resilient Cities in Milwaukee. Burton explains that while Philly is doing many things right, there's also a lot we can learn from these programs. "It's more about how we can pull together our ideas ... into a comprehensive and cohesive policy for the city," he says.

For example, Sustain London has generated a huge amount of public and private support for its plan to create 2,012 acres of new city farmland by 2012, and the Center for Resilient Cities has had similar success in implementing clear municipal policies to expand urban agriculture in Milwaukee.

"Philly is highly respected for its local food movement," says Wall. "But you have to think big on these things."

Thu., May 21, 6:30 p.m., free (registration required), Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 215-299-1000, ansp.org.