LA may have lost its claim as the largest farm county in the country decades ago, but there's still plenty of agricultural activity going on. So a group of UCLA students decided to map it all. After canvassing 3,000 groups in all 88 cities in the county, they found 1,261 "verified agricultural sites" (not counting backyard gardens), more than half of which are at schools. In addition to mapping all the farm sites, the students also looked at the web of rules and codes in each municipality covering agricultural activity and found them to be a mess. According to the Imperial Valley News, they make it "difficult--if not impossible--for urban farmers to operate in compliance with local health and zoning regulations." (For instance, 87 percent of areas regulate animal farming, but only 25 percent regulate plant farming.) The idea is that this survey will provide a baseline accounting of LA County's agriculture situation. Click here for the full interactive experience.
· Researchers find urban agriculture thriving in Los Angeles County [IVN]
· Cultivate Los Angeles interactive map [Cultivate LA]
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