AUSTIN, Texas — Among chefs, alt-meat ambassadors, agtech startups and foodie fundraisers, urban agriculture advocates came together at the 2023 SXSW Conference for a panel called “Rethinking Urban Agriculture.”
Panelists included farmers growing under an acre to fully scaled, expansive indoor ag operations — growers united in their belief that growing food close to the end consumer has more benefits than meets the eye.
The panel was hosted by Foodtank, a nonprofit think tank, during a SXSW-sponsored summit March 12, at Huston-Tillotson University in East Austin.
“Urban farming is, in some ways, a beautiful umbrella term for many different types of activities, right?” said Viraj Puri, co-founder and CEO of greenhouse-based urban farm company Gotham Greens, setting the stage for a lively panel discussion.
From classroom gardens and community farms to commercial-scale, controlled environment agriculture operations serving large institutions and supermarkets, all are approaches to growing food that fall under the wide spectrum of practices labeled as urban farming, Puri said.