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Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Harris pushes urban farms
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Oct. 30, 2009 | Rich Lord

Posted on 10/30/2009 12:44:49 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog

A farm in every Pittsburgh neighborhood would be one of the goals of a Franco Dok Harris administration, the independent mayoral candidate said today, as his campaign sounded its final notes before Tuesday's election.

The novel proposal -- which would have the city assemble vacant lots and help gather the expertise needed to transform them into farms

Read more: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09303/1009555-100.stm#ixzz0VRy1TKRj

(Excerpt) Read more at postgazette.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Politics/Elections; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: agriculture; election; franco; francoharris; mayor; pa2009; pittsburgh; urban; urbanrenewal
This is the son of legendary Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris.

I guess this puts a new spin on promising a Chicken in Every Pot!

1 posted on 10/30/2009 12:44:50 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Sounds too “Sesame Street” to me ... and Sesame Street was/is the prelude to socialism in a child’s conditioning.


2 posted on 10/30/2009 12:48:36 PM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Sounds too “Sesame Street” to me ... and Sesame Street was/is the prelude to socialism in a child’s conditioning.


3 posted on 10/30/2009 12:48:42 PM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true)
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To: knarf

oops


4 posted on 10/30/2009 12:49:03 PM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Ah! I was wondering when “The One” would start collective farms. Once they condition and train the Proles to work the fields in the cities, they will then move large populations of the masses to work collective farms in the country.

Who knows, they might even have “killing fields.”


5 posted on 10/30/2009 12:50:40 PM PDT by DH (The government writes no bill that does not line the pockets of special interests.)
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To: Buckeye McFrog
If I have my own little tomato patch away from the Obama's Agricultural Collective #745 will I be killed as a kulak?
6 posted on 10/30/2009 12:53:43 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (Soon everyone will win a Nobel Peace Prize for not being George Bush...well, except for George Bush.)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

What are they going to do? Use eminent domain to take property off honest, law-abiding citizens and make collective farms out of it?


7 posted on 10/30/2009 12:53:58 PM PDT by 3catsanadog (If healthcare reform is passed, 41 years old will be the new 65 YO.)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Not worth the trouble ,, way too inefficient and will employ “workers” who have never grown anything ,, not even a tomato bought as a seedling.

Besides the “land” in the middle of an industrial city is almost certain to be polluted ... what are you gonna do? scrape away and replace the topsoil?

Now if you want to re-use resources I know some large empty one-story industrial structures with loading docks and ventilation that could grow approx 50,000 broilers every 45 days .. all you’d need is some raised flooring , open some overhead doors and add chain link fence... and some workers.


8 posted on 10/30/2009 12:59:21 PM PDT by Neidermeyer
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To: Buckeye McFrog

9 posted on 10/30/2009 1:12:24 PM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner (Sarah Palin has crossed the Rubicon!)
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To: Virginia Ridgerunner

Interesting. What’s going on on the right behind her?


10 posted on 10/30/2009 1:14:04 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Let us prey!)
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To: Revolting cat!

The guy in white hit on her last night. She told him to get lost, so he’s telling the local commissar’s goon that she steals crops from the mouths of the Soviet people.


11 posted on 10/30/2009 1:20:03 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (ECOMCON)
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To: KarlInOhio

We live way out in the sticks of rural Alaska along the Yukon River, no roads most the year; but originally we were from Pittsburgh. Even here in this community of 150, 200 miles from the nx nearest town; hardly anybody has gardens anymore. Too busy doing other things I guess. We put in 350 lb seed tatoes every summer, couple lb carott seed, and around 1500 brocculli plants. I end up giving 2000 lb tatoes to the Indians & friends. If I had everything available that they do in the burgh;;;; I wouldn’t even think about playin around in the dirt.


12 posted on 10/30/2009 1:21:59 PM PDT by Eska
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To: buccaneer81; Revolting cat!

Ha!


13 posted on 10/30/2009 1:31:24 PM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner (Sarah Palin has crossed the Rubicon!)
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To: Eska
If I had everything available that they do in the burgh;;;; I wouldn’t even think about playin around in the dirt.

I put in a small garden every year... not because I need the food, just because I like it doing it. And somehow, home grown vegies just seem to taste better.

14 posted on 10/30/2009 1:38:43 PM PDT by Ditto (Directions for Clean Government: If they are in, vote them out. Rinse and repeat.)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

it will cost over $100,000 an acre to tear down the buildings, fill in the foundations and cover with topsoil.

and that doesn’t include any pollution cleanup.


15 posted on 10/30/2009 2:06:02 PM PDT by lack-of-trust
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To: Buckeye McFrog

subsistence farming seems to be what Government types recommend once they become stumped as to where any other jobs will be coming from


16 posted on 10/30/2009 2:06:17 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Buckeye McFrog

although given your choice between a pumpkin patch and the Section 8 house on the corner.....


17 posted on 10/30/2009 2:08:10 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Buckeye McFrog

I could see people having a veggie patch and a few laying hens. But the daily grind of farming does not appeal to a lot of people. Gambling on the weather and crop prices can get to you.


18 posted on 10/30/2009 2:53:10 PM PDT by Cloverfarm (Obama = Nixon II)
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To: Buckeye McFrog
Will the urban pollution render the produce unfit for consumption by children?

The could make iron and steel in their back yards too. The White House Maoists will be giddy with the nostalgia.

19 posted on 10/30/2009 2:59:40 PM PDT by NonValueAdded ("The Democrats scare me, the GOP infuriates me.")
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To: Neidermeyer
Besides the “land” in the middle of an industrial city is almost certain to be polluted ... what are you gonna do? scrape away and replace the topsoil?

LOL! The enviro-nazis really have you brainwashed with the industrial boogyman, don't they???

Granted, there are specific industrial sites (or former industrial sites) that would be unsuitable for food production without extensive cleanup. But those were primarily down along the river somewhere. For the most part, Pittsburgh's neighborhoods have always been simply city neighborhoods. Nothing wrong with the soil. Worst thing about converting some old vacant lot to an "urban farm" is trying to get rid of all the little chunks of rock, brick or concrete that were left behind from whatever was there before.

Scraping away the topsoil would be completely unnecessary, since whatever topsoil might've been there was removed 100~150 years ago when something was built there. But it probably wouldn't hurt to bring in a couple dump-loads of topsoil, just so you wouldn't be trying to plant a garden in crappy soil. LOL!

20 posted on 10/30/2009 3:07:06 PM PDT by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Willie Green
LOL! The enviro-nazis really have you brainwashed with the industrial boogyman, don't they???

***********************************************

Not at all ,, just reminded of the serious errors Michelle Obama made in planting in an area polluted by heavy metal milorganite residue at the white house ,, you just know the "impact studies" alone would cost more than the veggies they could grow in 50 years on those plots..

That and I just don't understand why you would bother farming in an unsuitable location (COLD , short growing season with minimal UV , land probably shaded by surrounding buildings ) with people that have no background in farming. That is what we call a recipe for disaster.

If you want to grow something get the Feds to open up the North shore of lake Apopka to no-till farming ... right now it is out of production while they try to get the lake rehabbed.. You could grow more food in that area alone than if you used every square inch of land in urban PA cities and NY and Boston combined.

21 posted on 10/30/2009 7:51:04 PM PDT by Neidermeyer
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To: lack-of-trust
and that doesn’t include any pollution cleanup.

*************************************************

Yep ,, thats where all the jobs for new hires at EPA come in ... just imagine if a building they leveled had a buried fuel oil tank or if the inspectors had even one soil sample show lead where one tired painter spilled a gallon of lead based paint 50 years ago...

22 posted on 10/30/2009 7:57:03 PM PDT by Neidermeyer
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To: Neidermeyer
That and I just don't understand why you would bother farming in an unsuitable location (COLD , short growing season with minimal UV , land probably shaded by surrounding buildings ) with people that have no background in farming. That is what we call a recipe for disaster.

LOL! Sounds like your head has been baking in the tropical sun for too long.
I agree, nobody in Pittsburgh is going to successfully grow coffee or bananas or citrus fruit or crops like that,
but when I grew up there during the '50s and '60s there was still plenty of farming going on in the surrounding area.
In fact, the suburban neighborhood I grew up in had previously been an old apple orchard. So in addition to having an infinite supply of apples at our disposal, we also had peaches, plums and cherries we could go out into the backyard and pick. Not to mention the "wild" blackberries that grew in many of the vacant fields that used to be farms.
And in our backyard garden, we didn't have any difficulty growing tomatoes, corn, beans, peas, onions, cabbage, cucumbers, radishes, lettuce, peppers, squash, strawberries or most other "normal" veggies somebody might want to grow in a backyard garden. (Well corn was a PITA because it took up too much room in the garden. We only grew it once, just because we could. But it was easier to buy a bushel from some local farmer who had a roadside stand, and use our garden space for other veggies.)

Granted, the season might be a little short for some items, so it helps to build a little makeshift "cold frame" to protect the little seedlings in spring. But it's not like people don't know how to do it.

Food is ALWAYS best when grown locally.
And homegrown tomatoes ALWAYS taste better than anything you can buy in a store.

23 posted on 10/31/2009 2:02:49 AM PDT by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: 3catsanadog

“What are they going to do? Use eminent domain to take property off honest, law-abiding citizens and make collective farms out of it?”

A minor detail, comrade!

But, yeah, these idiots forget/ignore that these “vacant lots” actually belong to people who are, presumably, paying taxes on them.

If they’ve been seized for back taxes or otherwise belong to the city, then have at it.


24 posted on 10/31/2009 2:39:37 AM PDT by PLMerite (Speak Truth to Stupid.)
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; bigheadfred; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; ...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/2981564906_d14e0a8f8e.jpg


25 posted on 11/01/2009 11:39:43 AM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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