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Brownfields
Contact Us

Resources about Brownfields and Urban Agriculture

Resources from the Federal Government

EPA

  • Brownfields and Urban Agriculture: Interim Guidelines for Safe Gardening Practices
  • Elder Accessible Gardening (PDF)
  • Brownfields Revitalization – Urban Agriculture and Food Connection
  • How Does Your Garden Grow? Brownfields Redevelopment and Local Agriculture (PDF)
    • Spanish | Español: ¿Cómo Crece Tu Jardín? Redesarrollo de "Brownfields" y Agricultura Local (PDF)
    • Vietnamese | Vườn của Quý Vị Tăng Trưởng Như Thế Nào? (PDF)
  • Industrial Properties Renewed Through Agriculture
  • Urban Farm Business Plan Handbook: EPA Region 5 worked with local Toledo partners to develop a planning toolkit based on a business plan created for the Fernwood Growing Center in Toledo, OH. The Urban Farm Business Plan Handbook provides a framework for any organization or community interested in developing an urban farm on cleaned brownfields or vacant sites to help address neighborhood blight, food access, or community development challenges. The handbook provides guidance on how to assemble marketing, operating, and financial strategies to communicate your urban farm project to potential partners and funders. To guide your responses, questionnaires related to each section as well as financial spreadsheets are also included.
    • Partnership for Sustainable Communities: Urban Farm Business Plan Handbook (PDF)
      • Urban Farm Business Plan Handbook: Accompanying Worksheets (PDF)
      • Urban Farm Business Plan Handbook: Accompanying Worksheets (Excel Document)
  • Agriculture
  • EcoTools: Urban Gardens & Potentially Contaminated Land
  • Environmental Justice
  • Food Systems 101 (webinar)
  • Food Waste Recycling
  • Integrated Pest Management
  • Local Food, Local Places 
  • Smart Growth
  • Urban Waters 

US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

  • Local and Regional Food Systems
  • Hunger and Food Security
  • USDA Partners and Extension Map
  • Economic Research Service (ERS)
    • Atlas of Rural and Small Town America 
    • Food Environmental Atlas
    • Food Access Research Atlas
    • Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts and Issues
  • National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
  • Rural Development, Community Development

US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

  • Grants
  • Office of Economic Resilience 
  • Sustainable Communities

US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 

  • Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
    • Brownfield and Land Recycling – Overview

    • SoilShop Toolkit 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
    • Community Health in Action 
    • Healthy Places, Community Gardens

    • National Center for Environmental Health 

The following links exit the site

Resources from Other Sources

Other grants

  • Kansas State University Brownfields and Urban Agriculture
  • Kansas State University - Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities

Planning, policy, and practice guides

  • Urban Agriculture Best Practices report, University of Missouri extension 
  • Groundwork USA

Soil and soil testing

  • Cornell University - Soil Quality and Testing  and Healthy Soils, Healthy Communities
  • Urban Agriculture and Soil Contamination: An Introduction to Urban Gardening Practice Guide #25, Winter 2009
  • Establishing Urban Agriculture in Your Community: What You Need to Know Before You Get Your Hands Dirty, Winter 2010

Community and urban agriculture

  • American Planning Association - Creating Community-Based Brownfields Redevelopment Strategies
  • American Planning Association - Planning for Food Access introduces food systems and planning to improve food access and create healthier communities

Community gardens

  • National Gardening Association is a non-profit organization that provides plant-based education, resources, and grants to individuals interested in home, school, or community gardens

International urban agriculture

  • City Farmer News (Canadian)
  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations  
  • Brownfields Home
  • Overview
  • Program Accomplishments
  • Environmental and Economic Benefits
  • Types of Grant Funding
  • Solicitations for Brownfield Grants
  • Brownfields and Land Revitalization Activities Near You
  • Select Publications
  • Grant Recipient Success Stories
  • Grant Recipient Reporting using ACRES
  • Brownfields Broadcast
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
Last updated on October 12, 2022
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