I have recently submitted an idea to the Obama campaign to begin encouraging and subsidizing a communal urban farming effort. The basis of this idea is that blocks or neighborhoods will be able to organize in order to provide produce for themselves and others in their area. Each household (that volunteers) on a block will have their soil analyzed by an agricultural or horticultural program graduate and will grow a certain fruit(s) or vegetable(s). Other households on the block (or in the neighborhood) would be the canneries. The government could subsidize the purchase of heirloom seeds, the salary of the agricultural/horticultural experts, and the equipment needed for canning and drying the foodstuffs. Only the volunteer participants would reap the benefits of the program.

I believe a program like this will not only help reduce the emissions generated from transporting produce hundreds of miles (thousands in the winter) but will also prevent possible food riots and violence should the future fuel supply become so scarce that it is eventually for government and military use only. If we start practicing now, we will all be pros before we need to be.