La Finca Urbana: En Función de la Seguridad Alimentaria
Since Puerto Rico became a territory of the United States in 1898, the agrarian economy has decayed gradually; 90% of what we eat is imported. Our insurance that food is going to be in our tables when we need it is conditioned by the systematic consistency of those imports, yet, the route that the cargo ships take coincide with that of hurricanes, and the majority of them arrive at the same port in San Juan, according to Myrna Comas Pagán, the secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
In function of the food safety it's necessary to grow more crops, being thorough wile taking an example from one of the most dignified and transcendent socioeconomic changes from a dependent country to a self-sufficient one: Cuba and the "Special Period" of 1989. As consequence of the "Peak Oil Crisis", the agrarian market was affected; they had no oil, fertilizers, nor the cultural knowledge. The story of what they did, relying on permaculture and other methods of intensive production, can be seen in "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil" a documentary by director Faith Morgan.
In this project I propose an Urban Farm in a middle point of two very different socioeconomic regions in Hato Rey; the segregated residential community of Las Monjas, and the -high end- commercial banking zone of La Milla de Oro. This farm would be a node, unifying a common need for the surrounding radius, not very different from that of a Food Hub like those in Canada, or Dickson Despommier's Vertical Farm. It'll produce enough food for the full-dietary needs of more than 200 persons; complementing its production with the cattle raising in the rural zones, and fishing in the coast, it would provide for the whole community.
This intention, a node that serves a community in the surrounding radius, would be a part of a network full of other nodes. They would provide food for all the locals, and therefore, would make Puerto Rico a more self sufficient country.
Location: Las Monjas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Lot Size: 7 Cuerdas / Acres
