Fruits and vegetables grown on urban farms have on average six times the carbon footprint of produce from conventional farms, the study, which was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Cities , found. Hawes said that produce grown on 17 out of the 73 urban farms his team studied across five countries had lower carbon footprints than produce from conventional farms. Rushdan also argued that urban farms are a much more sustainable use of land than commercial or industrial development. The letter also alluded to the structural problems that can prevent urban farms from being more permanent, including commercial development and barriers to landownership. "Our work does not lessen the many benefits that urban agriculture provides," Hawes said in an email.

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Persons: shockwaves, Jason Hawes, Hawes, Rushdan, Detroit's, Benjamin Goldstein, Goldstein, they'd, Monica Fitzgerald Organizations: Service, University of Michigan, Nature, YouTube, Business, University of Michigan School for Environment, Sustainability, Detroit, BI, US Department of Agriculture Locations: Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Boulder , Colorado