Giving Compass' Take:

• Food Tank explores the rise of urban farming and how it helps create more sustainable cities, while improving food security for those in low-income areas.

• What can we do to support more urban agriculture? Outdoor spaces and gardens could always use funding; farmer markets should become more prevalent.

• Here's how an urban farming accelerator in Brooklyn provides fresh produce year-round.

It’s not easy being a farmer. The days are long and many don’t make a living wage. Mental health issues are common amongst farmers, often due to mounting stress about money, weather, crop failure, and debt.

And fertile farmland is becoming scarcer. Open land is being threatened with development every day, and the loss of precious topsoil means that one day in the not-so-distant future, we may very well run out of healthy soil in which to grow food.

Despite all the challenges that land loss brings to farmers around the world, many individuals and organizations are finding new and innovative ways to grow food and sustainably feed their communities.

Urban farmers, for example, are reclaiming rooftops, vacant buildings, empty lots, yards, abandoned parks — and even the patches of grass between sidewalks and roads — in order to grow food. And they’re making a big impact.

Read the full article about city farmers finding space by Lettie Straton at Food Tank.