You are invited to a symposium on the possibilities of fostering equitable urban agriculture through community-led planning and policy. The symposium celebrates the legacy of food systems planning scholar, teacher, and advocate, Jerome (Jerry) Kaufman (1933-2013) with the launch of a book in his honor. The book Planning for Equitable Urban Agriculture is written by more than 50 individuals, many of whom are former colleagues, students, and mentees of Jerry Kaufman.

Drawing on the book, the symposium makes the case for re-imagining agriculture as central to urban landscapes, and unpacks why, how, and when city planning should support equitable urban agriculture. The symposium frames questions of equity and justice as central to planning and policy efforts to promote urban agriculture (Panel 1), examines how civic agriculture is unfolding across urban landscapes in the US and the globe, led largely by community organizations (Panel II), and showcases policy leadership by cities from around the country (Panel III).

The symposium will conclude with a call for action to promote equitable urban agriculture in the city of Buffalo. The call for action draws on new analysis from the Growing Toward Equity report, co-produced by a community-student-research team including graduate students from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, public policy partners from Erie County, Juneteenth Agricultural Pavilion, Buffalo Food Equity Network, and the UB Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab.

Symposium speakers include community leaders, scholars, policy leaders, and urban growers from Buffalo and around the country. The symposium will be opened by Dan Kaufman, Jerry Kaufman’s son and writer for New Yorker.