Barriers and opportunities to agrihood development in growing cities of the Rocky Mountain region: A comparative case study

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and peri-urban development are driving land use change across the globe, result­ing in lands being converted from agricultural uses to housing development. Sustainable, multifunc­tional land use in urban and peri-urban areas is needed to balance the requirements of producing food in a way that protects environmental resources and of providing housing to a growing population. An agrihood is a planned development model that incorporates food production within a community to help address goals of nutritious food security while providing social, economic, and environmental benefits. Agrihoods may offer an alternative land use for integrating food production in new housing developments for the sustainable development of rapidly urbanizing cities. A com­parative case study, using semi-structured, qualita­tive interviews with key informants from two cities (Bozeman, Montana, and Longmont, Colorado), highlighted four key barriers to agrihood develop­ment in two cities in the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S: labor; ownership and governance struc­tures; resource availability; and land use regulation. Concerns for water and land resource availability reflect general barriers to agricultural expansion in the Rocky Mountain region, while the other identi­fied barriers reflect the structural and legal limita­tions preventing agrihood development and expan­sion. To reduce these barriers, policy interventions and incentives provided at municipal, state, and federal levels, informed by community advocates in support of local food production, will be essential.