Production and economic analysis of a pop-up farm in Mexico city

Abstract

Urban agriculture is becoming a relevant strategy to increase the resilience in highly populated cities since it helps in addressing urban food scarcity, malnourishment and obesity problems, may provide alternative economic opportunities and improves environmental quality. Mexico city is facing numerous challenges related with the fast growth of its population that threatens its ability to keep up providing them with basic food and water services. Low prices of processed foods associated with industrial agriculture, combined with the urbanization lifestyle, have left Mexico city with a public health crisis. To contribute to solving these problems, it is proposed to use several Pop-up farms using Mel Bartholomew's system for the cultivation of local vegetables (tomatoes, romaine lettuce, pepper, spinach, onions, celery, etc.), taking advantage of the city's subtropical highland climate and a specially designed rainwater harvesting system. Preliminary results show that a Pop-up farm can supply a significant fraction of the average yearly family consumption for these vegetables in the region. a cost benefit analysis shows that Pop-up farms are a viable strategy for providing high-quality food at low costs contributing to increase health and economic conditions in urban environments.