Agriburbia© possibilities in Catawba County

Sometimes it takes me time to get around to writing about a subject that has great relevance on our local situation. May hands have been very full as most of you can see, but I have a few things in the pipeline that will be discussed in the upcoming days. A month ago I attended a meeting of the Future Economy Council in which there was a Skype conference call with Quint Redmond of Golden, Colorado.

Mr. Redmond is part of the TSR group (from the Agriburbia© website):

The TSR Group was founded in 1997 in Golden, Colorado where it is currently headquartered. The firm is comprised of employees who are Planning and Design, Development Management, Natural Resource, GIS, CAD and Software Engineering experts. TSR offers unique spatial information methodologies and outstanding professional design services to the land development industries that increase project efficiency, improve design quality and reduce costs by centralizing and standardizing project information.

TSR Group offers services in the following areas:

Development Integration / Coordination and Management
Design and Planning
Natural Resources
Environmental and Real Estate Litigation Support
Geographic / Spatial Information Services

TSR has developed many specific value added methods for improving the quality and efficiency of the Land and Water or Real Estate industries. These innovative ideas include such things as the Geographic Design Library™ and Agriburbia®.

And... (About Agriburbia©)

Agriburbia® is design movement and economic model that advocates for private development and re-development which integrates aspects of Agrarianism, along with contemporary design methods and other environmentally sound principals of real estate development. It combines the positive cultural, physical and financial characteristics from both the urban and rural ends of the landuse spectrum to create an entirely new designation.

Agriburbia incorporates professional food production as a key element in the community design, social network, and financial viability of the development. Agriburbia provides a commercially viable mechanism for individuals and businesses to become more self sufficient and create truly sustainable communities.
Agriburbia Principles

Agriburbia® promotes and supports the following policies and principles:

• Agricultural Production: No loss of agricultural value or revenue ("Green Fields" development), or production of dietary requirements of the project or equivalent cash from sales crops, or combination thereof.
• Locally Grown Food: Production of a significant portion (30 to 50%) of dietary requirements grown within or in the immediate surrounding area of the community
• Conserves and Promotes Natural Resources: Appropriate and efficient use of natural resources to provide housing, transportation, recreation and fresh food through creative, harmonious land planning and landscape architecture for the community. This includes use of alternative energy sources as well as land and water.
• Self Sufficiency: Provide a commercially viable opportunity for enhanced self- sufficiency for community residents, tenants, and guests.
• Sustainable Energy Practices : Integrate solar and geothermal technology to provide sustainable energy sources for the community.
• Financing: Incorporate established entities (Metropolitan Districts, HOAs) to finance both traditional infrastructure (streets, water, sewer) and environmentally friendly agricultural infrastructure (drip irrigation)

Mr. Redmond visited Catawba College, in Salisbury, NC, back in November and has previously visited Lenoir-Rhyne (here in Hickory). Here is a link to his visit from back in November - Agriburbia©: Combining rural living with urban culture - Salisbury Post - November 3, 2012. And on the main page there is a link a link to a News Video from WGHP in High Point - follow the link to watch the video.

The FEC Skype Conference with Quint Redmond:




Video 1 -Introduction to the Agriburbia concept. Infrastructure and Capitalization. Focused Infrastructure. Jeffersonian Idea. Caloric need of the market place. How you farm and sell direct. Food Security and schools. Using land in communities , such as school properties. 40 to 50 acre projects - steward lots. Agriculture as an economic development driver.

Video 2 -Population Density... How much density is needed to support the concept. Cultural problem. We need people to know how to produce food. Eventually it will be too expensive to move food around. Very Intense farming - $50,000 to $60,000 per acre. Farm Kits. Rooftop gardens. - good for herbs. Caloric proximity - counting calories necessary to support a city. Conservation Easements can be a problem. The closer the calories are, the better the job market. 5 to 10 acre per farm scale. Capitalization and the possibilities of a local stock market to support this concept. Corporate and Individual efforts. Back to the future kind of thing. Capturing 60% to 70% of the caloric need. Canning Kitchens.

Video 3 - Food Diversity on the local level. From the local market place to the local market place. Culture and adjusting to new circumstances. Making menus from a seed catalog. Greenhouses and stepwise progression -- be prepared. Being thrifty. Seasonality. Restaurants conforming to a farm plan. Working on efficient greenhouses. Jon Brzorad at Lenoir-Rhyne. Catawba County Farmland Grant. Finding Funding sources. How much money? Comprehensive planning. Economic Development. $50,000 for the study. Includes how to cover the seasonality.

Video 4 - Closing Discussion moving forward. Capital Equity functions and raising capital. Vermiculture from waste. Eco-complex planning greenhouses, eco-compost, and energy from methane. Methane possibilities from waste. Solar farms -- power companies have to buy excess capacity. Lots of potential here.

The Hound believes that this is another unique opportunity that we need to get in on. It is a ground floor - sky is the limit opportunity that we all can benefit from. I believe this community has come a long way with the Urban Farming / Community Farming concept over the last several years and this concept would take those initiatives to the next level.