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Can someone provide some numbers on family/urban/school garden productivity? It's important to get a handle on this, in terms of kilocalories per day on an annualized basis.

Adult diets are around 2000 kilocalories per day (about 2.3 kilowatt-hours, if you prefer those units for some inscrutable reason -- about like a 100 W light bulb).

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by technopolitical on Mon May 5th, 2008 at 05:08:28 PM EST
The range of climates, micro-climates, technological level, cultivar availability, weather patterns, land use patterns, farming/gardening practices - to name a few - of urban areas, considered globally, make it impossible to determine useful comparative statistics.

In general, horticultural techniques yield more food value per land area and diverse agricultural production operations (many different crops and mixed-use areas) yield the highest food value.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Tue May 6th, 2008 at 01:28:00 AM EST
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Hello technopolitical.  I take the point of the next comment below : it is almost impossible to make valuable statistics on comparative horticultural productivity because of the dramatic differences in location, climatic variation, soil quality etc.

Data on adult diets and the number of kilocalories or joules are undeniably important. However, one should also take into account that the daily consumption of fresh food (vegetables and fruits) plays an extremely important role in public health, particularly for children, because of a significant enhancement in vitamins and mineral elements. Having a small family garden or a school garden will perhaps not solve ALL the food problems of the rural or urban poor, but it certainly will avoid a number of classical diseases and hunger.

Prof. Dr. Willem Van Cotthem Beeweg 36 - B 9080 Zaffelare (Belgium)

by willem vancotthem (willem.vancotthem@gmail.com) on Tue May 6th, 2008 at 04:04:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes, there's a lot more value from gardens than just calories.

Words and ideas I offer here may be used freely and without attribution.
by technopolitical on Wed May 7th, 2008 at 01:13:34 AM EST
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