I think that's part of people wanting a wholesome life, to surround yourself with farm animals and fields. That's sort of an American ideal.

Urban farming appeals to people on the right and the left. People have different reasons for getting into it. Some people are like doomsdayers, they think there's going to be some horrible catastrophe and how will we survive? And then there's people that are more like, "We want to be socialists and have communal chicken coops." It really runs the whole gamut.

Anyone who has kids knows that children like to be around chickens, goats, whatever. My kid loves to go out and feed the chickens and collect the eggs. It's a nice way of living.

I think that's part of people wanting a wholesome life, to surround yourself with farm animals and fields. That's sort of an American ideal.

I don't think people are like, "I'm going to save the planet by planting my own herbs." But on environmental issues like climate change, there's a sense of hopelessness and despair. Maybe it's really a small gesture but if you can have a garden it may make you feel like you're helping in some way, or that you're making a connection. You can't change the world but you can change your backyard.

My argument for that is: Why not create urban farms that are like parks, on public land? There actually is a park that I see as a model: Dover Street Park in Oakland. They took this park that has swings and playground-type things and turned it into a farm. There's not chickens, just annual vegetables interspersed with fruit trees. And it's super cool because you see people playing with their kids and then they go pick raspberries and some greens for dinner.

As cities get more dense, you have people saying, "Why would you have an urban farm when you could have affordable housing on that property instead?" So there's an argument against it. Another huge thing is there's a brain drain toward growing marijuana. You know, if someone has a green thumb in an urban area, especially in places like Washington or Oregon where it's now totally legal, why wouldn't you just grow pot?