Urban agriculture as an organizing theme for undergraduate biology education provides many benefits:

 

1. Urban agriculture represents the nexus of two pressing topics: urbanization and sustainable agriculture

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2. Urban agriculture and research gardens can be designed to test biological concepts at many scales including evolution, reproduction, development, productivity, and interactions

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3. Urban agriculture and campus research gardens can be used to develop scientific skills such as hypothesis testing, experimental design, and data collection and analysis

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4. Urban agriculture and campus research gardens are practical and cost effective study systems and are typically proximal to campuses and employ inexpensive materials

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5. Urban agriculture is broadly accessible, located in a familiar setting, and connects to an agricultural heritage for recent immigrant and distant immigrant communities alike

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6. Urban agriculture project impacts extend beyond the campus into communities and provide environmental and social benefits 

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