Contamination Remediation

Remnant and redevelopment areas of cities can present challenges to food cultivation in the form of residual contamination from prior uses or ongoing contamination from contemporary pollution (from roads, trains, manufacturing, and waste processing). Many stereotypes of urban ecologies as polluted inaccurately underestimate the contamination of rural food sources (from pesticides, manufacturing, and the same atmospheric depositions that fall on cities). Further, areas of higher population density often have considerably more resources dedicated to soil and contamination remediation. For common pollutants such as lead, contamination can be stabilized and remediated through growing plants and increasing soil organic matter.