URBAN AGRICULTURE IN ISRAEL: BETWEEN CIVIC AGRICULTURE AND PERSONAL EMPOWERMENT

This paper examines urban agriculture in Israel, as a form of civic agriculture. It emphasizes the role of civic agriculture as promoting civic values, such as commitment to the public at large, as well as enriching self-fulfillment, rather than emphasizing the more common civil agriculture aspects of production and marketing. The paper suggests three cycles of civic agriculture expressions: the national, the community-based and the personal. Discussing two key moments within Israeli urban agriculture history, the 1930s and the contemporary period, the paper explores the changing role of civic agriculture in the country from one that emphasizes national values to one that is focused on more communal and personal values.