In particular, urban agriculture can convert wastes into resources, put vacant and under-utilized areas into productive use, and conserve natural resources in rural areas while improving the environment for urban living. Urban Waste as Resources Cities of both the Third and the First Worlds are having increasing difficulty dealing with solid and liquid wastes. A paradigmatic change in the way these wastes are viewed may be starting to emerge globally.
Cities can become more resourceful in both the literal and the figurative senses.
One of the main imports into urban areas is food. At the same time, cities export daily a vast volume of wastes to be disposed of in their bioregion or in adjacent regions. Historically, these wastes have been inputs into the production of a city's food, and they can again become so. Converting food waste into fresh food reduces food costs, improves its quality, improves the environment, creates jobs, and reduces municipal management costs. The recycling of urban organic wastes is particularly critical because without it, nutrient and pathogen pollution damage health and reduce the capacity of the environment to sustain future generations.