Dubuque’s New Zoning Law Aims To Combat Food Deserts

Wish you could grow more fresh produce all year round? Well, if you live in Dubuque, you now can.

City Council members voted unanimously for a zoning change that would allow people to build commercial greenhouses in more parts of the city.

According to KCRG, before this zoning change, greenhouses could only be built on C1 properties, which are commercial properties in mostly residential neighborhoods. Now, people can build them in more commercially driven areas such as John F. Kennedy Road, and downtown Dubuque- areas zoned C2, C2A, C3, C4, and CS.

Michaela Freiburger, chairman of the Dubuque County Food Policy Council told KCRG this new zoning change can help tackle food insecurity and food deserts.

”We have two of them, pretty large territories, specifically one in downtown Dubuque and one is up on the top of the hill up in the Fenelon Place Elevator area,”

 Using Greenhouses to Alleviate Food Insecurity

Having food deserts in cities is not a new concept. They are typically found in areas where people are limited to fast food and small corner stores.  Being in a food desert doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have access to food, it mainly looks at your access to healthy, nutritious food options.

Greenhouses offer a number of advantages to growers such as allowing for longer growing seasons protection for plants, customizability of the greenhouse to your needs, and saving energy.

By allowing more areas to have a greenhouse, businesses can even look to expand and grow their own products.