— A crowd of more than 100 attendees enjoyed a Conservation Leadership Lecture titled “An Unexpected Connection: Wildlife Conservation & Urban Agriculture” given by John Zahina-Ramos, Ph.D., PWS, at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society on the evening of February 26, 2015. Guests enjoyed cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, live harp music by Ruby Drain and Zoo animal encounters beforehand. Bank of America is the presenting sponsor for the Conservation Leadership Lecture series.

Dr. Zahina-Ramos, founder of the web resource Just One Backyard, Casa Jardin Co., explained how urban agriculture is more productive per square foot area than rural agriculture.

“When we add up backyard residential spots in this area, we can grow enough fruits and vegetables to feed every single resident with a healthy diet, according to the recommended USDA five servings per day,” he said. “If five percent of Palm Beach County residents grew a 1,000 square foot garden, the annual economic impact would be more than $130 million a year.”

After the lecture, Dr. Zahina-Ramos debuted his new book, Just One Backyard: One Man’s Search for Food Sustainability. The book chronicles the change from local food production to dependency on the industrial agricultural system in place today. It also details the results of his five-year backyard food growing study, and documents the wide range of benefits that can be realized from sustainable urban food production.

Click here to watch lecture video!