Ninety percent of urban vegetable supply in China is produced in the cities. Calcutta has the world's largest sewage fed fisheries; also vegetable production using organic compost based of urban solid waste.
In Birmingham, UK, there is an innovative urban land-use and food production scheme called Ashram Acres. The project makes use of local skills to utilize derelict gardens, clearing them and making them productive. Another aim is to provide a meeting place for people who vary widely in age, race and background. High unemployment in the mainly Asia and East Indian community led to an interest in the cultivation of vegetable crops such as okra, cucumber, karella and coriander. Animals are also kept, goats providing milk and cheese. Hundreds of people are now involved in the project and derive both therapeutic and economic value from being able to produce fruit and vegetables not normally grown in the UK. "Members" pay a nominal amount to work on the project and are entitled to take produce home. The vegetables are grown organically in raised compost beds under cheaply-made polythene greenhouses, avoiding any contamination by lead in the soil and air. The huge success of the project has led Birmingham Council to make available to the community a larger one-acre site outside the city.