CAFS New Resource: Farming Without Permission

Farming Without Permission:

How Philadelphia’s Urban Agriculture Community is Securing Land through Adverse Possession

In cities across the country, community gardeners transform vacant lots into vibrant, food-producing green spaces—often without formal land ownership. This comes with risks associated with insecure land tenure, like the threat of sheriff's sales or development. “Farming Without Permission: How Philadelphia’s Urban Agriculture Community is Securing Land through Adverse Possession” tells the story of how gardeners in Philadelphia turned to state property law reform to reduce Pennsylvania's adverse possession period, clearing a path for dozens of gardens to secure permanent land ownership.

Authored by Liz Turner, visiting assistant professor at Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS), this resource highlights the policy development efforts that led to the 2024 passage of SB 645, which reduced the required continuous land use period from 21 to 10 years for gardeners making adverse possession claims to land ownership. This case study is part of a CAFS project supported by the USDA Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production that identifies policy strategies to support policymakers and food producers working to strengthen local food production in U.S. cities.