Although located mostly in the South and West, there are an estimated 200 agrihoods across the U.S. in at least 30 states, in rural communities to major cities, as Ed McMahon, a senior fellow of sustainable development at ULI, told Civil Eats, a nonprofit publication focused on sustainable food news. Examples of agrihoods include everything from upscale Serenbe southwest of Atlanta to Aria Denver, which features 72 affordable apartments and 13 townhouses as well as a production garden and greenhouse.

Who’s Buying in to Agrihoods?

Experts agree that an agrihood can be an effective—and still relatively novel—differentiator when homebuyers are confronted with several master planned communities competing for their attention and dollars.

“No matter how rich or poor or old you are, or where you come from or what you believe, we all have connections with food and land,” says Daron “Farmer D” Joffe, a biodynamic farmer, consultant, and speaker who has worked on a range of public and private farm development projects, including the early adopters Serenbe and Rancho Mission Viejo. “Food brings people together, and there’s been a growing trend of consumer interest in being part of the story of their food,” Joffe says.