Monaco: The Glitzy European City Going Green
Linked by Michael Levenston
Urban gardening has been reclaiming rooftops and concrete spaces throughout Monaco (Credit: vuk8691/Getty Images)
With 1,600 sq m of potagers (gardens) that have produced 5 tonnes of organic produce since 2016 and partnerships with chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants, Terre de Monaco is a local success story.
By Richelle Harrison Plesse
BBC
15 January 2020
Excerpt:
It’s an unlikely spot for an organic fruit and vegetable garden, tucked away between soulless high-rise buildings that dot the most densely populated country in the world. But this 450 sq m sliver of land is where market gardener Jessica Sbaraglia toils away. It’s a lush slice of tranquillity in Monaco’s concrete jungle, lying in the shadow of the 170m-high Odéon Tower, the principality’s tallest building, which is also home to the most expensive penthouse in the world – €300 million (about £255 million), should you have the cash to splash.
Sbaraglia, a 31-year-old Swiss native and former tennis pro and model, launched her urban agriculture business Terre de Monaco in 2016 and she now has five micro-farms on Monaco’s rooftops, balconies and hidden plots of land. At this one, my taste buds are treated to a multitude of flavours from the garden, which grows everything from aubergines and courgettes to strawberries and apricots. “I want people to reconnect with the taste of natural, organic produce, and remind them of its diversity and how it’s grown,” Sbaraglia explained.