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New Affordable Bronx Development Will Feature a Rooftop Aquaponics Greenhouse
New Affordable Bronx Development Will Feature a Rooftop Aquaponics Greenhouse
Rendering of the Bedford Green House courtesy of Edelman Sultan Knox Wood/Architects LLP and Hollister Construction Services
NOVEMBER 15, 2017 DEVIN GANNON
The construction of a 13-story supportive housing development in the Bedford Park neighborhood of the Bronx will begin Thursday when federal, state and city officials join nonprofit Project Renewal in a groundbreaking ceremony at the site. Located at 2880 Jerome Avenue, the Bedford Green House will feature 118 units of affordable housing for families, seniors, and singles. To connect its residents to nature, the building will be covered in carbon sequestering plants and have an operational rooftop greenhouse where residents will be able to raise fresh fish and produce, partake in healthy cooking demos, and enjoy a community playground.
Rendering of the Bedford Green House courtesy of Edelman Sultan Knox Wood/Architects LLP and Hollister Construction Services
Designed by Edelman Sultan Knox Wood, with Hollister managing construction, the 83,000-square-foot building will pursue LEED Gold certification. Half of the greenhouse space will utilize aquaponics, with the other half focused on growing crops like kale, spinach, and arugula. In addition to the agricultural aspect, residents will have access to a workforce development office, laundry room, community area, warming pantry, and a playground. Plus, the building will feature custom artwork from locals.
Johannesburg's New "Agripreneurs" Dig For Green Gold On Skyscraper Rooftops
DECEMBER 1, 2017
Johannesburg's New "Agripreneurs" Dig For Green Gold On Skyscraper Rooftops
OHANNESBURG, Dec 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The soaring “Chamber of Mines” building in central Johannesburg, a hub for South Africa’s mining industry, is a symbol of a bygone era when pioneers began flocking here in the late 19th century to dig for gold.
Nhlanhla Mpati is a small-scale entrepreneurial farmer who started a roof-top farm on top of the Chamber of Mines building in the Joburg CBD.
Today, it is also the site of a new venture aiming to entice the city’s unemployed youth into green entrepreneurship.
The action this time is happening not underground but sprouting from the rooftops of the inner city’s iconic skyscrapers.
The initiative to create urban gardening businesses on vacant roofs was launched more than a year and a half ago by the public-private Johannesburg Inner City Partnership.
Farming is hardly the first thing that comes to mind as a source of job creation and entrepreneurship, said Brendon Martens of Wouldn’t It Be Cool (WIBC), an innovation incubator leading the effort.
“Agriculture is generally seen as a low-tech, bottom of the pyramid-type activity when it’s at the small scale. It’s what a single mom does just to make ends meet,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
But Martens and his team are striving to turn the concept on its head by bringing market needs together with cutting-edge farming methods and hands-on business training.
HI-TECH VEGGIES
The initiative uses hydroponics technology, which allows basil, lettuces, spring onions and other crops to be grown in special water solutions without requiring soil or large open spaces.
Here plants grow faster and use up to 80 percent less water than in traditional farming. The technique also eliminates problems like soil erosion.
Another advantage is that crops are grown locally, cutting down on transportation time and costs, and delivering the freshest-possible products to the consumer.
That is a big shift given as much as 80 percent of what is on offer at the Johannesburg fresh produce market, Africa’s largest, is imported from outside Gauteng province, said Martens.
“We pull that value into the communities in the inner city that really need it,” he said.
The farm atop the Chamber of Mines, where neat rows of plants bloom under plastic high above the traffic buzzing below, began operating in September.
Clinton Hill School Gets Millions In Greenhouse Funding
Urban Assembly Unison is one of seven schools slated to share $7 million from Adams' Growing Brooklyn's Future initiative, which will fund building rooftop gardens and greenhouses, the borough president announced Tuesday.
Clinton Hill School Gets Millions In Greenhouse Funding
The Urban Assembly Unison School is one of seven schools slated to receive greenhouse funding from Eric Adams' $7 million initiative.
By Kathleen Culliton, Patch Staff | Nov 29, 2017
CLINTON HILL, BROOKLYN — A Clinton Hill school can begin building its greenhouse after Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams announced the expansion of his green school initiati
Urban Assembly Unison is one of seven schools slated to share $7 million from Adams' Growing Brooklyn's Future initiative, which will fund building rooftop gardens and greenhouses, the borough president announced Tuesday.
"This is about keeping Brooklyn's kids at the forefront of innovation and growing their futures," said Borough President Adams.
"Young people across the borough will now have the opportunity to learn about growing fruits, vegetables, herbs, and plants that will empower them to make healthy choices."
Urban Assembly — a profession-focused public school with an urban farming program — received $2 million from Growing Brooklyn's Future and an additional $1.05 million from City Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo's office.
The school plans to begin construction on its courtyard greenhouse — which is expected to produce about 25 thousand pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables per year — early in 2018 with an anticipated completion date set for 2020, school officials said.
The money will be divided between seven schools in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bergen Beach, Brownsville, Clinton Hill, Gravesend and Sheepshead Bay, according to the Brooklyn borough president.
Adams first launched Growing Brooklyn's Future in 2015 when he channeled more than $2 million to create hydroponic classrooms to 12 Brooklyn schools in Bed-Stuy, Brownsville, Bushwick, Canarsie, Cypress Hills and East New York.
Levi’s Stadium LEEDs the Way
Levi’s Stadium LEEDs the Way
Story and photos by Diane Andrews
Nine stories up, atop the roof of the SAP Tower of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, is a thriving 7,000-square-foot organic vegetable and herb garden now going on two years old. Called the Faithful Farm, it is located on the tower’s 27,000-square-foot NRG Solar Terrace, high above the scrambles and scrimmages of the San Francisco 49ers football team on the field below.
Established in July of 2016, the rooftop garden is a first for a National Football League (NFL) stadium. It was the inspiration of Danielle York, wife of 49ers CEO Jed York, who thought vegetables would be a tasty addition to the grasses and succulents already planted on the roof to help reduce heating and cooling requirements for the tower suites below.
“The garden wasn’t cheap, but it’s beyond that. It’s more about being a leader, a pioneer of sustainability. That means more to the York family than saving dollars,” said Jim Mercurio, 49ers Vice President of Stadium Operations and General Manager. “The York family gives us the resources to make a difference.”
Consider the logistics. Everything must be hauled up to the roof—soil, flats of plants, fertilizer, gardening tools, the drip watering system using reclaimed water—everything. Then once grown, the produce must be hauled down to the kitchen.
“We get everything more intensely up here. Wind rips things out. The sun is very intense without much shade, so the crops get nuked,” said Lara Hermanson, principal of Farmscape LLC, which manages the Faithful Farm and is the largest urban farming venture in California (www.farmscapegardens.com).
The farm is tended by three gardeners working three days a week. Annuals such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, kale, lettuce, pumpkins, edible flowers and fine-leafed herbs are part of the fall harvest. In all, about 40 different vegetables and herbs are rotated over the year.
“We plant off-beat varieties. The chef can get regular things,” said Hermanson. “We plant hard-to-source specialties, varieties you can’t find through traditional ordering.”
The farm, expanded from 4,000-square-feet, has yielded over 7,000 pounds of produce, and Hermanson works a month ahead with yield predictions. She creates weekly spread sheets for Executive Chef Dinari Brown of Centerplate, the stadium’s food hospitality partner, who plans menus around the produce available. Food that isn’t served in club spaces during games and at private events hosted at the stadium, is donated.
“I was shocked when I looked at tonnage and how fast things grow,” said Mercurio. “What an amazing kind of transformation.”
“You feel proud. The team feels as if we’re working with pioneers here, in some cases being pioneers,” said Mercurio. “We’re opening up possibilities to people in the industry.”
Indeed, other NFL stadiums are following suit in the growing trend for edible gardens tucked into unexpected urban places. Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home to the Falcons, opened in August of this year with a street-level garden.
However, it was San Francisco’s AT&T Park, home to the Giants baseball team, that led the way as the first pro sports franchise with an edible garden. In June of 2014, raised boxes of vegetables (also tended by Farmscape) were installed behind the centerfield wall, just under the scoreboard.
LEED, standing for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, recognizes best-in-class building strategies and practices, and Levi’s Stadium prides itself on achieving LEED Gold certification in two categories.
It was the first NFL stadium to open—in August 2014—with LEED Gold certification for new construction. Then in 2016, it received LEED Gold certification for operations and maintenance of an existing building, making it the first NFL stadium to receive LEED Gold certifications from the U.S. Green Building Council in both categories.
And with the success of the Faithful Farm, Levi’s Stadium further LEEDs the way for the 49ers and the City of Santa Clara.
Boston Medical Center Winds Down Inaugural Rooftop Farm Season
Children in the Boston Medical Center’s Summer Culinary Camp harvest produce on the BMC’s green roof. PHOTO COURTESY MATT MORRIS/ BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER
October 26, 2017 3:37 am by Ellisa Riddell
The Boston Medical Center, Boston University’s affiliated teaching hospital, is winding down its first growing season on the center’s new rooftop farm with thousands of pounds of fresh, farmed produce.
Timothy Viall, a spokesperson for the Boston Medical Center, said the farm is the first hospital-based farm in Massachusetts, and it was established to provide healthy and fresh food to patients and the local community.
“The goal of BMC’s rooftop farm is to provide fresh, local produce to as many of our patients, employees and community members as possible,” Viall wrote in an email. “This initiative also supports BMC’s mission to address social determinants of health by improving access to healthy fruits and vegetables.”
Viall said the farm has harvested 4,614 pounds of crops, including green beans, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, scallions, squash, and tomatoes. That number is expected to exceed 5,000 pounds by early November, according to Viall.
BMC’s Preventive Food Pantry, which works to address nutrition-related illness and malnutrition for its low-income patients, has received approximately half of all the produce grown on the farm to date with the hospital’s kitchens receiving the other half, Viall wrote.
“The kitchens ensure the food is widely distributed to cafeterias across campus and that it is used in patients’ meals,” Viall wrote. “Programs through BMC’s Demonstration Kitchen have also given the BMC community opportunities to visit the rooftop farm and learn about cooking with fresh, seasonal ingredients.”
Viall explained that in addition to providing fresh and organic produce for the BMC community, the rooftop farm also reduces the center’s overall carbon footprint by “increasing green space, adding carbon-breathing plants and reducing the building’s energy use,” he wrote.
BMC worked with local organizations in order to make the dream of the rooftop farm a reality. Higher Ground Farm is managing the growing while Recover Green Roofs, a Somerville-based organization, worked with BMC to design and install the farm, according to Viall.
John Stoddard, the founder of Higher Ground Farm, came to BMC with plenty of experience establishing rooftop farms – in fact, his organization started one in the Seaport District about five years ago. He said he was very pleased with the results of the first growing season at the BMC.
“I think everyone was very happy [with the growing season],” Stoddard said. “The employees of the hospital were very excited to come and volunteer and tour the farm, so I think it was very successful.”
Stoddard said the farm is valuable because of its ability to provide healthy food to those who may not be able to afford or access it and for its positive environmental effects.
“Folks who might go to the Boston Medical Center Food Bank are referred by a doctor because they’re food insecure, and so this food bank has your staples in it, but you’re also getting fresh fruits and vegetables that are going to help folks heal better and have a healthier diet,” Stoddard said. “There’s also environmental benefits, so when you’re adding carbon breathing plants, it’s a climate change strategy to some degree.”
Serena Galleshaw, a representative from Recover Green Roofs, wrote that the BMC’s rooftop farm is the organization’s “most efficient farming system to date.”
Galleshaw explained Recover Green Roofs’ role in the creation of the BMC rooftop farm.
“Recover Green Roofs designed the farm and irrigation systems to provide maximum growth potential for the size and scale of the roof,” Galleshaw wrote in an email. “Beyond construction, Recover’s role is to manage and maintain irrigation and system components over time.”
The organization prides itself on constructing the largest rooftop farm in Boston, according to Galleshaw, and the first rooftop farm on top of a hospital.
“We’re proud that our work is benefitting hospital patients, and inspiring the city to think about what’s possible in terms of sustainable building design,” she wrote.
Keeping with the idea of community farming, several of the farm’s volunteers are local community members or students studying in Boston. Reann Gibson, a graduate student in BU’s School of Public Health and a volunteer on the farm, said her day-to-day duties vary and include weeding, planting, changing crops and watering.
Gibson said she decided to volunteer because there aren’t many opportunities for farming and gardening in urban areas like Boston.
“The work the farm is doing is really great in getting more fresh fruits and vegetables available to the Boston community, especially in neighborhoods that don’t really have access to fresh fruits and vegetables,” Gibson said. “It’s also environmentally sustainable hyper-local food, so that’s really cool.”
Several Boston University students said they thought the rooftop farm was a great way to provide healthy, organic food to patients and reduce the BMC’s environmental impact.
Justin Luu, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he appreciates the concept and thinks it contributes to the notion of personal as well as environmental responsibility.
“That’s a good way to be healthy for nature and sustainability,” Luu said. “Having green food helps with the climate and with what people view as what’s good for the environment. If it’s not too costly, it would be good for it to spread.”
Sally Chen, a senior in the College of Fine Arts, said she sees the farm as a great learning opportunity and a way for the community to come together.
“Bringing a garden to campus could teach a lot of kids who are from cities who have never learned how to grow their own vegetables, which could be incredibly important to them in the future,” Chen said. “It also teaches a lot to the community about coming together to grow. It brings back a little bit of nature to us all.”
Grace Yang, a CAS junior, said she sees the sustainability of the farm as a step in the right direction.
“Resources are the biggest issue in this world,” Yang said. “We’re trying to use our resources to the most that we can. Obviously, there is an uneven distribution of wealth. Of all the things we put our money and time towards, this is the kind of thing that benefits the most people.”
Urban Farming 2.0
Delhaize, the leading retailer in Belgium, has launched a vegetable garden and greenhouse on the rooftop of one of its stores in the Brussels area. The produce will be sold in-store and offer customers an opportunity to buy locally.
Urban Farming 2.0
Jade Perry, 20 November 2017
Supermarkets are finding new ways to show their commitment to locally-grown food.
Delhaize, the leading retailer in Belgium, has launched a vegetable garden and greenhouse on the rooftop of one of its stores in the Brussels area. The produce will be sold in-store and offer customers an opportunity to buy locally. Five kinds of lettuce are currently being grown and tomatoes, eggplants, and zucchini will be added next year. The farm will also serve an educational purpose, offering workshops to schools in 2018.
While urban farming has been discussed in the past, major supermarkets are now making these conceptual ideas a reality. There is a range of benefits to these kinds of farms. Indoor farming can give consumers access to fresh produce year-round—even those who live in dense, urban areas. In addition to greatly reducing carbon emissions, indoor farming also uses less water than traditional farming and doesn’t require pesticides.
“Developing a healthy and high-quality nutritional pattern…is one of the challenges of the Brussels region,” Brussels Minster for Environment and Energy Céline Fremault stated in a release. “This first city farm of Delhaize is therefore an excellent initiative, which fully fits into one of Brussels’ ambitions: to increase local production.”
Shoppers at the Living Herb Garden. © studiomfd
Earlier this year, French retailer Carrefour revealed a similar rooftop initiative to Delhaize which is managed by students of a local agricultural school. Albert Heijn, the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, similarly launched a “Help-yourself Herb Garden” in one of its shops that allowed customers to pick fresh plants. Meanwhile in Canada, IGA became the first store to sell store-grown produce in Montreal, offering 30 varieties of vegetables. Even Target in the US is piloting vertical gardens in its stores.
Infarm, a Berlin-based start-up, is trying to make this a reality for every supermarket. The company created an indoor “herb garden” for supermarkets which houses plants in a protected, nutrient-rich environment. The customer-facing farm connects to an app that monitors important factors such as pH levels and temperature.
“Behind our farms is a robust hardware and software platform for precision farming,” Infarm co-founder Osnat Michaeli tells TechCrunch. “Each farming unit is its own individual ecosystem, creating the exact environment our plants need to flourish.” Los Angeles-based start-up Local Roots has taken a similar approach, using shipping containers to bring urban farms to grocers, universities, and community centres. Their goal is to create a network of community-based farms across the US.
Local Roots at SXSW.
Ethically-minded consumers are becoming more health conscious and starting to question where their food comes from and the effect it has on the environment. It’s imperative that brands respond to this concern and continue to implement initiatives that reduce emissions. Brands that are creative in reducing their carbon footprint will reduce costs, tackle climate change and ultimately attract more consumers looking for fresh, high-quality food.
Main image: © studiomfd
Farm Bill Discontent: Urban Ag Supporters Want Changes
Danielle Marvit is production manager for Garden Dreams Urban Farm and Nursery in Pittsburgh. She has serious concerns about conventional agriculture. Here, she talks with journalists during the recent annual convention of the Society of Environmental Journalists in Pittsburgh. (Jonathan Knutson/Agweek)
Farm Bill Discontent: Urban Ag Supporters Want Changes
By Jonathan Knutson / Agweek Staff Writer October 16, 2017
PITTSBURGH — Sonia Finn, Danielle Marvit and Raqueeb Bey are passionate about agriculture. And they believe U.S. farming practices are dangerously off course and need to be corrected, starting with the 2018 farm bill.
"The farm bill isn't right for agriculture. People need to get involved and work to change it," Finn said.
Finn is chef and owner of Dinette restaurant in Pittsburgh. Marvit is production manager of Garden Dreams Urban Farm and Nursery in Pittsburgh. Bey is project director of Black Urban Gardeners and Farmers of Pittsburgh Co-op, or BUGS-FPC, as the group calls itself.
They spoke with Agweek Oct. 4 at Garden Dreams Urban Farm and Nursery during the annual convention of the Society of Environmental Journalists. The event included a day-long session on the farm bill and urban agriculture; Finn, Marvit and Bey were among the presenters.
Though some in mainstream agriculture are skeptical of urban ag, attention is growing for the concept. U.S. local food sales totaled at least $12 billion in 2014, up from $5 billion in 2008, and experts anticipate the figure to reach $20 billion by 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Urban ag consists of "backyard, rooftop and balcony gardening, community gardening in vacant lots and parks, roadside urban fringe agriculture and livestock grazing in open space," according to USDA.
Urban ag has at least one powerful champion.
Michigan's Debbie Stabenow, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee and a key player in U.S. ag policy, last year introduced the Urban Agriculture Act of 2016. The proposal — at least some of which she hopes will be included in the 2018 farm bill — would increase research funding for urban ag, provide more access for urban farmers to USDA loans and risk management programs, and boost the development of urban farming cooperatives, among other things.
Get involved
Finn has both professional and personal interest in promoting urban ag; she grows much of the produce used by Dinette on the restaurant's roof and relies on local farms for as many ingredients as possible.
She's also determined to transform the farm bill, the centerpiece of federal food and agricultural policy. She's gone to Washington, D.C., repeatedly to lobby for her beliefs.
She insists that the existing farm bill — and mainstream ag in general — is tailored to the wants and needs of powerful corporate interests, not what's best for the overwhelming majority of Americans.
"Most people just don't understand how important the farm bill is," Finn said.
Marvit, for her part, is critical of much of America's conventionally raised food.
"It's not real food," she said.
The quarter-acre Garden Dreams Urban Garden and Nursery, established about a decade ago, seeks to promote urban ag, giving neighborhood residents more and healthier food options. It also wants to help community residents learn more about gardening and give them a peaceful place to visit.
The organic operation specializes in tomatoes, raising more than 70 varieties of tomato seedlings. It also has peppers, eggplant, flowers and other fruits and vegetables.
Local control
Bey stressed that urban agriculture gives residents of local neighborhoods greater influence over both their food supply and their lives in general.
"Neighborhoods need more control over what happens to them," Bey said.
Her own Pittsburgh neighborhood has been without a grocery store for decades, forcing its residents to travel several miles by bus to buy food, she said.
BUGS-FPC is establishing a 31,000-square-foot urban farm that will use hoop houses, also known as high tunnels, to grow food to sell at its farm stand and its farmers market, at restaurants and at a community cooperative grocery that it wants to open.
Though interest in, and awareness of, healthy food is growing, supporters of urban ag and local foods need to focus on improving the farm bill and making it friendlier to consumers, Finn said.
"It's just so important we do it," she said.
USDA's "urban agriculture toolkit" is a good starting place to learn more about urban ag: www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/urban-agriculture-toolkit.pdf.
Hospital Creates Largest Rooftop Farm In Boston
Source HIGHER GROUND FARM
Hospital Creates Largest Rooftop Farm In Boston
November 2, 2017
An apple a day might keep the doctor away, but hospitals now are bringing local fruit directly to their patients. Farms and gardens are sprouting up on hospital grounds all around the country. Health Care Without Harm’s Healthy Food in Health Care, a program focused on helping hospitals offer their patients healthy foods, has started to notice that hospital grown produce is becoming increasingly more common.
The director of the program, Stacia Clinton, points out that offering local produce is a logical step for hospitals, “There is an increasing trend in hospital farms. There’s a greater demand now for people to know where their food is coming from, and hospitals are looking for ways to connect people to their food more directly.”
One New England hospital, Boston Medical Center (BMC), has become a leader in this movement and recently set up a farm on top of their building. Not only is it the largest rooftop farm in Boston, but the sky-high project is also the first hospital-based rooftop farm in Massachusetts.
The 7,000 square foot farm hopes to generate 15,000 pounds of food every season and has already produced 1,800 pounds since June. Some harvested items will include kale, bok choy, arugula, tomatoes, carrots, eggplants, cucumbers, and peppers. The rooftop also has a set of two new beehives that will produce honey for the hospital.
So who will be able to enjoy all this fresh food and honey? The hospital’s patients, of course, but BMC has also found several other uses for the farm. The hospital has a Demonstration Kitchen which allows people to visit the rooftop and learn about cooking with seasonal and healthy ingredients. The program helps people get hands-on experience to learn how to grow food as well. The farm also benefits BMC’spreventative food pantry which gives low-income patients access to fresh food.
The motivation for the rooftop garden was a no-brainer for BMC. With access to a farm just steps away from the kitchen, BMC can minimize carbon emissions produced by transporting food. On a practical level, the increased green space also helps reduce the building’s energy use and manages stormwater runoff during heavy rainfall. With endless educational, environmental and health benefits, the rooftop farm offers not only a way to decrease BMC’s carbon footprint but also help their community.
BMC senior director of support services, David Maffeo, explains why the hospital decided to take on this project, “The goal with our rooftop farm is to provide fresh, local produce to as many of our patients, employees, and community members as possible. This initiative supports our mission to address social determinants of health by improving access to healthy fruits and vegetables, and it is a perfect example of BMC's dedication to sustainability and green efforts.”
Since doctors and nurses don’t have time to roll up their sleeves and start growing plants, BMC teamed up with experts Lindsay Allen and John Stoddard from Higher Ground Farm (HGF). HGF specializes in designing and installing organic rooftop farms in the Boston area. BMC works with a farm manager to oversee the crops.
BMC's sustainability efforts don't just stop there. They're also planning to use solar power and hope to become the first carbon-neutral hospital in New England by 2018. Several environmental groups have already acknowledged the hospital's green efforts, and BMC was named one of the 50 greenest hospitals in America by Becker’s Hospital Review. So far, BMC continues to focus on providing their community organic fresh food and is on target to produce 5,000 pounds of produce by the end of the year.
Sky High Veggies? Urban Farming Grows in Unexpected Places
CalSTRS Executive Chef Conrad Caguimbal offers a salad with roasted vegetables from the pension fund’s edible garden featured every day in the CalSTRS cafeteria in West Sacramento. Renée C. Byer rbyer@sacbee.com
Sky High Veggies? Urban Farming Grows in Unexpected Places
BY DEBBIE ARRINGTON | darrington@sacbee.com
OCTOBER 13, 2017 2:00 PM
Fresh vegetables and herbs, harvested steps away from the kitchen; that’s a chef’s dream.
In the Farm-to-Fork Capital, it’s also a sign that a business has thoroughly bought into an ethos of sustainability. Grow tomatoes at your doorstep – or on your roof – and patrons know those veggies are as local as they can get. So do employees who like to know their food source is just outside their windows.
Popping up throughout California are statement-making gardens full of food. That includes the landscaping at the front entrance of West Sacramento’s CalSTRS building, home to the California State Teachers’ Retirement System.
“Most people grow landscaping as an afterthought,” said Lara Hermanson, the gardener/farmer behind Farmscape, which created the CalSTRS “Waterfront Gardens.” “They put in some shrubs and lawn, then forget about it. Food is much more interesting.
Farmscape, the largest urban farming company on the West Coast, has created more than 700 edible gardens in unexpected places.
“We do anything from a couple of raised beds to giant rooftop projects,” said Hermanson, who started growing food as landscaping for wealthy families in Malibu who wanted “kitchen gardens” without the gardening part.
As part of its contracts, Farmscape provides regular maintenance as well as original plans and setup. Packages start at $79 a week for 125 square feet; consultations start at $90 an hour. That’s expensive for a residential vegetable garden, but more reasonable for business or public projects – especially for such high-profile landscaping such as at the entrance of a major building.
Businesses may want to grow edible landscaping, but have no clue how to do it, Hermanson noted. Farmscape takes care of everything from planning to planting to harvest. Adding color and beauty, seasonal flowers, herbs and ornamental plants are mixed in with the vegetables, so the beds appear manicured and attractive year round.
Besides looking good, these gardens have an immediate dividend: Fresh organic food.
“That’s what people love,” Hermanson said.
Farmscape’s most famous “farms” are on top of Levi’s Stadium, the Santa Clara home to the 49ers, and under the scoreboard at the Giants’ AT&T Park in San Francisco.
Featuring espaliered fruit trees as well as annual vegetables, the Giants’ garden had a better summer than the team.
“Produce from that garden is used in three little cafes (at the ballpark) that feature wood-fired pizza including gluten-free options,” Hermanson said. “They also offer vegan options for folks who don’t do baseball food.”
A short throw from the bullpen, hydroponic towers sprout berries and greens used in ballpark smoothies and salads.
“It’s kind of an idea garden,” Hermanson said. “During games, 40,000 people can see how good it looks and think about growing food, too.”
Dubbed “Faithful Farm,” the rooftop garden at Levi’s Stadium supplies fresh produce to the venue’s food service. It looks like a typical vegetable garden – except the soil is only 6 to 9 inches deep and it sits nine stories above the ground.
“We had a crazy good summer at Levi’s,” Hermanson said. “We harvested 5,000 pounds of food from a 6,000-square-foot space. We had a thousand pounds of just melons! We grew so many peppers, we harvested 100 pounds a week.”
Among the challenges of farming on the roof: It gets really windy (but so does AT&T Park) and it’s less protected from rain and sun.
“Everything is more intense on the roof,” Hermanson said. “We had trouble with all that rain (last winter). The little lettuce just rot; it wouldn’t grow. On Christmas Eve, we had another huge storm. And the wind!
“(In summer and early fall), it gets so hot up there, everything just gets cooked,” she added. “But we’re getting to know what works up there.”
On the banks of the Sacramento River, the CalSTRS garden is much more hospitable. Originally planted two years ago, it has 10 raised beds plus more than a dozen fruit trees. It’s also been prolific; this summer, it produced 2-1/2 pounds of food per square inch.
Executive chef Conrad Caguimbal, who oversees CalSTRS’s busy cafe, enjoys growing vegetables and herbs for cafe meals. Open to the public, the cafe serves about 700 meals a day.
“I love the fact I can actually harvest my own produce, take it to the cafe and create something delicious,” Caguimbal said, “and I never get my hands dirty.”
Each week day, he creates an “Earth Bowl,” featuring fresh selections from the garden that sits just outside the cafe’s patio. Using veggies picked that morning, a recent bowl mixed together kale, zucchini and caramelized carrots with barley for a vegan entree.
“A lot of people get excited when we harvest,” he said. “They’ve been watching those tomatoes and squash grow, too.”
CalSTRS chose edible landscaping because it fits with its overall sustainability initiative, explained Madeline O’Connell, the facility’s environmental sustainability specialist. For example, the LEED-certified building recycles 40 tons of organic waste per month to make energy. (That includes waste from the garden.)
“We also use the garden for educational events,” O’Connell said. “After all, we serve teachers.”
Hermanson loves the CalSTRS garden, in part because of its location. It welcomes the building’s 1,100 workers as well as visitors and passersby.
“It’s really fun,” Hermanson said. “It’s right on the river walk. People take lunchtime rambles and stop by the garden. When we’re out there, we get a lot of questions. Is this real? Where does the produce go? (Visitors) interact – and that’s exactly the idea.”
Debbie Arrington: 916-321-1075, @debarrington
Conrad Caguimbal, executive chef at CalSTRS in West Sacramento, builds a salad from vegetables he gathered in the agency’s new edible garden. It’s on the daily menu at the CalSTRS cafeteria. Renée C. Byer rbyer@sacbee.com
Student-Grown Salad In The School Cafeteria? These Kids Dig It
Architect Michael Marshall designed the rooftop farm, one of several gardens at Horace Mann, during the school’s renovation three years ago. “The connection to the exterior is not an accident in this design. A lot of these young kids, when they grow up, rooftop gardens are going to be very common as far as sustainability and urban living. Why not prepare them?” Marshall said.
Student-Grown Salad In The School Cafeteria? These Kids Dig It
By Rachel Nania | @rnania | October 8, 2017
WASHINGTON — School gardens are no longer a rarity.
These days, it’s common to spot pepper plants and tomato towers in schoolyards throughout the country, as more educators turn to dirt to teach lessons on healthy eating and the root of the food system.
But at Horace Mann Elementary School in Northwest D.C., instruction isn’t confined to a few cedar-raised beds. After leafy vegetables are planted and cared for, students harvest the crops, chop them up and serve them to more than 400 of their peers for lunch.
At Horace Mann Elementary School in Northwest D.C., gardening lessons are not confined to a few cedar-raised beds. After leafy vegetables are planted and cared for, students harvest the crops, chop them up and serve them to more than 400 of their peers for lunch. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
Amy Jagodnik’s third-floor classroom, which is filled with seedlings and outfitted with a small kitchen, opens directly to the school’s rooftop garden. It’s there where a class of third-graders pick parsley and pak choi from commercial-grade garden towers on Monday mornings. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
“It’s really fun having a conversation with them about whether they prefer the Swiss chard last week to the pak choi this week,” said Amy Jagodnik, who has been the school’s garden coordinator since 2004. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
Architect Michael Marshall designed the rooftop farm, one of several gardens at Horace Mann elementary, during the school’s renovation three years ago. “The connection to the exterior is not an accident in this design. A lot of these young kids, when they grow up, rooftop gardens are going to be very common as far as sustainability and urban living. Why not prepare them?” Marshall said. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
Garden coordinator, Amy Jagodnik, shows a student the proper way to cut greens on the elementary school’s rooftop farm. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
An American University student helps a third-grader dry leaves of Swiss chard and pak choi on the roof of Horace Mann Elementary. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
After the weekly harvest, students chop the greens and serve them to 400 of their peers in the school cafeteria. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
“You’re laying the foundation for global stewards,” Amy Jagodnik said about the school’s investment in its gardening program.
“You want children to care about their environment. You want them to know how to eat healthy, where their food comes from and how to support that, even if they don’t become scientists or become environmentalists, they still have that foundation.” (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
At lunch, Jagodnik and a few helpers walk around the cafeteria and serve the salad du jour.
“So we’re going to each table and we’re engaging with each student and asking them if they would like a sample or if they would like a salad,” Amy Jagodnik explained. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
“It’s really fun having a conversation with them about whether they prefer the Swiss chard last week to the pak choi this week,” said Amy Jagodnik, who has been the school’s garden coordinator since 2004.
Jagodnik’s third-floor classroom, which is filled with seedlings and outfitted with a small kitchen, opens directly to the school’s rooftop garden. It’s there where a class of third-graders pick parsley and pak choi from commercial-grade garden towers on Monday mornings.
Architect Michael Marshall designed the rooftop farm, one of several gardens at Horace Mann, during the school’s renovation three years ago.
“The connection to the exterior is not an accident in this design. A lot of these young kids, when they grow up, rooftop gardens are going to be very common as far as sustainability and urban living. Why not prepare them?” Marshall said.
Once the greens are gathered and washed, they’re hand-chopped and thrown into large stainless steel bowls, where they’re tossed in a simple dressing of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt and sugar.
At lunch, Jagodnik and a few helpers walk around the cafeteria and serve the salad du jour.
“So we’re going to each table and we’re engaging with each student and asking them if they would like a sample or if they would like a salad,” Jagodnik explained.
It’s not uncommon to be met with resistance and a few creative excuses — Jagodnik has even heard students say they “already had something green for breakfast.” So she considers the program a success when the kids agree to try just one leaf.
“You’re laying the foundation for global stewards,” Jagodnik said about the school’s investment in its gardening program.
“You want children to care about their environment. You want them to know how to eat healthy, where their food comes from and how to support that, even if they don’t become scientists or become environmentalists, they still have that foundation.”
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Montreal Is Ready for Supermarket, Version 2.0
Montreal Is Ready for Supermarket, Version 2.0
BY ROTEM AYALON | OP-ED | SEPTEMBER 29, 2017
(Credit: IGA Extra Famille Duchemin, via YouTube)
This summer, a Montreal supermarket announced that it was the first in Canada to have a green rooftop farm producing vegetables that are then sold in the store. The great news signals a positive shift in thinking about urban ecology, sustainable urban design, health, local economic development and more. My 2006 master’s thesis in urban planning is about urban policies that could encourage rooftop greening in Montreal so, naturally, I’m excited.
The Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent implemented a policy in 2015 requiring all new buildings to have a green or white roof on 50 percent of the surface. The Duchemin family, who owns the supermarket, IGA Extra, saw an opportunity to create an actual farm: 1.5 acres on the roof, with over 30 types of vegetables, sold under the brand Frais du toit (meaning, “Fresh from the roof”). They greened their roof, and are also producing food. Customers can even keep an eye on the rooftop production via a livestream feed in the vegetable aisle.
Tim Murphy, the project coordinator and urban gardener for La ligne verte, the company that installed and manages the rooftop farm, told me that this project is ‘’an innovation for consumers and supermarkets in Quebec.’’ According to him, it has ‘’enormous potential to raise consumer awareness about local, healthy, ecologically responsible and seasonal food.’’
The store managers are also learning firsthand about the work of farmers and the many challenges they face, from climate and insects to fertilisers and planning for production in terms of clients’ demands and tastes.
Supermarkets are cornerstones of neighborhoods. One way to make more sustainable urban neighborhoods is to encourage ecological (green or white) rooftops. The benefits are well documented, including reducing the heat island effect and reducing stormwater runoff.
Cities have many resources and opportunities to improve neighborhoods in collaboration with the private sector. Supermarkets are important hubs (or nodes) in communities. Everyone eats. Unfortunately, the norm for a typical supermarket is a large, windowless building with endless aisles that is often surrounded by parking lots, is difficult to maneuver with strollers, and is difficult to access for pedestrians and cyclists. Basically, the type of place you want to get in and out of as quickly as possible. In addition, food on the shelves is mostly transported from faraway places and packaged in plastic and Styrofoam. Our typical supermarkets are nothing like the farmers’ markets that we love going to with our children, where music plays, fresh food overflows on tables, and there’s direct contact with farmers, and lively interaction with our neighbors.
Supermarkets can do better — and communities are ready for a new version of stores in urban and suburban areas. Let’s dream. Supermarkets can be welcoming, productive spaces, better linked to their surrounding social, environmental and built environments: a supermarket, version 2.0. Especially in urban areas, these often large spaces need to be multifunctional and respond better to the needs of their communities. And cities have a role to play in bringing about these kinds of changes by working with developers and supermarket owners to help better integrate stores into today’s realities. Also, municipalities can implement forward-thinking zoning and regulations, which encourage new developments to respond to future needs of citizens and positively respond to climate change challenges.
I have hope that supermarkets can become key members of our communities and provide not only healthy, affordable food for all, but also warm, welcoming spaces where neighbors can interact, learn about cooking and healthy eating, and connect with where their food comes from. Rethinking the design of supermarkets and their connection to the urban fabric is one important piece of the puzzle. Producing food locally, on site, is another piece of the puzzle, and is a good step forward toward reducing the environmental impacts of food transport, and providing fresh, healthy food for consumers and cultivating healthy communities.
BECOME A NEXT CITY MEMBER TODAY
Rotem Ayalon is a 2017 Next City Vanguard. She works as a food and planning consultant for Quebec en Forme, advising creating and implementing strategies, action plans, programs and policies to encourage healthy eating and physical activity in cities in Quebec. Recently, she has been helping with the development of a food system plan in Montreal. Rotem has a master's in urban planning from McGill University and is active in her community with her green alley and the creation of a neighborhood alternative school.
A Complete Guide To Urban Farming In NYC
With 17.8 MILLION people in the NYC metro area, New York City is the 2nd largest urban area in the world. For a city this huge, how can anyone know about all of the urban farming going on in NYC? (there's A TON)
A Complete Guide To Urban Farming In NYC
Did you know:
With 17.8 MILLION people in the NYC metro area, New York City is the 2nd largest urban area in the world.
For a city this huge, how can anyone know about all of the urban farming going on in NYC? (there's A TON)
Well:
This article provides a full overview of all aspects of urban agriculture in NYC, from companies to job opportunities to social impact projects.
We will cover:
- Some of the largest urban farming companies in NYC
- Where can you find urban farming jobs in NYC
- Where can you find NYC urban agriculture classes
- What are some key urban farming social impact projects going on in NYC
Ready to get the run-down on any of these subjects?
Read on to learn more!
NYC Urban Farming Companies
Gotham Greens
Gotham Greens Facility Source
Gotham Greens, founded in 2008 by Viraj Puri and Eric Haley, has three urban greenhouses in New York:
- 15,000 sq ft in Greenpoint Brooklyn (Opened 2011)
- 20,000 sq ft greenhouse in Gowanus, Brooklyn (Opened in in 2013)
- 60,000 sq ft greenhouse in Jamaica, Queens (Opened in 2015)
Gotham originally focused on growing: Butterhead lettuce
Red leaf lettuce
Green leaf lettuce
Basil
More recently their crops have grown to include
- tomatos
- baby kale
- arugula
- bok choy
- swiss chard
Follow Gotham Greens on Twitter Below:
Brooklyn Grange
Brooklyn Grange (Source)
Brooklyn Grange is a two and half acre rooftop organic farm in New York City.
Currently this acreage is split between 2 facilities in NYC:
- 43,000 sq ft facility between Astoria and Long Island City
- 60,000+ sq ft facility in the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Brooklyn Grange is also the largest apiary(beehive for honey production) in New York City, producing over 1500 lb of honey annually.
Follow Brooklyn Grange On Twitter Below:
Riverpark Farm
Founded in 2011, Riverpark Farm is a 15,000 sq ft rooftop farm located in Kips Bay, Manhattan.
The farm provides fresh produce to the Riverpark restaurant and is owned by chef Tom Collicchio.
Over 100 different types of vegetables, herbs, and flowers are grown using over 7,000 re-purposed plastic milk crates.
Follow Riverpark NYC on Twitter below:
North Brooklyn Farms
North Brooklyn Farms (Source)
North Brooklyn Farms is an urban farm and public space in Williamsburg, New York City.
Their mission is to:
"Transform vacant city spaces into urban farms where people can engage with their community, connect with nature and get local, organic, sustainably-grown produce"
Like North Brooklyn Farms (NBK Farms) on Facebook below:
Eagle Street Rooftop Farms
Eagle Street Rooftop Farm (Source)
Eagle Street Rooftop Farms is a located in Greenpoint Brooklyn.
They have over 6,000 sq feet of organic vegetable production on their rooftop farm.
NYC Urban Farming Jobs
Gotham Greens Jobs
Follow this link for job opportunities at Gotham Greens: http://gothamgreens.com/contact-us
Brooklyn Grange Jobs
At the time of writing Brooklyn Grange does not have any open job positions. To check their jobs page for updates follow this link: https://www.brooklyngrangefarm.com/jobs/
Eagle Street Rooftop Farms Jobs
Although Eagle Street Rooftop Farms website does not have a specific jobs page, they do have an "Apprenticeship program".
For more information, check out this Rooftop Farm Apprenticeship Google Doc
NYC Urban Agriculture Classes
Grow NYC
Grow NYC fosters environmental stewardship by running programs for over 30,000 students each year with the goal of providing "meaningful interactions with the environment".
Grow NYC provides courses for students of all ages. One of their most relevant programs to urban farming and gardening is Grow To Learn, a city wide initiative with the goal of:
"Facilitating and Supporting Sustainable Teaching Gardens in Every NYC Public School"
- Goal of Grow To Learn Initiative by GrowNYC.org
Grow NYC has aided in the development of over 100 community gardens to date (Source)
For those who have a potential backyard farming space in New York City, you can also help with initiatives like Grow To Learn by volunteering your space to use as a teaching garden.
For more details visit this urban garden sign up page and click on "New Garden".
The Battery Urban Farm
The Battery Urban Farm NYC (Source)
The Battery Urban Farm is a "teaching" urban farm that was started in 2011 in New York City.
It organizes farming classes for New York's students, residents, and visitors that teach sustainable urban farming techniques.
Urban Farming Social Impact Projects in NYC
Green Bronx Machine
Green Bronx Machine In Action (Source)
Green Bronx Machine is a 501(c)(3) based in Southern Bronx that focuses on engaging students grades K-12 in urban agriculture programs.
The goal of the programs is to promote positive social change, such as increased school attendance rates, higher performance, and healthier diet choices.
Founded by school teacher Stephen Ritz, the program has evolved from an after-school program to a wide set of programming including summer camps, a learning garden, and health wellness and learning center.
NYC Parks Greenthumb Program
The NYC Parks Greenthumb Program is a non for profit initiative to support urban gardening in New York City.
Greenthumb supports over 500 volunteer coordinated community farms in New York City, across all five boroughs.
Support typically comes in the form of organization support, funding, and monthly workshops that take place in NYC.
For more information on Greenthumb NYC, check out the YouTube Video below, or follow this link to join a garden or volunteer.
Conclusion
After reading this article, you should know just about all there is to know about urban farming in the big apple.
If you got this far in this article, you may like our other articles.
To access our other content, visit www.urbanvine.co/blog or sign up for our email list in the sidebar!
Article Sources:
All sources linked in within article!
French Post Office Staff Farm Vegetables In Office Rooftop Garden
The 900-square metre rooftop farm, which is surrounded by tower blocks, is manned by approximately 500 postal employees based at the site. The green-fingered staff grow fruit and vegetables, such as lettuces, aubergines and tomatoes, as well as breed chickens at their place of work.
French Post Office Staff Farm Vegetables In Office Rooftop Garden
By Katie Scott 28th September 2017
Something for the weekend: Post Office staff in northern Paris have taken health and wellbeing in the workplace to dizzying new heights by growing their own fruit and vegetables in an office-based rooftop garden.
The 900-square metre rooftop farm, which is surrounded by tower blocks, is manned by approximately 500 postal employees based at the site. The green-fingered staff grow fruit and vegetables, such as lettuces, aubergines and tomatoes, as well as breed chickens at their place of work. The urban farm uses 90 tonnes of earth deposited on the roof to help create the organic workplace oasis.
The Post Office agricultural project is part of a wider government sustainability initiative in Paris, which looks to use rooftops in the capital for farming. The initiative aims to have over 100 hectares of rooftop gardens and planted walls by 2020, with a third of this space dedicated to urban farming.
According to Communaute Facteur Graine, which spearheads the initiative and manages the Post Office’s rooftop farm, it uses old vegetable varieties, such as high-quality tomatoes which do not keep well when travelling long distances.
The initiative’s first harvest, across 32 sites in the French capital, will produce 425 tonnes of fruit and vegetables, 24 tonnes of mushrooms, 30,000 flowers, and contribute to the production of 8,000 litres of beer and 95 kilograms of honey.
Here at Employee Benefits, we are feeling inspired to transform our own London rooftop to an oasis of farming greenery. After all, there’s something quite appealing about not having to join the lunchtime queues to buy a salad, but instead heading upstairs to pick our own…
Shanghai’s Edible Rooftops
Atop Red Star Macalline Group’s headquarters sits a rooftop farm called Yiyun, which translates as “leaning on the clouds.” Chilies, white gourd, eggplant, chives, and other vegetables flourish across the 4,600-square-meter garden cultivated by the company, which is China’s largest national furniture retailer. The harvested produce is used in the staff cafeteria, and the farm also provides thermal insulation for the building’s top floor, which houses expensive rosewood furniture.
Shanghai’s Edible Rooftops
Urban farmers cultivate fresh produce and pockets of nature above the teeming metropolis.
Oct 24, 2017
SHANGHAI — Row upon row of buildings cast their looming shadows as the city yawns and stretches to accommodate more than 23 million residents. The metropolis has eaten up the surrounding farmland over decades of growth — but these days, a few small operators are finding ways to bring agriculture into the urban skyline.
Atop Red Star Macalline Group’s headquarters sits a rooftop farm called Yiyun, which translates as “leaning on the clouds.” Chilies, white gourd, eggplant, chives, and other vegetables flourish across the 4,600-square-meter garden cultivated by the company, which is China’s largest national furniture retailer. The harvested produce is used in the staff cafeteria, and the farm also provides thermal insulation for the building’s top floor, which houses expensive rosewood furniture.
“There is a great contrast between a land of greenery and a land of concrete,” the project’s instigator, Zhou Qun, told Sixth Tone. “It adds some glamour to the cityscape.” In Shanghai — the nation’s leading city in the field of rooftop farming — there are currently around 20 well-established farms, said Tongji University professor of landscape design Liu Yuelai.
Sky Farm in Shanghai uses rooftop agriculture to help urban residents experience nature up close. By Daniel Holmes and Shi Yangkun/Sixth Tone
With approximately 10 billion square meters of exposed roof space across Chinese cities as of September 2011, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the concept has plenty of capacity to grow. But with little government support for costly maintenance, the farms are difficult to sustain. Several funding models have popped up in the industry, including high-tech marketing that brings virtual connectivity into urban agriculture. More and more people are realizing that vacant roofs can provide not only aesthetic delights, but also numerous economic, ecological, and social benefits.
When properly maintained — or designed to maintain themselves — green roofs absorb heat and rain. The insulation properties of the soil layer can significantly reduce a building’s energy consumption, according to Li Wengeng, an agriculture expert who runs a few rooftop farms across China. “It also helps alleviate urban drainage disasters caused by torrential rainfall,” Li added.
There is a great contrast between a land of greenery and a land of concrete.
- Zhou Qun, Yiyun rooftop farm project instigator
In recent years, central and municipal government bodies have recognized that exposed roofs waste energy and have huge ecological potential. But the government has yet to issue guidance on rooftop farms. Though government subsidies are available for greening efforts, none focus on urban agriculture.
Zhou, who heads Red Star Macalline Group’s labor union, initiated construction of the rooftop farm in May 2015 after being inspired by a visit to a similar site in the nearby city of Wuxi the previous year. Yiyun opened a few months later, but it took a year to start turning a profit. According to Zhou, in the first year, the company invested 800,000 yuan ($120,500) into the rooftop farm. “A smaller company would not be able to afford it,” Zhou said.
There is little potential to fund the farm’s operations by selling produce. Despite plenty of attention given to domestic food safety issues, relatively few Chinese consumers are willing to pay premium prices for organic produce. Meanwhile, construction and maintenance costs for rooftop farms are high — even the soil must be brought up from somewhere.
One common business model is to charge for visits from nature-poor city-dwellers: Children can learn about nature and agriculture, while adults can relax and escape from the bustle of urban life. Visits don’t come cheap: Yiyun’s entry fees begin at 119 yuan per group.
A young girl visits a rooftop farm in Shanghai, Oct. 13, 2017. Shi Yangkun/Sixth Tone
The company was also recently awarded a one-year subsidy of 350,000 yuan for all its environmental programs in the district, including the rooftop farm and other greening initiatives. “If the nation implements concrete policies to lead [the growth of rooftop farms], others will be happy to follow,” Zhou said. “If not, it could be very hard for enterprises to take sole responsibility and promote it little by little.”
Some urban farms have employed innovative tactics to involve a wider community. Sky Farm, an internet-connected operation on the 700-square-meter roof of the Guan Sheng Yuan Group industrial park, offers 300 planters for rent via an app they developed themselves.
The government promotes roof greening, but greening is something that you have to throw money into maintaining every year.
- Ke Fangfang, Sky Farm staff member
Customers can see their vegetables’ real-time growth over a livestream and can simply tap the interface to give their plants more water or light. Others come to tend to their plants in person. “It is very easy to lose the sense of novelty if you’re just playing on your phone,” Sky Farm staff member Ke Fangfang told Sixth Tone.
The Sky Farm project is the brainchild of a makerspace operated by Guan Sheng Yuan Group, a century-old state-owned enterprise that is best known as the former manufacturer of White Rabbit candy. But in 2012, the company transferred all its food production businesses to a sister company and, in 2014, turned to incubating startups that bring web-based innovations to conventional industry.
The rental planters sit in one of Sky Farm’s two greenhouses, set up to circumvent the difficulties of farming in Shanghai’s dramatic climate: hot and humid in the summer, and damp and cold in the winter. Each planter costs 99 yuan per month, with seasonal discounts available. Since few users commit to renting long term, the company recommends choosing plants with short growth cycles. Meanwhile, less weather-sensitive species grow in an outdoor space that can be booked for events.
According to Ke, the only government grant that the rooftop farm has received was a one-off construction subsidy as part of a greening program. “The government promotes roof greening, but greening is something that you have to throw money into maintaining every year,” she said. “Yet it ends up providing no income at all.” The team switched to cultivating produce for this very reason.
Sky Farm has also looked to community partnerships, event hosting, and education programs to diversify its income sources.
“Kids growing up in the city have only seen the vegetables their mothers buy at the market,” said Cai Donglei, the mother of a 7-year-old. She appreciates the opportunity to give her daughter more exposure to the cycle of life. “Through the farm,” Cai said, “children learn that plants grow from seeds, that they need water and sunshine to sprout and slowly grow into their familiar forms over several months.”
Editor: Qian Jinghua.
(Header image: Ke Fangfang checks the plants at Sky Farm’s rooftop garden in Shanghai, Oct. 13, 2017. Daniel Holmes/Sixth Tone)
Farm Bill Discontent: Urban Ag Supporters want Changes
Danielle Marvit is production manager for Garden Dreams Urban Farm and Nursery in Pittsburgh. She has serious concerns about conventional agriculture. Here, she talks with journalists during the recent annual convention of the Society of Environmental Journalists in Pittsburgh. (Jonathan Knutson/Agweek)
Farm Bill Discontent: Urban Ag Supporters want Changes
By Jonathan Knutson / Agweek Staff Writer on Oct 16, 2017
PITTSBURGH — Sonia Finn, Danielle Marvit and Raqueeb Bey are passionate about agriculture. And they believe U.S. farming practices are dangerously off course and need to be corrected, starting with the 2018 farm bill.
"The farm bill isn't right for agriculture. People need to get involved and work to change it," Finn said.
Finn is chef and owner of Dinette restaurant in Pittsburgh. Marvit is production manager of Garden Dreams Urban Farm and Nursery in Pittsburgh. Bey is project director of Black Urban Gardeners and Farmers of Pittsburgh Co-op, or BUGS-FPC, as the group calls itself.
They spoke with Agweek Oct. 4 at Garden Dreams Urban Farm and Nursery during the annual convention of the Society of Environmental Journalists. The event included a day-long session on the farm bill and urban agriculture; Finn, Marvit and Bey were among the presenters.
Though some in mainstream agriculture are skeptical of urban ag, attention is growing for the concept. U.S. local food sales totaled at least $12 billion in 2014, up from $5 billion in 2008, and experts anticipate the figure to reach $20 billion by 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Urban ag consists of "backyard, rooftop and balcony gardening, community gardening in vacant lots and parks, roadside urban fringe agriculture and livestock grazing in open space," according to USDA.
Urban ag has at least one powerful champion.
Michigan's Debbie Stabenow, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee and a key player in U.S. ag policy, last year introduced the Urban Agriculture Act of 2016. The proposal — at least some of which she hopes will be included in the 2018 farm bill — would increase research funding for urban ag, provide more access for urban farmers to USDA loans and risk management programs, and boost the development of urban farming cooperatives, among other things.
Get involved
Finn has both professional and personal interest in promoting urban ag; she grows much of the produce used by Dinette on the restaurant's roof and relies on local farms for as many ingredients as possible.
She's also determined to transform the farm bill, the centerpiece of federal food and agricultural policy. She's gone to Washington, D.C., repeatedly to lobby for her beliefs.
She insists that the existing farm bill — and mainstream ag in general — is tailored to the wants and needs of powerful corporate interests, not what's best for the overwhelming majority of Americans.
"Most people just don't understand how important the farm bill is," Finn said.
Marvit, for her part, is critical of much of America's conventionally raised food.
"It's not real food," she said.
The quarter-acre Garden Dreams Urban Garden and Nursery, established about a decade ago, seeks to promote urban ag, giving neighborhood residents more and healthier food options. It also wants to help community residents learn more about gardening and give them a peaceful place to visit.
The organic operation specializes in tomatoes, raising more than 70 varieties of tomato seedlings. It also has peppers, eggplant, flowers and other fruits and vegetables.
Local control
Bey stressed that urban agriculture gives residents of local neighborhoods greater influence over both their food supply and their lives in general.
"Neighborhoods need more control over what happens to them," Bey said.
Her own Pittsburgh neighborhood has been without a grocery store for decades, forcing its residents to travel several miles by bus to buy food, she said.
BUGS-FPC is establishing a 31,000-square-foot urban farm that will use hoop houses, also known as high tunnels, to grow food to sell at its farm stand and its farmers market, at restaurants and at a community cooperative grocery that it wants to open.
Though interest in, and awareness of, healthy food is growing, supporters of urban ag and local foods need to focus on improving the farm bill and making it friendlier to consumers, Finn said.
"It's just so important we do it," she said.
USDA's "urban agriculture toolkit" is a good starting place to learn more about urban ag:www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/urban-agriculture-toolkit.pdf.
Joburg Launches First Rooftop Farm Plan
The first commercial, rooftop small-scale farm has been launched in the Joburg CBD on the top floor of the 93-year-old Chamber of Mines building.
Joburg Launches First Rooftop Farm Plan
THE STAR / 12 OCTOBER 2017, 2:50PM / ANNA COX
Nhlanhla Mpati is a small-scale entrepreneurial farmer who started a roof-top farm on top of the Chamber of Mines building in the Joburg CBD. Picture: Dimpho Maja / ANA
The first commercial, rooftop small-scale farm has been launched in the Joburg CBD on the top floor of the 93-year-old Chamber of Mines building.
This urban farm has already supplied almost 15kg of basil to the Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market and to surrounding cafés and coffee shops during the past 45 days.
The project, called the Urban Agriculture Initiative, was launched by Wouldn’t It Be Cool (WIBC), an incubation and mentorship organisation which helps entrepreneurs get started.
The project has been such a success thus far that the Department of Small Business Development has provided funding for another 100 small-scale farms to be rolled out in the inner city.
The Chamber of Mines intends giving these farmers more space as it still has 400m² of unused space in its heritage building.
Michael Magondo, chief idea sherpa for the WIBC, said they were not competing with residential space, but would be happy to make use of any unutilised space, indoors or outdoors.
The organisation identified and trained Nhlanhla Mpati as one of the first roof-top farmers, as he had some farming experience.
“We want to see all 100 farms rolled out now that we have government funding. We want to create entrepreneurs, jobs, skills and food security.
“There are many vacant government and provincial buildings, plus privately owned ones, as well as deserted parking garages and spaces in which farms can be set up.
“Although the donation of premises is welcome, and some property companies have donated their rooftops to us, we will try to pay market-related rents. All our entrepreneurs are fully trained in business and backed by us,” he said, adding that the aim was to turn Joburg into one big, sustainable ecosystem.
Mpati, who started farming in the CBD in August, said he already had orders for the next six months for basil, as it was out of season.
He proudly shows off his crop, saying the plants were farmed hydroponically, meaning that they don’t require soil and, therefore, use very little water.
He doesn’t use pesticides or insecticides.
He intends expanding to farming spinach, potatoes and carrots, among others.
Mpati, who says his basil grows in 21 days, has been interested in gardening since he helped his granny in Kagiso on the West Rand with the planting of flowers and vegetables, which she loved.
He studied plants and agriculture by himself and is particularly interested in growing specialised plants which are not easily available.
“I do a lot of my own research and I am learning all the time,” he said, adding that he had done several entrepreneurial courses.
“I am very happy so far with this business. Many restaurants are already ordering from me, and the Produce Market is impressed with the quality of my plants. They have already increased their prices because of the high quality of my basil,” he said.
He has preliminary orders for the next six months, but would welcome more.
WIBC has several partners and backers, including the City of Joburg, FNB, the Affordable Housing Company, the Inner City Partnership, Thebe, Botha Roodt, Bizcre8 and Stay City.
Contact Mpati at 081 3141972 for produce or Magondo on 0828577636 for available space.
Tinyfield Farm: A Bold Soul Meets an Open Mind
Tinyfield Rooftop Farm’s hops
Tinyfield atop the former Pfizer factory is an innovative and bold venture, the only rooftop farm currently specializing in hops
On the northern border of Bedford Stuyvesant, food start-ups are giving new life to the formerly shuttered Pfizer pharmaceutical factory. Micro greens, crops and other edible goods seem to be sprouting all around – also thanks to Tinyfield Roofhop Farm.
Acumen Capital Partners, a small firm that acquired the old Pfizer building in 2011 and took charge of its redevelopment, has a history of welcoming agricultural ventures. The urban farm Brooklyn Grange is the case in point. After being turned down and considered “crazy” by several building owners in the city, the folks behind the farm approached Jeff Rosenblum, one of Acumen’s two principals. The two parties clicked instantly. Soon after, Brooklyn Grange opened up its first commercial-scale farm on the one-acre rooftop of Acumen’s earlier development in Queens. Given the company’s history and the number of food-related businesses in the Pfizer building, one may wonder: Have food enterprises and urban farms always been part of Acumen’s plans for the redevelopment of the space?
“I’m lying to you if I say we have,” answered Ashish Dua, the other principal at Acumen. “During the process of meeting with about seventy groups from the community to discuss the possible effects of the redevelopment, four or five food manufactures came to us. So we took them in [as tenants]. Then word-of-mouth among young entrepreneurs created a snowball effect. We have just always kept an open mind.”
Keely Gerhold, the bold soul and founder of Tinyfield
Since then, Acumen has welcomed Tinyfield Roofhop Farm, another bold agricultural effort, into the fold. Keely Gerhold, who grew up on a farm and once worked at Brooklyn Grange as an apprentice, started the venture in 2015 with a micro loan and funds raised via Indiegogo. What makes the farm a bold endeavor? It is the first and only rooftop farm that grows hops, an experiment born out of curiosity. Thanks to Acumen’s working relationship with Brooklyn Grange, “they are more understanding and supportive of our vision,” said Gerhold.
It is enough of a challenge to be the first and only one in any area; Tinyfield’s choice of crop ups the odds. Hop is a perennial crop that can be harvested only once a year – which means the yield is low.
“A hop-growing operation on such a small a scale is not profitable,” said Gerhold. “At least not at this moment.”
Last year, she harvested two pounds of the crop and sent them to Strong Rope, a craft brewery in Greenpoint. They turned the first batch of Tinyfield’s hops into five gallons of beer. This year’s yield was half as much as last year’s. Due to the small quantity, it will be used for the fermentation process of beer. Fortunately, the hop plant is versatile and can be used in many ways; some restaurants bought hop shoots for baking from Tinyfield.
Tinyfield’s green house, home to the farm’s micro greens
To sustain the hop farm, Gerhold set up a C.S.A., a community-supported agriculture operation, for additional revenue. She built a small greenhouse which grows micro greens for the C.S.A.’s six members, three of which are Pfizer tenants. Members pay Tinyfield to grow certain micro greens and have them delivered upon harvest.
Gerhold works to create a self-sustained ecosystem on the roof of the former factory – and is willing to branch out. This year, she imported a beehive, for pollination and to produce honey. Another challenge.
“We failed this year. But we will try again next year,” Gerhold said calmly.
Despite some of the set-backs Gerhold has encountered, she strives to grow the business steadily – and, according to Dua, the Pfizer building will remain a suitable home for her ambitions as Acumen plans to continue to grow with its tenants.
Groundbreaking For Staten Island Office Building With Rooftop Garden, Bocce Courts, and Vineyard
Up above, a 40,000-square-foot rooftop garden will provide herbs and produce for the in-house restaurant, and grab-and-go greens from the rooftop will be for sale, too. Limited public transit options make ample surface parking a necessity, thought the structure is aiming for LEED Silver certification. CetraRuddy is collaborating with a local firm, Being Here Landscape Architecture & Environmental Design, on the rooftop and ground floor landscaping.
Groundbreaking For Staten Island Office Building With Rooftop Garden, Bocce Courts, and Vineyard
By AUDREY WACHS (@GRIDWACHS) • October 3, 2017
(Courtesy CetraRuddy)
Tomorrow elected officials are breaking ground on a Staten Island office building with a bocce court, giant rooftop farm, a nearby vineyard, and a social enterprise restaurant that will serve Italian food and donate all of its proceeds to charity.
Developed by The Nicotra Group and designed by CetraRuddy, the eight-story structure is part of Staten Island’s Teleport Campus in Bloomfield, not far from the Arthur Kill on the Island’s west shore.
Compared to the rest of New York City, “designing for Staten Island means there’s more space to work with,” said Eugene Flotteron, a partner at CetraRuddy and a borough native. Right now, there are two low-slung 1970s office buildings on the nine-acre campus, directly adjacent to the new structure, which will contain mostly office and medial facilities. Structually, there was room for the south side to slope sharply towards the ground, minimizing solar heat gain, and a north side that’s angled more gradually up to draw in the rays. On the ground floor, a white overhang will shade the main walkway and line the building on four sides.
Up above, a 40,000-square-foot rooftop garden will provide herbs and produce for the in-house restaurant, and grab-and-go greens from the rooftop will be for sale, too. Limited public transit options make ample surface parking a necessity, thought the structure is aiming for LEED Silver certification. CetraRuddy is collaborating with a local firm, Being Here Landscape Architecture & Environmental Design, on the rooftop and ground floor landscaping.
(Courtesy CetraRuddy)
The 336,000-square-foot office building’s program reflects the developer’s heritage as well as the heritage of more than a third of Staten Island residents with Italian ancestry. The restaurant, Pienza, Pizza, Pasta and Porchetta, is named for Pienza, a Tuscan town that The Nicotra Group founder Richard Nicotra and his wife visit every year. Among other amenities, visitors will have access to bocce courts outside and a vineyard that Nicotra is building with specialists from California’s Napa Valley. While the design doesn’t have a direct antecedent in Italian or Roman architecture, Flotteron said finishes and materials like the Italian marble in the double-height lobby, as well as a potential collaboration with an Italian curtain wall company, will reflect the country’s influence.
Foundation work is set to begin in the next few months, and the project should be complete in fall 2018.
Archtober Building of the Day: Brooklyn Grange Farm
Archtober Building of the Day: Brooklyn Grange Farm
By ALEXANDER LUCKMANN , ARCHTOBER • October 3, 2017
Archtober Building of the Day: Brooklyn Grange Farm (Anastasia Cole Plakias/brooklyngrangefarm.com/Image via AIA NY)
Today’s Archtober Building of the Day tour took us to Brooklyn Grange, located on top of Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Building 3. Once we had assembled on the 11th floor, with its sweeping views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines, Gwen Schantz, co-founder and CEO, took us around the intimate yet extraordinarily productive farm. Schantz, who heads the farm’s landscaping division, revealed not only the specific agricultural details of the farm but also how they have managed to turn urban agriculture into a viable business model.
Brooklyn Grange’s roots date to 2009, when Ben Flanner, now president, quit his job in finance to open Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn. One year later, joined by Schantz and other partners, he opened the organization’s permanent foothold in Long Island City; they soon after added the location in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The organization has since become a worldwide leader in urban agriculture efforts.
Central to Brooklyn Grange’s mission is to do more than just grow food. Schantz went so far as to describe it primarily as an educational center, facilitated by City Growers, an educational nonprofit that Brooklyn Grange (which is for-profit) founded but has since spun off. Schantz emphasized that it would be extremely difficult to turn a profit solely by selling produce, but that Brooklyn Grange stays financially feasible by designing gardens and landscapes and hosting events. Rather than seeing these aspects as a necessary evil, Schantz described them as equal to the agriculture department. Brooklyn Grange’s goal, she said, was to show that urban agriculture can be a viable enterprise—a goal which has been amply met.
As we walked around the farm, Schantz described the its physical makeup. The farm uses a soil mix of 50 percent is expanded shale, which is put in a kiln and broken up slightly to be porous, almost like coral. This allows small organisms to live in the soil, a central aspect of organic farming. The other 50 percent of the soil is a compost mix sourced from mushroom farms in Pennsylvania. Schantz said that Brooklyn Grange have found they can grow almost any crop in about a foot of soil—a surprisingly thin layer.
That is not to say that they do grow any crop. Brooklyn Grange focuses on more profitable crops, primarily lettuce. However, since selling directly to the community is an important part of Brooklyn Grange’s mission, and since crop rotation is a key aspect of organic farming, they do plant other crops as well, such as tomatoes, peppers, and broccoli. During the off-season, employees organize events and work on the other elements of the farm.
According to Schantz, the roof of Building 3 is perfect for a farm, as it was used to support extensive Navy training installations and is therefore extremely strong. To create the farm, a large hose connected to a mixer truck sprayed the roof with the first layer of soil. To augment that original soil, Brooklyn Grange regularly brings additional soil up in the freight elevator, another useful original feature. Along with the mushroom farm compost, other compost mixes come from Brooklyn Navy Yard tenants such as chocolate makers Mast.
Brooklyn Grange does far more than grow food. It keeps bees at hives around the city, too. It serves an essential function by absorbing rainfall, relieving the burden on the city’s overtaxed stormwater management system. It educates schoolchildren from around the city about food and farming. It designs other landscapes. It hosts events ranging from dinner parties to weddings. And, most importantly, it has shown that you can make a business out of urban agriculture.
First Aeroponic Farm At Paris Hotel Yields Harvest
Vertical urban farm at Mercure Paris Boulogne Hotel
First Aeroponic Farm At Paris Hotel Yields Harvest
BY HOTEL BUSINESS ON SEPTEMBER 25, 2017
PARIS—The Mercure Paris Boulogne Hotel houses a vertical urban farm spanning more than 3,767 sq. ft. on its rooftop. The harvest from this first trial season has helped provide the hotel with supplies, and has made it possible to distribute baskets of fruit and vegetables to locals in the neighborhood. On average, the restaurant uses a quarter of what is produced with the rest being sold in baskets, according to the brand.
The hotel’s vegetables, red berries, salad leaves and herbs are picked every morning for lunch and dinner, ensuring the maximum freshness of the produce sourced from a completely local food network. Seasonal produce as well as rare varieties of strawberries and heirloom tomatoes is given priority, according to the brand.
Caroline Ebran, head of sustainable development projects at AccorInvest, explains, “Through this project, AccorHotels is confirming its commitment to positive hospitality and to making progress in relation to its target of having 1,000 vegetable gardens by 2020. For AccorInvest, which is behind this project, the aim is to play a key role in shaping the city of tomorrow by enhancing the environmental value of our buildings and developing the local supply chain for both our guests and the locals living close to our hotels.”
The urban farm was installed and is being operated by Agripolis, a start-up specializing in aeroponic urban farming. Without resorting to chemical fertilizers or pesticides, this soilless growing method means that plants can be watered and given nutrients within a closed circuit and, as a result, use 10 times less water than in conventional farming, according to the brand. The system developed by Agripolis includes 216 PVC columns that are suspended from a bamboo structure, and can be set up on standard rooftops with limited load-bearing strength.
This project is part of AccorHotels’ Planet 21 sustainable development program, whose two priorities by 2020 are to offer healthy and sustainable produce while simultaneously eliminating food waste, and secondly to commit to the energy transition of its buildings.