Roof-to-Table Launch Event!

It is my great privilege to announce that EAT UP | the inside scoop on rooftop agriculture was launched on Thursday amidst family and friends at Good Karma Café (928 Pine Street) in my hometown of Philadelphia.  The event drew in over 100 enthusiastic readers from as far as Toronto, who are now some of the first owners of EAT UP.  The book arrived at the event hot off the press after its publication on April 12, 2013.

The Roof-to-Table Launch Event celebrated three necessities of urban living: literature, art, and food.  Literature was highlighted through piles of fresh, EAT UP books topped off with a book signing (which was in high demand!).  The event celebrated Art through a 30-piece photography exhibition of images from the book, which painted a colorful backdrop for the festivities.  The Roof-to-Table Photography Exhibition features images of rooftop farms and vegetable gardens taken by nine photographers (including myself) in nine cities throughout North America.  Each photograph is framed with “twice-reclaimed” lumber made from barn siding re-purposed as flooring, re-purposed again as framing stock.  The event also featured the flavors of fresh, local Food!  The Avenue Delicatessen catered the event with a focus on locally-sourced produce, artisan breads and honey, and home-made jams.  Food mileage tags let guests know just how close key ingredients were produced!

Young vegetable plants sprouting from metal pales and terracotta pots and two vintage typewriters furthered the event’s “author’s farmhouse” theme.  Piles of EAT UP postcards and note card sets sprinkled about enhanced the decor, luring people in for a closer look at rooftop agriculture imagery.

The Roof-to-Table Photography Exhibition will hang in the launch venue through June 29, 2013, and will then travel to Chicago’s Uncommon Ground where it will hang from August 20 – September 15, 2013.  A Midwest Roof-to-Table Launch Event on August 20 will be open to the public.  The exhibition is available for additional restaurant and gallery spaces from July 1 – August 1, 2013 and after September 23, 2013.

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EAT UP | the inside scoop on rooftop agriculture, published by New Society Publishers (a carbon-neutral publishing house), is the first full-length book about rooftop food production.  Its three sections target home rooftop gardening, commercial rooftop farming, and the rooftop agriculture industry, making it the most comprehensive guide to date on the subject matter.  The book is available in print and ebook online and in stores.