EAT UProoftop rice paddy
Two hectares of rooftop in South Central China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region stand a cut above the rest. The Liuzhou Chenfeng Brewing Factory, founded in 1954, supports one of China’s only rooftop rice paddies. Tan Zhaohan,…
hyper-local food
North Carolinians, you’re in luck! You’re lust for local food journalism has been assuaged by Food Life, a new foodie magazine recently released by parent company Sophie Magazine. The budding farm-to-fork publication has taken an interest in rooftop agriculture by…
feeding our city + our soul
Urban agriculture has crawled up walls and fire escapes onto rooftops across North America. As we cultivate our rapidly greening skyline, we’re hungry to learn the potential of the blossoming Rooftop Agriculture movement. On March 5th…
the full monty
If you want to go all the way and feed the world, there’s no room for pooh-poohing hydroponics. Soil purists step aside; this is an important truth to urban agriculture. Unlike outdoor farming, greenhouse hydroponic production…
the groundhog done it
It finally happened. While harvesting cherry tomatoes from my backyard garden earlier this week, a patch of topless broccoli plants caught the corner of my eye. Slowly turning to assess the damage – brow low, fists…
“Daddy, I want a cucumberrrr!”
Jay Sand, a home gardener in West Philadelphia, feeds his kids the freshest veggies on the block. The source? His own roof. Sand and his wife decided to renovate their spacious Victorian fixer-upper from bottom to…
boutique industry
Many of the pioneer rooftop farms sprinkled throughout the U.S. are much smaller than their rural counterparts. This scale differential begs the question of production volume. How can a rooftop farm that is less than an acre…
there’s nothing like a heat island
When travelling from my forested neighborhood to Center City Philadelphia, the change in temperature is often startling. The commute is only ten miles, and yet the temperature noticeably warms by at least 5° F when approaching the…
Singapore: food localization poster child
Urban food production in North Philadelphia, SHARE Food Program || (photo by Lauren Mandel) We are an overweight, undernourished nation. Plain and simple. The condition of public health in the U.S. does not need to be…
it’s more than just tomatoes
Why on earth would anyone want to grow food on a roof? For lots of reasons. Urban rooftop agriculture can enable communities to positively affect their health, environment, and economy, while simultaneously promoting the occupation of…