EAT UPfood city scenario
What would your city look like if urban agriculture drove development? The University of Arkansas Community Design Center posed this question in 2012 when a team of designers, scientists, lawyers, and students explored what their rapidly densifying city of Fayetteville, AR would…
Philly’s tipping point
On March 19th ten players in Philadelphia’s urban farming community received a whopping $5 million grant award aimed at kickstarting healthy eating, exercise, and community building opportunities for local teens. The IMPACT Grant, awarded by GlaxoSmithKline…
learning from Cuba
Let’s face it, we’re all a little obsessed with our own garden. I spend time with my rooftop vegetables like any good gardener and talk to friends about their latest gardening fads and experiments. But what if…
Staten Island gets fresh
On the edge of Staten Island’s harbor district an energetic team will soon “ferry” roof-fresh produce from an historic building to those in need. The site: the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. The Department of Transportation introduced…
an onion blooms in the desert
Amid conflict and persistent food insecurity Palestinian refugees are cultivating their rooftops to produce fresh vegetables close to home. Last week the Middle Eastern sustainability news website Green Prophet reported that families in West Bank refugee camps…
open source seeding
Earlier this week a group of scientists and food activists launched a campaign to change how seeds are governed. Headed by University of Wisconsin vegetable breeder Irwin Goldman and sociologist Jack Kloppenburg, the Open Source Seed Initiative released 29 new crop…
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…
community roofs
Glitzy commercial farms tend to dominate the rooftop agriculture media scene. Magazines, newspapers, the blogosphere (and even I!) can’t resist featuring these highly photogenic rooftops. These farms rely on the surrounding community for indirect and sometimes…