Category: Urban Farming

“The New York City urban farm has moved from a scene to a movement. Foodies, growers, chefs, non-profits and artists converge to get ever more creative in how to utilize space in the city for growing fruits and vegetables. Swale by artist Mary Mattingly has taken to putting a farm out on the water. Chicago’s O’Hare airport has installed an aeroponic, or vertical, farm. From hotels to restaurants, urban farming so far has been highly specialized and for hyper-local food distribution like Brooklyn Grange’s two food markets and neighborhood CSA. “This is truly seed-to-plate agriculture, with no use of fossil fuels, people walk over from where they live, and go home with produce that was picked that morning.” says Anastasia Cole Plakias, Brooklyn Grange’s vice president and founding partner.”

Read the rest of this story at: “PSFK.com“

“the problem with local food right now is that it is very expensive. We would like to see local food affordable because it is part of the access issue. A lot of people talk about food deserts and I totally agree not having not having a grocery store makes a big difference, but when tomatoes are three dollars a pound or four dollars a pound or cucumbers are a dollar each-that’s also an accessibility issue because people cannot afford to buy this produce”

“Flanner Farms will sprout this year on the 2½-acre campus of Flanner House.  It’s not a community garden, but instead a working farm. A weekly farmers market will offer a portion of the farm’s organic produce at below-retail prices.”

Read the rest of this story at: “WFYI.org“

A developer is planning a project in north Lincoln that would combine urban housing and working farms, merge small cottages with traditional single-family homes, maintain a wetland area and encourage composting.

“It’s like a food system in a box — in one space, in one community,” said Christopher Bradshaw, executive director of Dreaming Out Loud. The D.C. food justice nonprofit is partnering with the city and a half-dozen other organizations to run the farm in a way that generates revenue while also meeting the community’s unique needs. “I don’t know too many places combining those things,” Bradshaw said.

“With $150,000 in seed money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) — through programs promoting farmers’ markets and specialty crops — and a mix of other local grants, the founders plan to build infrastructure such as hoop houses and a greenhouse while transforming a gutted shipping container into a commercial kitchen space. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring and be completed by midsummer.”

Read the FULL ARTICLE, here: “GreenBiz.com“

“The more we can grow healthy food close by, and reduce the food miles, the greenhouse gas footprint of bringing food from all over and the more we can create an opportunity for local students in an urban environment like Silver Spring to come right here and see where their food comes from,” said Councilman Hucker.

“There are safeguards in place that prevent just anyone with a backyard garden from getting a tax break. You have to live within a residential area and 1,000 feet from a Metro stop, and earn at least $5,000 annually from the farm.”

Read the FULL Article, at: “WJLA.com“

 

“Hydroponics farms are hot in Chicago, with new farms sprouting up all over the city. But finding experienced hydroponics workers can be tough, so a local chef decided it was time for Chicago to grow its own. His program in a Northwest Side high school offers students the chance to get their hands dirty – and wet – growing greens in a working hydroponics farm.”

Read the full article at: “ChicagoTonight.wttw.com“

Marco Clausen, co-founder of the Prinzessinnengarten in Berlin, speaks about “new forms of urban life” and the uncertain future of the urban agriculture project.

“We focus not just on maintaining the garden here but on the overall question: How do we deal with public space in Berlin?”

From the upcoming documentary, “Promises of Urban Agriculture.” Follow it here: facebook.com/promisesofurbanagriculture

“Gro Huntington is a healing urban farm located in a residential neighborhood in Huntington with a volunteer program centered around serving individuals in addiction recovery in the area. By working on the farm, individuals learn job skills and coping mechanisms to give them a better chance at a successful recovery, Harrison said.”

To read the full story, visit: “Herald-Dispatch.com“

 

“People in New Town said they just don’t have many resources for healthy living. That’s why, a  community garden through Urban Geoponics is hoping to change that by providing healthy food that are affordable.

The garden is located at the Urban Farm at 3rd and Pearce streets in New Town.

“We have lemon trees, cocktail, broccoli, cauliflower trees…” said Urban Farm CEO Diallo Sekou.

Families unable to shop at a grocery store can get fresh fruits and veggies at a good price. There’s even an outdoor kitchen to teach better cooking.”

Read the entire article at: “News4Jax.com“

“If you’ve lived or worked in Washington D.C. over the last decade, the scale and pace of gentrification there has been impossible to miss. Over the last decade, the city has experienced a rapidly increasing demand for, and cost of, housing, similar to that in other knowledge hubs and “superstar cities” like New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Boston.

In addition to all the good things that come with increased interest in density and urban living, those cities have been the hardest hit by displacement, a process that disproportionately affects poor folks of color. Everyone who lives or works in D.C. can palpably feel this slow-motion injustice, and we are all forced to grapple with it, whether we want to or not.”

“Everybody—wherever you go, no matter the educational background—sees what’s going on,” Xavier Brown told me. Brown is the founder of Soilful City, an urban agriculture organization in D.C. with the justice-centered mission of healing “the sacred relationship between communities of African descent and Mother Earth.”

To read the REST OF THE ARTICLE, visit: “CivilEats.com“

“Since the farm opened for business last February using a small plot of land owned by a family friend, Gerber has expanded the farm to two additional plots owned by neighbors. Getting started was no easy task, Gerber said. Because much of the land was covered in a thick layer of clay, which hindered plants from taking root, Gerber and her farming partner Art Amorese had to bring in loads of compost and horse manure to make the area more fertile.”

The work hasn’t stopped there. According to Gerber, tending the farm is a full-time job.

“I work on the farm seven days a week, even through the winter,” she said. “Because of the amount of time and work that goes in to growing each plant, I treat them like my babies. We’re a small farm, so losing just one plant is a very big devastation for me.”

Read the ENTIRE article at: “SouthsideDaily.com“

“KCET is working with community partners in El Monte and South El Monte to learn about the health and nutrition options available to residents in both cities and throughout the San Gabriel Valley and beyond.

Can an urban farm make a difference in a community labeled a food desert? “SoCal Connected” goes to South El Monte where Earthworks, an urban farm, is changing the diets of families and children. Reporter Cara Santa Maria profiles the Morales family who has found that being a member of Earthworks is a way to return to their roots.”

Original article can be found at: “KCET.org“