Posts Tagged ‘sustainable farming’

PROFILE: Added Value Urban Farm in NYC

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010


by Inhabitat

This new video from Inhabitat profiles Added Value, a non-profit urban farm in Brooklyn that promotes the sustainable development of the Red Hook community by inviting teenagers from the neighborhood to participate in urban farming projects. Added Value is focused on teaching life skills that extend beyond urban farming.

Since 2001, they have been bringing the local youth together and encouraging them to positively engage with their community. Together they have helped revitalize local parks, transformed vacant lands into vibrant urban farms, improved access to healthy, safe and affordable food, and begun to grow an economy that supports the needs of their community.

Check out the video. It’s a great profile of a thriving urban farm that has provided a safe haven as well as a purpose for South Brooklyn teens. It’s exciting to see these kids making a difference in their community!
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New Generation of Farmers Focused on Sustainable Practices

Monday, June 14th, 2010


In this article, Lesley Lammers discusses the passing of the baton from one generation of farmer to the next, citing the demographic of these new farmers as college educated and showing a 30% increase in women since 2002. This new generation of farmers is focused on taking farming into the future by growing sustainably. They’re not only serving areas that were formally food deserts, but also bringing organic produce to thriving metropolises.

Lammers also provides some great resources for farm funding, locating available land, training and support for new farmers. There’s even a link to 40 Farmers Under 40, which profiles some of the young farmers who are making a difference across the country. It’s a great article, definitely worth checking out whether you’re interested in farming yourself or just appreciate the people who are having a positive affect on our food supply!
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San Francisco Urban Farm Hopes To Expand

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Little City Gardens in San Francisco, CA is hoping to expand their operation. For the past year, Caitlyn Galloway and Brooke Budner have been growing artisinal salad mix, braising mix and culinary herbs on a 1/16-acre backyard plot in the Mission District, which they sell to individual subscribers and local restaurants. They also hold workshops to teach the local community about farming in the city, and somehow have managed to maintain paid jobs off the farm the entire time. Now they’d like to expand to a 1/2-acre plot, dedicate themselves to farming full time and continue “the local, national, and global dialogue about growing food in cities”.

Brooke and Caitlyn have built a business worth investing in, and in addition to that they have created a model useful to anyone interested in starting or expanding their own urban farm. They have put together a business plan and stated their goals clearly. You can see from their Kickstarter page that their hard work is paying off. They are getting a terrific response from their community and we wish them the best in reaching their fundraising goals by May 4th, 2010!
Don’t miss the Little City Gardens video, just click on the Kickstarter image above.

Vertical Farms: Coming To Your Town

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Warning: this is an advertisement, but an interesting one. It’s an example of another method of sustainable local farming. There has been a lot of talk about vertical farming in the city, but mostly in terms of large scale production. Home Town Farms is promoting an individual produce shop that actually grows their food on-site using a vertical farm at the back of the store. As with most vertical farms, the produce would be grown hydroponically, which reduces water usage. HTF states that consumers would be able to buy vegetables and berries that have been picked fresh on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see if this concept gains momentum and competitors begin to surface. The demand for locally grown organic produce is rapidly gaining momentum, so companies like Home Town Farms will likely be popping up in towns across the country, all competing for our dollars. It’s the perfect time for consumers to demand affordable healthy food.

Farmers Challenge Michael Pollan’s Ideas

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

NPR’s Neal Conan discusses the challenges of agribusiness with author Michael Pollan and farmers Blake Hurst, Troy Roush and others.  The farmers address some of Pollan’s concepts and the challenges that they face trying to farm more sustainably.  While some of the farmers are inspired by Pollan’s ideas, others find them impractical.