planted city

Urban Farming Goes Big in Brooklyn: ‘World’s Largest Rooftop Garden’ 

From Urban Farm Online:

A new hydroponic greenhouse set atop an old warehouse in Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Sunset Park is set to begin construction this fall — and just might transform New York City into the new model for urban agriculture. Announced in April, the greenhouse will break ground in September and is scheduled for completion in early 2013. When it’s finished, it promises to be the world’s largest rooftop farm, spanning 100,000 square feet and producing up to 1 million pounds of produce per year, including several varieties of tomatoes, lettuces and herbs.

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Created by BrightFarms Inc., an organization that designs, finances and manages hydroponic greenhouse farms across the United States, the farm will produce enough vegetables and herbs to meet the vegetable consumption needs of 5,000 New Yorkers. And with a newly announced partnership with A&P stores, it truly will. The partnership with the New Jersey-based chain to sell the farm’s produce locally will allow BrightFarms to fulfill its mission of “eliminating time, distance and cost from the food supply chain.”

Check out the rest of the article here. Above is one of a series of TEDxManhattan talks themed ‘Changing the Way We Eat’ featuring the CEO of Brightfoot Farms, Paul Lightfoot.

(Video source: TEDx via YouTube; photo via ArchDaily)