A follow up to a prior post on rooftop farms…
This past weekend, courtesy of a friend (thanks Steve O!), I got to see a real-live Brooklyn urban farm in action. At Roberta’s, a much-loved and highly-regarded pizza (and more) restaurant in Bushwick, Brooklyn, they actually have an urban farm on the premises. The lot behind the restaurant has tons of plants and veggies growing, and some are on top of the roof of an outcropping in the backyard seating area:
Roberta's bins
Up on the Roberta rooftop
Though Roberta’s website doesn’t describe a connection, it seems like there might be some cross-pollination of people from this establishment that are also involved in a rooftop farm project called the Brooklyn Grange.
Brooklyn Grange has a Kickstarter page with additional information. It says the following about the farmed product from these rooftops: “The beyond-organic produce will be sold directly to the community at an on-site stand, affording shoppers a direct relationship with the farm and farmers. Additional produce will be sold to a small group of market-driven local restaurants.”
Though the Brooklyn Grange will actually be located in LIC Queens, it seems like their mission statement is on-target with the movement to bring our food closer to our homes as well as to bring more green roofs to our cityscape. These motives are both beneficial for a variety of beneficial reasons. Not to be redundant, but green rooftop farms have so many benefits…
For the building itself:
– They provide energy savings through better insulation
– Greenery planted on said roof will protect the waterproofing membrane that lines the roof, thereby extending its lifespan
For the city:
– They collect and use rain water, thereby reducing sewer overflow into city waterways in heavy rainstorms
– They can utilize compost, so residents don’t have to throw as much garbage into the landfill
– They can help reduce the ‘heat island’ effect in the city (the greenery will absorb heat and help keep the city cool in the summertime; unlike concrete or black tar, plants on the rooftops won’t make the city even hotter by absorbing and releasing heat back into the environment)
For the people:
– They provide local, tasty produce for purchase; and this produce didn’t have to be trucked in from far away
– They provide an educational opportunity: farm patrons can understand their food more by seeing where it is grown and who is growing it for them
For the earth in general:
– They reduce carbon emissions and protect the waterways
Looking to get involved in a project like this myself… shout at me if you have one and need a hand!
