Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm Greens New York City Skyline (VIDEO)

When people think of New York City, farming probably isn't the first thing that comes to mind, but one group is doing their part to make the Big Apple edible for its local residents.

In this video, Reuters takes a look at the initiatives of an ambitious organic farming business, Brooklyn Grange, looking to transform NYC's vast expanse of empty rooftops into lush forests of food.

Brooklyn Grange's first farm is a 40,000-square-foot warehouse rooftop that grows hundreds of thousands of plants without the use of pesticides or other chemicals. According to its website, tomatoes are one of its biggest crops with over 40 varietals planted.

Head Farmer Ben Flanner is no stranger to the task; after quitting his finance job, he founded Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in 2009 -- a 6,000-square-foot farm in Brooklyn that was the first rooftop soil farm in New York.

Flanner tells Reuters that the farm is not only a way to provide fresh and healthy food directly to the local community, but does its part in greening the city by absorbing storm-water runoff and also cooling the building underneath.

WATCH:

Comments

[Gigi1234]

03:30 PM on 09/08/2010

Urban food production is becoming more and more important. You might like this cool time lapse video shot in an urban community in Toronto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13×4lySlXW4. Take a look and see how Kia is driving change.

[PinkFloydsDr]

12:22 AM on 09/03/2010

This is our future. and its a good one. the America of 50 years in the future will look like the America of 50 years in the past in terms of locally grown produce. The illusion of cheap gas and diesel helped create the system where food was grown far from the cities where most of the population lives. Then the food is trucked, shiped and flown to the cities and processing centers. The energy expended to transport our food around is staggering. Lets reintroduce local farms of every creative type back into our urban and suburban areas. We are gonna need them.

[astraia]

10:52 PM on 08/31/2010

fabulous story

[GrantedBKNY]

10:12 AM on 08/30/2010

People were growing plenty on their rooftops before 2009. However, Flanner's self promotion and questionable grasp on his place in history aside, this is a great thing.

While lugging bag after bag of soil up multiple flights of stairs is grueling, the pay off is well worth it. I have found that chilies do very well in the hot, constant sun of the rooftop, especially habaneros and jalapenos.

[Diogenis]

12:10 PM on 08/29/2010

Now..if we can grow hemp, the economy will benefit.

[Diogenis]

12:05 PM on 08/29/2010

F A N T A S T I C!!!

[ValdaDeDieu]

06:36 PM on 08/28/2010

About time... city-skyline.rooftops are an underused resource.

[kallou22]

10:09 PM on 08/27/2010

Fantastic! Hope this becomes a growing movement and catches on everywhere. We need farm fresh organic foods. Cancer and autoimmune disease have increased significantly over the decade. I think our factory foods and corporate farms are killing us. But Hooray for these farmers.

[EndangeredJackalope]

10:37 PM on 08/27/2010

Yeah, it's cool. Let's not forget that the food is grown in Queens, beside a rail yard. Chemically treated food grown in the Midwest isn't ideal, but "organic" food grown a six stories up from the still-industrial regions of America's largest city.. aren't exactly 'pure.'

[kallou22]

12:24 AM on 08/28/2010

My glasses are rose colored, I am hoping that we will keep improving on those "old" industries and build a green 21st century one. Crossing my fingers.

[LovesMusicLikesToSing]

01:56 PM on 08/27/2010

Fantastic idea in one of the many cities that need them most.

[wordsfromawoman]

06:11 PM on 08/26/2010

Refreshing to hear a good story for a change. There are so many opportunities all over the US to do things like this. Convert rooftops into farms, herb garden or solar panel havens. We need to do more of this, much more.
www.wordsfromawoman.wordpress.com

[Cindy Fogle]

11:54 AM on 08/27/2010

Totally agree! The people in the city need to be resourceful and have a means to grow food.
Spaces need to be planned better. What puzzles me is why so few fruit trees are planted?
Would agriculture lobby's oppose that?

[Vivian Alicia Evans]

07:35 PM on 08/27/2010

imho, they might need deeper soil to grow. If not they might be grown in containers but eventually they would have be be moved because they would out grow their container.

[DragonFly]

05:28 PM on 08/26/2010

This post is a tall cool drink after spending the better part of today in the 'Politics' section.

[Diogenis]

12:06 PM on 08/29/2010

"cheers luv!"

[JustaSlob]

05:22 PM on 08/26/2010

Wouldn't there be problems with insect control and weight? Sounds like a no-brainer other than that.

[Benover de Viros]

10:17 AM on 08/27/2010

I would like to know if root system destruction is a possible issue as well. Other than that, agreed, a no-brainer.

[EndangeredJackalope]

10:43 PM on 08/27/2010

No, there are several membranes protecting the roof -- one plastic sheet, one thick solid plastic membrane to hold water, and two different layers of felt.

I don't know about insects, but they're six stories up, which has the benefit of probably keeping a lot of bugs from finding the place. They're also in an urban area, where there just isn't habitat for the bugs to thrive. If they found this, it'd be some really dumb luck.

Weight isn't an issue b/c they use Rooflite, which is a growing medium that is lighter than soil.

[Lark817]

05:06 PM on 08/26/2010

Toronto is really ahead of the curve in rooftop gardens. While they provide food, they also provide a sense of community to building residents and offer a safe place for the resident children to play.

[Vivian Alicia Evans]

07:36 PM on 08/27/2010

We have green roofs here in Kelowna, B.C. I know of one house that was especially designed to have a garden on it's roof.

[Diogenis]

12:08 PM on 08/29/2010

I've produced dozens of veggies in my small garden in Pennsylvania

[cityprole]

04:07 PM on 08/26/2010

This is a wonderful idea, and as an old urban dweller who loved ( and missed) gardening, can tell any sceptical new yorker that you will be amazed at all the satisfaction and tranquility that can be yours by doing this..you'll have homegrown, fresh and tasty healthy food, and you'll be exercising in the fresh air, safely..and it will save you thousands on shrink fees, too..an epic win!

[direct democracy]

03:55 PM on 08/26/2010

An old idea whose time has come. Who would object to this?