Tag: urban farming
The Variety of Our Food Crops is Declining
Potatoes are native to the Andes, and over 4,000 varieties are grown there now. They come in numerous shapes, sizes and colors – red, yellow, purple, striped and spotted.
This wide array of types is an example of agrobiodiversity – a genetic legacy created by natural selection interacting with cultural...
Hong Kong Finds Bliss in Rooftop Gardens
Rooftops in densely populated Hong Kong are fast turning greener and more fertile as urban farmers seek to grow crops from their homes and offices and create a more liveable community.
Some 60 rooftop farms and 1,400 farmers have emerged locally over the past decade, and a handful of farms...
South Africa’s Chamber of Mines Shows-Off Potential of Rooftop Agriculture
South Africa's Chamber of Mines is aiming at creating a vibrant urban agricultural ecosystem by repurposing disused rooftops and making use of hydroponics and aquaponics to produce agricultural produce for Johannesburg's inner city communities.
The initiative was established by the Johannesburg Inner City Partnership.
As a key stakeholder in the JICP,...
Growing Greens in the Spare Room as ‘Vertical Farm’ Start-Ups Flourish
Dan Albert’s farm is far from traditional. Farmbox Greens is inside a two-car garage behind Mr. Albert’s Seattle home. It consists of 600 square feet of microgreens grown in vertically stacked trays beneath LED lights. He now has three employees and sells his greens to about 50 restaurants in...
Urban Farming: Cultivating Real Change In Cape Town
Recent concerns about transparency of food supply and mislabelling are certainly a welcome change, but even so, such questions are still a luxury of the affluent, especially in a Cape Town where issues around food insecurity far outweigh those around food integrity.
It's only logical then that a selection of...
Urban Farming Takes Root in Brazil’s Favelas
Women in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of this city 40 km north of Rio de Janeiro no longer have to spend money on vegetables, because they have learned to grow their own, as organic urban gardening takes off in Brazil.
The Urban Agriculture Programme, which now provides the women...
The Underground World Of Urban Farming In London
Under an anonymous back street in south London lies a vast underground air-raid shelter that has been turned into a pioneering urban farm supplying supermarkets and restaurants in the capital.
The World War II shelter in Clapham, which could protect up to 8,000 people from Nazi German bombs, consists of...
The Urban Farming Pioneer Who Wants To Feed The City’s Soul
For four years after giving up his corporate job which was making him miserable, Bjorn Low spend a happy four years working on organic farms in far-flung places such as Scotland, Spain and Japan.
How could one farm without land? While looking around Singapore, the many green spaces in the...
Urban Farming In Singapore Has Moved Into A New, High-Tech Phase
Urban farms have always been popular with gardeners in Singapore, especially those who volunteer at neighbourhood community gardens.
Urban farming has become more high-tech and, well, urban.
Urban farmers have started growing food in restaurants and taken over unused rooftop carpark spaces to set up garden plots.
The gardening enthusiasts in the...
Toronto Has Become A Leader In Urban Agriculture, But New Projects Struggle To Take Root
Urban agriculture as a whole is on the rise in Toronto - this year, the mayor's office recognized Toronto's first Urban Agriculture Day on Sept. 15, marking a milestone for the city's growing community of practitioners.
Even before this year's recognition by Mayor John Tory, Toronto had been hailed as...