Have you heard about Rooftop Reds? They’re taking urban agriculture to such a wonderful niche! Check out an interview they just did with Gothamist.com, talking about things that come with rooftop farming in NYC including the process of securing permits, licensing for running a rooftop vineyard, and working with the climate of NYC to grow grapes. As for me? I’m super excited to try my first bit of true, Brooklyn wine. You can watch the video here.
Tag Archives: urban farm
Eat Real Food
Eating real food sounds simple enough, right? Mark Bittman with the New York Times pulled me in with his cleverly titled “Butter is Back” op-ed. Following a recent study that questions the link between saturated fat and heart disease, Bittman targets ultra-processed foods, hitting on the use of unhealthy unsaturated fats, antibiotic-laden processed foods and environmentally unsustainable farming practices. Basically, we’re losing our connection to food:
“Many things have gone awry with the way we produce food. And it isn’t just the existence of junk food but the transformation of ingredients we could once take for granted or thought of as “healthy.””
tomatillos, KCC Urban Farm, Brooklyn, NY
While we don’t have animals (this article focuses on the consumption of meat), the KCC Urban Farm uses hands-on, experiential learning to teach students about local and global food systems and to re-engage students with healthy, environmentally conscious eating. We hope to soon have an online resource for environmentally sustainable, healthy eating, so stay tuned! In the meantime, please feel free to email (KCCurbanfarm@kbcc.cuny.edu) or call us (718.368.6578) to get more information.
Farm-to-Table in the US
KCC Urban Farm students, Brooklyn
A great article from the NY Times about the growth of “Agritopia” in the US. Farm-to-Table Living Takes Root talks about the growth of residential neighborhoods that, instead of being built around golf clubs, swimming pools or tennis courts, have a central focus on farming. While this movement is still in its infancy (and with many bugs to work out), the idea of communities coming together through shared interest of farming is wonderful…especially for us at KCC Urban Farm!
The KCC Urban Farm host tastings, events, courses and supports class visits. Find out more information by visiting our home on this blog or finding us on facebook.
Farming for NYC College Students, amNewYork
Students at KCC Urban Farm. Brooklyn, NY.
KCC Urban Farm manager, Silvia Torres, was just featured in an amNY article about farming in the city.
“Our goal is to help students understand that something called a food system exists, and that they have the power to make choices that impact both the environment and their health,” Torres says.
Read about what KCC Urban Farm and other farms in the city are doing to encourage this kind of hands-on learning.
Nutrition Education
Tomato harvest KCC Urban Farm, summer 2013
Great news from the USDA. A study on SNAP-Education finds that nutrition education programs can lead to healthier food choices by participants. The study followed programs in 3 US states (Michigan, Iowa and Kentucky) that were designed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption in children and seniors. Two out of the 3 programs showed significant increases of at-home fruit/vegetable consumption and all programs showed greater participation appreciation towards healthier food options. You can read more about this study here.
At the KCC Urban Farm in Brooklyn, we encourage not only healthy eating, but also a more holistic understanding of larger food systems. Our demonstrations include side-by-side comparisons of conventional vs. farm-grown fruits/vegetables and a hands-on look at what happens to food we throw away (yay compost!). Kingsborough’s Culinary Arts program even benefits from our ultra-local harvests. We hope to have a Farm-integrated nutrition program on campus in the future, so stay tuned.
Wrapping up a great season
Season extension: we’re still growing
2013 was a productive season at KCC Urban Farm. Despite smaller growing area due to construction, we grew over 3,000 lbs of fresh produce, all of which went to the KCC community!
While the weather is getting cold outside, it’s still a few degrees warmer in the hoop house, where we’ll be growing cold hardy crops through the winter.
Working with KCC Reads
Food Day at KCC Urban Farm
KCC Urban Farm has been working intimately with KCC Reads, since this year’s book, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, is all about our food system. We co-hosted an event on Food Day, a national celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainably produced food, that brought over a hundred students to the farm. We led tours of the farm and discussions about our food system for dozens of classes that are reading the book, and produced a toolkit of resources for faculty who are teaching about food and farming.
Composting in New York
KCC Urban Farm compost
Great news from PlaNYC! In the first 6 months of the city’s composting pilot program, over 2,500 tons of solid waste has been diverted from city landfills. That’s a lot of waste! The current pilot is running with curbside pickup in Staten Island and a handful of restaurants throughout the city. The Food Waste Challenge, which encourages restaurants to reduce food waste in city landfills by 50%, is part of the larger PlaNYC challenge to divert 75% of all solid waste from landfills by 2030. Despite still being in its adolescent stage, this initiative is expected to make significant changes to the way New Yorkers handle their waste.
Composting at KCC Urban Farm in Brooklyn is big! Our compost comes from Farm leftovers, as well as waste from Kingsborough’s Culinary Arts program. We have plans to revamp our current system as well as to develop a new, campus-wide collection and processing system. While this new program hasn’t yet gotten off the ground, our larger goal is engage the campus community with drop-offs for faculty, staff, students and other campus entities, as well as creating a more robust and collaborative system of learning for everyone involved. If you’re interested in learning more about composting or would like to be involved in this new initiative, contact the KCC Urban Farm (kccurbanfarm@kbcc.cuny.edu or 718.368.6578) for site visits or a list of our Continuing Education classes.
CUNY FoodFEST this Sunday
Want to talk food justice with CUNY students, faculty and other movement organizations/people from around the city? If so, come to CUNY FoodFEST this Sunday, November 3rd at Macaulay Honors College. While there, meet KCC Urban Farm manager, Silvia Torres to talk all things urban farming.
“CUNY FoodFEST is an event for CUNY students and the general public focused on educating and engaging participants in stimulating conversation about various topics in the food justice movements. Students attend workshops and meet with various food justice organizations from around the city. Workshops are led by experienced members of the food community and cover such topics ranging from food policy and hunger to composting and ethical food businesses. There also will be an Indian cooking lesson where Mukti Bannerjee will teach participants healthy and delicious recipes–and we all reap the benefits at the communal, reflective dinner to conclude the event.”
CUNY FoodFEST 2013 will be at :
35 West 67th Street
New York, NY 10023
10:30am-8:00pm
Homecoming at KCC Urban Farm
Last Sunday, KCC Urban Farm continued our tradition of hosting cooking demonstrations and farm tours at KCC’s annual Homecoming. Denia, our cooking demo CLT, showcased farm-fresh salsa with homemade chips and a variety of sauteed greens. Our fall greens include five varieties of Asian greens, turnip and radish greens, collard greens, and kale. In a few weeks, mustard greens will be ready to add to that list!
Denia and her daughter making salsa and greens
Farm-grown salsa with homemade chips
Learn to garden this spring
