Farming in the Big City

by Laura

When people think of big cities, like New York City, they think of a lot of lights, skyscrapers, Broadway shows, and shopping, almost as far away from a rural farm town you can get. However, what they don’t know is that there is agriculture and even farming all around them, whether above their heads, across the street, or even in the building next to them. New York City has many rooftop farms throughout, as well plenty of community gardens and even animals in small city backyards or places like Governors Island.

Rooftop Farming

           One of the largest forms of farming and agriculture in New York is rooftop farms. Many people who come to New York City as tourists and even many who live in the city don’t even know the farms are there. This year, our grade actually went to visit one of these unknown rooftop farms, the Brooklyn Grange Farm in Queens, New York City. Although many people don’t know, farms like Brooklyn Grange have a very large effect on our lives. Being the largest rooftop farm in all of New York, Brooklyn Grange produces a lot of fresh produce, as well as eggs laid from their diverse chickens.  While there, we got to experience all this produce that ends up in some New Yorker’s meals. In general rooftop farms may sell their produce to markets like Whole Foods, or directly to their customers at local farmers’ markets, getting fresh, local produce spread through the city.

Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm in Long Island City, Queens

Although many people don’t know about New York City’s great rooftop farms, it is very likely they will soon know more. New York City is as of now planning on making the largest rooftop farm in Manhattan, and quite possibly the world, even larger than Brooklyn Grange. (New York Times) This would be a great step ahead for New York City, as it shows we are not all about putting on a presentation with our shops, shows and lights. A rooftop farm in New York is pretty much just like any regular farm, except that it is on a roof. New York City rooftop  farms in general tend to use many of the same methods of growing organic food, as that is what the majority of the farms are, organic. Alongside being organic, these farms are very diverse, like local sustainable farms that are moving away from huge monoculture farms, or farms that grow one crop, such as corn. As with Brooklyn Grange they have natural waste disposal in composting and using “natural pesticides” such as ladybugs to keep pests away. This does a lot of good for the city in other ways which include having plants, which absorb some of the carbon we admit into the air as a big city. By having rooftop farms in the city, we are actually using our space very efficiently,  as we get resources, living space and farming at the top with our rooftop farms. 

On the ground

            Farming in the big city doesn’t only take place above us, There are also many community gardens beginning to form throughout the city, like our own CSS garden.  These gardens bring communities together, as well as bringing  fresh produce to communities that may not have access to it regularly. They can also bring the experiences of nature and farming to young kids and even adults that they might never have gotten living in such a big city. As in our community garden, there are many food types grown, including herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, a similar diversity to the rooftop farms. Many gardens also make compost, which helps eliminate waste and creates a never-ending cycle, as well as to help to eliminate  greenhouse gas emissions. These great gardens also tend to turn up in communities that seem to desperately need them. They can make any space, even an empty lot such as that in  Paul Fleishman’s novel, Seedfolks, a much more beautiful and productive place, using food and flowers to turn a community around. Gardening like this in New York does mean special requirements can be needed to make it work. For example, fire hydrants are often used as a water source and beds are used to plant food as there is possible lead contamination in the soil.

Raising Animals

            A very big part of many traditional farms are animals. They produce some meat and other foods, as well as fertilizer. Raising a farm animal besides a pet (like a cat or a dog) in the city is thought of  even less than farming in the city. However, there are plenty of occurrences of this. One very special example of this is the six chicks we raised in our  own classroom. As I said earlier, Brooklyn Grange is home to chickens which are probably the most common farm type of animal in the city.  The chickens there produce plenty of eggs which are sold to the public. An agriculture and compost education organization, Earth Matter, also keeps chickens and goats at Governors Island, although the setting there is not very urban.  Finally, some people get permission to raise chickens  in their small city backyard, ending up with a few hens (as there are no roosters allowed in the city), fresh eggs, and a chicken coop for the hens to live in.  Although you can’t find a big red barn full of many different farm animals in the city, there are still a few areas you can find some animals, especially chickens.

A silkie chicken at Brooklyn Grange.

City Farming

            There are many sources of farming and agriculture in the city, even though they may not be that noticeable. There are rooftop farms like Brooklyn Grange, community gardens that go unnoticed, and farm animals that aren’t looked for behind the lights and stores New York City has to offer. However, as New York’s farming grows,  this might change and create more of a balance between the two. Think of a travel brochure saying “come to New York to see the Statue of Liberty and Times Square” alongside “come to New York to see the largest rooftop farm in the country”.