Trend Alert: the Urban Farm-to-Table Movement
From Juice Plus+ November 2017 Newsletter
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http://www.foodnetwork.com/healthyeats/restaurants/2017/06/trend-alert-the-urbanfarm-to-table-movement
By: Serena Ball
Farms aren’t just in the country anymore. Rooftop gardens supply dozens of Chicago
restaurants with just-picked veggies. In the lobby of Vin de Set restaurant in St. Louis,
diners are greeted by tall white towers growing kale for salads that night. At New York’s
Bell Book & Candle, the menu is set by herbs like chervil, Opal basil and sage, all
grown several stories above the dining room. Today, chefs and consumers are tasting
veggies picked mere hours beforehand from restaurant rooftops, and from the
abandoned parking lot turned urban farm next door.
Aeroponic Farming
Jeff Seibel’s official title is Farm Manager, but his unofficial title is “Urban Farmer” in St.
Louis. He oversees a commercial greenhouse that supplies all of the Bibb lettuce,
Romaine, kale, arugula, kohlrabi, fennel, mustard and other greens for five Hamilton
Hospitality restaurants. From March to December, restaurant owners Paul and Wendy
Hamilton do not order a single green leaf for their growing restaurants. “We’ve even
switched up our menus to add more greens to our dishes, including green-topped
pizzas, braised greens pastas and creative salads. It’s a good dilemma, to have so
much just-picked produce,” said Wendy.
To make the most of crowded city spaces, Seibel grows produce for the Hamilton’s
restaurants in white vertical Tower Gardens. Last year over 10,000 pounds of produce
was grown in just a 1/4-acre plot of land. The Tower system is known as aeroponic
farming and according to some calculations, farmers can grow 30% more food up to
three times faster than traditional farming methods, using 98% less water and 90%
less space.
Hydroponic Gardens
In New York City, students at the Food and Finance High School (FFHS) in
collaboration with NYC Cornell University Coop Extension (CUCE) tend hydroponic
gardens —soil-free plots that grow plants in nutrient-rich water. Students learn that the
liquid nutrient solution requirements needed for young plants is different from that
needed for mature plants, and that a controlled environment is needed to produce
healthy vegetables and herbs.
Once harvested, produce like kale and Chinese cabbages are prepared by students in
the school’s cafeteria, and in the culinary arts and catering programs. “Graduates of
our programs are skilled in every aspect of growing plants hydroponically to marketing
the mature vegetables in retail settings,” explains Professor Philson Warner, Founding
Director of CUCE Hydroponics, Aquaculture, Aquaponics, Sustainable Agriculture
Applied Research Teaching Labs.
Rooftop gardens
Over 10 million heads of leafy greens and herbs are grown year-round on the south
side of Chicago at the Gotham Greens 75,000 square foot rooftop farm. It claims to be
the world’s largest and most productive greenhouse. Not only can chefs get bok choy
and Windy City Crunch lettuce blend, but consumers can find these greens at their
local Jewel supermarket. Gotham Greens also partners with the Greater Chicago Food
Depository food bank.
Baseball fans seated on the third base side of Fenway Park in Boston can view
the Fenway Farmsgarden from which the kale on their Kale Caesar was harvested.
Tomatoes, peppers, Brussels sprouts and other veggies grown in the rooftop garden
are served at Red Sox EMC Club restaurant, for special events, and in concession
stand favorites.
Tips for Finding Urban Farms in your City
Keep your eyes peeled for greens grown right in your own city above restaurants, at
schools, in stadiums. Or search online for: urban farm, hydroponic, rooftop garden.
Here are a few specific examples:
Colleges
University of Southern California
Lindsey Pine, a Registered Dietitian at USC Hospitality, notes: “Students may see the
lettuce they will have for lunch as they walk to class.” With 88 Tower Gardens, there’s a
good chance if you eat at a restaurant, catered event, or dining hall on campus, you’re
eating greens that are only a few hours old.
Bowdoin University
Even in Maine’s short growing season, vegetables, fruits and herbs from the Bowdoin
Organic Garden are served in the school’s cafeteria.
Community Programs
Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture
This organization in Columbia, Missouri, is like gardening training wheels. Chefs,
pharmacists and wannabe home gardeners can learn skills in gardens around the city.
Little Free Garden Project
In Moorhead, Minnesota and Fargo, North Dakota, you and your neighbors can share
the fun of gardening together.
Supermarkets and Farmers Markets
Gotham Greens
Originating in New York City, their greens are in hundreds of NYC restaurants and at
grocery stores around New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Rising Pheasant Farms
Farmers market shoppers in Detroit can pick up asparagus, sage and sunflower shoots
grown on the East Side.
Serena Ball, MS, RD is a food writer and registered dietitian nutritionist.
*This article was written and/or reviewed by an independent registered dietitian
nutritionist.