"A Commercially-Viable Roof Farm in Brooklyn
Just a century ago, much of North Brooklyn was a sprawling agricultural breadbasket that supplied food to the booming population of New York City. As the city expanded, this bucolic setting gave way to industrial development and farm Âfields disappeared under blocks of factories and warehouses.
Today, Brooklyn’s modern industrial landscape provides an unmistakable opportunity for growth and cultivation, with hundreds of vacant rooftops that stretch for acres right in the heart of New York City. Rich in solar energy and rainfall, these roofs are ideal urban farm sites with the potential to feed, employ, educate and unite communities throughout North Brooklyn.
Urban farming has been widely practiced nationwide and internationally as a tool for greening neighborhoods and educating populations about food and health, but the creation of a commercially-viable rooftop farm has yet to be realized. Brooklyn Grange aims to build on decades of rooftop farming best practices and establish a one acre farm that operates as a sustainable small business. The farm will sell fresh, organic and affordable food to the local community, contributing to the health and economic development of the neighborhood."