From rooftop farm to table

If you owned a building in New York City, what would you put on the roof? A sundeck? Solar panels, perhaps, in an effort to go green? Or, a rooftop farm…

It probably would not occur to you to put 200,000 pounds of soil and a thousand earth worms up there. But that’s exactly how Lisa Goode, the founder of Goode Green, explains her dream of making her Greenpoint (Brooklyn) neighbourhood live up to its name.

The farm grows all manner of seasonal vegetables which they sell to area restaurants and at a local farmers market. This concept also provides better insulation for the buildings, thereby reducing the amount of cooling and heating required. From towering vertical agriscrapes to vegetation-packed geodesic domes, this is the perfect urban farm.

The Greenpoint Farm, a real-life 6,000 square foot organic vegetable farm with a view of the Manhattan skyline is now open to anyone who wants to lend a hand. That hand need not be blessed with a green thumb, since they have a team of people to help.

Located in the industrial Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, the farm is basically a warehouse rooftop covered in soil — about a foot deep. Very little energy and money had to be expended to construct a separate building to hold the rows of juicy tomatoes, the crisp peas and lettuces.

Who is behind this veggie-filled Eden? You can thank Chris and Lisa Goode of Goode Green Roofs along with partner Amy Trachtman. Annie Novak of the New York Botanical Garden and Ben Flanner, a former E*Trade marketer are the green thumbs that get the garden to grow.

When you’re done volunteering, there is a green market every Sunday where you can pick up some of the fruits and veggies of your labour. If you’re too pooped to cook them up yourself? Just stroll on down to nearby restaurants Marlow & Sons, Anella or Vesta Trattoria which slice, dice, saute and roast fresh pickings from the farm daily.

The MaRS Connection
As MaRS aligns itself to the growing culinary movement to celebrate local cuisine, reduce our carbon footprint and support social innovation, we require that our caterers do the same. We help foster local sustainable food systems by linking them with our caterers, local purchasers — and commit caterers to purchasing a portion of food products through local producers.

From (rooftop) farm to table we have a commitment to regional, seasonal cuisine.