By KATHLEEN GALLAGHER
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A year ago, Erik Lindberg rented a boom lift with a bucket and hoisted 15 cubic yards of dirt to the roof of his north side remodeling business. In the process, he planted himself firmly in the middle of a growing urban agriculture movement.
Lindberg, owner of Community Building & Restoration, turned to rooftop gardening in the belief that his actions might encourage people to grow their own food or buy locally grown produce.
And by selling the vegetables he grows to subscribers and a nearby Outpost Natural Foods store, he may have become Milwaukee's first commercial rooftop farmer.
"It's an experiment," said Lindberg, 42. "Can you develop a business plan out of something like this? The answer is, I don't know yet."
Rooftop farming is in its infancy, but the potential is enormous, said Steven Peck, founder and president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a 10-year-old Toronto-based association that claims more than 5,000 members.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Trend and Tradition Meet at a Queens Farm
....Just about a year ago, the Queens farm began keeping tiny herds of
sheep and goats, along with the pigs, for what are called “productive
purposes” — farm-speak for wool, milk and meat. The museum always had
animals but they were merely décor for legions of visiting school kids.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/nyregion/28about.html
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Interfaith Prayers Press for Food Justice in New York City
Stringer started pushing the "foodshed" idea last fall, it's great to see there is not only movement on this idea, but it has connected not just food and justice advocates but unions and workers.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500 Joins Forces with Faith Leaders for Environmental Justice to Call for a Just and Sustainable Food System for New York City.
New York, NY (PRWEB) - Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, and Sikh faith leaders locked hands with representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1500, We Act for Environmental Justice, The Majora Carter Group, and the NYC Coalition Against Hunger on the steps of City Hall last Thursday under an early morning deluge. Rain-soaked, yet regal, the diverse group stood as one to demand changes to food policy at the city and federal levels. Their "demands" were in the form of prayers and policy recommendations. And perhaps their prayers and petitions were answered. City Council will hold an educational hearing on food access disparities today in the state office building.
On the City level, the faith leaders urged Mayor Bloomberg to include food policy in PlaNYC, an omission that disproportionately affects low-income and minority residents who are more likely to be unable to afford and access healthy food in their communities.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500 Joins Forces with Faith Leaders for Environmental Justice to Call for a Just and Sustainable Food System for New York City.
New York, NY (PRWEB) - Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, and Sikh faith leaders locked hands with representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1500, We Act for Environmental Justice, The Majora Carter Group, and the NYC Coalition Against Hunger on the steps of City Hall last Thursday under an early morning deluge. Rain-soaked, yet regal, the diverse group stood as one to demand changes to food policy at the city and federal levels. Their "demands" were in the form of prayers and policy recommendations. And perhaps their prayers and petitions were answered. City Council will hold an educational hearing on food access disparities today in the state office building.
On the City level, the faith leaders urged Mayor Bloomberg to include food policy in PlaNYC, an omission that disproportionately affects low-income and minority residents who are more likely to be unable to afford and access healthy food in their communities.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Si Se Puede! helps to clean up businesses
Great example of democracy + sustainability that's economically viable--and they're in Brooklyn!
Wearing a hot pink T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Si Se Puede!,” Luz Maria Hernández, 29, slips on a pair of rubber gloves and goes to work. A few hours later, the two-bedroom, one-bath apartment is sparkling clean—and Hernández pockets $110.
Hernández doesn’t have to give half the fee to a cleaning contractor, because she’s one of 24 members of Si Se Puede! (“We can do it”), a women’s cleaning cooperative in Brooklyn, New York. Si Se Puede! was started in 2006 by neighborhood women with the help of a local community organization, the Center For Family Life. Rule No. 1 for this women-owned, women-run, eco-friendly (workers use only non-toxic products) cleaning co-op: Keep all the cash, except a $5 fee.
Wearing a hot pink T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Si Se Puede!,” Luz Maria Hernández, 29, slips on a pair of rubber gloves and goes to work. A few hours later, the two-bedroom, one-bath apartment is sparkling clean—and Hernández pockets $110.
Hernández doesn’t have to give half the fee to a cleaning contractor, because she’s one of 24 members of Si Se Puede! (“We can do it”), a women’s cleaning cooperative in Brooklyn, New York. Si Se Puede! was started in 2006 by neighborhood women with the help of a local community organization, the Center For Family Life. Rule No. 1 for this women-owned, women-run, eco-friendly (workers use only non-toxic products) cleaning co-op: Keep all the cash, except a $5 fee.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Bulldoze the ‘burbs?
By Eoin O'Carroll | 06.19.09
A story last week in the Telegraph, a British paper, describes how the city of Flint, Mich., a former industrial powerhouse now facing depopulation and plummeting home values, is dealing with vacant housing.
The solution? Bulldoze entire districts, returning the land to nature, and concentrate the population in the urban core.
The Telegraph’s Tom Leonard reports that the idea is the brainchild of Dan Kildee, treasurer of Genesee County, which includes Flint.
He said: “The obsession with growth is sadly a very American thing. Across the US, there’s an assumption that all development is good, that if communities are growing they are successful. If they’re shrinking, they’re failing.”
A story last week in the Telegraph, a British paper, describes how the city of Flint, Mich., a former industrial powerhouse now facing depopulation and plummeting home values, is dealing with vacant housing.
The solution? Bulldoze entire districts, returning the land to nature, and concentrate the population in the urban core.
The Telegraph’s Tom Leonard reports that the idea is the brainchild of Dan Kildee, treasurer of Genesee County, which includes Flint.
He said: “The obsession with growth is sadly a very American thing. Across the US, there’s an assumption that all development is good, that if communities are growing they are successful. If they’re shrinking, they’re failing.”
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Paris Journal - A Paris Plan, Less Grand Than Gritty - NYTimes.com
would be provocative in a disorienting way to think NYC's greening via the Hudson valley, all the way up to albany, rather than the usual "metropolitan region". what's confusing about this orientation is that it reflect a much older spatial orientation of the city--when manufacturing dominated, and exports, the river was a key source of goods traffic. it also raises the question, is such an orientation necessary for making NYC trully "green"/sustainable? or is the river "incidental"? Bioregionally it can't be, tho i suppose it may be only one of (more than one)axis.
Friday, June 12, 2009
BC EVENT ON GARDENING
Let's Green Our Neighborhood!
This Tuesday, June 16th
Tree Pit GardeningOn June 16th, 2009, from 7:00-9:00 pm at Brooklyn College Art Lab (see link to map, below), we are holding our next event:
an Orientation for the Sustainable Flatbush Urban Gardens and Farms Initiative.
* Learn about the projects and plans of Sustainable Flatbush's Urban Gardens and Farms Initiative, including the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden
* Connect with others from the community who want to get their hands dirty greening our neighborhood
* Find out how to get involved
Your ideas, energy, and hands-on help are an essential part of our sustainable community. Any amount of participation is welcome!
We hope to see you there!
Please RSVP to let us know if you'll attend. Light refreshments will be provided.
Fire Escape Planters
The Brooklyn College Arts Lab (BCAL) is located in Brooklyn College's Roosevelt Hall,
2946 Bedford Avenue, south of Campus Road.
View Map.
Directions from Q train
Avenue H station
Directions from 2/5 train
Flatbush Avenue station
WHAT
Orientation for the Sustainable Flatbush Urban Gardens and Farms Initiative
WHERE
Brooklyn College Arts Lab (BCAL)
2946 Bedford Avenue, Roosevelt Hall 3rd floor
Brooklyn, NY 11210
WHEN
Tuesday, June 16th from 7:00pm until 9:00pm
photos by Flatbush Gardener (Daffodil Project)
and Inside Urban Green (Fire Escape Peppers)
This Tuesday, June 16th
Tree Pit GardeningOn June 16th, 2009, from 7:00-9:00 pm at Brooklyn College Art Lab (see link to map, below), we are holding our next event:
an Orientation for the Sustainable Flatbush Urban Gardens and Farms Initiative.
* Learn about the projects and plans of Sustainable Flatbush's Urban Gardens and Farms Initiative, including the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden
* Connect with others from the community who want to get their hands dirty greening our neighborhood
* Find out how to get involved
Your ideas, energy, and hands-on help are an essential part of our sustainable community. Any amount of participation is welcome!
We hope to see you there!
Please RSVP to let us know if you'll attend. Light refreshments will be provided.
Fire Escape Planters
The Brooklyn College Arts Lab (BCAL) is located in Brooklyn College's Roosevelt Hall,
2946 Bedford Avenue, south of Campus Road.
View Map.
Directions from Q train
Avenue H station
Directions from 2/5 train
Flatbush Avenue station
WHAT
Orientation for the Sustainable Flatbush Urban Gardens and Farms Initiative
WHERE
Brooklyn College Arts Lab (BCAL)
2946 Bedford Avenue, Roosevelt Hall 3rd floor
Brooklyn, NY 11210
WHEN
Tuesday, June 16th from 7:00pm until 9:00pm
photos by Flatbush Gardener (Daffodil Project)
and Inside Urban Green (Fire Escape Peppers)
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