Urban agriculture has enormous potential

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.