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A Complete Guide To Urban Farming In NYC

Did you know:

With 17.8 MILLION people in the NYC metro area, New York City is the 2nd largest urban area in the world.

For a city this huge, how can anyone know about all of the urban farming going on in NYC? (there's A TON)

Well:

A complete guide to urban farming in new york city

This article provides a full overview of all aspects of urban agriculture in NYC, from companies to job opportunities to social impact projects.

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    We will cover:

    - Some of the largest urban farming companies in NYC
    - Where can you find urban farming jobs in NYC
    - Where can you find NYC urban agriculture classes
    - What are some key urban farming social impact projects going on in NYC

    Ready to get the run-down on any of these subjects?

    Read on to learn more!

    NYC Urban Farming Companies

    Gotham Greens

    Gotham Greens Facility Source

    Gotham Greens, founded in 2008 by Viraj Puri and Eric Haley, has three urban greenhouses in New York:

    - 15,000 sq ft in Greenpoint Brooklyn (Opened 2011)
    - 20,000 sq ft greenhouse in Gowanus, Brooklyn (Opened in in 2013)
    - 60,000 sq ft greenhouse in Jamaica, Queens (Opened in 2015)

    Gotham originally focused on growing: Butterhead lettuce
    Red leaf lettuce
    Green leaf lettuce
    Basil

    More recently their crops have grown to include
    - tomatos
    - baby kale
    - arugula
    - bok choy
    - swiss chard

    Follow Gotham Greens on Twitter Below:

    Brooklyn Grange

    Brooklyn Grange (Source)

    Brooklyn Grange is a two and half acre rooftop organic farm in New York City.

    Currently this acreage is split between 2 facilities in NYC:

    - 43,000 sq ft facility between Astoria and Long Island City
    - 60,000+ sq ft facility in the Brooklyn Navy Yard

    Brooklyn Grange is also the largest apiary (beehive for honey production) in New York City, producing over 1500 lb of honey annually.

    Follow Brooklyn Grange On Twitter Below:

    Riverpark Farm

    Riverpark Farm Youtube Video Overview

    Founded in 2011, Riverpark Farm is a 15,000 sq ft rooftop farm located in Kips Bay, Manhattan.

    The farm provides fresh produce to the Riverpark restaurant and is owned by chef Tom Collicchio.

    Over 100 different types of vegetables, herbs, and flowers are grown using over 7,000 re-purposed plastic milk crates.

    Follow Riverpark NYC on Twitter below:

    North Brooklyn Farms

    North Brooklyn Farms (Source)

    North Brooklyn Farms is an urban farm and public space in Williamsburg, New York City.

    Their mission is to:

    "Transform vacant city spaces into urban farms where people can engage with their community, connect with nature and get local, organic, sustainably-grown produce"

    Like North Brooklyn Farms (NBK Farms) on Facebook below:

    Eagle Street Rooftop Farms

    Eagle Street Rooftop Farm (Source)

    Eagle Street Rooftop Farms is a located in Greenpoint Brooklyn.

    They have over 6,000 sq feet of organic vegetable production on their rooftop farm.

    Eagle Street Rooftop Farm Video Overview

    To like Eagle Street Rooftop Farm on Facebook, click the icon below:

    For a larger list of NYC Urban Farms, check out this article by Shervin Abdolhamidi at Untappedcities.com, 10 of the Most Unique Urban Farms in NYC

    NYC Urban Farming Jobs

    Gotham Greens Jobs

    Follow this link for job opportunities at Gotham Greens: http://gothamgreens.com/contact-us

    Brooklyn Grange Jobs

    At the time of writing Brooklyn Grange does not have any open job positions. To check their jobs page for updates follow this link: https://www.brooklyngrangefarm.com/jobs/

    Eagle Street Rooftop Farms Jobs

    Although Eagle Street Rooftop Farms website does not have a specific jobs page, they do have a "Apprenticeship program".

    For more information, check out this Rooftop Farm Apprenticeship Google Doc

    NYC Urban Agriculture Classes

    Grow NYC

    Grow NYC fosters environmental stewardship by running programs for over 30,000 students each year with the goal of providing "meaningful interactions with the environment".

    Grow NYC provides courses for students of all ages. One of their most relevant programs to urban farming and gardening is Grow To Learn, a city wide initiative with the goal of:

    "Facilitating and Supporting Sustainable Teaching Gardens in Every NYC Public School"

    - Goal of Grow To Learn Initiative by GrowNYC.org

    Grow NYC has aided in the development of over 100 community gardens to date (Source)

    For those who have a potential backyard farming space in New York City, you can also help with initiatives like Grow To Learn by volunteering your space to use as a teaching garden.

    For more details visit this urban garden sign up page and click on "New Garden".

    The Battery Urban Farm

    The Battery Urban Farm NYC (Source)

    The Battery Urban Farm is a "teaching" urban farm that was started in 2011 in New York City.

    It organizes farming classes for New York's students, residents, and visitors that teach sustainable urban farming techniques.

    Farm School NYC

    Farm School NYC at work (Source)

    Farm School NYC is a educational urban agricultural program focused on social justice, community, and accessibility.

    They began offering classes in 2011 to NYC residents.

    For more info, check out their programming page

    Urban Farming Social Impact Projects in NYC

    Green Bronx Machine

    Green Bronx Machine In Action (Source)

    Green Bronx Machine is a 501(c)(3) based in Southern Bronx that focuses on engaging students grades K-12 in urban agriculture programs.

    The goal of the programs is to promote positive social change, such as increased school attendance rates, higher performance, and healthier diet choices.

    Founded by school teacher Stephen Ritz, the program has evolved from an after-school program to a wide set of programming including summer camps, a learning garden, and health wellness and learning center.

    NYC Parks Greenthumb Program

    The NYC Parks Greenthumb Program is a non for profit initiative to support urban gardening in New York City.

    Greenthumb supports over 500 volunteer coordinated community farms in New York City, across all five boroughs.

    Support typically comes in the form of organization support, funding, and monthly workshops that take place in NYC.

    For more information on Greenthumb NYC, check out the YouTube Video below, or follow this link to join a garden or volunteer.

    Conclusion

    After reading this article, you should know just about all there is to know about urban farming in the big apple.

    If you got this far in this article, you may like our other articles.

    To access our other content, visit www.urbanvine.co/blog or sign up for our email list in the sidebar!

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            All Indoor Farming Company Interviews

            Straits Agriculture

            July 19, 2023

            This interview details Straits Agriculture, an outdoor rooftop farming company based in Singapore. The interview is with Leonard Teo, Founder of Straits Agriculture. To learn more about Straits Agriculture and other indoor farming companies, click on this link!

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            Aerospring Hydroponics

            July 18, 2023

            This interview details Aerospring Hydroponics, an indoor farming company based in Singapore. The interview is with Nadine Keller, Co-Founder of Aerospring Hydroponics. To learn more about Aerospring Hydroponics and other indoor farming companies, click on this link!

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            TTA Netherlands

            July 20, 2023

            This interview details TTA, an indoor farming technology provider based in the Netherlands. The interview was conducted with Peter Rietveld, Business Development Director at Eurogroep, and with Renko Schuil, Sales Manager Indoor Farming at TTA. To learn more about TTA and other indoor farming companies, click on this link!

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            April Sun Farms

            September 12, 2023

            This interview details April Sun Farms, an indoor farming company based in Australia. The interview is with Ty Dickson, Director & Co-Founder of April Sun Farms. To learn more about April Sun Farms and other indoor farming companies, click on this link!

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            VitalFluid

            July 14, 2023

            This interview details VitalFluid, a Plasma Activated Water (PAW) solutions provider based in The Netherlands. The interview is with Paul Leenders, Director of VitalFluid. To learn more about VitalFluid and other indoor farming companies, click on this link!

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            Sollum Technologies

            July 10, 2023

            This interview details Sollum Technologies, ‍an indoor farming LED grow light solution provider based in Canada. The interview is with Louis Brun, CEO & co-founder of Sollum Technologies. To learn more about Sollum Technologies and other indoor farming companies, click on this link!

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            BRIO AGRI India

            July 10, 2023

            This interview details BRIO AGRI, an indoor farming company based in India. The interview is with Jay Kumar Bhatt, Director – Strategic Business Expansion of BRIO AGRI. To learn more about BRIO AGRI and other indoor farming companies, click on this link!

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            Elevate Farms Canada

            July 19, 2023

            This interview details Elevate Farms, an indoor farming company based in Canada. The interview is with Amin Jadavji, President & CEO, Director of Elevate Farms. To learn more about Elevate Farms and other indoor farming companies, click on this link!

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            Sunway XFarms Malaysia

            July 4, 2023

            This interview details Sunway XFarms, an indoor farming company based in Malaysia. The interview is with Eleanor Choong, COO of Sunway XFarms. To learn more about Sunway XFarms and other indoor farming companies, click on this link!

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            Eden Green

            July 4, 2023

            This interview details Eden Green, an indoor farming company based in the United States. The interview is with Eddy Badrina, CEO of Eden Green. To learn more about Eden Green and other indoor farming companies, click on this link!

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