From Grist.org:  “….Five years ago, there were no rooftop farms in North America, says Steven Peck, president of the Toronto-based nonprofit Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. (Gardens, sure, but nothing producing food on a commercial scale.) Today, he estimates there are 20. Five years from now, there will be more than 100, he says, and numbers will continue to soar.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Peck says. “Rooftop farming is under consideration in every major city in America.”

“Mandel says rooftop farms now supply food for restaurants and grocery stores, and serve as CSAs, selling shares to the local community. There are hydroponic greenhouse roof farms and open-air row farms where crops are grown in soil in traditional rows. There are container farms and raised-bed farms. Mandel, 30, began documenting the evolution of rooftop agriculture as a graduate student in landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and now blogs about rooftop farming at eatupag.com. Her recently published book Eat Up: The Inside Scoop on Rooftop Agriculture details, in 250 photo-filled pages, “the nuts and bolts, practicalities and case studies” of rooftop farming, and features interviews with some of the nation’s top (ahem) growers.

Okay city veterans …  here’s an amazing niche to consider for starting new edgy farms in the urban core!    Read more ….

http://grist.org/food/the-next-great-farming-frontier-look-up/?utm_campaign=weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&sub_email=dulanie@me.com