EAT UP

Lauren Mandel

Description

From roof to table – urban food has reached new heights.

• Author is Rooftop Agriculture Specialist at the preeminent green roof firm in North America, Roofmeadow.
• Eat Up provides Eat Up provides much-needed tools and information to turn dreams of rooftop farms and gardens into actual growing spaces that feed people.
• Rooftops are considered the last frontier in Urban Farming
• Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle are increasingly turning their rooftops into productive spaces. These are the most likely American cities to embrace rooftop agriculture
• The author designed a 10,000 square foot rooftop farm in Philadelphia and contributed significantly to the design of a 160,000 sq ft rooftop farm in the same city.
• Author travels around the world visiting rooftop farms and gardens, interviewing the farmers, gardeners and beekeepers.
• Author is one of the most foremost authorities on rooftop gardening in North America
• Invited speaker to the 2012 Urban Agriculture Summit in Toronto.
• While other books lightly touch upon rooftop food production, Eat Up digs deeply into the the subject.
• Written by a practitioner, and not an academic or journalist, Eat up offer the essential insider's perspective.
• With the rediscovery of fresh, local food, urbanites are planting farms and gardens throughout the city. Rooftops

Acknowledgments
Intent

Chapter 1 | The Backdrop
    What is rooftop agriculture?
    Who's doing it?
    A brief history
    Today's rooftop farms and gardens

Chapter 2 | What's in It for Me?
    Health benefits
    Environmental benefits
    Economic benefits
    Food access benefits

Chapter 3 | Seed to Plate
    Containers
    Raised beds
    Row farming
    Hydroponics
    Integrated approach
    Milk eggs + wool
    Beekeeping
    Holistic building design

Chapter 4 | Rooftop Gardens (Small-scale)
    Inspirational rooftop gardens
    Garden Checklist

Chapter 5 | Rooftop Farms (Medium-scale)
    Inspirational rooftop farms
    Farm Checklist

Chapter 6 | Rooftop Agriculture Industry (Large-scale)
    Inspirational rooftop networks
    Industry Checklist

Chapter 7 | Potential Hotspots
    Chicago, IL
    Philadelphia, PA
    Portland, OR
    San Francisco, CA
    New York, NY
    Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Toronto, ON, Canada
    Montreal, QC, Canada
    Regional Synthesis

Chapter 8 | The Path to Market

Glossary
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Sujets

• Sustainable design
• Environmental issue
• City Gardens
• Engineering & Technology
• Urban gardening
• Roof garden
• Sustainable living
• Local food
• Sustainable agriculture
• Environmental science
• Entrepreneur

Informations

• Publié par: New Society Publishers
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9781550925302
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

Extrait

Praise for
EAT UP
A smart, comprehensive guide for ambitious beginners written by a woman with extensive expertise in her rooftop field. If we’re going to see gardening spread atop our skylines, it’ll be led by farmers with this book in their backpack as they navigate the intersection of people, plants and policy. This guide suits all cities, roofs and styles of farming: once read, you can no longer ignore the possibilities above us. Two green thumbs up!
— Annie Novak, farmer and cofounder, Eagle Street Rooftop Farm
Equitable access to food is a global concern. Landscape architect Mandel has given us an important book that provides a glimpse into the burgeoning world of rooftop agriculture to meet this formidable challenge. EAT UP is an engaging and informative resource loaded with empowering information for individuals and communities on the possibilities for creating our own multi-scalar rooftop food systems.
— Lucinda Sanders, FASLA, CEO, Olin
Lauren Mandel offers a practical introduction to the exciting potential as well as the challenges associated with rooftop agriculture. EAT UP is a must-read for designers, urban planners and agriculturalists who are thinking seriously about how our cities can accommodate the pressing needs of the 21st century. This book offers useful case studies of successful projects which serve a wide range of values, including building community, promoting social justice and bolstering public health.
— Charlie Miller, president, Roofmeadow
EAT UP is an inspirational look at the future of food gardening in cities. This book will expand your notions of where gardening is possible and just how much food you really can grow right at home.
— David Greenberg, Executive Director, Growing Gardens
Developing a resilient, diversified food system presents an amazing opportunity to revitalize communities while simultaneously bringing social, economic and environmental benefits. Rooftop agriculture undoubtedly presents an underutilized piece of this puzzle. Anyone interested in bringing the benefits of a localized food system to cities will gain from EAT UP ’s clear and concise information on how to capture the relatively untapped potential presented by urban rooftops.
—Beth McKellips, Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension Agricultural Economic Development
Rooftops may be America’s greatest unused resource, and Lauren Mandel’s book gives an exciting, but realistic assessment of the opportunities and challenges involved with turning these forgotten spaces into productive sources of food. We want to empower Americans from all backgrounds to get outside and build community. What better way than if everyone could traverse the skyline?
— Stacy Bare, director, Mission Outdoors, Sierra Club
EAT UP
The Inside Scoop on
ROOFTOP
AGRICULTURE
LAUREN MANDEL, MLA
Copyright © 2013 by Lauren Mandel.
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Diane McIntosh.
City image © iStock (albertc111); Vegetable images: © iStock (Keith Bishop)
All interior photographs © Lauren Mandel unless otherwise indicated.
Author photograph by Geoffrey Goldberg Photography.
First printing April 2013.
elSBN: 978-1-55092-530-2
Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of EAT UP
should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.
To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com
Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:
New Society Publishers
P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
[phone]
New Society Publishers’ mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision. We are committed to doing this not just through education, but through action. The interior pages of our bound books are printed on Forest Stewardship Council®-registered acid-free paper that is 100% post-consumer recycled (100% old growth forest-free), processed chlorine free, and printed with vegetable-based, low-VOC inks, with covers produced using FSC®-registered stock. New Society also works to reduce its carbon footprint, and purchases carbon offsets based on an annual audit to ensure a carbon neutral footprint. For further information, or to browse our full list of books and purchase securely, visit our website at: www.newsociety.com
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Mandel, Lauren
Eat up : the inside scoop on rooftop agriculture / Lauren Mandel.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Roof gardening. 2. Urban gardening. 3. Urban agriculture. 4. Local foods. I. Title.
SB419.5.M35 2013 635.9’671 C2013-900850-0
For Leah (1980-2009) and her pursuit of food justice.
Contents
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
I NTENT
C HAPTER 1 | T HE B ACKDROP
What is rooftop agriculture?
Who’s doing it?
A brief history
Today’s rooftop farms and gardens
C HAPTER 2 | W HAT ’ S IN I T FOR M E ?
Health benefits
Environmental benefits
Economic benefits
Food access benefits
C HAPTER 3 | S EED TO P LATE
Containers
Raised beds
Row farming
Hydroponics
Integrated approach
Milk eggs + wool
Beekeeping
Holistic building design
C HAPTER 4 | R OOFTOP G ARDENS (S MALL - SCALE )
Inspirational rooftop gardens
Garden Checklist
C HAPTER 5 | R OOFTOP F ARMS (M EDIUM - SCALE )
Inspirational rooftop farms
Farm Checklist
C HAPTER 6 | R OOFTOP A GRICULTURE I NDUSTRY (L ARGE - SCALE )
Inspirational rooftop networks
Industry Checklist
C HAPTER 7 | P OTENTIAL H OTSPOTS
Chicago, IL
Philadelphia, PA
Portland, OR
San Francisco, CA
New York, NY
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Toronto, ON, Canada
Montreal, QC, Canada
Regional Synthesis
C HAPTER 8 | T HE P ATH TO M ARKET
G LOSSARY
E NDNOTES
B IBLIOGRAPHY
I NDEX
A BOUT THE A UTHOR
Acknowledgments
F irst and foremost, thank you to the countless rooftop farmers, gardeners, educators, volunteers, CEOs, chefs and other industry leaders whose willingness to collaborate made this project a reality. Thank you also to the editorial, production and marketing teams at New Society Publishers, in particular, Ingrid Witvoet. A very special thank you to Caroline Dlin and Eric Cohen whose guidance and generosity helped shepherd me through the manuscript development and contract negotiation processes. Thank you also to my coworkers at Roofmeadow whose professional support made this book possible. Thank you to my advisors at the University of Pennsylvania — Karen M’Closkey, Charlie Miller, Domenic Vitiello and Anita Mukherjee — who provided valuable feedback during EAT UP ’s fledgling stage.
Thank you to the photographers who contributed their work to this collective effort: Geoffrey Goldberg, Michael Mandel, Jake Stein Greenberg, Ari Burling, John Q. Porter, Allen Ying, Trenton Barnes, Karen Jacobson, Luke Mitchell and Anastasia Cole Plakias.
Thank you also to Michael Miller, Karen Lutsky, Alexa Bosse, Aditi Sen, Harley Cooper, Sue Van Hook, David Gouverneur, Andee Mazzocco, Nic Esposito, Bill Shick, Geoffrey Dlin, Bret Betnar, Jessica Henson, Gavin MacIntyre, Emily Mastellone-Snyder and Aaron Kelley. Lastly, thank you to my family — Paula Mandel, Richard Mandel and Michael Mandel — for their relentless support, and to my dog Suka, to whom I owe many walks.


Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, NY
P HOTO BY I SAIAH K ING
Intent
F rom warehouse roofs in Brooklyn to the tops of churches in San Francisco, urbanites across North America are rolling up their sleeves, reaching deeply into the soil and taking back our food system. Rooftop agriculture is real. It’s happening. Every day the movement’s energy infiltrates further into schools, restaurants and office buildings — captivating people’s stomachs and their souls. The power of these spaces can be seen and heard and tasted as skyline farmers deliver fresh kale and strawberries to our tables. Their power can be felt as rooftop gardeners spread the word of community initiative and healthy eating. It’s happening.
In 2009, I began exploring the viability of rooftop agriculture — an unconventional method of food production at the time. In a few short years, a constellation of new farms and gardens across our city skylines reveals the industry’s extreme growth, and unparalleled potential for expansion. This movement is ripe for harvest. EAT UP provides the tools you need to turn your dreams of rooftop farms and gardens into actual spaces that feed people. With collective insight from the leading rooftop farmers, gardeners, educators, volunteers, CEOs, chefs, designers and green roof professionals, EAT UP is the most comprehensive resource to date on rooftop agriculture. Don’t just read the book; use it to cultivate your own rooftop expertise, and feed your friends along the way.
Now climb up there and get started!
1 | The Backdrop

Rooftop greens basking in the sun, Uncommon Ground, IL

what is rooftop agriculture?
S oaring food prices and obesity rates increasingly prompt North Americans to grow their own fruits and vegetables close to home. In c