1st
The National Resource Defense Council highlighted an urban farm in this year’s awards. FIELD TRIP, anyone?! :)
They write:
RED HOOK COMMUNITY FARM (Brooklyn)
The roots of farming in New York go back nearly a thousand years. The first New York farmers were Native Americans who planted maize in Manhattan in the year 1100, according to the Encyclopedia of New York City. In the 1700s, wheat, corn and oats were grown throughout the region and exported by English colonists. By the time of New York City’s consolidation in 1898, more than 2,000 farms (average size, 25 acres) remained throughout the five boroughs. The overwhelming majority of these urban farms disappeared in the first three decades of the 20th century.
The decline of local farming in New York (and in urban areas around the nation) has been unfortunate for many reasons. Locally grown food is fresher, it requires less energy and expense to ship to market; and it can often be sold without chemicals that prolong shelf life. Additionally, local farms provide jobs, remind us of our historic connection to the land and help to prevent the homogenization of our regional landscape. The Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC) understood all this more than 30 years ago, when it created its popular Greenmarkets program, which brings regional farm products to the streets of New York City.
Today, the Red Hook Community Farm in Brooklyn, established by the non-profit organization Added Value with Parks Department cooperation, is one of just a handful of urban farms throughout the city. And 2008 was perhaps its best year ever. The farm is located in Coffey Park, on a 2.75 acre plot that was once a concrete ball field. One hundred and thirty-five students from across the borough and a band of neighborhood residents are the farm’s dedicated workforce. They are growing basil, beans, beets, carrots, chard, Chinese cabbage, collard greens„ cucumber, kale, lettuce, mint, oregano, radicchio, sage, spinach, squash, thyme, and zucchini. And they close the food loop by accepting food waste from local families and restaurants, which they turn into compost. The farm’s food is sold at Added Value’s weekly farmers’ markets and to local restaurants. You won’t find anything fresher.
For keeping the city’s urban farming tradition alive and setting an example that other neighborhoods could emulate, we are pleased to designate the Red Hook Community Farm as an Earth Day 2009 Green Apple
