The Billion Dollar City

Every year New York City imports more than $1 billion in vegetables to feed its population. A population that, as we all know, will only propagate as time goes on. But what if we taught the ecological and economical benefits inherent in the rooftop gardening technologies that exist today to our farmers of tomorrow? That's precisely what some educational institutions and teachers have been trying to do for the past decade.

Imagine a group of Manhattan 6th graders heading up to the roof of their school every morning to check on the progress of their tomatoes and peppers for the start of their class - in the middle of a January snowstorm. Similar to the aspirations of intermediate science teacher Gioya Fennelly, featured in this Reuters article on rooftop farms in New York, this is a concept that we hope will see greater and greater implementation as the years go on. Luckily some groups, such as ABC's Echo Park Rooftop Reconstruction Project, are taking great strides to make this a reality. With its own sprinkler, rain collection and filtration system, and solar energy generated heating, the 500 sq ft greenhouse will be able to hold an entire classroom of children. Giving much needed access to green space for children of East Harlem, this may be the only chance some children have at planting fresh vegetables and learning the invaluable benefits of preparing and eating healthy meals. Coupled with its approval for piloting the CookShop curriculum, which promotes awareness and consumption of plant-based foods in NYC's low-income communities, we can't wait for more operations like this to come online for the nutrition deprived families who truly need these resources.

Seeing that many of the environmental and economic problems present in our lives today, such as how to efficiently feed a constantly growing city, will be even more pressing for our future populations, why not start with those who will be on the forefront of this fight in less than a decade or two?

As the famous Chinese proverb goes, "If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people."