Deserts In The City

That's right, deserts in the city. Sounds crazy, but according to the Mayor's Food Policy Taskforce, set up by the New York City Department of Health and City Planning and the New York City Economic Development Corp., more than 750,000 New Yorkers live in neighborhoods across the city that lack access to both nutritious and affordable fresh food. As a result, these deprived regions have earned the term "food deserts."

Unfortunately, these areas aren't marked by captivated tourists mounted upon camels snapping photos of every scene that meets the eye. Rather, these are areas haunted by obesity rates surpassing 25%. Neighborhoods plagued by a high need for supermarkets serving fresh food, where the only local food source consists of bodegas that often charge anywhere from 13% to 76% more for food. Regions inhabiting families who, whether due to a lack of a car, time, or other factors, must restrict their shopping and "food dollars" to nearby convenience stores carrying food products inferior in nutritional quality yet superior in price. With difficulties like these, it's no wonder 1 in 4 children in New York City are going hungry.

This study, which has resulted in the establishment of the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) Food Stores program, is a significant milestone in the fight against the rates of obesity and diabetes that have dramatically increased in New York City during years past. Regretably, the DOH found that within New York City over 700,000 people are affected by diabetes, over 1.1 million are obese, and another 2 million are overweight. Yet, as discovered in 2006 by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, just the presence alone of a supermarket within a Census tract can lead to lower prevalence ratios of obesity and overweight residents.

Given that rooftop, hydroponic farms can:

• yield between 10 and 20 lbs of vegetables per sq ft per year in temperate climates
• save as much as 25,000 tons of fresh water per year
• and free up 20 acres of rural land otherwise used for agriculture for every acre of rooftop utilized

we rooftoppers plan to join in on and lead the fight for every child and adult's right to a healthy diet. And more importantly, one that every family can afford.