USA: New York City could become the largest urban vegetable growing community in the U.S.A.

A farming project in New York hopes to eventually help create scores of rooftop greenhouses in one of the world's most populated cities. The Science Barge runs on sustainable energy and is a travelling hydroponic vegetable farm. The experimental greenhouse boat is the brainchild of NY Sun Works and its Executive Director, Ted Caplow. "The long-term objective is to promote sustainable urban farming along the lines of the model that we're working on here. This is really a research and demonstration project," Caplow told Reuters on Friday (May 04) at the launch of the Science Barge. The barge will be moored at the Hudson River Park for 8 weeks and will provide tours and educational programs for school groups and visitors. Vegetables are grown in a greenhouse on the barge, using recycled water, no pesticides and the boat uses solar and wind energy and biofuels to operate. Caplow said that he doesn't see the initiative taking off at the individual consumer level, but rather that larger groups like schools, business and apartment tenants get together to utilize the approximately 5,000 hectares of unshaded rooftop space available in New York City to build their own vegetable greenhouses. "We really hope that groups at a somewhat larger scale in the community can come together and say yes, we want to initiate a project like this and maybe we will take on an expert, somebody to work in our greenhouse and we'll work with a designer, an architect and think about what could we do up here on our rooftop?" said Caplow. The initiative was launched hot on the heels of New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's announcement in April of his plan to build a greener, more sustainable New York by 2030. N.Y. Senator Thomas Duane said that there are plans on the table to give tax breaks to businesses and individuals who wish to install alternative and sustainable energy providers in their buildings. He believes that corporate New York will be on board as they realize how financially viable sustainability is in the long-term. "As we show that if we replicate this, it will become more viable economically, I think we'll be able to show government leaders and business leaders that this is going to be something that's going to be good for the city economically as well as environmentally. I really do believe that this is something that's going to work well in so many ways for our city," he said. The Science Barge will visit Riverside Park and Stuyvesant Cove after its 8-week sojourn at Hudson River Park.

ITN Source | May 9, 2007

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