GRAPHIC DESIGN SUSTAINABILITY OF ROOFTOP FARM
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MISSION FARM
EDUCATION PRODUCE HONEY
HOT SAUCE
MICROGREENS 2
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ooftop farming was born out of the green-roof movement, in which building owners partially or completely cover roofs with vegetation atop special waterproof membranes. Green roofs use plants and flowers to provide insulation, create a habitat for local wildlife, help control runoff, put more oxygen into the atmosphere and provide a welcome, verdant break from urban drabness. Rooftop farms take the green-roof concept a step further, with plots that provide fruits and vegetables for local residents and the chance for urban volunteers to become part-time farmers. Its also great opputunity for many people to get invole.
We are a farm, and growing nutritious, tasty food is our passion. Doing so in New York is our dream. We believe that this city can be more sustainable; that our air can be cooler and waterways can be cleaner. We believe that the 14% of our landfills comprised of food scraps should be converted into organic energy for our plants and plants around the city via active compost programs. We believe that food should be fresh, not sitting on the back of a flatbed for two weeks. We believe that food should taste fresh. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about: sitting down with our farmily, admiring that sunset over the city skyline, snacking on a perfectly ripe, sweet tomato and remembering, this is what real food is. 5
BROOKLYN GRANGE The grange covers
2.5
acres (one hectare) on two buildings in NY
MADE IN New York City.
Brooklyn Grange mission was to create a fiscally sustainable model for urban agriculture Grange farm sold over
500,000 lbs
50,000 pounds of organically cultivated produce are grown there annually
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of vegetables to restaurants,
17,000 NYC youths each season for educational tours and workshops.
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BROOKLYN GRANGE MISSION
rooklyn Grange is the leading rooftop farming and intensive green roofing business in the US. We operate the world’s largest rooftop soil farms, located on two roofs in New York City, and grow over 50,000 lbs of organicallycultivated produce per year. In addition to growing and distributing fresh local vegetables and herbs, Brooklyn Grange also hosts events and educational programming, provides urban farming and green roof consulting and installation services to clients worldwide, with numerous nonprofit organizations throughout New York to promote healthy & local communities.
In May of 2010, a ragtag crew appeared on Northern Boulevard, alighting from bicycles and emerging from the subway steps at 36th St, assembling in the dim light outside a sprawling building. They donned hard hats and thick, plasticcoated work gloves and, armed with shovels and rakes, they set out to build the largest soil rooftop farm in the world. The job took six days of craning hundreds of 3,000lb soil sacks seven stories up to the roof. The hardworking crew shoveled in the sun and wind amidst the roar of motorized buggies and the shouted communications of a team single-minded in its goal. As the West end of the urban farm was still being measured and fit with the base
layer of a green roof system, the East end was already being shaped into tidy, perfectly-spaced vegetable beds studded with tomato seedlings and chard transplants. And slowly, a farm took shape.When we set out to grow fooWd on the rooftops and unused spaces of New York City, our mission was to create a fiscally sustainable model for urban agriculture and to produce healthy, delicious vegetables for our local community while doing the ecosystem a few favors as well. Currently, with over two acres of rooftops under cultivation in Brooklyn and Queens, we’ve sold over 500,000 lbs of vegetables to restaurants, CSA members and directly to the public via weekly farmstands. But we’ve expanded beyond our mission to grow vegetables: we now keep egg-laying hens 7
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and have launched a commercial apiary. Our educational nonprofit partner, has hosted 17,000 NYC youths each season for educational tours and workshops. Brooklyn Grange have educated countless adults via our workshops on topics ranging from natural fabric dyes to making hot sauce. Our rooftops are constantly abuzz with activity: during the day, we may be harvesting for a restaurant order, or hosting a visiting office group for a corporate retreat; at night we transform into an event space 8
for classes, dinner parties, and wedding ceremonies.But at our core, we are a farm, and growing nutritious, tasty food is our passion. Doing so in New York is our dream. We believe that this city can be more sustainable; that our air can be cooler and waterways can be cleaner. We believe that the 14% of our landfills comprised of food scraps should be converted into organic energy for our plants around the city via active compost programs.
We believe that food should be fresh, not sitting on the back of a flatbed for two weeks. We believe that food should taste fresh. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about: sitting down with our farmily, admiring that sunset over the city skyline, snacking on a perfectly ripe, sweet tomato and remembering, this is what real food is.
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FARM Brooklyn Grange farms rooftops, builds green spaces, and promotes sustainable living and local ecology through food, education, and events. We believe that social enterprise is a powerful driver of positive change, and that businesses should be a nourishing part of their community.
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Brooklyn Grange spans two rooftops, totaling 2.5 acres, and producing over 50,000 lbs of organically-grown vegetables each year. They also operate an apiary, keeping bees in over 30 naturallymanaged hon ey bee hives, on roofs dispersed throughout NYC.
Brooklyn Navy Yard Farm, Brooklyn NY (Brooklyn, NY)
Brooklyn Grange Bees Apiary, Brooklyn,
Flagship Farm, Queens NY (Long Island City, NY)
Queens and Manhattan NY (Brooklyn, NY)
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LONG ISLAND CITY The first time we spotted our flagship farm on Northern Boulevard, we knew we’d found our home. Erected in 1919, this 43,000 sq ft behemoth is built like a rock, with a solid concrete slab roof and enough rebar to withstand three times the load of our 10� of rooflite soil and plants. Located just over the 39th St bridge on the Astoria side of Long Island City, our flagship farm is lucky enough to make its home in one of the most multicultural communities in the world. And just as diverse as
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our neighborhood, the Standard Motor Products building on which the farm sits hosts an amazing variety of businesses, including its namesake, the original American car parts manufacturer, Jim Henson studios, and a newly opened restaurant, Coffeed, which features our shelf stable farm products. Owned and operated by Jeff Rosenblum and Ashish Dua of Acumen Capital Partners, 37-18 Northern Boulevard hosts a weekly market and open house, and is home to a daily spirit of creativity, building.
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NAVY YARD Our second farm, located atop Building no. 3 at the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard, is a massive 65,000 sq ft roof towering twelve stories over the East River. Installed in 2012, the farm is covered in 10-12” of Rooflite Intensive Ag blend, The lion’s share of the financing for the installation of the Navy Yard farm was granted by the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP’s) Green Infrastructure Stormwater Management Initiative. We manage over one million gallons of stormwater each year, easing the burden
on the overtaxed Red Hook Wastewater Pollution Control Plant, which services 32,000 acres of Northwest Brooklyn, and ultimately reduce the amount of waste water that overflows into our city’s open waterways. The Navy Yard is New York legend: ask any octogenarian in the area and they’ll tell you a story about a spouse or sibling who worked there way back when. At present, the Navy Yard continues to encompass several fully functional dry docks as well as several dozen of New York City’s most exciting businesses, artists and innovators.
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EDUCATION Youth education is highly valued at Brooklyn Grange, and for that reason we supported the founding of City Growers, a nonprofit education program based on our rooftop farms. Since its founding in 2011, City Growers has brought over 10,000 children and young adults to our farms for educational excursions and workshops where they learn about earth science, nutrition, and environmental sustainability.
A strong desire to learn more about environmental education, urban agriculture, rooftop farming, and food justice; positive attitude around children and young adults of all ages; prior teaching experience or experience working with children/teens; gardening/ farming experience; knowledge of sustainable practices and basic biological processes; strong interpersonal skills. 15
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PRODUCE Brooklyn Grange’s farmers manage our rooftop farms with great care and adhere to organic standards. We divert organic waste from dozens of different channels to create compost which continuously replenishes and brings fresh biodiversity to our soil. We’re particularly proud of our crisp, colorful, ever-evolving salad mixes spring through fall, our sweet heirloom tomatoes
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in the peak of the summer season, and our flavorful, elegant microgreens grown year-round in our greenhouse. Every year we experiment with a few new crops, while nurturing our reliable perennials, which come back every spring. Year-round our urban farms are covered with greenery and provide an edible oasis for local nature lovers.
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HONEY Brooklyn Grange Bees, AKA BGBees, is what we affectionately call our Apiary division. What’s an apiary? Just a fancy term for a bee farm! But our take is maybe a bit different from the traditional country model in that it’s located on multiple rooftops throughout NYC. Featuring over 40 hives scattered throughout three boroughs, the apiary produces loads of honey each year. Comb honey, wax, propolis, pollen – BGBees has it all.
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In addition to hive products, Brooklyn Grange Bees hosts a season-long beekeeping training program, as well as private and ticketed workshops, training new beekeepers to keep their own colonies. While honey, hive products, and bees are our bread and butter, our core mission also includes spreading knowledge of these amazing creatures and increasing their numbers in the face of the chemical threat posed by commercial agriculture. Not only are we breeding local bees, we are breeding local beekeepers
HONEY AKA BGBees BEE
EDUCATION
BROOKLYN GRANGE BEES Brooklyn Grange APIARY produces hundreds wax of pounds of New pollen York City honey propolis each year. COMB HONEY
Just a fancy term for a bee farm
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HOT SAUCE Brooklyn Grange’s Rooftop Hot Sauce is made from peppers and herbs picked fresh from the farm and thrown straight into the kettle! Our recipe is packed with flavor, and spicy enough to tingle the taste buds without overpowering your huevos rancheros! Organic vinegar lends a subtle tang to our sauce, and herbs from the field add floral and savory notes. Finally, a specially selected mix of hot and sweet peppers makes ours a perfectly balanced blend. 20
Caution:
this stuff is addictive! Luckily, it’s available May through October at our markets, and year-round at the following local and online retailers: BROOKLYN:
By Brooklyn Brooklyn Kitchen Bushwick Food Co-op Campbell Cheese Depanneur The Heatonist Littleneck Outpost Lula Bagel
QUEENS:
Lockwood MANHATTAN:
Forager's Market CHELSEA Forager's Market DUMBO Harry and Ida’s Hudson Market Lucy's Whey Carnegie Hill ONLINE RETAILERS:
Farm to People With Love From Brooklyn The Heatonist
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MICROGREENS Brooklyn Grange grows microgreens to-order all year long: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. We keep our greenhouses warm, our soil nutrient-rich, and we hand seed each tray planted for
our customers. Our farmers work with our chefs to tailor the size of the microgreens when possible, so that each shoot can best serve its purpose on a plate.
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In their effort to build the world’s first and largest commercial green rooftop farm, the founders of Brooklyn Grange learned a lot about building and sustaining a business while never losing sight of their mission—to serve their community by providing delicious organic food and changing the way people think about what they eat. But their story is about more than just farming. It serves as an inspirational and instructional guide for anyone looking to start a business that is successful while making a positive impact. The Farm on the Roof, the team behind Brooklyn Grange tell the
complete story of how their “farmily” made their dream a reality. Along the way, they share valuable lessons about finding the right partners, seeking funding, expanding, and identifying potential sources of revenue without compromising your core values—lessons any socially conscious entrepreneur can apply toward his or her own venture. Filled with colorful anecdotes about the ups and downs of farming in the middle of New York City, this story is not just about rooftop farming; it’s about utilizing whatever resources you have to turn your backyard idea into a skyhigh success. 25