Finally, a book on the full continuum of urban agriculture in America, replete with inspiring images of the people and places behind today’s city-grown food. — Darrin Nordahl, Public Produce: The New Urban Agriculture
Vacant lots and rooftops across the country are being transformed into beds of lettuce, tomatoes, squash, beans — you name it! Along with fresh healthy produce comes revitalized neighborhoods, and a gradual emergence of a new local food system. Breaking Through Concrete: Building an Urban Farm Revival by David Hanson and Edwin Marty, tells the story of twelve urban farm programs across the country, including Denver Urban Gardens and the Homeless Garden Project in Santa Cruz, California.
Each profile is accompanied by the vivid images of photographer Michael Hanson. The cover photo features the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, in Brooklyn, New York — one of the most unlikely, yet inspirational urban farm projects in the country:
Eagle Street Rooftop Farm has become a vibrant community hub, with classes on beekeeping, plant sales, concerts, and even a kite festival!
On a related note the Land Library Book Club will be reading Novella Carpenter’s Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer in May 2012. Novella has just come out with a new, information packed book, The Essential Urban Farmer, co-authored by Willow Rosenthal.
For more on the urban food movement, check out our earlier post on farmers markets!
