Russian Dacha.

The case studies investigate: St. Petersburg dachas, America’s Milwaukee Growing Power farm and Havana permaculture.

By Ailbhe Gerrard
Version Sept. 23, 2010
Innovation and Sustainable Development in Agriculture and Food
Montpellier, France
June 28-30, 2010

Abstract

Diversity of urban agriculture (UA) in Britain could reduce food security impacts if a crisis occured in industrial food production systems. Industrial agriculture (IA) both causes and suffers from a lack of resilience: environmental, financial and structural. In Britain, the allotment system, previously an important form of UA, now grossly insufficient to replace the output of industrial agriculture, particularly in London. With these points identified, the relationship between diversity and resilience takes on a new clarity. Systems theory shows that diversity in any system is key to resilience.

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CNN’s Richard Roth reports on a New York restaurant with its own farm on the roof.

CNN Eatocracy
September 29th, 2010

Chef John Mooney’s new 80-seat restaurant, Bell Book & Candle, is the latest in rooftop farming ventures. Roth grows the majority of the restaurant’s produce above terra firma with the help of hydroponics and vertical towers – no soil required.

“I believe in an urban setting, this is the wave of the future,” said Mooney. For that – things really are looking up. Link here.

Maialino Executive Chef Nick Anderer, sous chef Dan Dilworth and manager Kevin Denton banded together to grow their restaurant’s vegetables, high above the streets of Manhattan.

High above Manhattan, a vegetable garden grows

CNN – Eatocracy
August 11th, 2010

Excerpt:

“Kevin, wake up! We have a radish.”

As the Gramercy Park Hotel’s rooftop vegetables were first coming into flower, its three principal gardeners made no bones about delivering midnight progress reports on their crop. A lot can go wrong for novices on standard terrain – let alone those attempting to cultivate lovage, patty pan squash and chiogga beets many stories above the streets of Manhattan – so the trio make a point of sharing their triumphs as well as the losses.

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