Indoor urban farm in New York helps feed hundreds of families

Indoor urban farm in New York helps feed hundreds of families

Tuesday, March 20, 2012 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer

farm
(NaturalNews) Flowering displays are replacing urban decay all across America, with recent reports out of New York illustrating the power of creative, resourceful thinking in implementing successful, city-based farming initiatives. New York Daily News reports that a food pantry in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., has successfully created a 250-square foot indoor farm that produces food for hundreds of local families and their children -- and many others in the area are working on similar projects.

While the typical embodiment of many food pantries today resembles something along the lines of a convenience store, with shelves bearing mostly pre-packaged, processed food items donated by outside sources, the situation at Child Development Support Corp. is different. Mireille Massac, the pantry's operator, actually grows a variety of lettuces, bok choy, collard greens, and other fresh fare hydroponically in a windowless basement, providing food from the inside-out, rather from the outside-in.

With the help of hydroponics expert Lee Mandell, who owns nearby Boswyck Farms in Bushwick, another Brooklyn neighborhood, Massac has created an urban oasis that not only produces fresh food, but also educates the local community about how to grow it. It is a literal manifestation of the famous quote, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

"People feel very passionate about this farm; they're eating better," said Massac to New York Daily News about the transformation that is taking place in her local community as a result of the farm. "They come with a different attitude; it's all about healthy eating."

Every Thursday morning before the pantry opens, locals flock there to pick the fruits of their labor. They also regularly engage in workshops and training sessions about how to grow food hydroponically, which empowers them to take an active role in the process, and even implement their own home-based farms if they so choose.

Urban farming concepts spreading like wildfire

And Massac's success at Child Development Support Corp. has inspired many other pantry managers throughout New York to implement similar hydroponic farms at their own facilities as well. Los Sures, a social services agency that also operates a food pantry in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, for instance, is currently in the process of building its own 400-square foot hydroponic farm.

Similar efforts at empowering local communities to take charge of their own health and nutrition through urban farming are taking place in other cities as well, including in post-industrially-blighted Detroit, Mich., where abandoned land plots are rapidly being transformed into fertile growing plots. And this transformation is bringing about a renewed sense of food ownership, where fresh, nutritionally-dense foods are now accessible by people across the economic and financial spectrum (http://www.naturalnews.com/030459_urban_farms_food.html).

Sources for this article include:

http://www.nydailynews.com

http://grist.org

Views: 62

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by Tara on March 22, 2012 at 9:06am

It's nice to hear some positive stories and good things that are happening in the world today. Kudos to the people that are starting up these urban farms in the cities and helping those in need.

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post Three Must See Movies for Halloween
"That's a fine movie menu you've got Doc V. I love the old days theme. Great to view when…"
34 minutes ago
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Three Must See Movies for Halloween

Grab Your Popcorn and Settle In!  If you really want to get in the mood for Halloween and you like…See More
18 hours ago
Bob of the Family Renner posted photos
21 hours ago
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Terror on All Hallows Eve

Chapter IElizabeth was angry. All of her friends were going to be out on Halloween, but her. She…See More
yesterday
Jeff favorited Jeff's profile
Monday
Jeff favorited Jeff's profile
Monday
Jeff favorited Doc Vega's profile
Monday
Jeff is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Sunday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Friday
tjdavis posted a video

How Corporations Are Secretly Poisoning Our Food Supply

Dupont and 3M have been secretly poisoning America for decades. PFAs — also known as forever chemicals—are now in our food, water, clothes, and our blood. Th...
Friday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

They Won’t Stop

 The demonically driven left will not stop. Makes no difference how much violence they call for or…See More
Oct 22
Doc Vega posted a blog post

What US Scientist unwittingly helped the Nazis devise the V-2 Missile?

  In the early 1920’s and leading up to World War II German technology outpaces the peace time…See More
Oct 20
tjdavis favorited Sandy's video
Oct 19
tjdavis posted a photo
Oct 19
Christopher Walker is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Oct 19
tjdavis posted videos
Oct 19
Burbia commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Reflection

"Let's see if this goes past indictment."
Oct 18
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Something Watches From Out there in the Wilderness
"cheeki kea That's very interesting history. So many things about history that go ignored or…"
Oct 18
Burbia commented on Burbia's video
Oct 18
Burbia posted a video

Programmed To Kill/Satanic Cover-Up Part 433 (The Charlie Kirk Conspiracy Show)

https://www.programmedtokill.net/projects---- DISCLAIMER! ----Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair u...
Oct 18

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted