So it's a year and a half since Alterrus, a Vancouver rooftop farming operation with so much promise,
went bankrupt. Their assets were bought by a company called Affinor. Things have gone from bad to worse, as Affinor never did much of anything and the greenhouse and everything in it are now up on Craiglist. The whole shebang can be yours for $1.5 million dollars!
Oh yeah, the City of Vancouver is suing Affinor and Affinor is suing them right back. It is officially a mess!
There may be a lesson in there for some new urban agriculture/vertical farming ventures in Indianapolis and Jersey City. I'm not sure yet what that lesson is!
Showing posts with label indianapolis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label indianapolis. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Friday, November 22, 2013
An Indianapolis hospital gets a rooftop farm
Hmm..it seems like just yesterday we were talking about how hard it is to find long term employment in the urban agriculture field. Actually, it was two days ago. The International Labour Office of the United Nations has a handy guide for getting and keeping a job in the urban agriculture field, globally, and the Resource Centre of Urban Agriculture and Food (RUAF) provides further advice.
-An MIT researcher has his second installment in the exploration of how different kinds of urban agriculture can affect communities. Here's the first, if you want to start from the beginning.
-And the big news of the week is the new (almost $800 million dollars new!) Indianapolis hospital releasing details of its full scale rooftop farm which will provide its cafeteria and occupants with plenty to eat.
-Almost nearly as exciting is the Biophilic Cities project launch. Devoted to "understanding how cities can become more biophilic", the efforts of 13 cities is currently profiled.
-An MIT researcher has his second installment in the exploration of how different kinds of urban agriculture can affect communities. Here's the first, if you want to start from the beginning.
-And the big news of the week is the new (almost $800 million dollars new!) Indianapolis hospital releasing details of its full scale rooftop farm which will provide its cafeteria and occupants with plenty to eat.
-Almost nearly as exciting is the Biophilic Cities project launch. Devoted to "understanding how cities can become more biophilic", the efforts of 13 cities is currently profiled.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Could green infrastructure solve problems...and create some too?
Wow, the last couple of weeks has served up some really tasty articles from the GILA world.
A few of the articles are of the “now that you mention it, that makes sense” variety.
A piece from Grist summarizes some interesting research, the bottom line being those who live in poor neighbourhoods are more likely to experience the phenomenon known as “heat islands”.
And because people of colour are disproportionally poor, there is a racial component as well. Green infrastructure/living architecture could help alleviate this, of course, but if municipalities aren’t investing in GILA, it may be up to individuals to lead the charge of cooling their neighbourhoods, one home at a time.
But we shouldn’t just assume having a ton of trees, green roofs or any green infrastructure will fix the problem...they could actually make more! I had no idea how virulent some soil borne fungal diseases can be. This leads me to think soil scientists should be more involved in designing soil mixes for any urban soil installation!
-If you’ve been watching the web, no doubt you have seen that some cities (spearheaded by individual residents and city officials) are moving forward with and strongly supporting urban agriculture. For instance, Indianapolis (yes, Indianapolis) an urban agriculture store opens soon. And Denver has a developer offering urban gardens when you purchase a unit. Some cities, like LA, seem to be a bit more inconsistent. What is absolutely clear is that even cities, like New York and Vancouver, with progressive urban agriculture agendas passed by city councils, if money and land are the bottom lines, there will be a tug of war.
-The last story for sharing today features the San Francisco Giants turning some concrete at the ballpark into an organic vegetable garden. One minor quibble. The article calls the project “ambitious”. I don’t have all the figures, but I tend to think if you have a payroll of over $136 million dollars, you have money to burn and it won’t be that hard to get done.
A few of the articles are of the “now that you mention it, that makes sense” variety.
A piece from Grist summarizes some interesting research, the bottom line being those who live in poor neighbourhoods are more likely to experience the phenomenon known as “heat islands”.
And because people of colour are disproportionally poor, there is a racial component as well. Green infrastructure/living architecture could help alleviate this, of course, but if municipalities aren’t investing in GILA, it may be up to individuals to lead the charge of cooling their neighbourhoods, one home at a time.
But we shouldn’t just assume having a ton of trees, green roofs or any green infrastructure will fix the problem...they could actually make more! I had no idea how virulent some soil borne fungal diseases can be. This leads me to think soil scientists should be more involved in designing soil mixes for any urban soil installation!
-If you’ve been watching the web, no doubt you have seen that some cities (spearheaded by individual residents and city officials) are moving forward with and strongly supporting urban agriculture. For instance, Indianapolis (yes, Indianapolis) an urban agriculture store opens soon. And Denver has a developer offering urban gardens when you purchase a unit. Some cities, like LA, seem to be a bit more inconsistent. What is absolutely clear is that even cities, like New York and Vancouver, with progressive urban agriculture agendas passed by city councils, if money and land are the bottom lines, there will be a tug of war.
-The last story for sharing today features the San Francisco Giants turning some concrete at the ballpark into an organic vegetable garden. One minor quibble. The article calls the project “ambitious”. I don’t have all the figures, but I tend to think if you have a payroll of over $136 million dollars, you have money to burn and it won’t be that hard to get done.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Each city should have their own FBI
-The year of aquaponics continues. In Indianapolis an entrepreneur is drumming up support for a $20 million facility. It is still far from a done deal, but the mayor is involved, team leader is a serial entrepreneur and board member of the local aquaculture association. Let's track this one to see where it goes. I'm predicting big things.
Let's move on from Indianapolis to Agropolis. (Wow, what a segue!) Back in October I introduced you to a truly innovative project in the Philippines. The Agropolis project provides a slew of urban agriculture programs training out-of-school youth to be savvy entrepreneurs.
I was blown away by what they were doing and got in contact with Jose Rene Gayo, who is heavily involved with both the Farm Business Schools and the MFI Farm Business Institute. He was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about the projects.
Of note, the partnership between the stakeholders has entered its third year and the eco-farm tourism entrepreneurship diploma program is two years long (!).
For more information, like how your town can have their own farm business institute (FBI), you can email Jose Rene Gayo at renegayo (at) gmail (dot) com.
Another must have for every big city is an organization designed to navigate bureaucracy, governance structures, and neighborhood dynamics. 596 Acres does just that in Brooklyn. Of course not every one of those 596 acres will be used for urban agriculture, if they were, that's enough land to feed almost 3,000 people!
-Finally last week brought word of not one, but two one-stop shops for urban homesteaders. Detroit's is up and running, Vancouver's will open soon.
Let's move on from Indianapolis to Agropolis. (Wow, what a segue!) Back in October I introduced you to a truly innovative project in the Philippines. The Agropolis project provides a slew of urban agriculture programs training out-of-school youth to be savvy entrepreneurs.
I was blown away by what they were doing and got in contact with Jose Rene Gayo, who is heavily involved with both the Farm Business Schools and the MFI Farm Business Institute. He was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about the projects.
Of note, the partnership between the stakeholders has entered its third year and the eco-farm tourism entrepreneurship diploma program is two years long (!).
For more information, like how your town can have their own farm business institute (FBI), you can email Jose Rene Gayo at renegayo (at) gmail (dot) com.
Another must have for every big city is an organization designed to navigate bureaucracy, governance structures, and neighborhood dynamics. 596 Acres does just that in Brooklyn. Of course not every one of those 596 acres will be used for urban agriculture, if they were, that's enough land to feed almost 3,000 people!
-Finally last week brought word of not one, but two one-stop shops for urban homesteaders. Detroit's is up and running, Vancouver's will open soon.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Battle of the C towns, Community engagement + can Rio Ferdinand keep fit on his green roof?
I'm a friendly fellow and as always I'm looking for more ways to get to know my neighbors. Yes magazine comes through with a great article about the awakening the power of families and neighborhoods.
-The local food movement is expanding throughout the US heartland, Indianapolis keep doing your thing!
-Whole Village , just an hour from Toronto, is looking for more folks to join their eco-village. Previous members have moved on there's a terrific opportunity for those interested to join right away!
-Interesting developments in Colorado, Colorado Springs. 1/3 of the traffic lights have been turned off, evening and weekend bus service was eliminated entirely. Sounds like the anti-Cranston, Rhode Island.
-Soccer is the best sport in the world...I can state that unequivically and there is no way one can argue that. :) Exhibit one, when you have luminaries of your sport, like Rio Ferdinand, building eco-friendly homes (which will include a green roof, naturally) how can your sport be beat? The house will be 12,000 square feet, however. Don't laugh, I didn't say footballers were perfect!
-The local food movement is expanding throughout the US heartland, Indianapolis keep doing your thing!
-Whole Village , just an hour from Toronto, is looking for more folks to join their eco-village. Previous members have moved on there's a terrific opportunity for those interested to join right away!
-Interesting developments in Colorado, Colorado Springs. 1/3 of the traffic lights have been turned off, evening and weekend bus service was eliminated entirely. Sounds like the anti-Cranston, Rhode Island.
-Soccer is the best sport in the world...I can state that unequivically and there is no way one can argue that. :) Exhibit one, when you have luminaries of your sport, like Rio Ferdinand, building eco-friendly homes (which will include a green roof, naturally) how can your sport be beat? The house will be 12,000 square feet, however. Don't laugh, I didn't say footballers were perfect!
Monday, July 5, 2010
In Honor of the World Cup...
...I feel it's my duty to spread the word about this incredible green roof soccer field. So that makes TWO that we've profiled this year. Do I see a connection? The first was in Slovenia, the second France. Does that mean you need to build a green roofed soccer field to have a shot at World Cup glory?
-In Vancouver, a few urban food security projectssplit $100,000 to do a slew of cool things, including expanding composting programs.
-You never know when a mayor makes an announcement for his/her city to be the "biggest _______" (<----insert cool/trendy initiative here), but it looks like Indianapolis is giving this infill urban gardening thing a try. Baltimore too, has changed it's zoning codes for only the third time in city history, to create space for urban farms to grow.
-Lastly, via City Farmer, I stumbled upon this fantastic dissertation by entitled: Urban Agriculture as Revolution. Grab your favorite beverage, it's a good but long (over 200 pages) read.
-In Vancouver, a few urban food security projectssplit $100,000 to do a slew of cool things, including expanding composting programs.
-You never know when a mayor makes an announcement for his/her city to be the "biggest _______" (<----insert cool/trendy initiative here), but it looks like Indianapolis is giving this infill urban gardening thing a try. Baltimore too, has changed it's zoning codes for only the third time in city history, to create space for urban farms to grow.
-Lastly, via City Farmer, I stumbled upon this fantastic dissertation by entitled: Urban Agriculture as Revolution. Grab your favorite beverage, it's a good but long (over 200 pages) read.
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