Snap Peas
New York City’s asphalt will soon be sprouting leafy lettuce greens and feeding itself, according to Ian Marvy, co-founder of the Red Hook Farm, in Red Hook, Brooklyn (RHF), a sustainable community garden growing and selling over 40 crops while educating people about organic produce and the effect agriculture has on the environment.
Marvy says more government institutions are noticing Urban Agriculture -- a growing farming trend inspiring urbanites to challenge their lifestyle and adopt a climate conscious approach to food.
Added Value, the non-profit organization that runs the garden, was born out of a conversation between Marvy, his co-founder Michael Horowitz, now the Director of New York City Green Markets, and a teen caught up in the criminal justice system. Marvy pulled a dandelion root out of the ground and started chewing it while discussing its medicinal properties and then proposed selling organic produce below market value while generating greater wealth for the local community. The teen then asked for a job, “and I didn’t have a job to give him,” Marvy lamented.
Seven months later, in April of 2001, The Red Hook Farm took root in a 2.75 acre abandoned Parks Department playground at theintersection of Beard and Columbia Street. “ Nobody could believe that we asked the city for three acres of land and they said sure go ahead,” says Marvy.
According to the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Industrial Agriculture is directly responsible for about 20 percent of Green House Gas Emissions which cause Global Warming. Local farm communities, like The Red Hook Farm, are practicing sustainable agricultural techniques and eliminating some of the factors that contribute to climate change.
Modern agriculture depends upon nonrenewable fossil fuels and synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers that erode natural resources faster than the land can replete them, depletes the nutrient value of soil through its consistent use without crop rotation or other sustainable methods and often consumes water at unsustainable levels as well.
RHF practices methods like crop rotation, which in some instances replenishes soil –depending on the crop – and interrupts pest reproductive cycles, decreasing the need for pesticides. No-till or low-till farming eliminates or reduces the need for fuel guzzling farm vehicles and allows soil to replenish its nutrient value undisturbed. Another simple benefit of sustainable agriculture is that locally grown produce eliminates the need for heavy transport, thus reducing dependence on fossil fuels and transportation fees.
Marvy calls his work poly-cultural – an agricultural term describing crops planted together for mutual growth benefits and soil replenishment. Cilantro and marigolds are natural pest inhibitors and garlic and strawberries nourish each other. The Iroquois used this method before the modern term was coined, calling it “three sister planting.” Corn sucks nitrogen out of the soil; beans replenish it and also require the corn’s stalk to grow on. Squash keeps both hydrated.
“ What’s even cooler is that corn, beans and squash are a complete protein and have all 16 amino acids together –you actually get a complete meal!” says Marvy.
As part of the Farm’s Youth Empowerment program, teenagers learn about health, nutrition and sustainable farming methods and then are offered jobs working throughout the school year and over the summer. “There’s a 50 percent adult black unemployment rate. I mean any chance any kid of color can get in this city to work is significant,” said Marvy. The average annual income for a Red Hook family is $14,000. At minimum wage – currently $7.15 and hour – a teenager working 25 hours a week for seven weeks can earn between $1200 and $1300 -- 10 percent of his or her family’s income.
But, there are other benefits of having a farm in your backyard. “My mother loves it because I bring vegetables home in the summer,” says Maxine Dean, a senior in high school. “She loves that because she doesn’t have to go to the supermarket – I can just bring it to her fresh.”
Jasmine Willis, a sophmore, added, “Plus you know who’s growing your food.”
Marvy says more government institutions are noticing Urban Agriculture -- a growing farming trend inspiring urbanites to challenge their lifestyle and adopt a climate conscious approach to food.
Added Value, the non-profit organization that runs the garden, was born out of a conversation between Marvy, his co-founder Michael Horowitz, now the Director of New York City Green Markets, and a teen caught up in the criminal justice system. Marvy pulled a dandelion root out of the ground and started chewing it while discussing its medicinal properties and then proposed selling organic produce below market value while generating greater wealth for the local community. The teen then asked for a job, “and I didn’t have a job to give him,” Marvy lamented.
Seven months later, in April of 2001, The Red Hook Farm took root in a 2.75 acre abandoned Parks Department playground at theintersection of Beard and Columbia Street. “ Nobody could believe that we asked the city for three acres of land and they said sure go ahead,” says Marvy.
According to the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Industrial Agriculture is directly responsible for about 20 percent of Green House Gas Emissions which cause Global Warming. Local farm communities, like The Red Hook Farm, are practicing sustainable agricultural techniques and eliminating some of the factors that contribute to climate change.
Modern agriculture depends upon nonrenewable fossil fuels and synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers that erode natural resources faster than the land can replete them, depletes the nutrient value of soil through its consistent use without crop rotation or other sustainable methods and often consumes water at unsustainable levels as well.
RHF practices methods like crop rotation, which in some instances replenishes soil –depending on the crop – and interrupts pest reproductive cycles, decreasing the need for pesticides. No-till or low-till farming eliminates or reduces the need for fuel guzzling farm vehicles and allows soil to replenish its nutrient value undisturbed. Another simple benefit of sustainable agriculture is that locally grown produce eliminates the need for heavy transport, thus reducing dependence on fossil fuels and transportation fees.
Marvy calls his work poly-cultural – an agricultural term describing crops planted together for mutual growth benefits and soil replenishment. Cilantro and marigolds are natural pest inhibitors and garlic and strawberries nourish each other. The Iroquois used this method before the modern term was coined, calling it “three sister planting.” Corn sucks nitrogen out of the soil; beans replenish it and also require the corn’s stalk to grow on. Squash keeps both hydrated.
“ What’s even cooler is that corn, beans and squash are a complete protein and have all 16 amino acids together –you actually get a complete meal!” says Marvy.
As part of the Farm’s Youth Empowerment program, teenagers learn about health, nutrition and sustainable farming methods and then are offered jobs working throughout the school year and over the summer. “There’s a 50 percent adult black unemployment rate. I mean any chance any kid of color can get in this city to work is significant,” said Marvy. The average annual income for a Red Hook family is $14,000. At minimum wage – currently $7.15 and hour – a teenager working 25 hours a week for seven weeks can earn between $1200 and $1300 -- 10 percent of his or her family’s income.
But, there are other benefits of having a farm in your backyard. “My mother loves it because I bring vegetables home in the summer,” says Maxine Dean, a senior in high school. “She loves that because she doesn’t have to go to the supermarket – I can just bring it to her fresh.”
Jasmine Willis, a sophmore, added, “Plus you know who’s growing your food.”
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