Urban Agriculture and Community Learning Center

RickyVegas, Guillem P., Diego R., Jeremy H.

As we grow as metropolitans we often loose sight of the systems of agriculture that allow us to thrive in an emerging society of science and technology. At the same time we are being marginalized from those systems of production and know less and less about the world around us.

Our mission is to create an environment of learning, sharing , and volunteering that benefits local communities by empowering them to know about agricultural systems and participate in the growing and production of crops within an urban domain.

The idea of skyscraper farms is becoming more viable and a serious consideration as we see the negative effects of trucked in foods that sometimes come thousands of mile from their original source. The plan to build a rotund one acre Urban Farm can be adapted either from absorbing a warehouse, parking garage, or other large are a structure would allow us to develop a three story farm that uses a design specific for the urban environment.

The vision of the three stories complex. The 1st floor would actually be a basement, wherein cold crops would be capable of growth year round. The 25ft basement would be able to encompass our tall growing trees such as our cherimoya’s. The basement would be lit by LED or conventional growing lamps that are powered throughout the day by the arrangement of solar panels that we would have above and around the 1 acre estate.

The Ground floor would be our farm projects green house, nursery, and education centers. As urban farmers we don’t want to limit the project to purely the growing of food, but the education of the community and the importance of developing locally grown produce practices. One feature we would have besides classrooms for elementary and high school aged children to become involved would be a low key energy saving gym, wherein members of our farm could for example exercise on a bike and have that power be used to power the facility or charge batteries for the night. A dehumidifying system will help maintain the right balance of soil microbes. This reclaimed water would also help us to remain energy efficient.

The final floor will actually be a heavily designed solar roof and garden project that is elevated 50 feet taller than the first floor. The ovular target like pattern of the top floor will allow light to flow down from ceiling and its oval shape will be directed in such a way as to grab the maximum amount of light in both the summer and winter seasons. The roof will be 50% the area of the main floor allowing enough light to pass down through out the day to make it viable. At the edges of the roof will be two 3 kilowatt spiral wind turbines that can power the entire facility and even sell electricity back to the grid. (http://www.mariahpower.com/)

The facility known as ExoGen for Exogenesis, will be a multi-functioning community wherein, we are able to grow produce, educate community gardeners and give access privileges to our partners in the community. One such example would be to give out growing kits, where members would be able to create a garden at home, and when they choose they could bring in their produce for trade. We could then turn around and sell those locally grown foods to local restaurants, reducing their costs and supporting our local businesses. The model of this is plan is such that if we were to have over 100 people farming at home, one or two crops, we would be able to feed a few families, and even be able to subsidize the expense of food kitchens through out the city.

The idea of roof gardens/farm have been proven time and again such as Trent University’s garden project (http://www.cityfarmer.org/TrentRoof.html). The concept of the urban garden would be to relieve the strain of shipping and importing foreign fruits and produce. Americans as a culture have adapted their lifestyles to one of luxury and the purchase and movement of exotic fruits is an industry that will never disappear. Rather than to remain dependent on foreign growers Exogen will grow some of the rarest and exotic fruits in demand so that the products we produce locally will have a larger aggregate change on the reduction in carbon footprint from traditionally shipped fruits.

Much like victory gardens this will not only give us independence from foreign sources of exotic foods but will empower local economy and foster our relationship with the earth.

The have also ben tested in different urban settings, along with a bunch of innovative forms such as those in Vancouver, Detroit and Chicago.(http://www.cityfarmer.org/CFgreenroof.html#CFroof)

Underground Farms in Tokyo, a city haunted by dense urban cores and foot stopping human traffic, shows us the high tech future of urban agriculture (http://memebox.com/futureblogger/show/76).

Although our own facility is relatively small compared with thirty story vertical farms we would share many of the same advantages on a CO-OP sized model.

Advantages of Semi- Vertical Farming

Year-round crop production; 1 indoor acre is equivalent to 4-6 outdoor acres or more, depending upon the crop (e.g., strawberries: 1 indoor acre = 30 outdoor acres).
No weather-related crop failures due to droughts, floods, pests
All SVF food is can be grown organically: no herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers
SVF virtually eliminates agricultural runoff by recycling black water
SVF converts black and gray water into potable water by collecting the water of

evapotranspiration.