Cities in the U.S. and abroad try to grow more food locally
San Francisco’s New Victory Garden
Mayor Gavin Newsom helps Slow Food Nation plant the first edible garden at City Hall since 1943. During World War II, civilians across the country were encouraged to aid the war effort by growing their own food in so-called victory gardens.Scott Chernis / Slow Food Nation
Hydroponic High-Rise
Instead of filling a vertical farm with soil, plants could be grown indoors hydroponically with just the roots submerged in water, thus reducing the weight the structure needs to support.
From City Field to Fork
Food grown at San Francisco's City Hall will be donated to local food banks and meal programs for those with limited access to fresh produce.Scott Chernis / Slow Food Nation
Farm of the Future?
Vertical farms, like this one envisioned in downtown Toronto, theoretically would bring food production into the heart of population centers, with one farmscraper feeding thousands of people.
Boston Harvest
The Food Project in Boston grows nearly a quarter of a million pounds of food without chemical pesticides, donating half to local shelters and selling the remainder at farmers' markets in disadvantaged neighborhoods or through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) crop "shares."Greig Cranna / The Food Project
Tower of Food
Vertical farms like this one envisioned on the Chicago waterfront would grow food closer to where it is consumed, thus eliminating much of the fuel and transportation costs.
Model of Self-Sufficiency
Seattle-based architecture firm Mithun designed this vertical farm so that it would not require any water from municipalities and would also use photovoltaic cells to produce nearly 100% of the building's electricity.
Powering Up a Sky Farm
A vertical-farm design by French architect Pierre Sartoux includes rooftop wind turbines to help power the enterprise and uses a light-shading skin that can be opened and closed to control exposure to the sun.
Farming on the Roof
The nonprofit Food Project works to achieve both social and agricultural change by bringing together kids from diverse backgrounds to farm several lots in urban Boston, like this one on a hospital roof, along with 31 acres in nearby Lincoln, Mass.Greig Cranna / The Food Project
A New Food Pyramid
Co-designed by Columbia Professor Dickson Despommier, this building — like other proposed vertical farms — could grow food year-round in a controlled environment. No exposure to parasites or bugs would mean no pesticides needed.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (and Other Stuff Too)
On the site of a former asphalt-covered playground in Brooklyn, N.Y., the Red Hook Community Farm provides job training to local teens. Of the more than 40 crops grown here, some are sold at farmers' markets, others to local restaurants and the rest is donated to those in need.Robert Nickelsberg for TIME
