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Urban Farming

Farming as if people mattered


Urban Farming

Farming as if people mattered

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Integrating farms in cities  

     Integrating farms in cities is not just a matter of building farms in empty spaces, but finding appropriate technologies for the specific farm, and establishing a network of relations with the rest of the city organisms, so there is a healthy flow of resources and the whole ecosystem becomes more sustainable



But why the hassle?

     Well, as we know that human population is increasing at a fast rate, and that such increase will affect cities more, the only way of making the world sustainable is making cities sustainable

     Cities occupy just 3% of land's surface, but they consume 75% of its resources, and though now 50% of the people live in cities, we expect that amount to climb up to 80% by 2050

     Commercial Scale Urban Farming can produce copious amounts of food just where it is needed, and in ways far more efficient than conventional agriculture: using less water, less energy and less space, without the dreaded water run-off, and without the need for fossil fuel derived chemicals; but it actually can grow food by reusing typical wasted resources from the cities: things like water, CO2 Heat or food scraps

     Back in time cities were located only where Food and Water were readily available, Fossil Fuels allowed us to change that, but there was a hidden cost we now know: Climate Change, polluted cities, degraded environment.... If we want to stop paying the toll that fossil fuels have on our own health and on that of our ecosystems, we need to find alternative ways of living, and Urban Farming is one of them.

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Our Projects

Our Projects

We are currently working in these projects:

1. Mercato Metropolitano MUSHROOM FARM - Closed

     This farm has just closed down and we are looking for a new location for it.

We were commissioned by Mercato Metropolitano to treat their food waste, and we did so with Coffee grounds, transforming them into Gourmet Mushrooms.

     Every month we collected 600 kilos of coffee grounds from Mercato Metropolitano and Federation coffee, and transformed them into gourmet mushrooms.

     We are grew these type of mushrooms:

  • King Oyster

  • Pink Oyster

  • Blue/Grey Oyster

  • Yellow Oyster

  • Elm

  • White Elf

  • Shiitake


2. Rooftop Farming

     Growing on rooftops has been our dream from the first day of this company

Rooftop Farm

     Every city is filled with buildings, all of which have roofs in which food could be grown without competing with the much needed space for housing people; this is such an obvious solution to our food and sustainability issues, but the idea hasn't still taken off

     We have been designing a rooftop farm for a while, and are right now seeing how to properly integrate it

     This farm integrates BIA (Building Integrated Agriculture) and CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture), and is connected with the city via Urban Metabolism     


3. AD-Ponics

     We are designing the process to convert the effluents from an Anaerobic Digester into fertiliser, so it can be used to grow food. This would close this cycle of food production in the city:

     We are working with Exploration Architecture and Community by Design to create a free-standing pilot building in which food is grown and served, and in which the food scraps get processed to produce gas and fertiliser, to again grow more food

     You can watch here an awesome TED Talk on it, where Michael Pawlyn (from Exploration Architecture) talks on different projects, but also on this project Mobius:


     This is a big deal for cities: if we could make each building produce its food and treat its waste, cities could become truly sustainable

4. South London Food Campus

Commercial Kitchen

     In collaboration with Lambeth Council, we are designing a space in South London for Food makers, Urban Farmers and Food creatives.

     It will combine a mushroom farm, co-working space, commercial kitchens for fire, a food factory and a Farming Lab, as well as community allotments and a restaurant, aiming to provide onsite everything a Food Start-up Hub needs

     The community will benefit by getting Jobs, training and Business Support for food businesses, bringing together all farmers, chefs, entrepreneurs, bakers, brewers and food manufacturers to create amazing food and grow their businesses, aiming to become a hub in food innovation