Fields

Melissa and Wythe were honored to joinThe Farm Report team for this special and important series on the Farm Bill and the politics of food. Please check out the interview, and followThe Farm Reportfor more critical news and analysis of what's happening across all of agriculture.

Despite an increasing number of farmers growing food in cities urban agriculture wasn’t acknowledged in the farm bill until 2018. Lisa Held, journalist with Civil Eats and former Farm Report host provides the scoop on how the Farm Bill will impact the future of urban ag.

Melissa Metrick and Wythe Marschall, co-hosts of HRN’s Fields podcast, give us some perspective on urban land-access challenges and what’s happening on the ground in cities across the country. And, our very own co-host Alita Kelly shares some of the urban agriculture projects she’s been working on in her community.

For more information on the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovation, visit the USDA website.

Learn more about the NYU Urban Farm Lab and the Map N.Y.C. projects that Wythe and Melissa mentioned.

Visit Civil Eats to catch the latest food system stories.

The Farm Report is hosted by Leigh Ollman and Alita Kelly, produced by Leigh Ollman, Evan Flom and H Conley, and edited by Hannah Beal and H Conley.

Audio engineering is by Armen Spendjian and H Conley. Music is by Breakmaster Cylinder and Jangwa

Learn more about the National Young Farmers Coalition here and consider becoming a member. Click here to take action on the farm bill and other important policy issues.

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Wythe chats with NYC educator Vicki Sando about her years of research into green roofs—especially those on schools—and her creation of the illustrated book What is a Green Roof? Vicki created the book to help kids and adults understand the benefits of green roofs, including to urban farmers. We talk about her own work to green the roof of one school in New York, how green roofs help kids learn across subjects, and how some of our favorite green roofs function. This is an excellent introduction to the topic for all listeners, young and young-at-heart! Here are links to resources that Vicki mentions during the episode:

• www.educationalgreenroofs.org
• www.greenroofsnyc.com
• www.grownyc.org
• www.cretf.org
• www.kidsfightclimatechange.org
• www.ps41.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=357954&type=d

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Melissa and Wythe host the inspiring food and urban agriculture entrepreneur Henry Obispo. Henry is founder of Born Juice, the United Business Cooperative, and ReBORN FARMS. We talk about Henry’s background, the importance of the South Bronx in inspiring him, why he started a juice company, and how he started organizing other Bronxian food entrepreneurs into a worker cooperative. Henry tells us the story of the Bronx Salad, and we discuss his future plans for growing greens in the Bronx.

Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!

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Following up on their review of recent bad news in the field of vertical farming, Melissa and Wythe catch up with an expert: Henry Gordon-Smith, founding CEO of the urban and controlled environment agriculture consultancy Agritecture. Henry relates his thoughts on recent shifts in commercial indoor and urban agriculture, reflecting on some of Agritecture’s experiences and what could happen in the near future. It’s a short, fun, and informative conversation!

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Melissa and Wythe catch up with each other regarding a recent trend in urban agriculture: the closure or financial restructuring of several high-profile indoor farms in urban areas. We look at recent news articles on this topic, theorize why the indoor ag-tech sector is struggling, and speculate about what could happen next. We’ll return to this important topic with guests over the course of the season, so subscribe!

Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!

Fields is Powered by Simplecast.

Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!

Fields is Powered by Simplecast.

To kick off a new season of Fields, Wythe and Melissa chat about Melissa's current work as both an instructor of urban agriculture at New York University and the manager of the school’s Urban Farm Lab on Houston Street. Recorded in October 2023, just before harvest time, this informal conversation covers a range of subjects, from the crops students grow to how Melissa’s syllabus has covered different aspects of the history of urban agriculture over time.

Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!

Fields is Powered by Simplecast.

Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!

Fields is Powered by Simplecast.

To round out Season 3, Melissa and Wythe talk about the concept of the “urban forest” in NYC with scientist Mike Treglia of The Nature Conservancy. Mike was trained as a herpetologist (reptile scientist), but he now focuses on the total ecological systems of cities, especially trees. The Nature Conservancy itself works to study and protect land in many different ways, including in New York City. Mike also works with Forest For All NYC, supporting policy that can create and realize a comprehensive plan for NYC’s treescape. Mike also co-organizes the Green Roof Researchers Alliance (GRRA), with NYC Audubon. The GRRA coordinates research on green roofs in the city, including the mapping of these roofs and helping us know what animals live across these heterogeneous spaces. Mike tells us all about the types of work that different research groups are up to, and how these individual scientific efforts connect with a larger social movement to create green roofs and steward them successfully. We also talk a lot about policy, especially given extreme temperatures and the roles green roofs can play in keeping buildings cooler. (Plus, lightning round: pizza in Staten Island!)

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In what ways are cemeteries like parks? How tall should the grass in a cemetery be allowed to grow? Following up on some of the themes from our discussion with NYC Microseasons about urban plants, animals, and fungi not typically thought of as farms or gardens, Melissa talks with Joseph (Joe) Charap, Vice President of Horticulture at the Green-Wood Cemetery, about the history of cemeteries as green spaces in NYC and the broader United States.

They discuss the rich and biodiverse ecosystem found at Green-Wood—which comprises over 8,000 trees of over 800 species, including many native species! Joe and Melissa talk about everything from “charismatic megaflora” (trees) to turfgrass, touching on long-term scientific collaborations with Cornell, different kinds of green burials (including mushroom burials, which are not yet practiced in Brooklyn), “Sweet Hereafter” honey, and what exactly a “managed meadow” is. What could be a somber subject is instead a lively and dynamic conversation that you won’t want to miss!

Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!

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(Note, this one was taped when it was still cold, and now it’s hot!) As author Allison C. Meier states, “There are no seasons, only microseasons now.” What are microseasons? They’re a different way of viewing time as local, marked not by arbitrary flips of the calendar or the coming and going of major weather patterns, but by more ephemeral and sometimes obscure environmental shifts that only last a few weeks.

With Erin Chapman, Allison writes a newsletter called NYC Microseasons that investigates these ephemeral seasons with a mix of wit, humor, and scientific rigor. Wythe and Melissa talk to Erin and Allison about their project overall, many specific plants that live in NYC, shadows/smoke/smog and their effects on plants, cooking possum meat, the seasonality of CSAs, and—of course—algae. We explore all sorts of changing weather patterns and discuss what they mean not only for growing food and foraging in cities, but how we culturally understand and value different parts of the year. We also talk briefly about Allison’s new book, Grave, which fans of urban planning and green design (among others) will definitely enjoy. Check out the episode, and pick up Grave!

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The Fields team chats with domestic farming entrepreneur and nutritionist Mary Wetherill about her company, Green Food Solutions. They set up farms in urban buildings using Tower Gardens (hydroponic growing towers) and conduct farmer trainings. Mary’s urban-agriculture business grew out of the Square Roots vertical farming accelerator in Brooklyn, but then quickly led to a new farm on a rooftop in the Bronx. From there, Mary’s team explored a whole new business model: to be a “vertical farming training company” that also provides equipment (turn-key solutions) to new growers. She always wanted to focus on connecting folks with food, and she was suspicious of many claims made by new commercial vertical farms.

Today, Green Food Solutions runs “farms as amenities”—hydroponic farms within and atop residential buildings—from New Jersey to Tо̄kyо̄. Through training programs and consulting on new urban farms, especially with new professional growers, Mary hopes to empower a whole new local food system. This is a passion-driven, breathless, sometimes controversial conversation about the present and future of vertical farming.

Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Fields by becoming a member!

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