Urban Farm 2.0
LONDON, UK – While the pandemic was undoubtedly a taxing time for many, it was also a period in which many people reconnected with nature — myself included. Enjoying walks outside became a sacred part of people’s routines. As for myself, evening walks in Reykjavík after Zoom classes from New York ended became a lifeline. As for Michael Thorp and his wife, they took on a project they had been thinking of for years: starting an urban farm where they grow the food and charge members a fee to harvest on their own time.
After my last blog post about Stepney City Farm, I wanted to learn more and compare Stepney to other London urban farms. By luck, I stumbled upon Foodscapes, a relatively new urban farm. Urban farms are a great way for city dwellers to access locally grown vegetables, thus minimizing their negative environmental impacts. Further, urban farms often become sacred in a community where everyone can reconnect with nature.
When I spoke to Michael, he explained the problem of urban farming in London. For one, there is a multi-year waiting list from the government for receiving a plot of agricultural land. Secondly, the average person doesn’t have proper time to dedicate to becoming a farmer on the side — as it is no easy task. So, Michael and his wife set up a vertical farming system in Camden where they charge members a monthly fee and do the farming for them.
He told me about their choice of farming vertically and how, for each square meter, they could grow for 3.8 meters. Michael explained how stacking containers of soils and seedlings allowed them to grow three-dimensional. We discussed hydroponics, the massive energy bill that comes with it, and how climate change mitigation must balance economic viability and rigorous impact. Indeed, the membership fee allows Foodscapes to be economically viable. Harvesting vegetables is costly, both in terms of labor and supplies. But Michael doesn’t want Foodscapes only to be accessible to well-off people. The team is working on getting government funding to subsidize memberships for low-income, or simply, your ordinary family who wouldn’t usually spend extra money on a membership.
While starting your farm on your roof seems like a simple solution, it’s rarely feasible in London. Unlike New York, for example, there is no tax incentive to have a green roof in the UK. Having a green roof is either a choice (if you’re lucky enough to have access to your roof) or a requirement for building developers by the government. But, the car park that Foodscapes is exploring would be much more productive than the average green roof.
Specifically, Foodscape is investigating using a 1-hectare car park roof to launch a second farm. Although Michael could not disclose much information about this prospective opportunity, we discussed Foodscape’s plan for the car park and how utilizing such a space would be highly effective as it previously served no functional purpose. While Foodscapes has already made a name for itself within London, this potential car park project would put Foodscapes on the map.
If the car park roof farm wasn’t enough, he said they might introduce bees to the roof! For the bees, the farm would be a food source. Talking to Michael showed me how passionate he was about growing sustainably and scaling his project and about the success of Foodscape’s members. I learned that they often host community events, such as a master gardening class, where he joked that the goal is for members to “[h]ave enough [farming] skills to be dangerous” so that if they were to get their own farms, they’d be prepared to farm on their own. The Thorp's mission to foster community and increase access to sustainable food in London is a growing success! Michael’s humor was heartening during our call, and it was an honor to speak to him and hear about the exciting possibilities for Foodscapes!
