[All] Fwd: Commercial Rooftop Garden in Montreal is World's First

[Robert Milligan]

FYI
Robert M

Begin forwarded message:

> From: TFPC at toronto.ca
> Date: October 29, 2010 3:41:49 PM GMT-04:00
> To: "TFPC - Toronto Food Policy Council" <TFPC at toronto.ca>
> Subject: Commercial Rooftop Garden in Montreal is World's First
>
>
> http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Commercial+rooftop+garden+world+first/3737649/story.html
>
> THE GAZETTE
> montrealgazette.com
> Commercial rooftop garden is world's first
>
> By ALISON MACGREGOR, The Gazette, October 28, 2010
>
>
> Lufa Farms’ rooftop greenhouse will start planting in January and  
> its first harvest will be ready six weeks later.
> Photograph by: Handout, Architect's concept
> If all goes well, urban locavores will have a year-round source of  
> non-GMO, pesticide-and-herbicide-free produce by early 2011.
>
> Lufa Farms, a Montreal company, plans to unveil the world's first  
> commercial-scale rooftop greenhouse atop of a two-storey office  
> building near Marche Centrale.
>
> The nearly $2-million, 31,000 square-foot project should be  
> completed before the end of the year and is expected to be ready for  
> planting in January.
>
> But it won't be alone in its field for long. New York Citybased  
> Gotham Greens intends to open a 15,000 square-foot rooftop  
> greenhouse in Brooklyn in 2011.
>
> Lufa Farms co-founder Kurt Lynn said the company wants to shorten  
> the distance between the people who grow food and the people who buy  
> it. He said some of the produce found in Quebec supermarkets travels  
> more than 1,500 kilometres after being harvested.
>
> "In our view, that is the cause of most of the problems with food  
> today," he said, consumers are often limited to vegetables and  
> fruits that can withstand weeks of travel and processing without  
> spoiling.
>
> "You end up with tomatoes that don't taste like tomatoes."
>
> Lynn said that because his firm intends to ship produce within 24  
> hours of harvesting, he has the option of selecting more fragile - 
> and often tastier -varieties of produce.
>
> To that end, Lufa Farms has been working with McGill University  
> plant science and nutrition professors to help choose the tastiest  
> and most nutritious strains to plant.
>
> The produce will not be certified organic, but it will be pesticide  
> and herbicide-free and it will not be genetically modified, Lynn said.
>
> He said the firm will use hydroponic farming techniques to create an  
> optimal growing environment.
>
> "You give (the plants) what they want -and they love it," he said,  
> explaining that a tomato plant in the greenhouse could reach 12 to  
> 15 feet in height.
>
> Targeted customers are the general public and restaurants.
>
> Customers will be able to buy produce "baskets" on the company's  
> website, which will be delivered to group drop off points or will be  
> available for pickup. (Farms that participate in Quebec's popular  
> Equiterre program also use a basket delivery system.)
>
> Owen Rose, head of the board of Montreal's Urban Ecology Centre -an  
> organization that promotes green roofs -said "the idea is great."
>
> Rose said a rooftop greenhouse accomplishes many things -the  
> promotion of urban agriculture, the provision of food security and  
> it is good for the local economy. Moreover, it puts "green and leafy  
> vegetables in the forefront" making them "even trendy" and  
> encourages people to be aware of and to eat vegetables.
>
> He said the greenhouse could be a good marketing tool for Montreal  
> restaurant owners trying to demonstrate local responsibility. They  
> could promote certain dishes as having "grown in Montreal"  
> ingredients.
>
> Lufa Farms worked with Montreal's GKC Architects to find the right  
> roof, design the greenhouse and modify the building slightly. The  
> two-storey building is owned by Fonds de Placement Immobilier BTB,  
> which has signed a long-term lease.
>
> Lynn said a rooftop greenhouse can save a building 20 to 25 per cent  
> of energy costs per year due to its cooling and insulating impact.  
> It also absorbs carbon dioxide, he added.
>
> Lufa Farms was founded almost four years ago by Lynn, 60, and  
> Mohamed Hage, 27, both of whom had already founded successful  
> companies. Lynn founded the national chain of hearing aid clinics  
> called ListenUP! Canada; Hage was a founder of Montreal-based  
> technology firm Cypra Media.
>
> Dr. Howard Resh, an internationally-known hydroponics researcher, is  
> the company's chief horticulturist.
>
> The company will initially have a staff of 10 running the greenhouse  
> operations, Lynn said.
>
> The privately owned firm's founders used mostly personal money to  
> start up the company, but had some government grants for certain  
> parts of the construction, he said.
>
> Lynn said he is confident that there is a strong market for his  
> company's year-round produce.
>
> "The timing for this thing is about perfect," he said. "There is a  
> lot of interest in 'green' (projects) and there concern about the  
> urban environment."
>
> He said the company expects to break even next year.
>
> If the prototype greenhouse works, Lufa Farms wants to build more - 
> and bigger -rooftop greenhouses in Montreal. Lynn said the type of  
> produce grown can be modified according to the neighbourhood. For  
> example, a greenhouse near Chinatown could grow custom crops for  
> residents of that particular neighbourhood.
>
> Lufa Farms is scheduled to start planting in January; the first  
> harvest is expected six weeks later.
>
> The company's website, www.lufa.com,will launch on Nov. 2.
>
> © Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
>
> http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Commercial+rooftop+garden+world+first/3737649/story.html
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
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