Do you know what cherry tomatoes really taste like?

Food travels like a two year old on an airplane. Badly. By the time it reaches consumers it has already lost whatever little taste, nutritive value, texture and smell it had.

Meet the niece of the founder and pioneer behind the world’s first commercial rooftop greenhouse. This 8 month old had her first solid food, a delicious cherry tomato from the very first yield at Lufa Farms, a rooftop farm in Montreal with a simple aim to ‘grow food where people live and to grow it more sustainably’. “She loved it”, Mohammed Hage was quoted saying. “It gives me immense joy to see kids go through bags of vegetables like it’s their candy,” he continued. Through innovation, technology and commitment to responsible agriculture, Hage was able to build a giant rooftop farm in the heart of Montreal and continues to strive to change the way cities eat.

On average, the food on our plates travels at least 1500 miles. By the time it has been transported from long distances, packed, re-packed, refrigerated, sold and resold to consumers it has lost its taste, smell, texture and nutritive value if it had any to begin with. Hage explains that the food available in grocery stores from mass production channels is very often chosen for its toughness and transportability more than taste and nutrition, a shame, indeed. The source of the majority of food available today includes industrial farms that act as energy-sucking and pollution-emitting machines that use up 70% water, 37% land, 30% energy and emit 20% greenhouse gases that directly aggravate the issue of climate change today. Lufa Farms sets an excellent example of “Agriculture 2.0” that has the potential to build a much more sustainable, environmentally benign and secure food system.

In a TED talk that Hage delivered at Université de Montréal, he elucidates the key principles that responsible agriculture revolves around. Firstly and most importantly: usage of no new land followed by more technical aspects such as implementation of a closed loop irrigation and water conservation measures, exposure to sunlight in an already carbon dioxide rich environment given that it is a city farm and use of biocontrols such as ladybugs to take care of harmful pests as opposed to synthetic insecticides or pesticides. “Rooftops are like the underwear of a building. Ignored and disliked,” he expressed emphatically. Rooftops are indeed often ignored but he warns against this attitude because these are extremely fertile spaces key to local and urban farming in cities with a space-crunch and very few alternatives to long-distance transportation of food. “Agriculture 2.0” can prove to be a successful model given that it presently feeds 2,000 city residents with vegetables harvested on the same day using only half the energy, water and nutrients allowing for massive cut-backs in green house gas emissions and use of energy. Lufa Farms distributes directly to consumers at drop points throughout the community with only $15 fuel per day.

Lory Henning, an environmental enthusiast and owner of a Brooklyn-based urban farm, mentions some innovative projects closer home in New York that are progressing in a positive direction. She points out, “Gotham Greens has a farming operation in a green house on a roof. They seem to be doing good business. You can find their lettuces at Whole Foods. Good Eggs used to sell them too. Certainly, Brooklyn Grange is doing great work; they have education and outreach programs alongside a farming operation. They have learnt a lot about what to grow, how to sell and how to maintain good relationships with restaurants in New York City. Sustainable South Bronx is trying to train people from underserved communities to learn to install green roof systems. Having green roofs in low-income neighborhoods is definitely a good step in the right direction. These ideas can save the world.” Not only can innovative urban farming form part of the solution to issues of long-distance transportation aggravating climate change but it has a wide range of other benefits such as improving city environments. The greenery of urban farms can absorb rainwater that typically cannot be absorbed back into the ground due to abundance of concrete in cities. Instead, the run off meets closest water bodies through the sewage system, disturbs ecosystems and contributes to flooding. Urban agriculture prevents that and additionally, helps keep city surfaces cool and shady, minimizes electricity usage and mollifies health concerns such as heat stroke considering that paved roofs and road can be 27–50°C hotter than the air temperature at the end of a sunny day.

Contrary to popular opinion, urban farming actually has enormous production capability if done right. Successful models and experimental tools are all available, all that’s left is for people to make a difference in the best ways they can. Carolyn Leadley, an urban farmer in Detroit has been producing enough food (400,000 pounds) to feed more than 600 people. “One local restaurant that I sell to used to buy its sprouts from Norway,” Leadley was quoted expressing proudly to ensia in an interview with Elizabeth Royte. The aforementioned New York based Gotham Greens produces more than 300 tons of herbs and microgreens per year in two rooftop hydroponic operations and has another farm planned for Chicago. Brooklyn Grange, atop two roofs in New York City, grows more than 50,000 pounds (23,000 kilograms) of tomatoes, kale, lettuce, carrots, radishes and beans, among other crops, each year. Brooklyn’s Added-Value Farm occupies 2.75 acres and delivers 40,000 pounds of fruit and vegetables into the low-income neighborhood of Red Hook and nearby Camden. This goes to show that despite their small sizes, urban farms can grow a surprising amount of food. “Quantification of the produce of urban farms is a testament to the burgeoning of local-food movements and their potential,” writes Elizabeth Royte, an Environmental enthusiast and writer for ensia.

Cities with barren lands and ignored rooftops can be transformed into spaces that can cultivate fresh & delicious food as well as a sense of belonging within communities. It contributes to more efficient use of land and increased food security by giving people access to and the ability to afford more nutritious and safe food. Producing of their own food on their own land gives them the chance to supplement their income and be more nutritionally secure. Moreover, urban farming is a great way of getting people with similar interests together and providing them with the opportunity to connect, experience togetherness and share their love for the environment while cultivating food, the very necessity of mankind. What more? Many little kids like the little Hage niece get the chance to know what a quality cherry tomato can really taste like much earlier in life (half joking).