Urban Harvest STL and the Kranzberg Arts Foundation have partnered to develop a new rooftop garden atop the KAF’s newest venue, the .ZACK building at 3224 Locust St., in Midtown. Urban Harvest executive director Mary Ostafi said construction will begin March 24 and the first seeds planted by mid-April.
Ostafi said the collaboration furthers Urban Harvest’s mission to distribute fresh produce throughout food-insecure neighborhoods and the KAF’s long-term plan to increase the sustainability of their arts programs. “The opportunity just came to us,” she said. “Once we saw what they were doing and learned about their mission, we started this great collaboration.”
Ostafi said the Grand Center location of the .ZACK building is useful for Urban Harvest because of its close proximity to its other farms and the neighborhoods they serve. From this site, Ostafi plans to engage with local schools and community members to expand awareness about urban agriculture, food insecurity and food justice.
The .ZACK building will be Urban Harvest’s third rooftop garden, but despite years of practice, Ostafi said they are still learning: this new rooftop garden will employ a modular system of growing crates that maximizes the farm’s water efficiency. “We like to try new methods,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity to create living laboratories for urban agriculture across the city.”
Even after the completion of the rooftop garden at .ZACK, Ostafi said that Urban Harvest has no plans to slow down. “We envision continuing to expand a network of urban farms in St. Louis,” she said. “The more farms, the better.”
Laura Kern is an editorial intern at Sauce Magazine.
This article appears in February 2018.