food | IDEAS

We were recently in LAM in an article titled ‘A Feast of Ideas’ that questioned how “landscape architecture and the food supply fit together”. This is an excerpt of the published piece:

“A recent study by the National Young Farmers’ Coalition identified “lack of access to land” as one of the top challenges facing new farmers. The average age of U.S. farmers is 57, so it’s clear that in the near future we risk having food grown only by the largest corporations capable of paying market rates for land. Meanwhile prime farmland is being lost at an estimated rate of one acre per minute to development (down from three acres per minute during the housing boom). As landscape architects, we are uniquely positioned to directly affect where we grow some of our food and to rethink physical relationships between landscapes of production and those of consumption, to question dualities of country and city, productive and ornamental, and labor and leisure. By doing so, we can help create and preserve farmland, contributing to a sustainable food system.

Four years ago, I traveled across the United States to visit small farms integrated into more traditional landscape projects, such as housing or regional parks. I visited Sandhill Farms, a 45-acre working farm near Chicago; Appleton Farms CSA, a 25-acre working farm in a regional park outside Boston; and Zenger Farm, a working farm and education center in Portland, Oregon, on parks department land. These sites represent an exciting hybrid productive landscape and also help close the distance between where people live and where their food is grown.

Two years ago I was part of a team that planned a new subdivision focused on local food. The community was slated for prime farmland, and the developer was interested in mitigating the impacts. The final plan includes 137 acres of market farms, a permanent farmers market, and community gardens integrated into every park. Thirty percent of the community will be able to eat ultralocal food at full build out. Our firm has been approached in recent years by tech firms and universities planning on-campus farms to supply their cafeterias and has designed edible gardens for hotels and resorts. It’s time for landscape architects to think big, beyond learning and community gardens, to small productive farms. The impact of these seemingly small moves will be huge.”

-Ellen Burke, ASLA

LAM, May 2012

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One Response to “Landscape Architecture Magazine – “A Feast of Ideas””

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Handy details. Blessed myself I stumbled upon your web site by mistake, using this program . amazed why this particular accident couldn’t taken place earlier! I actually book-marked the item.
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Posted by EllenBurke
in Community, Urban Agriculture
on 5 September, 2012

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The Organic Food Garden at Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton California is an 1,110 square foot garden designed in 2007-8 as part of the landscape for the new Michael J. Homer Science and Student Life Center. The food garden is so successful that it has been expanded to include an additional 9,000 square feet in another location on campus. The overall project is LEED platinum certified and has won several awards including the 2010 AIA Top Ten Green Projects. Marco Esposito was the project principal, and talked to me about his experience designing the garden, and lessons learned.

Q. What were the primary goals related to the agriculture program?

A. The garden is located in a high-profile area of the campus, so the concern was to have it look good whether planted, fallow or overgrown.

Q. Can you describe the design of the garden?

A. It is located in a sunny south-facing location, within a simple, tidy framework of walks (on sun side) and broadleaf evergreen hedges (backdrop on non-sun side). It is in a high-profile area, flanking the dining room and adjacent outdoor terrace, such that the food garden is highlighted but not in the way. We recommended that the least tidy crops, such as tall grains that can tip over, be planted in lower profile locations.

Q. Were there any concerns from the client about the agriculture program? How did you address them?

A. Sacred Heart had had a food garden before this project, but it was untidy and the leadership was concerned about creating a new un-tidy garden. We provided a simple framework for the food garden – a 140′ long rectangle of soil, 8′ wide, between a concrete walk and a waist-high broadleaf evergreen hedge – where 90 degree row crops of varying widths could be planted. Whether the soil is bare after harvesting, or whether the garden is overgrown, the framework is strong enough that any condition is acceptable.

Q. Who will manage the garden?

A. The garden is maintained and operated by students and faculty as part of its Environmental Science and Global Studies courses.

Q. Who will eat the food from the garden?

A. The food feeds the faculty, staff and students in the on-campus dining facilities, and is also donated to local charities.

Q. What infrastructure was needed for the garden?

A. 18″ of organic top soil, and pop-up spray irrigation.

Q. Were there any permitting issues?

A. There were no issues for construction. However, the school had to work the County Health Services to get approval to serve food grown on campus. According to a school press release “…the school is the first in San Mateo County to be approved by the Department of Environmental Health Services Division to use fruits and vegetables grown in its own organic garden for preparation and food service in its school cafeteria.”

Q. Any last insights on edible landscape design for campuses?

A. Keep it simple, and modest in proportion to surrounding permanent framework – having it look neat increases acceptance by all.

SWA Project Team: Marco Esposito, Lyn Liu, Travis Theobald

Project Lead: LMS Architects

Consultants: ISC – Irrigation

Photo Credit: Tom Fox, SWA Group

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Posted by EllenBurke
in Urban Agriculture
on 21 January, 2012

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While agriculture seems to be trendier than ever before, the US is still losing 2 acres of farmland to development every minute. Some estimate that by 2050 we’ll have only .6 acres of farmland per person, even though our current diets require 2.6 acres. SWA is an advocate for the integration and inclusion of food-producing… Read more »

Posted by JoeRunco
in Urban Agriculture
on 21 January, 2012

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Opportunities abound for engineering encounters between guests and their food in the landscape – a breakfast orangerie where fruit is freshly plucked for juice, courtyard gardens planted in orchards of nuts and fruits, herbal lawns at the spa, a poolside planted with date palms. Many hotels are integrating local and on-site food production in a… Read more »

Many hotels are integrating local and on-site food production in a range of innovative ways, to draw in guests and enrich their experience. From roof-top vegetable gardens to bee-keeping, on-site goats, curing meats and homemade wine, these hotels are fully explore the relationship between local food production and hospitality.

Articles such as this one in the New York Times feature urban hotels that make more of the produce than just an ingredient. Some of the most intriguing strategies include the Elysian Hotel in Chicago that not only serves a local farm-based menu created around available produce, but also leases land at the Heritage Prairie Farm to grow specialty vegetables and keep bees.

Such a partnership benefits the hotel (chefs and bartenders request heirloom vegetables for signature menu items) but also, presumably, the farm which has a guaranteed income from the hotel while keeping the land in production. In this way the hotel’s buying practices become a form of activism that conserves working farmlands near urban areas.

Another partnership worth noting also takes place in Chicago, where the Marriott Downtown uses honey from their rooftop hives to create a special beer, made in partnership with a local brewer. Again, while the hotel gets a unique item to market, the brewery might benefit from a dedicated revenue stream.

One hospitality/agricultural project on the boards at SWA is the St. Regis Napa Valley. Tucked behind rolling hills, the resort – a combination of 175 hotel rooms, cottages, hillside units and 70 estate dwellings, will blend seamlessly into the landscape on a small portion of the Stanly Ranch winery. The masterplan calls for 50% of the site to remain in open space, 40% of that in working agriculture.

This is a slightly modified version of a post originally published on GrowCity, November 1, 2010.

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Posted by EllenBurke
in Arts and Culture, Urban Agriculture
on 21 January, 2012

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Posts Tagged: food

Landscape Architecture Magazine – “A Feast of Ideas”

One Response to “Landscape Architecture Magazine – “A Feast of Ideas””

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Sacred Heart Organic Food Garden – an interview with Marco Esposito

Agriculture: Losing Farmland to Urban Development

Edible Hotel Landscapes