Northeastern University

Urban Agriculture Proposal

Genevieve Fischer
Candidate for a B.A. in Environmental Studies
and International Affairs

June 1st 2020

Dr. Tabitha Clark
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To: Northeastern Facilities Administration
From: Genevieve Fischer
Subject: Urban agriculture at Northeastern University

Problem

With a constantly growing population and humans increasingly becoming urban

creatures, the need for urban food production has never been greater. According to the UN,

approximately 55% of the world's population lives in an urban area and that number is expected

to rise to 68% in coming decades (Pesantez, 2018). Furthermore, the most heavily urbanized

region is Northern America, with 82% of its population living in urban areas in 2018 (Pesantez,

2018). This urban migration has led to a new phenomenon where people are living in what are

known as food deserts.

Food deserts are measured by the USDA as an area that has limited access to nutritious

foods (USDA, 2009). This may be measured through a limited number of supermarkets,

supercenters, grocery stores, and other sources of healthy and affordable food in the surrounding

areas (USDA, 2009). Food deserts are common across poor, urban neighborhoods in the United

States as it is often harder to find cheap, affordable, and healthy food. In the United States, 2.3

million households live more than a mile from the supermarket and do not have access to a

vehicle. Additionally, 3.4 million households live between one-half to one mile away from a

supermarket and do not have access to a vehicle (USDA, 2009). There are 23.5 million people

who live in low-income areas that live more than one mile from a supermarket or grocery store

(USDA, 2009). Food deserts are therefore prevalent in a significant number of households and

cities throughout the United States.

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The calculations of food deserts include the nutritional aspect of people’s daily diets. This

often impacts low-income communities as it is often more economically efficient to purchase

less nutritious goods. While real (inflation-adjusted) prices for fruits, vegetables, dairy, and meat

have been stable from 1990-2007, the real prices for soft drinks and fast food has declined

significantly (National Research Council, 2009). Because of this, areas with lower income have

been linked to having poor diets ultimately causing obesity and diet-related diseases. Data dating

from the mid-1990’s supports a well-documented link between poverty and nutritious food

availability (Palmer, 2018).

The issues relating to food deserts and poverty greatly affect a large portion of the

population including many of our state’s own residents. In fact, 40% of the state of

Massachusetts is considered a food desert and, as of 2016, 18% of the city of Boston is

considered food insecure (Kelly, 2018). Food insecurity can be viewed as the overlap between

poverty and accessibility to a grocery store. When comparing Figures 1 and 2 below it is clear

that the neighborhoods where Northeastern University is present in the community (Roxbury,

Mission Hill and Fenway) have a large percentage of residents who are food insecure. The high

poverty rates coupled with inadequate grocery store access and lack of transportation means that

Northeastern University now lives at the intersection of three food insecure neighborhoods that

suffer from food insecurity and need support.

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Figure 1 – Poverty Rate by Boston Neighborhoods

Note: Figure demonstrates the poverty rate by neighborhood in Boston. The four bars highlighted in lighter blue

have the highest rates of food insecurity in the city. Take note that Roxbury is where the Northeastern Campus is

located. From “State of Food Insecurity in Boston” by the Boston Mayor’s Office of Food Access, 2019.

Figure 2 – Average Distance to Nearest Grocery Store by Boston Neighborhoods

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Note: Figure demonstrates the average distance to the nearest grocery store by neighborhood in Boston. The four

bars highlighted in red have the highest rates of food insecurity in the city. Take note that Roxbury is where the

Northeastern Campus is located. From “State of Food Insecurity in Boston” by the Boston Mayor’s Office of Food

Access, 2019.

Background

Urban agriculture is not a new concept in the city of Boston. There are countless small

scale private and public projects around the city that strive to produce locally grown, nutrient

dense produce for the residents of the city (Urban Farming in the City, 2018). The existing

projects are not targeting specific neighborhoods and can be supplemented by other urban farms.

Outside of food production, there are many other ways urban agriculture can benefit a

community. Some examples include reduced carbon emissions that resort from transportation

and packaging of food, job creation, economic growth, community building, education and

increased green space (Urban Farming in the City, 2018). Many of the existing urban agriculture

companies in Boston are intersectional, as they focus on more than just food production. For

example, Revision Farm, which is located in Dorchester, cites three main goals, which are small

scale green economy development, community food security, and job training and education

(Urban Farming in the City, 2020). The Urban Farming Institute, which is located in Mattapan,

states that their mission is to “…develop and promote urban farming as a Commercial sector that

creates green collar jobs for residents; and to engage urban communities in building a healthier

and more locally based food system.” (About Us, 2020)

Urban farming is already very prevalent in our city and is working well for the companies

implementing it. In fact, a pair of young men (one of whom is a Northeastern alumnus) have

already delved into the world of urban farming themselves. Brad McNamara and Jon Friedman

started a company called Freight Farms where they successfully grow produce inside refurbished
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shipping containers. They use a method called vertical farming where crops are grown in

vertically stacked layers to increase output and space availability (Federman, 2018).

Furthermore, their products are grown without any soil, a method known as hydroponic farming.

The plants get all the nutrients they need from fortified water and sunlight from powerful LED’s.

This allows the farms to be fully operational all year with no concern for climate or season

(McNamara, 2020).

Urban agriculture has the potential to close many food gaps across the nation. It currently

serves as a supplement to traditional commercial scale farming but could provide more than that

in the future. According to a recent study, published in the journal Earth’s Future, “if fully

implemented in cities around the world, urban agriculture could produce as much as 180 million

metric tons of food a year—perhaps 10 percent of the global output of legumes, roots and tubers,

and vegetable crops.” (Clinton, 2018 p. 2). This clearly demonstrates that urban agriculture can

help address the problem of food insecurity worldwide and in our own backyard.

Solution

To help address the problem of food insecurity happening in our own backyard, I propose

a three-part urban farming plan on Northeastern’s campus coupled with markets and distribution

of those crops to the surrounding neighborhoods. This plan will start with a large-scale rooftop

farm on top of the Snell Library. I chose this site because Snell has the largest available roof

space on campus and there is already rooftop accessibility inside the building. Furthermore, the

Snell rooftop gets more than enough sunlight and can support the extra weight from heavy soils

and building materials. The Curry Student center was my second choice. Curry also has a large,

flat space on the roof but it is currently being utilized by student seating. Once a site is agreed

upon the farm can be built. This can happen in one of two ways. The first method would be, you
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as the Northeastern facilities administration, can have the work done in house. This would

include building and installing planter boxes, as well as maintaining the crops once the farm gets

up and running. This is not a small undertaking. A rooftop farm of this size could take 40 hours

to install initially plus 10-20 hours a week to maintain the crops. As you know, the facilities

department is already understaffed and this added work load could easily be outsourced.

A second method, my suggested method, would be to outsource the whole project to a

local company. I recommend that Northeastern partners with the Boston-based Green City

Growers for this project. Green City Growers will help to design, install, and maintain the farm

and they have substantial experience in this arena. In fact, they are the sole company in charge of

maintaining the 5000 square foot farm on top of Fenway Park (Green City Growers, 2016).

Green City Growers also works to educate and engage residents about the importance of urban

agriculture and their presence on campus could be beneficial to many students studying

agricultural or environmental sciences. Furthermore, the university has already established a

relationship with this company; they hire co-op students almost every semester!

The second stage to our proposal includes partnering with Freight Farms. As mentioned

above, the founder of Freight Farms went to Northeastern University. He earned his bachelor’s

degree here in 2007. I recommend that Northeastern purchase one of their innovative hydroponic

container farms and keep the farm on the roof of the Columbus parking garage. This farm has the

capacity to house 8,800 plants at a time and increase our production output even further.

Furthermore, this hydroponic farm, and the rooftop farm, could be run solely by students as an

experiential education tool. The benefit to having both the container farm and the rooftop farm is
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that we can continue to produce fresh fruits and vegetables all year long, even in the harsh New

England winters.

The third part of my solution is the Northeastern markets. These markets could be set up

to strategically fill food desert gaps in the surrounding neighborhoods of Roxbury and Mission

Hill. I envision the markets selling Northeastern-grown produce at reduced costs to residents. I

hope that these markets will be entirely student run and organized. During the warmer months

they can be outdoor stands and during the winter we can inform residents that the crops will still

be available but the market place will be on campus, indoors. I hope that these markets will not

only provide nutritious, affordable produce to the residents of Roxbury and Mission Hill but will

also function to show those residents that Northeastern is a good neighbor and that we can all

work together to create a better community.

Benefits

If this three-step urban agriculture plan is implemented on our Boston campus there will

be many benefits to our school and surrounding communities. Most obviously, the surrounding

communities, and residents, will have greater access to fresh, nutritious, and affordable produce

which can be hard to find. Furthermore, consistent access to affordable healthy foods can help

reduce health risks such as heart disease and diabetes.

This program could also bring a lot of positive media attention to Northeastern as an

institution. Northeastern has long been championed as an innovative place of learning. Having

fully functional farms on campus will further demonstrate that Northeastern is a leader in

innovation and higher education. This program can also be used as a tool for experiential

learning. Sustainable agriculture is a fast-growing field and providing students an opportunity for hands

on learning on campus would be invaluable and likely attract many new applicants to the school.
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References

About Us. (2020). Retrieved May 28, 2020, from http://urbanfarminginstitute.org/

Clinton, N., Stuhlmacher, M., Miles, A., Uludere Aragon, N., Wagner, M., Georgescu, M.,

Herwig, C. & Gong, P. (2018), A Global Geospatial Ecosystem Services Estimate of

Urban Agriculture. Earth's Future, 6: 40-60. doi:10.1002/2017EF000536

Federman, S., Pantaleo, J., Hadinger, P., Patel, A., et al. (2018, August 14). Vertical Farming for

the Future. Retrieved May 28, 2020, from

https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2018/08/14/vertical-farming-future

Green City Growers Main Navigation. (2016). Retrieved May 31, 2020, from

https://greencitygrowers.com/fenway-farms/

Kelly, J., Dreier, N., Lewis, D., Spears, M., & Cox Media Group National Content Desk. (2017,

May 05). 40 percent of state is a food desert, says new report. Retrieved May 27, 2020,

from https://www.boston25news.com/top-stories/40-percent-of-state-is-a-food-desert-

says-new-report/519772692/

McNamara, B., & Friedman, J. (2020). About Us: Mission & Story. Retrieved May 31, 2020,

from https://www.freightfarms.com/company

National Research Council (US). (2009). The Public Health Effects of Food Deserts: Workshop 

Summary. National Academies Press (US);

Available from: 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK208019/pdf/Bookshelf_NBK208019.pdf
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Palmer, L. (2018). Urban agriculture growth in US cities. Nature Sustainability 1, 5–7.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-017-0014-8

Pesantez, G. (2018, May 16). 68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by

2050, says UN | UN DESA Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Retrieved May

30, 2020, from https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-

of-world-urbanization-prospects.html

State of Food Insecurity in the City of Boston. (2016). Retrieved May 31, 2020, from

https://boston.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?

appid=bde3986b2972483a835a2e49d6210737

USDA. (June, 2009). Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Measuring and Understanding

Food Deserts and Their Consequences. Economic Research Service. pg 10-38. Retrieved

May 28, 2020, from

https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/42711/12716_ap036_1_.pdf

Urban farming in the City. (2016, July 18). Retrieved May 27, 2020, from

https://www.boston.gov/departments/food-access/urban-farming-city