This company is raising tilapia on a roof in Bed-Stuy

Now you can eat really local, even in a place with more than 35,000 people per square mile.

VertiCulture is an aquaponics farm that raises tilapia, basil, kale and other greens on the roof of the Pfizer building in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Launched with the help of a December 2014 crowdfunding campaign, the organization uses the waste from the approximately 280 fish to feed the plants. the plants, in turn, keep the tanks clean.
It reminds us a bit of how in downtown Baltimore, you just might buy fish grown in tanks along that city’s Inner Harbor.

Our organic leafy greens are beginning to germinate! #aquaponicfarming #organic #leafygreens #sustainable #sustainableagriculture #rooftopfarming #brooklyn #bushwick #greenfuture #commercialfarming

A photo posted by @verticulturenyc on Apr 4, 2015 at 7:55pm PDT

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“We utilize aquaponics in a vertically designed system,” the VertiCulture site reads. “Aquaponics is an ecologically designed food production method that produces its own nutrients by raising fish to feed plants and uses plants to filtrate water for fish. We combine ecology with our technology to maintain the health of our systems and increase the economic viability of our farms”.
The company was featured in a good article this month in Forbes, which you can read here.