Maximum Yield USA 2011 August | Page 26

MAX facts hydroponic news, tips and trivia NYC Restaurant Features Hydroponic Rooftop Farm Chef John Mooney and his partner Mick O’Sullivan, owners of the New York City West Village restaurant Bell, Book and Candle, grow 70 varieties of herbs, vegetables and fruits hydroponically on their rooftop. They grow nearly two-thirds the vegetables for the restaurant using 60 vertical tower hydro systems. (Source: www.huffingtonpost.com) Stockholm, Sweden: The European Green Capital Going Green - China Show Us How More than 5,000 visitors attended the Eco Design Fair in Shanghai this past spring. Visitors were presented with a glance of Shanghai’s most creative products and designs in the realm of environmentally-friendly consumer goods available in China. The day began with a critical mass bike ride, organized by GoodtoShanghai, with over 300 bikers riding from Xu Jia Hui Park to the Eco Design Fair. Chinese companies took center stage at the spring 2011 event with a variety of environmentally-minded products. Seminars focusing on how to create sustainable businesses, lessons in urban farming and even hydroponics, were all available for the public to learn about simple ways to help the environment. Stockholm, Sweden has been deemed the green capital of Europe by the European Commission, receiving the award of the same name in 2010. This award promotes sustainable mobility and land use, modern waste management, eco-innovation and other green technologies. By 2014, the city will become home to its first vertical farm, an immense urban greenhouse in the form of a geodesic dome designed by the Plantagon Company. The glass sphere frees up the land mass needed for raising crops by maximizing square footage with its spiraling levels. Greenhouse plants are grown in a nutrient rich solution using hydroponics. In addition to its vertical farm solution, Stockholm is redefining urban planning to maximize an eco-friendly balance of life to address the crucial areas of population growth, water conservation, renewable energy and rising food costs. The city has also begun taking steps toward adding new sources of renewable energy to power their commercial needs. (Source: www.theurbn.com) (Sources: www.ecofriendlypack.com, www.theurbn.com) Rabbit Battery Farms Could Return to UK The intensive rabbit battery farms, which would be the first for rabbits in the country in 15 years, have been proposed at sites from Nottinghamshire to Cornwall. Previous farms closed down, undercut by foreign rabbit farms with lower welfare standards. What has changed is the ability to produce lower cost feed via a hydroponic pond in which barley grass would be grown, providing 60 per cent of the rabbits’ diet. (Source: www.guardian.co.uk) 24 Maximum Yield USA | August 2011