Urban Agriculture Group Seeking Farm at Amazon’s HQ2 Pentagon City

“We really think Amazon’s commitment to creating an environmentally-sound campus provides an opportunity to create a public amenity that would benefit everyone.”

By Kalina Newman
ARL Now
September 11, 2019

Excerpt:

The Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture (FOUA) have formally submitted a request for less than 2% (or 1,000 square feet) of the upcoming HQ2 campus to become a urban farm space.

“We believe Arlington is poised to become a national leader for urban agriculture, and the Metropolitan Park project offers an opportunity to showcase Amazon’s and Arlington’s commitment to sustainable, biophilic (integrating the natural world into the built environment) development,” the FOUA board wrote in a letter to HQ2 stakeholders this month.

FOUA said in exchange for dedicating space for the farm, Amazon and the community will reap the rewards of:

Aesthetically appealing, biophilic focal point event space for movie nights, public or private receptions, exercise classes, etc.
STEM plant lab for K-12 research
Public demonstrations of growing sustainable techniques & methods
At-scale food production for distribution to local food banks.
Incubator for urban agriculture-focused startups
Encourage public interaction with local food systems.
Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Read the complete article here.