Roof in downtown St. Louis converted into urban farm

What was a black tar roof six years ago is now an urban farm, growing food for those in need

By Rene Knott
(KSDK)
Apr 9, 2021

Excerpt:

ST. LOUIS — People in St. Louis are finding creative ways to fight hunger in our area.
If you ever find yourself in downtown near Convention Plaza and 14th Street, take a look up because you could see a farmer. There’s a mural on a building there that reads “food roof”. It is truth in advertising. Right in middle of downtown they are growing food on a roof.
“Grow a little bit of everything. Anywhere between 200 and 250 different varieties of vegetables,” said Jamie Wallace with Urban Harvest STL.
There is more brown than green up there at the moment.

“Right now is really, we’re embarking at the beginning of our growing season,” she told 5 On Your Side.
But in the coming months, what was a black tar roof six years ago will look more like an urban farm.
“It’s just really phenomenal, seeing a complete otherwise unused space to having a full thriving ecosystem,” she said.
They take care of the ecosystem by hand and sustain it with ingenuity.
“The food roof is able to capture 17,000 gallons of rainwater, which just goes back to hydrating and nourishing our plants,” Wallace said.

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