Most people in New York City rely on markets for their freshest food. However, now they can pick their own fresh food from this floating forest when it comes to dock in Manhattan.
This half-art-project, half-farm is scheduled to set sail this summer. Swale New York grew the floating forest on an 80-foot-by-30-foot barge made from shipping containers. The project is funded by a slew of organizations and individual donors to provide free and healthy food.
If all goes according to plan, 300 people per day will have the opportunity to pick fresh produce, like beets, kale, asparagus, chard, arugula and more. An unimaginable amount of engineering work has gone into the project, starting with how to purify and desalinate the water sourced from the city’s less than satisfactory waterways.
We can’t even keep a potted plant alive, and somehow a fully functioning, floating garden is making its way into Manhattan’s harbor. What a time to be alive.
Grace Williamson is a travel intern with Paste and a freelance writer based out of Athens, Georgia.