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Javits Center’s Rooftop Farm Yields Delicious New Line of Pickled Produce for Guests

The first 250 jars of Jacob’s Harvest comprise pickled radishes in a delicious mixture of white vinegar, red wine vinegar, white peppercorns, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, salt and honey harvested from the convention center’s rooftop bee hives, aptly named “Jacob’s Honey.”

August 8, 2022
TSNN News

Excerpt:

New York’s Javits Center is sharing its bounty of vegetables from its new one-acre rooftop farm through the creation of Jacob’s Harvest, a new line of pickled produce. The bottled veggies will be distributed to customers and visitors to raise awareness about the venue’s roof-to-table culinary program, which incorporates various crops being grown on the farm into customized meals served during events on-site.

According to Javits Center officials, the new produce line marks the facility’s latest element of its ambitious and progressive sustainability program that includes New York State’s largest green roof (at 6.75 acres) and the farm, which was completed last year as part of a 1.2 million-square-foot expansion project.

“The Javits Center is much more than just a convention center, and this new pickled produce demonstrates how unconventional we truly are,” said Alan Steel, CEO of the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation, which operates the Javits Center.

He continued, “We’re proud to provide our customers with produce grown only steps from where they are consuming it, and we hope our efforts inspire others to follow our lead. From maintaining the largest green roof in New York State to serving as a wildlife sanctuary, we’re committed to challenging what it means for a building to be sustainable in a dense urban environment like New York City.”

Managed by urban farming company Brooklyn Grange and located more than eight stories above street level, Javits’ rooftop farm is now in its first full season and is expected to generate up to 40,000 pounds of annual produce, ranging from arugula to zucchini.

Throughout the year, executive chefs with Cultivated, Javits Center’s on-site catering team, will create the pickled produce with various ingredients, some of which are sourced directly from the rooftop farm.

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