From farm to hospital

Meet the hospitals growing food to feed patients.

AuthorAuthor

Lena Beck & Modern Farmer
June 23, 2024

Hello! Lena here, staff writer at Modern Farmer.

In college, I took an urban planning class. One day on a field trip, we went downtown and our professor showed us a couple of unusual green spaces. There was one on the rooftop of an office building, another tucked behind the brick wall of a former post office. 

I love the idea of gardening in unusual spaces—especially if those could become normalized places to grow food.

Contributor Jennifer Cole brings us a related story this week, about food being grown specifically for hospital patients. Using part of a hospital campus to grow food might not be the norm, but what if it was? Read the story and let us know what you think.

The Power Plant Farm | Photo: Boston Medical Center

Also fresh this week

An aerial view of a fish farm looking down onto the blue ocean surface populated with large round cages.

Aerial view of a fish farm | Photo: Shutterstock/Leonid Sorokin

Both aquaculture and fisheries have environmental and climate impacts — and they overlap more than you'd think. Via Grist.

The frame of a greenhouse stands abandoned in an overgrown field.

Sludge-affected Songbird Farm | Maine Farmland Trust

Maine Organic Farmers And Gardeners Association plans to take the EPA to court over farmland lost to forever chemical contamination.

One more thing. This week, we rounded out our series on PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” with two more stories. In addition to the piece on sludge on farms in Maine featured above, we published a story about researchers looking for remediation strategies. You can check out the entire PFAS series here.

Community Action Corner

In the course of our reporting, we come across great resources, insights, and pieces of actionable advice from our community. Each week we are featuring an action you can take to boost your knowledge and support a more equitable and resilient food system.

Weekly Action | On the theme of finding food in unexpected places, here’s a cool foraging map you can use to find gardens near you.

(Remember, if you’re going to forage, it’s important to do so ethically—here’s a guide to get you started, thanks to North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems.)

Hungry for more? Check out the Modern Farmer Solutions Hub for more actionable advice and resources. 

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next week!

~ LB