Mission Statement
The Urban Farm at the Battery has 5 objectives:
1. Provide an Outdoor Classroom and Inspire Student Farmers
More than eight local schools and hundreds of students have already signed on to become urban farmers. Students will cultivate, harvest, cook, and eat their produce. This experience will forever change the way they see fruits and vegetables.
2. Promote Healthy Eating
From broccoli to winter squash, the Urban Farm will grow food for children to prepare and eat. Cooking and nutrition lessons will teach our farmers to enjoy fresh, organic food and encourage healthier eating habits.
3. Enhance Soil Quality
The organic Urban Farm will recondition the soil which was greatly disturbed for five years with the construction of the new #1 subway tunnel. After composting, this parkland will be ready to welcome the new Battery Bikeway Gardens.
4. Foster a Stronger Community Downtown
The Urban Farm at the Battery embodies the mission of the Battery Conservancy: growing our community and contributing to the health and happiness of all who visit the park.
5. Revive the Past, Build the Future
In the early 17th century, The Battery was home to the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, where settlers cultivated New York's first farms. With the Urban Farm, we are looking to our landscape's history and escorting our city into the future.
Description
The Battery Conservancy presents the first Urban Farm at the Battery since the Dutch planted their cottage gardens in New Amsterdam in 1625.
This innovative project began with a request from students of Millennium H.S.'s Environmental Club to plant a vegetable garden in the park.
The Conservancy embraced this request, and launched a farming initiative that now includes more than 450 students from eight schools neighboring the Battery.
The Battery Conservancy is expanding the program to include community groups, residents and the neighboring workforce who long to give their hands and hearts to cultivating and harvesting home-grown food.
An acre of the Battery's parkland along State Street, disrupted by five years of construction on the #1 subway train, will be revived and transformed into 80 organic vegetable plots. The Farm will be situated on the Battery Lawn until construction begins on the Battery Garden Bikeway in 2012.
The Urban Farm at the Battery promotes hands-on learning in subjects ranging from the living environment, health, and nutrition history, to history, civics, and the arts.
