World's Largest Rooftop Urban Farm to Open in Paris

Who doesn’t love a good urban farmers market? That’s right, everybody does. It’s so much fun to walk from stall to stall picking out the freshest, greenest produce while meeting the workers who actually grow the food. For all you fellow farmers market lovers, the world’s largest urban rooftop farm will open in Paris in 2020! It will produce over a thousand fruits and vegetables every day. The farm will span 14,000 square meters at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. The project is headed by Viparis, Europe’s leader in trade and conference events, in collaboration with Agripolis and Culture en Ville, two companies that specialize in urban agriculture. Agripolis explained the aim of urban rooftop farm project. “The goal is to make this urban farm a globally recognized model for responsible production, with nutrients used in organic farming and quality products growing in rhythm with nature’s cycles, all in the heart of Paris.”

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According to House and Leisure, Agripolis uses innovative techniques to create produce and the project will be installed with soil-free aeroponic “vertical farms.” Using this method, there will be no need of pesticides ensuring a low carbon footprint and optimizing water usage. The urban farm will also offer services related to urban agriculture, including educational tours, leasing vegetable plots for locals, and team-building workshops. Founder of Agripolis, Pascal Hardy explains that the new rooftop farm will supply multiple surrounding industries. ‘By installing working farms on the sites we operate, we are helping to foster environmental and economic resilience in tomorrow’s cities. This is our guiding principle. To this end, the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles site will supply restaurants in the complex, primarily Le Perchoir, but also residents of southern Paris and neighbouring municipalities, either directly or through distribution, company canteens and hotels.’