A new pop-up greenhouse could make its way to the Cypress Hills neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn. As part of an effort to battle the trend of obesity and diabetes in the low-income neighborhood, the conceptual Greenhouse Project will offer the community healthy foods in an otherwise nutrition wasteland. The hydroponic hub by New York Sun Works is a collaboration with desigNYC and could provide the area with 8,000 pounds of produce every three months.

The greenhouse is proposed to be constructed on a city owned brownfield site in Cypress Hills with temporary pop-up status, reducing the need for complicated building permits. Since the area has many vacant lots, it can be moved at will. The organization NY Sun Works has been working to make the area a more green, sustainable area to live in, and the greenhouse is a major step in doing so, not only providing green space, but also yielding healthy foods.

Aside from providing organic food, the Greenhouse Project aims to get community residents excited about revamping their diets, offering classes on urban agriculture and greenhouse construction. Local schools will be invited to visit the pop-up greenhouse for classes on climate change, sustainability, science and nutrition.

If the Greenhouse Project’s concept becomes a reality, a community that would normally not be able to afford farm fresh produce will have access to farm-to-table goods, without leaving their neighborhood. The Greenhouse Project already has a presence in schools across Manhattan, with several in-school hydroponic farms in operation since 2008.

+ The Greenhouse Project

Via FastCoDesign