Turnips from Amsterdam? How rooftop gardens can strengthen the food supply chain
‘Darling, fetch some broccoli from the roof, would you?’ This could be a reality in the future. Ecologist Pengxuan Xie investigated whether rooftop farming can contribute to food production in cities.
By Dagmar Aarts
University Leiden
Apr 2, 2026
Excerpts:
Xie wanted to find out how many rooftops are suitable for growing vegetables and how they could contribute to food production. He began his research in Amsterdam. Using a Geographic Information System (GIS), which allows you to view and analyse data on a map, he looked at how many roofs would be suitable for growing vegetables.
After examining 626 other European cities, Xie discovered that food-producing roofs would not yield the same results everywhere. ‘The urban food self-sufficiency depends on the local climate, population density, the size of the city and how many suitable roofs there are,’ he explains. On average, green roofs – with additional watering – can provide between 30 and 40 per cent of the vegetables needed in a European city.
Suitable crops include onions, lettuce, leeks, cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli. ‘I deliberately chose vegetables that are eaten locally,’ says Xie. ‘And the soil layer on a roof is usually no thicker than 20 centimetres, which makes shallow-rooted crops particularly suited to rooftop farming.’
His paper: The opportunities for urban food self-sufficiency through green roofs: Modeling, Optimization, and Policy Scenario Analysis
Read the complete article here.
Source: https://cityfarmer.info/turnips-from-amsterdam-how-rooftop-gardens-can-strengthen-the-food-supply-chain/
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