Growing Cities: The Roots of Agriculture in NYC
Taught by Ansley Watson
Ansley is all about food, for work and play. She has a master’s degree from the NYU Food Studies program and teaches Food and Culture at Hudson County Community College. In her free time, Ansley likes to experiment with brewing, baking, and ice cream making. Her writings are published in The Cultural Encyclopedia of Vegetarianism and They Eat That.
Today New York City is home to over 8 million residents: one of the most densely populated areas on Earth. Walking through the grid in Midtown, it is hard to imagine a rural scene with grains waving and sheep grazing. But as recently as the 1940s, crops grew in every borough, including Manhattan.
We’ll explore how the city evolved from tracts of family farms growing tomatoes and corn to the familiar grid linked by subways and miles of paved roads.
Now that urban farmers are tending bees on rooftops and planting herbs in community gardens, the city is returning to its agricultural roots. This class is for anyone intrigued by the history of the city. You’ll never see Times Square the same way again.
(Class size: 20, lecture style + q&a)
