Yonkers Floating Farm Provides Look to the Future

Youth in Yonkers will benefit from a new training program in hydroponic farming.

Juliette tomatoes are one of the vine plants grown on the Science Barge in Yonkers, N.Y. Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times

YONKERS, N.Y.—Youth in Yonkers will benefit from a new training program in hydroponic farming.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand helped Groundwork Hudson Valley get an award of $190,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Community Food Project, a program that aims to assist low-income communities in becoming more self-sufficient.

Southwest Yonkers—the part of Yonkers served by Groundwork Hudson Valley—has some of the highest crime rates in Yonkers and 37 percent of youth aged 18–24 do not have high-school diplomas, according to Groundwork Hudson Valley’s website.

“This is an important long term investment into our local community here in Yonkers,” Gillibrand said, referring to the Science Barge, floating behind her off the downtown waterfront of the Hudson River.

The Science Barge manifests a futuristic vision of sustainable hydroponic farming.