This amazing garden is on the roof of a building

Apprentices Eric Hussey (left) and Christopher Braun weed a kale garden on the rooftop garden of McCormick Place in Chicago. Photos: TNS

For more than a decade, Chicago has been at the forefront of the green-roof movement in the United States. Now the city is poised to take an active role in the next environmental push – using roofs to grow food. It’s a movement that is sparking interest in cities nationwide.

Rooftop farms are popping up around the city, from the McCormick Place convention centre, which has grown tens of thousands of pounds of produce since 2013, to a historic neighbourhood factory – expected to have the world’s largest operation when it’s completed later this year – to small businesses and educational programmes.