Not only do urban rooftops provide the space, sunlight and fresh air plants need to thrive, but in especially challenged neighborhoods they also provide a safe space for community members to interact with nature.

At the Gary Comer Youth Center on Chicago’s South Side, students cultivate and maintain an 7,400-square foot rooftop vegetable garden. The garden is part of a comprehensive “seed-to-table” program where participants (ages 13-18) not only plant and harvest everything from pumpkins to popcorn to potatoes in the 18-24 inches of engineered lightweight growing media on the roof, but they also take part in culinary classes where they learn to prepare fresh and nutritious meals with the produce they’ve grown.