A floating food forest on a 50-foot platform made from shipping containers will dock in New York City waters throughout 2016.

Public Food in Public Space
Swale is a collaborative floating urban food project dedicated to rethinking and challenging New York City’s connection to the environment. Fiscally sponsored through New York Foundation for the Arts, the project aims to create public food in a public space–it’s a call to action encouraging all of us to “reconsider our food systems, to confirm our belief in food as a human right, and to pave pathways to create public food in public space.”

At Intersection of Public Art and Public Service
The floating platform will contain a gangway entrance, walkways, and an edible forest. In support of the idea that art is integral to imagining new worlds, Swale refers to itself as at the intersection of public art and public service, functioning as both a sculpture and a tool for change.

Helping to Cultivate an Edible Ecosystem
Even the kids are weighing in on the idea by offering up their own designs. Last July, thirty young students built modular planter beds for Swale at a workshop at Dwight-Englewood.

Here’s what some others are doing:

Planting Perennials for Permaculture
Casey Tang is currently designing Swale’s plant layout. For a list of plants please visit the Food page, and check in with them in the coming months for more information.

Purifying River Water to Grow Food
Lonny Grafman’s team of engineering students are working on plans to desalinate and clean New York’s river water to grow food on Swale. Check back for more information!

Be a Part of the Swale
Swale poses the questions: 1) How do you envision the relationship between art and the public, and 2) How can the ethos of Swale meet needs in your neighborhood? If you’d like to be a part of the Swale, get in touch with them to help plan this edible ecosystem and visit its various stops in 2016 to take part in the caretaking and harvesting process.

h/t PSFK.