City harvest: the rooftop revolution taking over Brisbane
The future is wild, and it could be coming to a city near you.
Ellia Guy doesn’t just want our cities to consume food – she wants them to grow it. As founder of Brisbane-based interdisciplinary practice Future Wild, the environmental scientist and her team are at the forefront of the urban agriculture movement, creating kitchen gardens and edible landscapes on rooftops, balconies and underutilised concrete spaces across Brisbane and South East Queensland.
“There is huge untapped potential for food production in our urban spaces,” Guy says. “It’s really easy to overlook how much space in our cities is suitable for growing food.”
By transforming forgotten urban infrastructure into lush, biodiverse micro-farms, Future Wild is doing far more than growing crops. These living installations naturally cool city buildings, capture stormwater and reduce urban carbon footprints by turning food miles into mere metres. And for those who choose to get their hands into the dirt, there are psychological benefits, too.
“Humans have been growing food for 10,000 years,” Guy says. “I really believe that we are happiest when we have some kind of connection to food growing.”
At the heart of Future Wild’s operation is an extraordinary yield: a hugely diverse range of organically grown heirloom, native and specialty vegetables and herbs. Because these crops are harvested at peak perfection and delivered within hours, Future Wild provides local hotels, restaurants and chefs with hyper-seasonal produce that is simply unmatched in freshness and intensity of flavour.
Future Wild’s vision – and its resulting harvest – has earned Guy the One to Watch Award at this year’s delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards – the most prestigious food awards program in the country.
Pioneering zero-waste chef turned winemaker – and Produce Awards National Judge Matt Stone – closely follows Guy’s work: “Future Wild is planning for tomorrow’s cities today,” he says, “offering delicious and nutritious solutions to our ever-growing urban centres by transforming forgotten spaces into thriving food hubs.”
Beyond supplying the kitchens of hospitality venues, Guy’s ultimate aim is to demonstrate the endless possibilities that come from bringing agriculture back into the everyday built environment.
“As Wendell Berry [US writer and environmental activist] says, ‘eating is an agricultural act’,” Guy explains. “Most of us view food and eating as a purely commercial transaction. But… eating with awareness and with connection to and understanding of where your food comes from is a radical and powerful involvement in the agricultural system.
“If you are able to eat even just one meal knowing who grew all the ingredients on your plate, that kind of experience can be life-changing.”
By proving that accessing hyperlocal, nutrient-dense, restaurant-quality food can be a reality no matter where you live, Future Wild isn’t just changing how we eat – they’re rewriting the blueprint for the modern city.
