City Greens Community Farm, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to education and advocacy for hydroponic farming, saw significant growth in 2024.
Formerly known as the Beverly Hills Community Garden, the West Los Angeles-based organization increased the number of schools they work with, raised substantial funds through development efforts and strengthened their ties to the local and national community.
Hydroponic farming allows plants to grow in a liquid solution instead of in soil, allowing for growth year-round and indoors. The practice uses less water than traditional farming, and often allows plants to grow more quickly.
“We really feel that growing food [hydroponically] on a big scale in cities is the future of where our food is going to have to come from,” says Jen Levy, City Green’s founder and executive director. “We can’t really rely on the land anymore, and water continues to be an issue everywhere. So, the more people we can educate, the better.”
As part of their widespread education programming, City Greens works closely with Beverly Hills Unified School District, where Levy offers classes and workshops for students.
In 2024, the organization strengthened its program at Beverly Vista Middle School. The school has one hydroponic tower, and Levy teaches sustainable growth practices to sixth-grade science classes.
At Beverly Hills High School, Levy works with students in Advanced Placement Biology, Advanced Placement Human Geography and Environmental Science, as well as the special needs program. The school has five hydroponic towers, and in 2024, students began taking a more active role in tending them.
“One thing that we added this year [was] a City Greens Club at the high school that the students are running, along with one teacher,” Levy says. “For the first time, the students are taking part in the maintenance and the planting and the seeding of what goes into each hydroponic tower.”
In addition to its work in Beverly Hills, City Greens offers education programs at Los Angeles schools, including Temple Israel of Hollywood, Brentwood School, Crescenta Valley High School, Santa Rosa de Lima Catholic School and Middleton Elementary School. Outside of Los Angeles, City Greens has programs in Beachwood, Ohio and Maui, Hawaii.
Both the Ohio and Maui programs use food grown in their hydroponic towers for school lunch.
“Everything they grow in the towers goes directly into their salad bar and their hot lunch program,” says Levy.
Levy notes that the City Greens program in Maui has also helped the community reach its goal of increased sustainability following the 2023 wildfires that damaged large swaths of the island.
“After [the fires], they really wanted to start establishing and building an on-campus garden, and to figure out how to grow their own food and teach the students about that,” says Levy. “I go every few months to do some education with those students, and I also meet with those teachers virtually to help with the maintenance and any questions or updates they have.”
In addition to its ongoing work with schools, City Greens this year established a partnership with Gro iQ, a company that offers, in part, high-quality sensors that can accurately test hydroponic growth elements such as light, heat and carbon dioxide.
“The sensors that they have are significantly more comprehensive than what we’re already using,” says Levy. “We’re trying to figure out how to be as precise and accurate as possible with our growth cycles, and they’re helping us do that.”
Locally, City Greens has also donated a hydroponic container to the Beverly Hills Fire Department station on Rexford Drive, which uses some of the plants produced therein for their cooking.
Having a container at the fire station is “a way for people to see the difference between locally grown hydroponic food versus non-hydroponic local food,” says Levy.
Local organizations and groups supporting City Greens include the city of Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Education Foundation, We Benefit Children, Beverly Hills Rotary Club and the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles.
