Organic Working Farm Scores Atop Levi’s Stadium with Produce for Fan Food

Faithful Farm

Probably the last thing you’d expect to find at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, home of the San Francisco 49ers football team, would be a working farm. But above the 68,500 stadium seats, 640 floodlights and corporate suites you’d find just that—a thriving rooftop farm aptly named The Faithful Farm.

Here, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, leafy greens and edible flowers are among the 40 rotational crops of vegetables and herbs carefully tended by a team of farmers from an organic urban farming company called Farmscape. Three days a week, rooftop farmers plant, trim, fertilize and harvest produce from the quarter-acre farm for the stadium’s suites, restaurants and private catering events.

Faithful Farm was the brainchild of Danielle York, wife of the 49ers’ chief executive officer. A former public school science teacher with a passion for STEM education, she proposed the idea of an organic rooftop farm after hiring Farmscape to create her own garden in the backyard of her Los Altos home. Working with Lara Hermanson, Farmscape’s co-founder, the idea quickly caught hold and a portion of the existing rooftop succulent and grass garden on top of the stadium was turned into a farm, with the goal of supplying fresh produce and ingredients to the stadium restaurants and food services.

It’s hard to imagine how sustainable, organic farming can flourish 176 feet above ground, given the obstacles of soil weight, water transport, wind and bright sunshine made hotter by reflective roof surfaces, but it does. Over 12,000 pounds of produce has been harvested here since the farm became operational in July 2016.

An example of this abundance is the basil crop. A weekly harvest of basil leaves can easily top 30 pounds and is used by the stadium’s restaurants in less than 10 days, for flavoring salads and to make pesto. Last year, nearly 600 pounds of cucumbers were turned into pickles.

Most of the vegetables and herbs grow in soil just nine inches deep—and perhaps most surprisingly, pumpkins and watermelon are able to thrive in a mere four inches of dirt. Irrigation comes from recycled water that’s purified three ways before reaching the plants. Biochar, a charcoal-like fertilizer made from biomass (organic plant matter), is added to the soil to retain nutrients that would otherwise eventually flow to the creek below the stadium through the irrigation system.

According to Lara, Farmscape coordinates with the stadium’s chefs on what to grow and when to expect it. “We are able to tell them what’s available this week, next week and the next month. We inspire each other on what to plant. It’s a collaboration that means we can offer ultra-local and seasonal food at the stadium.”

Chef Jon Severson, who was recently “drafted” by Levi’s Stadium to lead the stadium’s culinary direction, says having the easily accessible farm means a dependable source for fresh and eclectic herbs and vegetables, allowing chefs to plan creative menus. He points to two little-known plants that might find their way onto drink or salad menus this fall.

“Take buzz buttons. These tiny yellow flowers produce an electrifying sensation in the mouth that could be used—sparingly—in craft cocktails. Faithful Farm is also growing glacier lettuce, a leafy succulent that can be interesting in a salad.”

He says some of the Faithful Farm-to-Fork menu items planned for this fall include free-range chicken infused with farm-grown rosemary, a zesty ZLT flatbread with grilled zucchini, lettuce and tomato, and giardiniera, an Italian-style relish of pickled peppers and other vegetables.

“For football season, we’re growing crops that can be used in a salad, braised or roasted—like arugula, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, thimble carrots and collard greens,” says Lara. “And of course we’ll always have marigolds. These edible flowers not only keep soil pests at bay, we love the color—49er gold!”