GARDENING in FLORIDA: Emmanuel Roux & 15th Street Farm - Earth Month is Everyday Here

In this episode of Gardening in Florida, host Nanette Wiser chats with Emmanuel Roux - food scholar, educator, farmer and restauranteur - about downtown St. Pete's legendary 15th Street Farm which he founded. You can take classes, volunteer and buy vegetables there as well.  https://www.15thstfarm.com Recently they hosted another farm to table dining experience at the venue with more planned for the future. Their Earth Month series includes free weekly homeschool programs and a vibrant Earth Day celebration in collaboration with Sans Market April 19 noon-4pm. This month-long initiative brings together urban farming, sustainability education, and community building—all happening on our half-acre nonprofit farm in the heart of St. Petersburg. They were also part of the Grow Gardens Conference where Roux will be presented on soil health and urban resilience. 

Emmanuel Roux, a Frenchman born in Tunisia, was raised between North Africa and Southern France on wheat and dairy farms. Schooled in England and France, he went on to study hotel management in Switzerland. In 1975, Emmanuel moved to New York City, where he became General Manager of the historic Lotos Club—Manhattan's third oldest club, founded in 1879 and housed in the last private Vanderbilt mansion. Four years later, in Savannah, Georgia, he launched the first national upscale pasta company in the U.S., pioneering the trend of flavored pasta and achieving both national and international distribution. By 1993, he had relocated to St. Petersburg, Florida, where he played a key role in the revitalization of downtown by opening several restaurants along Central Avenue. In 2010, he founded GateauOChocolat, a company dedicated to producing his signature flourless chocolate cake.
15th Street Farm Returning to his agricultural roots, Emmanuel launched a series of urban agriculture initiatives, most notably 15th Street Farm—a half-acre, educational,
organic, regenerative urban vegetable farm located in the heart of downtown St.
Petersburg. The farm also supports and manages school gardens in 15 schools,
and promotes the creation of community and home gardens across the region.
In 2024, 15th Street Farm expanded with the opening of a commercial kitchen
and event space, making it possible to host farm-to-table dinners, cooking classes,
and community outreach programs. Today, this urban oasis serves as a model for
an economically sustainable urban farm—at the intersection of food, education,
and health.
DINING WITH A PURPOSE Emmanuel brings a holistic approach to the relationship between soil, plants, food, and human well-being. He currently consults on regenerative agriculture and is actively developing concepts that integrate agriculture, education, health, and agritourism, with a vision of enhancing urban quality of life.
He is a member of the University of South Florida’s Metropolitan Food Project, a
transdisciplinary initiative exploring the link between soil health and gut
microbiomes, and the role of local food systems in promoting health, economic
development, environmental sustainability, and social resilience.
In 2024, he co-authored La Révolution des Microbiomes: Médecines des Hommes,
Médecines des Sols, a book (to be published in France) that explores the profound
connections between the human body and the living soil beneath our feet.

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