Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore on Monday announced that the city's central business district (CBD) is starting to produce fresh crops as vegetable patches throughout the CBD has transformed the city as part of the 'Live Green' summer planting program.

The Lord Mayor said over the coming weeks fresh crops of corn, tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums, sunflowers, lettuce and silver beet will grow and ripen before city dwellers' eyes.

"More than 30,000 individual plants are on display across ten different City locations including Martin Place and Hyde Park and some are already flowering and producing vegetables," the Lord Mayor said.

"Often people who live and work in the CBD don't get the chance to get up close to the process of growing fresh produce and these patches are a live example of how they can grow in pots and inner city conditions very successfully.

"Growing some of your own vegetables is a practical, cost effective and sustainable way to help reduce the carbon emissions, water and energy used to deliver food from growers to shoppers."

In Australia, the food supply chain produces 23 per cent of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions - that includes direct emissions from agriculture and emissions generated from energy, transport, food production, processing and distribution.

"While it's impractical for everyone to be able to grow all the vegetables they will ever need, these figures highlight how important it is to shop locally and buy home grown produce," the Lord Mayor said.

"Often consumers don't think about where their fresh produce has come from but I hope as we watch these vegetables grow around the CBD, we take a moment to think about local farmers and the hard work they put into growing our fresh food. It's a great reminder that we should all be supporting local farmers."

The Live Green exhibits were created on behalf of the City of Sydney by open space provider Citywide.

"Our team of horticulturalists welcomed the opportunity to create these environmentally friendly displays to brighten up this already beautiful city. If we can show people how easy it is to 'live green' and lessen their environmental impact, the hope is we can all make a change for the better," said Citywide Managing Director Kerry Osborne.

Grown over the past five months, it took fifteen Citywide employees over eight days to install the displays across Sydney.

The displays will be in place for six to ten weeks and the City will work with community gardeners to harvest and distribute the fresh produce.

The plants will be donated to community gardens and schools for planting and growing when the display is over.

'Live Green' displays are in the following locations:

* QVB Forecourt and Town Hall Square

* Martin Place

* Cathedral Square

* Green Square

* Hyde Park Barracks

* Hyde Park South

* ITAC, Ultimo

* Customs House Square, AMP Forecourt & Alfred St

* Darlinghurst Road - Greenwall 2