80 Acres Farms Will Grow Tomatoes On Fifth Avenue In Guggenheim Exhibition
80 Acres Farms will grow tomatoes on one of the busiest streets in New York City outside the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as part of the Guggenheim’s new exhibition in collaboration with Rem Koolhaas, “Countryside, The Future.”
Along with its commercial partners Infinite Acres and Priva Holding BV, 80 Acres Farms will grow cherry tomatoes in an indoor grow module right outside the museum on Fifth Avenue.
Based in Hamilton, Ohio, 80 Acres Farms is a leader in technology-assisted indoor growing and a multi-farm operator marketing a wide variety of freshly picked vegetables and fruits to retailers such as Giant Eagle, Kroger, Whole Foods, Jungle Jim’s and Dorothy Lane Markets.
The company was founded by veteran food industry executives Mike Zelkind and Tisha Livingston, who are supported by a deep team and a board of directors representing executive and leadership experience at leading food, healthcare and other companies.
Window on tomato production
People in New York will be able to look through a large window in the indoor farm to view a crop of fresh tomatoes being grown continuously during the next six months under precise LED lighting and other controlled conditions.
The first tomatoes will be ready for harvest by late-March.
The grow module will demonstrate how indoor farming can benefit the world through growing fresh, pesticide-free food near populations, anywhere in the world while using fewer natural resources.
The “Countryside, The Future” exhibition will examine political forces, social issues and environmental factors altering landscapes across the world, including traditional farmlands.
80 Acres Farms is a founding member of the Infinite Acres partnership venture, along with Netherlands-based Priva Holding BV, a leading provider of technology solutions, services and automation systems to horticultural and other industries; and Ocado Group, one of the world’s largest dedicated online grocery retailers, operating its own grocery and general merchandise retail businesses.
That partnership is now building large-scale, fully automated indoor farms in the U.S., Asia and Europe.
“We believe that what we are doing is about the future of food. We are changing the way fruits and vegetables are grown and harvested locally then delivered to grocers the very next day,” Zelkind said.
“There is an enormous market and consumer appetite around the world for produce that our crop scientists and other food experts have been perfecting during the past five years,” he said. “Our participation in this exhibition will allow New York residents and visitors to experience how the freshest, tastiest locally grown tomatoes can be grown year-round indoors in one of the busiest cities in the world.”
700-square-foot grow center
For the Guggenheim exhibition, 80 Acres Farms, Infinite Acres, and Priva Holding have collaborated on the 700-square-foot grow center and all of the state-of-the art ag-technology within it.
While in operation for the next six months outside the Guggenheim, the Infinite Acres grow module is expected to grow 50,000 tomatoes.
Additional tomatoes will be donated to City Harvest, a New York City food rescue organization that safely recovers excess food and distributes it to people in need.
“Countryside, The Future” will be open to the public through Aug. 14.