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3 Questions For Mindful Eating
Free yourself from “relating” with food — it’s not a person, and you don’t owe it anything. Instead of judging past decisions, let’s take a minute to focus on what we really have control over — our next meal.
By Derek Brainard
Jun 6, 2017
Someone Needs to Say It
Food is not good or evil, nor do your decisions about what to eat translate into you being a good, bad, smart, or stupid person. There is no magical transitive power that food possesses that indicates your personality or your character. Free yourself from “relating” with food — it’s not a person, and you don’t owe it anything. Instead of judging past decisions, let’s take a minute to focus on what we really have control over — our next meal.
Mindful Eating
Every day we’re inundated with a new diet — a new way of eating that will “revolutionize” our approach to nutrition, help us lose weight, and get back in shape.
The resulting process has become predictable, and almost cliche — we get motivated, decide it’s time to make a change fueled by this new information, jump in for a few weeks or months, then slowly regress back to habits that have been instilled for the first several decades of our lives, eventually wiping out any progress that was made in the first place.
In fact, researchers from UCLA have found that people on diets typically lose five to ten percent of their starting weight in the first six months, only to have at least one-third to two-thirds of people on diets regain more weight than they lost within four or five years (American Psychologist).
Not surprising, right? Our own collective experience probably supports that claim, leaving us with one big, perpetual question:
How am I supposed to eat?
It is exactly this mindfulness, this quest for finding what works for you, that will eventually lead you to a successful personal nutrition plan. Work with a licensed pro to hone your plan, and as always — consult your doctor when making a change that may impact vital health markers (we hope).
With mindfulness at the center of our conversation, here are three questions to ask yourself when it comes to what you decide to put in your mouth, regardless of what diet or lifestyle you choose.
Why Am I Eating?
Sounds simple enough, but the lack of this question may be one of the greatest causes of our current obesity epidemic in America. As of last year, 38% of adults and 17% of teenagers were considered “obese” — with the operational definition being a Body Mass Index of over 30 (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention).
Starting with why may be the single most powerful filter we as humans can place on our actions. Asking why we engage in any behavior is a step that is often taken for granted, but can yield amazing, behavior-changing results.
The top ways we omnivores tend to approach food consumption come in the following flavors:
Emotionally — This may be the primary way we make food decisions in our daily lives, whether we know it or not. Eating a cookie or having a beer because we “had a hard day” makes no earthly logical sense, but we do it anyway because of the temporary “lift” we may get from a sugar high or a buzz. In a more communal sense, food is typically at the center of celebration. For many families, it would be considered sacrilege to forgo the cake at a birthday in exchange for fruit. Most would never question the alleged benefits of this ritual. As a matter of fact, even suggesting the change might actually incite anger.
Passively — Sometimes, we simply give very little thought at all to what we are putting in our bodies. Mindless eating or snacking falls under this category, and is definitely a culprit of pounds and inches being added to our waistlines each year. Usually happens at a work-desk or during the “witching hours” (anytime after 8 pm).
Addictively — When we legitimately lose control of our ability to make food or drink decisions for ourselves, it may be time to to seek help and engage with one of the many community organizations that exist to help us get back to health.
Culturally — Many cultural traditions are passed down from generation to generation within families — some good, and some potentially damaging. It can be difficult to buck a trend, but when it comes to your health — your body is your temple, and supersedes someone else’s desire to see you eat some fried goodies.
Medicinally — Hippocrates, who many call the father of medicine, said:
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
We may have strayed from this mentality for some time, but thankfully medical professionals are now seeing the benefits associated with a return to a “food as medicine” practice.
OK, so if it’s given that we generally eat because we’re hungry (and there can be false indicators that the body sends in this regard that are outside of the scope of this article), then take some time to ask yourself — how do I typically approach my food-decisions each day? Emotionally, passively, culturally, medicinally, or a mixture?
Simply asking “why am I eating this?” before we ingest may help us determine whether we’re eating for health or for some other reason.
Where Did This Come From?
Asking where our food comes from can also be another great filter for a mindful eater. The movement to locally-sourced, non-modified food is undeniable. A leader in the movement, author Michael Pollan captures the essence of the growing prescription best with his mantra: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”
A number of well-done documentaries exist on this subject, like “Food, Inc.,” “Fresh,” “What’s With Wheat?”, and “In Defense of Food.”
Common themes exist in many of these films, and have beared themselves out in my own experience as well.
Common Themes in Support of Local Food-Sourcing
In our effort to scale food operations (on a massive level), we humans generally make a bigger mess of things, and sometimes even diminish or remove the nutritional values of the many of the foods we are attempting to nourish our society with in the first place.
Knowing where our food comes from is valuable primarily because it allows us to know definitively where it did not come from (e.g. feed lots, chicken factories, chemical-laden crop and wheat fields, etc…).
Look for opportunities in your community to shop at farmers markets or buy directly from the farm, bring the kids out to a sheep-shearing festival, buy from a local butcher, or participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Local, organic and humane farmers need our support to give us the food our bodies need. We vote with our dollars.
How Is This Nourishing My Body?
The third question for mindful eating is another simple, yet overlooked question. Let’s frame this up in the following context:
Just like financial decisions have a positive or negative net effect on our balance sheet, food decisions can have a positive or negative net effect on our health.
Simple concept — exceedingly difficult application.
What I have found in my reading, and my experience as a coach and as an avid foodie, is that different people react differently to the same foods, and that what works for one person won’t necessarily work for another (shocking, I know).
In other words, outside of generally accepted nutrition principles (like Pollan’s mantra), what nourishes one may harm another, especially for those with allergies.
Simply asking “how is this nourishing my body” is a great way to acknowledge and celebrate the benefits of your food-choices, or to recognize that a divergence from the nutrition plan may not have a nourishing effect, but that it is temporary and done for another reason (cultural or celebratory primarily).
Take action in your own life by becoming a student of health and nutrition. This stuff matters, and your successful implementation of a personalized nutrition plan may only be a few steps away. Read books. Talk to local pros, health coaches, experts, and trainers. Listen to podcasts and stay motivated daily. Go back and read the first paragraph of this article — every day if you have to.
Continuously ask yourself the three questions for a life packed with delicious and mindful eating.
For a list of whole-food ideas for your next shopping trip, check out the Level 1 Food List.
Technology Is Shaping The Future of Food But Practices Rooted In Tradition Could Still Have A Role To Play
Its executive summary said the food we consume — and the way we produce it — was “doing terrible damage to our planet and to our health.”
By Anmar Frangoul
August 6, 2021
From oranges and lemons grown in Spain to fish caught in the wilds of the Atlantic, many are spoiled for choice when it comes to picking the ingredients that go on our plate.
Yet, as concerns about the environment and sustainability mount, discussions about how — and where — we grow our food have become increasingly pressing.
Last month, the debate made headlines in the U.K. when the second part of The National Food Strategy, an independent review commissioned by the U.K. government, was released.
The wide-ranging report was headed up by restaurateur and entrepreneur Henry Dimbleby and mainly focused on England’s food system. It came to some sobering conclusions.
Its executive summary said the food we consume — and the way we produce it — was “doing terrible damage to our planet and to our health.”
The publication said the global food system was “the single biggest contributor to biodiversity loss, deforestation, drought, freshwater pollution and the collapse of aquatic wildlife.” It was also, the report claimed, “the second-biggest contributor to climate change, after the energy industry.”
Dimbleby’s report is one example of how the alarm is being sounded when it comes to food systems, a term the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN says encompasses everything from production and processing to distribution, consumption and disposal.
According to the FAO, food systems consume 30% of the planet’s available energy. It adds that “modern food systems are heavily dependent on fossil fuels.”
All the above certainly provides food for thought. Below, CNBC’s Sustainable Future takes a look at some of the ideas and concepts that could change the way we think about agriculture.
Growing in cities
Around the world, a number of interesting ideas and techniques related to urban food production are beginning to gain traction and generate interest, albeit on a far smaller scale compared to more established methods.
Take hydroponics, which the Royal Horticultural Society describes as “the science of growing plants without using soil, by feeding them on mineral nutrient salts dissolved in water.”
In London, firms like Growing Underground are using LED technology and hydroponic systems to produce greens 33-meters below the surface. The company says its crops are grown throughout the year in a pesticide free, controlled environment using renewable energy.
With a focus on the “hyper-local”, Growing Underground claims its leaves “can be in your kitchen within 4 hours of being picked and packed.”
Another business attempting to make its mark in the sector is Crate to Plate, whose operations are centered around growing lettuces, herbs and leafy greens vertically. The process takes place in containers that are 40 feet long, 8 feet wide and 8.5 feet tall.
Like Growing Underground, Crate to Plate’s facilities are based in London and use hydroponics. A key idea behind the business is that, by growing vertically, space can be maximized and resource use minimized.
On the tech front, everything from humidity and temperature to water delivery and air flow is monitored and regulated. Speed is also crucial to the company’s business model.
“We aim to deliver everything that we harvest in under 24 hours,” Sebastien Sainsbury, the company’s CEO, told CNBC recently.
“The restaurants tend to get it within 12, the retailers get it within 18 and the home delivery is guaranteed within 24 hours,” he said, explaining that deliveries were made using electric vehicles. “All the energy that the farms consume is renewable.”
Grow your own
While there is a sense of excitement regarding the potential of tech-driven, soilless operations such as the ones above, there’s also an argument to be had for going back to basics.
In the U.K., where a large chunk of the population have been working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic, the popularity of allotments — pockets of land that are leased out and used to grow plants, fruits and vegetables — appears to have increased.
In September 2020 the Association for Public Service Excellence carried out an online survey of local authorities in the U.K. Among other things it asked respondents if, as a result of Covid-19, they had “experienced a noticeable increase in demand” for allotment plots. Nearly 90% said they had.
“This alone shows the public value and desire to reconnect with nature through the ownership of an allotment plot,” the APSE said. “It may also reflect the renewed interest in the public being more self-sustainable, using allotments to grow their own fruit and vegetables.”
In comments sent to CNBC via email, a spokesperson for the National Allotment Society said renting an allotment offered plot holders “the opportunity to take healthy exercise, relax, have contact with nature, and grow their own seasonal food.”
The NAS was of the belief that British allotments supported “public health, enhance social cohesion and could make a significant contribution to food security,” the spokesperson said.
A broad church
Nicole Kennard is a PhD researcher at the University of Sheffield’s Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures.
In a phone interview with CNBC, she noted how the term “urban agriculture” could refer to everything from allotments and home gardens to community gardens and urban farms.
“Obviously, not all food is going to be produced by urban agriculture, but it can play a big role in feeding local communities,” she said.
There were other positives, too, including flood and heat mitigation. “It’s … all those benefits that come with having green spaces in general but then there’s the added plus, [which] is that you’re producing food for local consumption.”
On urban farming specifically, Kennard said it provided “the opportunity to make a localized food system” that could be supported by consumers.
“You can support farms that you know, farmers that you know, that are also doing things that contribute to your community,” she said, acknowledging that these types of relationships could also be forged with other types of farms.
Looking ahead
Discussions about how and where we produce food are set to continue for a long time to come as businesses, governments and citizens try to find ways to create a sustainable system that meets the needs of everyone.
It’s perhaps no surprise then that some of the topics covered above are starting to generate interest among the investment community.
Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” in June, Morgan Stanley’s global head of sustainability research, Jessica Alsford, highlighted this shift.
“There’s certainly an argument for looking beyond the most obvious … ways to play the green theme, as you say, further down the value and the supply chain,” she said.
“I would say as well though, you need to remember that sustainability covers a number of different topics,” Alsford said. “And we’ve been getting a lot of questions from investors that want to branch out beyond the pure green theme and look at connected topics like the future of food, for example, or biodiversity.”
For Crate to Plate’s Sainsbury, knowledge sharing and collaboration will most likely have a big role to play going forward. In his interview with CNBC, he emphasized the importance of “coexisting with existing farming traditions.”
“Oddly enough, we’ve had farmers come and visit the site because farmers are quite interested in installing this kind of technology … in their farm yards … because it can supplement their income.”
“We’re not here to compete with farmers, take business away from farmers. We want to supplement what farmers grow.”
Lead Photo: Fruit and vegetable allotments on the outskirts of Henley-on-Thames, England.
Why Are Microgreens Often Referred To As Cash Crops?
Microgreens sell at high prices to specific niches: chefs, foodies or just people who pursue a healthy lifestyle because their exceptionally high nutrient density attracts customers who choose a healthy lifestyle. They contain higher vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant levels than mature vegetables
July 14, 2021
Food prices have been dropping for a couple of decades. These days they are barely covering the costs of a farming business. Microgreens in particular are an exception to this paradigm. If you grow smart, these little shoots can help create a very profitable operation.
Smart Farmers elaborates on how growing microgreens can be profitable.
Microgreens sell at high prices to specific niches: chefs, foodies, or just people who pursue a healthy lifestyle because their exceptionally high nutrient density attracts customers who choose a healthy lifestyle. They contain higher vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant levels than mature vegetables. In fact, research comparing microgreens to their mature counterparts report that nutrient levels can be up to 40x higher.
Besides, the flavor of microgreens is so intense that chefs and foodies go nuts over these babies. In addition, they are perfect to use as plate decorations and come in many different varieties. If you decide to only grow microgreens, you’ll still be able to offer a wide variety of products. There are at least 25 types that are commercially popular, and the market still allows for more exploration.
A big advantage for growers is that they can provide up to 35 harvests per year. Depending on the variety, microgreens only need 1 to 2 weeks to grow. Even if for some reason, something goes wrong with a batch, you won’t miss out on an entire seasonal income.
Read the complete article at: Vertical Farm Daily:
For more information:
Smart farmers
www.smartfarmers.eu
An Affordable Solution To Monitor And Optimize Food Production
Ecobloom, a startup based in Stockholm, provides two different solutions to the vertical farming space. The first solution is a B2B product, namely an AI solution ensuring automated growing of the plant and monitors plant food production at the same time
By Rebekka Boekhout
July 9, 2021
“We’re helping farmers optimize their food production through more efficient yield management,” says Hamza Qadoumi, CEO and founder of Ecobloom. “Also, cost reduction comes in through a significant reduction in labor and yield increases up to 2 times more per year through accurate predictions. The system allows us to reduce food waste up to 20% through yield prediction and our deviation analysis.”
Ecobloom, a startup based in Stockholm, provides two different solutions to the vertical farming space. The first solution is a B2B product, namely an AI solution ensuring automated growing of the plant and monitors plant food production at the same time. With already a successful consumer product on the market, their focus is to offer smart technology solutions for the indoor farming market.
The pilot farm
Smart sensor - EcoSense
The company provides a software-connected plug-and-play solution named EcoSense. EcoSense is a small box that can basically be placed anywhere on the farm, such as above shelves to monitor plant growth. EcoSense comes in two formats: a camera for growth and plant analysis, sensors for water analysis and sensors for air analysis. Next to that the sensors predict yield, so lots of data can be gathered to keep improving this. Hamza notes, “We’re now looking at venturing with flowers and fruit greenhouse growers in Spain, Holland, The UK and the Middle East region.
The core solution of the device is hardware, sensors and cameras. Through these elements, the environmental sensors and plant environment is captured by data collectors and cameras throughout the plant’s life cycle. According to Hamza, farmers need about 1 device per 100m2. The wifi-connected cameras and sensors are modular solutions, using machine learning to constantly monitor and analyze plant development, health and stress. Through camera recognition, a certain yield outcome and deviations can be predicted.
Read the rest of the article here
For more information:
Hamza Qadoumi, CEO and founder
Ecobloom
hamza@ecobloom.se
www.ecobloom.se
"Central And Eastern Europe Can Be The Powerhouse of Global Food Security"
"Closed-system farming helps tackle the biggest challenges in global food supply security", says Tungsram president & CEO Joerg Bauer
July 6, 2021
"Closed-system farming helps tackle the biggest challenges in global food supply security", says Tungsram president & CEO Joerg Bauer.
Climate change causing extreme weather conditions in certain areas, overpopulation, soil contamination, the depletion of areas suitable for agricultural production, urbanization, and growing demand for quality food all point toward the increasing importance of local indoor farming and urban vertical farms. The world’s population is predicted to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 (2 billion more than today), with most of the growth set to take place in Africa and developing countries where climate change hits the hardest. Moreover, in just 10 years, humanity will need 50% more food than today (calculating with a current annual growth rate of 5%).
"We are convinced that outdoor farming alone will not be able to meet these challenges. The much-needed technological advances of precision agriculture, improved seeds, and irrigation will be needed to counterbalance the adverse impact of climate change alone: innovative solutions designed to ensure food security must complement this huge undertaking. Indoor farming stands out as one of the best-suited solutions," he explains.
"Indoor farms are highly water-efficient installations that take up considerably less space, and are independent from weather conditions and the change of seasons. Paired with other technology-driven solutions, these farms can be the guarantees of basic human wellbeing for billions of people, where basic wellbeing is defined by 2,200 calories of healthy, balanced food intake and 10 liters of water (for drinking, basic hygiene and cooking) per person a day."
Joerg Bauer with Tungsram
The company supplies LED / Vertical Farming solutions
Innovation and investment
However, for this exciting disruptive technology that balances on the thin line between agriculture, industry 4.0, and digital technology to provide real global solutions and be able to produce staple food for the masses, including integrated ecosystems that can also feed animals in a sustainable way, a lot of innovation and investment is necessary. "Humanity will have to embrace sources of food that go beyond the traditional approach, such as algae, bacteria, or insects, which often have a much higher conversion rate of feed intake to edible food. By cleverly combining different elements such as vertical farms, animal husbandry, insects, and fish, we can get very close to a zero-waste cluster with optimal productivity – allowing strategic autonomy even in countries with adverse climatic conditions."
Although Central and Eastern Europe do not typically bear the brunt of the most severe consequences of climate change and food scarcity, an increasing number of European initiatives focus, for example, on the impact of the 24% decline in water sources on the continent in the last few years.
"However, the CEE region could play a much bigger role than simply making the necessary investments to solve its own looming climate problems. I have always looked at the CEE region as a historically well-established bridge connecting Europe with developing countries in need and working closely with North Africa and the Middle East. It is up to the nations of this region, to us, to understand what happens to geopolitical stability if we fail to help these developing countries to deal with all the negative, sometimes catastrophic consequences of climate change and fast population growth. In addition to being our basic social responsibility and humanitarian obligation to offset these effects, it is also in our very own interest to act. Innovation is needed to propel sustainable food production forward and end hunger in the world," Joerg adds.
"Central and Eastern Europe’s commitment therefore should be to become a global food security powerhouse that develops and starts scaling the solutions, which will allow the citizens of developing countries to live a sustainable and worthwhile life in their home regions."
What should governments and businesses in the region do to achieve this?
"They should acknowledge that the CEE region could potentially play a significant role in these solutions and provide funding for research and innovation to scale food security. By doing so, we would all be working to make the world more livable and we would physically be sowing the seeds of human happiness."
Written by Joerg Bauer President & CEO of Tungsram, originally published in Globsec Disruptive Tech Trends in CEE
For more information:
Tungsram
Keith Thomas, Commercial Leader
keith.thomas2@tungsram.com
agritech.tungsram.com
PinDuoDuo: Building A More Resilient Food System With Technology - July 14 -15
Join us virtually for our inaugural Food Systems Forum, which will convene experts from around the world to share their insights and spark further connections and potential collaborations
The pandemic has shone a light on how fragile and intertwined our global agri-food supply chain is, making it even more pressing to push for food systems innovation and change. Can we leverage technology to build a more resilient food system that feeds more people and feeds them better?
Join us virtually for our inaugural Food Systems Forum, which will convene experts from around the world to share their insights and spark further connections and potential collaborations.
Register To Join The Conversation
Food Is Poised To Get A Lot More Expensive, But It Doesn’t Have To
Today, with inflation on the rise, we need to consider what we can do to ensure the cost of a healthy diet stays within reach. There are two broad approaches. The first is to reduce poverty. The second is to reduce the cost of food.
June 21, 2021
As we emerge from the pandemic, people everywhere are facing punishing housing costs and stagnant wages. At the grocery store, consumers are also confronting rising food prices, a sobering reminder that good food costs too much for too many.
Consumers aren’t used to expensive food. Over the past few years, most North Americans have typically spent around 10 per cent of household income on sustenance. In 1900, (when housing was much more affordable), food costs took up 42 per cent of incomes in the United States.
By 1950, new agricultural technologies had boosted production, helping slash costs to 30 per cent, but the gains were just beginning. The number fell to 18 per cent by 1960, and has mostly trended downward since.
We’re not used to expensive food, because it’s been relatively cheap for so long. (Unsplash)
Today, with inflation on the rise, we need to consider what we can do to ensure the cost of a healthy diet stays within reach. There are two broad approaches. The first is to reduce poverty. The second is to reduce the cost of food.
Both approaches are necessary but we’re focusing on the latter: how to keep food costs down. In particular, we believe that with the right strategies, in the relatively near future, even healthy food may be cheaper than ever. The key will be technology and policy. To the doubters, and we know there are many, consider the following example.
40-year-old wager
In 1980, an economist made a bet against an ecologist.
Julian Simon, a business professor at the University of Maryland, wagered Paul Ehrlich, an ecologist at Stanford University, that the cost of raw materials would fall over the decade. Ehrlich chose a set of raw materials and the two agreed to reconvene on Sept. 29, 1990. If prices rose (a sign of scarcity), Ehrlich won. But if they fell (a sign of abundance), Simon would come out on top.
The reason for the bet related to each man’s worldview. Simon was a strong proponent that innovation and technology allow us to overcome limits to growth. Ehrlich observed the world’s environmental problems and argued the result of population growth would be famine, scarcity and ruin.
Forty years later, with the spectre of inflation twinned with climate change, a similar debate is emerging. We’d like to advance our notion, more aligned with the optimism expressed by Simon. We believe that thanks to technology, healthy food might actually become cheaper — radically cheaper — over the next 20 years as innovation provides many tools to overcome some of the problems caused by resource scarcity.
How can we do it?
Today, a wave of technological innovation is sweeping over food and farming systems. Better quality seeds are helping farmers all over the world remain productive during droughts.
Smart tractors, new “green chemistry” platforms and nanotechnology promise that in the near future farmers will reap record harvests while only applying a fraction of the fertilizers and pesticides they once did.
Greenhouses could result in fresh fruits and vegetables grown in close proximity to consumers. (Erwan Hesry/Unsplash)
Cellular agriculture, which involves producing animal proteins in bioreactors or fermentation tanks, is poised to produce an enormous amount of protein.
And extraordinary improvements in artificial lighting and automation suggest that even fruits and vegetables may soon be produced at low costs in greenhouses and vertical farms close to consumers.
‘Good cheap’ versus ‘bad cheap’
But before we get too carried away, there is an important nuance. If food is cheap because the environment is exploited, or agricultural workers and farm animals are treated badly, then having cheap food won’t solve any problems.
Similarly, if cheap food is low-quality and unhealthy, that doesn’t help either. When it comes to cheap food, we have to distinguish between “good cheap” and “bad cheap.”
Migrant workers do maintenance at an asparagus farming facility in southwestern Ontario that experienced a COVID-19 outbreak. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Ensuring we end up on the right side of this equation is where policy comes in. Government regulations must put a price on things like greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution so that farmers who are good stewards of the environment are rewarded.
Similarly, animal welfare must be protected and labour compensated appropriately (both in agriculture and across the economy). If we calibrate the right policies, then the technologies that are giving us new ways of producing food really have the potential to lower the cost of healthy, sustainable and affordable nutrition. Good food won’t have to cost the earth.
Who won the bet?
The economist won the bet against the ecologist. All of the resources Ehrlich identified declined in price over the 1980s. Simon crowed about the role of ingenuity and innovation. Ehrlich grumbled he’d chosen badly and a recession in 1990 artificially dampened prices.
Both academics were partly right and partly wrong. Ehrlich underestimated the innovation Simon celebrated. But Simon did not appreciate the importance of a strong policy to protect labour and the environment.
As we look at the 21st century, a century that threatens both massive disruptions but also promises huge innovations, we need two things.
First, we must capitalize on the technology that can help us change the way we produce food. And we can never forget the importance of public policy to ensure there’s a fair price put on things such as biodiversity, climate change, human labour and animal welfare.
If we embrace both of these principles, there is a very real chance that we will be able to bring the price of producing healthy food down without destroying the ecosystems we all depend on for life.
Authors
Director of the Arrell Food Institute and Professor in the Dept. of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Guelph
Canada Research Chair, Food Security and the Environment, University of The Fraser Valley
Disclosure statement
Evan Fraser is director of Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph, co-chair of the Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council, is vice-chair of the Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security, and a scientific advisor to the vertical farming startup Cubic. He receives funding from the Canadian government and is affiliated with the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars.
Lenore Newman is the Director of the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, is the chair of the science advisory for Cubic Farms, and receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council
Partners
University of Guelph provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation CA.
University of Guelph provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA-FR.
The Conversation UK receives funding from these organisations
Jo Adetunji
Managing Editor
Agriculture Climate change Food Animal welfare Public policy Food production Grocery stores Food inflation Migrant farm workers
PinDuoDuo: Building A More Resilient Food System With Technology - July 14 -15
Join us virtually for our inaugural Food Systems Forum, which will convene experts from around the world to share their insights and spark further connections and potential collaborations
The pandemic has shone a light on how fragile and intertwined our global agri-food supply chain is, making it even more pressing to push for food systems innovation and change. Can we leverage technology to build a more resilient food system that feeds more people and feeds them better?
Join us virtually for our inaugural Food Systems Forum, which will convene experts from around the world to share their insights and spark further connections and potential collaborations.
Register To Join The Conversation
Vertical Farming Startup Oishii Raises $50m In Series A Funding
“We aim to be the largest strawberry producer in the world, and this capital allows us to bring the best-tasting, healthiest berry to everyone.”
By Sian Yates
03/11/2021
Oishii, a vertical farming startup based in New Jersey, has raised $50 million during a Series A funding round led by Sparx Group’s Mirai Creation Fund II.
The funds will enable Oishii to open vertical strawberry farms in new markets, expand its flagship farm outside of Manhattan, and accelerate its investment in R&D.
“Our mission is to change the way we grow food. We set out to deliver exceptionally delicious and sustainable produce,” said Oishii CEO Hiroki Koga. “We started with the strawberry – a fruit that routinely tops the dirty dozen of most pesticide-riddled crops – as it has long been considered the ‘holy grail’ of vertical farming.”
“We aim to be the largest strawberry producer in the world, and this capital allows us to bring the best-tasting, healthiest berry to everyone. From there, we’ll quickly expand into new fruits and produce,” he added.
Oishii is already known for its innovative farming techniques that have enabled the company to “perfect the strawberry,” while its proprietary and first-of-its-kind pollination method is conducted naturally with bees.
The company’s vertical farms feature zero pesticides and produce ripe fruit all year round, using less water and land than traditional agricultural methods.
“Oishii is the farm of the future,” said Sparx Group president and Group CEO Shuhei Abe. “The cultivation and pollination techniques the company has developed set them well apart from the industry, positioning Oishii to quickly revolutionise agriculture as we know it.”
The company has raised a total of $55 million since its founding in 2016.
The Food Sustainability Dream
GCC countries are food-secure while not yet self-sufficient. Technology and policies seem to be areas that will help the region get self-sufficient, according to several experts from the region.
MITA SRINIVASAN
Food Security is everyone’s responsibility in the GCC. According to Satvik Jaitly, Consultant for Food & Nutrition at Frost & Sullivan in a special report to SME10x, the volatility in oil demand and trade disruptions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about the current status quo and the future outlook of food security in the GCC. No product or commodity carries the immediacy or political sensitivity of food.
Chandra Dake, Executive Chairman and Group CEO at Dake Group, agrees with Jaitly. “If the recent pandemic has shown us anything, it is that such dependencies are not as sustainable as previously presumed. As circumstances change so do requirements, and as populations rise, producers and exporters may prioritize internal markets, logistics could get disrupted and prices could fluctuate, anytime. Therefore, going forward, food security has to take a strong self-sufficiency focus.”
Dake feels that the region needs to acknowledge that conventional, intensive farming is not feasible in the Gulf. “We need cost-effective, eco-friendly and sustainable means to enhance domestic production, by addressing soil and climatic deterrents. In countries like the UAE, where hardly one per cent of the land area is considered arable, we have to enhance agricultural yield per square foot, besides increasing overall production.”
Technology, says Mohamed El Khateb, CPG Segment leader Middle East & Africa at Schneider Electric, is going to transform farming and provide the UAE with food security. In May 2020, the UAE harvested 1,700 kilograms of rice in the emirate of Sharjah. They did this through technology. And given that the UAE imports over 90 per cent of its food, like much of the rest of the Gulf, the country’s leaders want to address the issue of food security, of having access to more food staples locally rather than having to rely on imports.
In Dake’s opinion, a holistic approach involving favourable FDI policies, subsidies, strategic push for agritech, supporting talent etc is needed. Subsidies and grants can entice many entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector. The creation of such an ecosystem requires multi-stakeholder engagement and participation to drive micro sustainability and self-sufficiency. “However, since each economy in the GCC differs in size and capabilities, the transition will require extensive location-specific analysis, followed by strategy and effective on-ground implementation,” he added.
Schneider’s Khateb said, “Policies are one part of the solution. The other will be technology. The Gulf is primarily desert, lacking in water and arable land. Populations are growing, as is consumption. Many of the firms who have joined with the government to look into how to best grow food locally have one thing in common – they’re using agrotech, technology adapted to the agriculture sector, to find the best way to increase harvest yields.”
One area of promise is plant factories. These are facilities that don’t need access to natural sunlight. They use high-intensity lighting and vertical rows to fit as much produce into as small a space as possible, making them incredibly efficient. Plant farms require 95 per cent less water and 99 per cent less land than conventional farms. The farms are monitored by software and don’t use pesticides. Given that they require a smaller space than your traditional farm, plant farms can also be developed closer to or even in cities, cutting down on transportation to the retailer and consumer.
While there are major advantages to plant farming, they do need energy, lots of it. Lights need to be run for two-thirds of the day, and plant factories require heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) to regulate temperature. In fact, plant farms can consume more energy per square foot than a data center. Energy loads will vary based on the plant farm’s size and operations, but the power needs could vary from as little as 500 kilowatts to 15 megawatts.
“We believe that indoor agriculture is going to be one of the four major drivers of electricity consumption over the coming decade,” added Schneider’s Khateb. “What we are looking to do is develop innovative solutions to support this industry. One concept which is proving effective in the United States, which is pioneering plant farms, is the creation of on-site micro-grids.”
The thinking behind using microgrids is simple. Plant farms need power. And they’re often based in urban settings, where electrical distribution is constrained. By setting up a microgrid, which is basically a stand-alone set of energy sources and loads that can operate independently of the main energy network, plant farms can be energy self-reliant, operate at reduced costs, and rely on energy that’s clean.
Schneider is working with a number of plant farms in the US whose microgrids are powered by low-carbon energy through a mix of solar and natural gas. The company is looking at how it can develop feasible ways to have zero carbon microgrids and work through the constraint of space (plant farms are designed to be small, and the amount of surface area needed for solar panelling isn’t feasible in some cases). The energy requirements needed to power all of those lights and HVAC systems is sizable, and the cost of that energy can account for as much as 50 per cent of the operations at a plant factory based on studies in the US. Microgrids can give plant farm owners longer-term visibility over their costs (they’ll be able to calculate costs years in advance).
What’s most exciting for food security is that plant farms can produce significantly higher yields of crops throughout the year, thanks to the technology used to control the lighting, temperature, water and nutrients delivered to the plants. The flexibility of these setups is that the “daytime” for the plants can be in the middle of our night when electrical loads are lower. They can close the lights and simulate “night” for the plants during our daytime when the power loads are higher. In theory, a combination of power fed in from the grid can supplement a plant farm’s microgrid, allowing for even lower costs.
Khateb said, “Plant farms can help reduce the region’s food insecurity and tackle other big issues such as industrial agricultural pollution. Just as important right now, an effective food security response will create tens of thousands of jobs and result in economic gains worth billions of dollars for the country. Technology will both transform our farming for the better and create value for our society and the economy.”
Contrary to the connotation of a hi-tech solution, Dake Rechsand’s value proposition hinges on sustainability. The company’s products and solutions are employable by practitioners across the socio-economic spectrum, from individuals to institutions alike. Dake Rechsand has developed sand technology-based solutions for water-efficient desert farming, aimed at redefining the definition of "arable land", in the UAE and larger Gulf region.
Dake added, “Scarcity of water is a critical determinant of agricultural productivity. This is why Dake Rechsand has focused on innovations that harvest rain and reduce the water required to grow plants, as the path to achieving self-sufficiency in food production in the GCC. But creating these macro-outcomes requires both top-down initiatives from governments and bottom-up interest from individuals, communities, and corporates. So, we have positioned ourselves uniquely, between both ends of that spectrum, and tailored our offerings accordingly. We are actively onboarding sustainability advocates, administrations and farming communities, through awareness-based action and demonstrable positive impact. And the enthusiastic response our products has validated our strategy, for a self-sufficient and food secure GCC.”
The UAE has employed multiple strategies across the food value chain, focusing on enhancing domestic production, high-tech agriculture policies, research and development policies, import policies, foreign investment strategies, subsidization policies, stockpiling strategies, and food loss strategies, among others. These strategies contribute to addressing issues of food security self-sufficiency, trade, resilience, and sustainability in various degrees. These initiatives are gaining considerable traction due to enhanced public outreach campaigns and continued stakeholder engagements between the government and the private sector.
Plenty Ranked Number One on Prestigious FoodTech 500
Plenty came in first on the ranked list of 500 and out of a total of 2,000 nominees.
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.
Plenty, the flavor-first vertical farming company with a mission to improve the lives of people, plants, and the planet, today announced its #1 ranking on the esteemed Forward Fooding 2020 FoodTech 500.
Referred to as the “Fortune 500 list of agrifood companies,” the FoodTech 500 highlights global entrepreneurial talent at the intersection of food, technology and sustainability. Forward Fooding’s proprietary algorithms evaluate a business on its size, digital footprint and sustainability as measured against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Plenty came in first on the ranked list of 500 and out of a total of 2,000 nominees.
“It is an honor to be included on the FoodTech 500 and we are thrilled to be ranked first,” said Nate Storey, co-founder and CSO of Plenty. “The world is in need of an agricultural revolution, and there are many exciting areas where innovators are changing the future of food. At Plenty, we’re focused on using our proprietary, scalable vertical farming technology to deliver the freshest, most favorable produce year-round, while preserving our most precious resources.”
Plenty grows pesticide-free, non-GMO produce that tastes like it was fresh-picked from the garden because it was. The company ships from its farm to local stores every day. The farm’s controlled environment means the company can grow leafy greens year-round, regardless of the season. Plenty’s leafy greens are so clean, there is no need to wash because there is nothing to wash away - no bleaches, chemicals, soil or pesticides. The company wants the first person to touch their produce to be the consumer opening the package in their kitchen. Plenty plants are cultivated in an optimum growing environment, reaching peak flavors and nutrient value year-round, across every harvest.
The world is running out of usable land for growing crops and the global water supply is under severe threat of depletion. Plenty was founded on the need to create a more sustainable way to grow food using less land and water. Plenty yields hundreds of acres of crops in a building the size of a big box retailer, without cutting down a single tree, and using a fraction of the water required in the field. It’s San Francisco-based farm uses 100% renewable energy, and its greens are stored in 100% recyclable packaging and shipped locally to minimize the transportation footprint. Plenty’s data analytics and machine learning capabilities deliver 200 years’ worth of data each year, helping to quickly iterate and improve farm yield, quality and efficiency.
“The FoodTech 500 was created to shine a spotlight on the leading global innovators across the AgriFoodTech ecosystem, from farm to fork, who are making impactful solutions to better our food system,” said Alessio D’Antino, Forward Fooding founder and CEO. “This year’s list focused on understanding the driving factors behind the leading companies’ success and innovation, and we were thrilled to learn more about the top industry players, like Plenty, that are transforming our food system.”
The list represents 38 technology domains within the AgriFood space, including the broad categories of alternative proteins, farm management and precision farming, and vertical/indoor farming. The full ranking and more data about the 2020’s FoodTech 500 and its methodology can be found here.
About ForwardFooding
Forward Fooding is the world’s first collaborative platform for the food & beverage industry via FoodTech Data Intelligence and corporate-startup collaboration. Data services include The FoodTech Data Navigator data subscription service and facilitating corporate-startup collaboration through bespoke innovation programs and FoodTech consultancy.
To learn more visit: www.ForwardFooding.com
About Plenty
Plenty is an American farming technology company that frees agriculture from the constraints of land, weather, seasons, time, distance, pests, natural disasters, and climate. The company’s plant scientists, engineers, and farmers have developed its indoor vertical farming technology to grow nutrient-rich and pesticide-free plants with extraordinary flavor. The Plenty platform is designed to grow multiple crops in a building the size of a retail box store, yielding hundreds of acres using a fraction of the water and other precious resources. Plenty's flagship farm and headquarters are located in South San Francisco, and the company operates the largest of its kind Research and Development farm in Laramie, Wyoming. Plenty is currently building the world's highest-output, vertical, indoor farm in Compton, California.
View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301005069/en/
CONTACT: Jane Gideon
KEYWORDS: CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ENVIRONMENT TECHNOLOGY OTHER TECHNOLOGY FOOD/BEVERAGE AGRICULTURE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT RETAIL NATURAL RESOURCES SCIENCE OTHER SCIENCE
SOURCE: Plenty
Copyright Business Wire 2021.
PUB: 03/01/2021
Belgian Bio-Planet Now Sells Vertically-Farmed Coriander Too
For us, the story didn't end with sustainable basil.
Just under a year ago, Bio-Planet first introduced its basil to the market. This came from this Belgian store's self-developed vertical farm. "This cultivation method differs from conventional farming. It requires less water and space and fewer nutrients. That results in herbs with tiny ecological footprints. For us, the story didn't end with sustainable basil. We now have the technique down for coriander. We've been selling this second vertically-farmed herb since 19 February. That's in the Bio-Planet webshop and 31 stores", says a representative from this supermarket chain.
"Consistent, year-round quality"
"The Colruyt Group is the only retailer in Belgium with its a self-developed vertical farm. It grew basil plants for Bio-Planet last year. That was in a closed system, in two rows, one above the other. The group could, therefore, test out its vertical farm for a year. That was in all aspects, from production through logistics to sales. And the results are impressive. In a challenging year, we managed to guarantee a stable production of quality basil plants," says Jan Van Holsbeke, Bio-Planet's Manager.
"The global pandemic ensured it wasn't the easiest test year. We had to scale up our vertical farm. That's was due to the increased sales in our stores. At the same time, this demonstrates the power of indoor multilayer cultivation. We can create the perfect growing conditions, regardless of the weather. That means the herbs have consistent, year-round quality. And we can match production to demand." And demand there certainly was. More people bought fresh basil from Bio-Planet last year than the previous year.
"Coriander with a tiny environmental footprint"
Bio-Planet sees potential in this new farming method. They can grow herbs with a minimal ecological footprint. "Up to 20 times less space is needed the same number of plants. They also need 50% fewer nutrients and 90% less water. The herbs are 100% pure too because no pesticides are used," adds the company spokesperson.
"We integrated the farm into one of the group's distribution centres. So, transportation was cut five-fold. The farm uses purified rainwater that's collected on the DC's roof. It has self-developed, energy-efficient LED lighting and an innovative ventilation system. These make the farm very energy efficient. Moreover, the system runs on 100% green electricity. This is generated by wind turbines and solar panels."
“All these factors make the farm and its herbs very sustainable. That's crucial for Bio-Planet. We want to offer our shoppers sustainable, local, innovative products. We think other herbs and even leafy green vegetables can be vertically-farmed too. This, however, requires more research and investment. Also, the technology has to be further developed," concludes Jan.
Vertical Farming ‘At a Crossroads’
Although growing crops all year round with Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) has been proposed as a method to localize food production and increase resilience against extreme climate events, the efficiency and limitations of this strategy need to be evaluated for each location
Building the right business model to balance resource usage with socio-economic conditions is crucial to capturing new markets, say speakers ahead of Agri-TechE event
Image from: Fruitnet
Although growing crops all year round with Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) has been proposed as a method to localize food production and increase resilience against extreme climate events, the efficiency and limitations of this strategy need to be evaluated for each location.
That is the conclusion of research by Luuk Graamans of Wageningen University & Research, a speaker at the upcoming Agri-TechE event on CEA, which takes place on 25 February.
His research shows that integration with urban energy infrastructure can make vertical farms more viable. Graamans’ research around the modelling of vertical farms shows that these systems are able to achieve higher resource use efficiencies, compared to more traditional food production, except when it comes to electricity.
Vertical farms, therefore, need to offer additional benefits to offset this increased energy use, Graamans said. One example his team has investigated is whether vertical farms could also provide heat.
“We investigated if vertical farms could provide not just food for people living in densely populated areas and also heat their homes using waste heat. We found that CEA can contribute to stabilizing the increasingly complex energy grid.”
Diversification
This balance between complex factors both within the growing environment and wider socio-economic conditions means that the rapidly growing CEA industry is beginning to diversify with different business models emerging.
Jack Farmer is CSO at vertical producer LettUs Grow, which recently launched its Drop & Grow growing units, offering a complete farming solution in a shipping container.
He believes everyone in the vertical farming space is going to hit a crossroads. “Vertical farming, with its focus on higher value and higher density crops, is effectively a subset of the broader horticultural sector,” he said.
"All the players in the vertical farming space are facing a choice – to scale vertically and try to capture as much value in that specific space, or to diversify and take their technology expertise broader.”
LettUs Grow is focussed on being the leading technology provider in containerised farming, and its smaller ‘Drop & Grow: 24’ container is mainly focussed on people entering the horticultural space.
Opportunities in retail
“This year is looking really exciting,” he said. “Supermarkets are investing to ensure a sustainable source of food production in the UK, which is what CEA provides. We’re also seeing a growth in ‘experiential’ food and retail and that’s also where we see our Drop & Grow container farm fitting in.”
Kate Hofman, CEO, GrowUp agrees. The company launched the UK’s first commercial-scale vertical farm in 2014.
“It will be really interesting to see how the foodservice world recovers after lockdown – the rough numbers are that supermarket trade was up at least 11 per cent in the last year – so retail still looks like a really good direction to go in.
“If we want to have an impact on the food system in the UK and change it for the better, we’re committed to partnering with those big retailers to help them deliver on their sustainability and values-driven goals.
“Our focus is very much as a salad grower that grows a fantastic product that everyone will want to buy. And we’re focussed on bringing down the cost of sustainable food, which means doing it at a big enough scale to gain the economies of production that are needed to be able to sell at everyday prices.”
Making the Numbers Add Up
The economics are an important part of the discussion. Recent investment in the sector has come from the Middle East, and other locations, where abundant solar power and scarce resources are driving interest in CEA. Graamans’ research has revealed a number of scenarios where CEA has a strong business case.
For the UK, CEA should be seen as a continuum from glasshouses to vertical farming, he believes. “Greenhouses can incorporate the technologies from vertical farms to increase climate control and to enhance their performance under specific climates."
It is this aspect that is grabbing the attention of conventional fresh produce growers in open field and covered crop production.
A Blended Approach
James Green, director of agriculture at G’s, thinks combining different growing methods is the way forward. “There’s a balance in all of these systems between energy costs for lighting, energy costs for cooling, costs of nutrient supply, and then transportation and the supply and demand. At the end of the day, sunshine is pretty cheap and it comes up every day.
“I think a blended approach, where you’re getting as much benefit as you can from nature but you’re supplementing it and controlling the growth conditions, is what we are aiming for, rather than the fully artificially lit ‘vertical farming’.”
Graamans, Farmer and Hofman will join a discussion with conventional vegetable producers, vertical farmers and technology providers at the Agri-TechE event ‘Controlled Environment Agriculture is growing up’ on 25 February 2021.
TURKEY: Vegetables Will Be Grown In The Geothermal Greenhouse Established on 60 Decares In Sivasta
The first seedlings were planted for the products to be grown in the geothermal greenhouse established on 60 decares of land in Sivasta Hot Çermik region
The first seedlings were planted for the products to be grown in the geothermal greenhouse established on 60 decares of land in Sivasta Hot Çermik region.
120 thousand tomato seedlings were planted in a 60-acre glass greenhouse, which was started to be built a year ago in the region and will be heated by geothermal water, which cost about 40 million lira. Sivas Governor Salih Ayhan, Mayor Hilmi Bilgin and former Sivas Mayor businessperson Sami Aydın Stating that Sivas has gained a great value, Ayhan said: “I congratulate our company, which has brought a very high technology and a seminal service to Sivas, for its courage,”.
I can say that it is one of the projects that excites me the most. Sivas is developing in every field, but there is a completely different development in agriculture. I can say that Sivas has gained a very good momentum in agriculture. We use Thermal not only for health tourism but also for visual and cultural purposes. This place almost added value to the region. Saying that the greenhouse will open a vision for Sivas, Bilgin thanked Sami Aydın for bringing a modern, world-class greenhouse to Sivas. The Çermik Region has been distributing healing for years. I hope Sivas will be a cluster with this greenhouse project.
Sami Aydın also said that they have accomplished a first in Sivas and implemented the thermal smart greenhouse project. Stating that he was happy to realise the first seedling planting of such a facility, Aydın said, This is the first greenhouse project in Sivas, a smart greenhouse. While hot Çermik water has been healing for health until today, it will also be healing for agriculture from now on.
In the seedling planting done in accordance with the social distance rules, the protocol members passed through the disinfectant cabin one by one and were taken to the greenhouse area.
Warehouse Becoming Vertical Farms — And They’re Feeding New Jersey
New Jersey's vertical farms are transforming agriculture by helping farmers meet growing food demand. New Jersey Agriculture Secretary Doug Fisher said that while conventional farming in outdoor fields remains critical, vertical farming has its advantages because of its efficiency and resistance to pests and thus less need for chemicals
Image from: New Jersey 101.5
New Jersey's vertical farms are transforming agriculture by helping farmers meet growing food demand.
New Jersey Agriculture Secretary Doug Fisher said that while conventional farming in outdoor fields remains critical, vertical farming has its advantages because of its efficiency and resistance to pests and thus less need for chemicals.
Vertical farming is the process of growing food vertically in stacked layers indoors under artificial light and temperature, mainly in buildings. These plants receive the same nutrients and all the elements needed to grow plants for food.
Vertical farms are also versatile. Plants may be growing in containers, in old warehouses, in shipping containers, in abandoned buildings.
"That's one of the great advantages — that we can put agriculture in the midst of many landscapes that have lost their vitality," said Fisher.
ResearchandMarkets.com says the U.S. vertical farming market is projected to reach values of around $3 billion by the year 2024.
The one drawback is that its operational and labor costs make it expensive to get up and running.
Image from: AeroFarms
In the past decade, however, vertical farming has become more popular, creating significant crop yields all over the state.
AeroFarms in Newark is the world's largest indoor vertical farm. The farm converted a 75-year-old 70,000-square-foot steel mill into a vertical farming operation. AeroFarms' key products include Dream Greens, its retail brand of baby and micro-greens, available year-round in several ShopRite supermarkets.
Kula Urban Farm in Asbury Park opened in 2014. Vacant lots are transformed into urban farms and there's a hydroponic greenhouse on site. That produce is sold to local restaurants.
Beyond Organic Growers in Freehold uses no pesticides and all seeds and nutrients are organic. There's a minimum of 12,000 plants growing on 144 vertical towers. On its website, it says the greenhouse utilizes a new growing technique called aeroponics, which involves vertical towers where the plant roots hang in the air while a nutrient solution is delivered with a fine mist. It also boasts that by using this method, plants can grow with less land and water while yielding up to 30% more three times faster than traditional soil farming.
Vertical farms in New Jersey help feed local communities. Many are in urban areas and are a form of urban farming.
Fisher predicts that vertical farms will be operational in stores and supermarkets around the state.
"It's continued to expand. There's going to be many, many ways and almost any area in the state has the opportunity to have a vertical farm," Fisher said.
Vertical Farming: Ugandan Company Develops Solution for Urban Agriculture
We speak to Lilian Nakigozi, founder of Women Smiles Uganda, a company that manufactures and sells vertical farms used to grow crops in areas where there is limited space
We speak to Lilian Nakigozi, founder of Women Smiles Uganda, a company that manufactures and sells vertical farms used to grow crops in areas where there is limited space.
Image from: How We Made It in Africa
1. How Did You Come Up with the Idea to Start Women Smiles Uganda?
Women Smiles Uganda is a social enterprise formed out of passion and personal experience. I grew up with a single mother and eight siblings in Katanga, one of the biggest slums in Kampala, Uganda. I experienced hunger and poverty where we lived. There was no land for us to grow crops and we didn’t have money to buy food. Life was hard; we would often go to sleep on empty stomachs and our baby sister starved to death.
Growing up like that, I pledged to use my knowledge and skills to come up with an idea that could solve hunger and, at the same time, improve people’s livelihoods, particularly women and young girls living in the urban slums. In 2017, while studying business at Makerere University, I had the idea of developing a vertical farm. This came amid so many challenges: a lack of finance and moral support. I would use the money provided to me for lunch as a government student to save for the initial capital of my venture.
I managed to accumulate $300 and used this to buy materials to manufacture the first 20 vertical farms. I gave these to 20 families and, in 2018, we fully started operations in different urban slums.
2. Tell Us About Your Vertical Farms and How They Work.
Women Smiles vertical farms are made out of wood and recycled plastic materials. Each unit is capable of growing up to 200 plants. The product also has an internal bearing system which turns 360° to guarantee optimal use of the sunlight and is fitted with an inbuilt drip irrigation system and greenhouse material to address any agro-climatic challenges.
The farms can be positioned on a rooftop, veranda, walkway, office building or a desk. This allows the growth of crops throughout the year, season after season, unaffected by climatic changes like drought.
In addition, we train our customers on how to make compost manure using vermicomposting and also provide them with a market for their fresh produce.
Image from: How We Made It in Africa
3. Explain Your Revenue Model.
Women Smiles Uganda generates revenue by selling affordable, reliable and modern vertical farms at $35, making a profit margin of $10 on each unit. The women groups are recruited into our training schemes and we teach them how to use vertical farming to grow crops and make compost manure by vermicomposting. Women groups become our outgrowers of fruits and vegetables. We buy the fresh produce from our outgrowers and resell to restaurants, schools and hotels.
We also make money through partnering with NGOs and other small private organisations to provide training in urban farming concepts to the beneficiaries of their projects.
4. What Are Some of the Major Challenges of Running This Business?
The major challenge we face is limited funds by the smallholder farmers to purchase the vertical farms. However, we mitigate this by putting some of them into our outgrower scheme which helps them to generate income from the fresh produce we buy. We have also linked some of them to financial institutions to access finance.
5. How Do You Generate Sales?
We reach our customers directly via our marketing team which moves door to door, identifying organised women groups and educating them about the benefits of vertical farming for improved food security. Most of our customers are low-income earners and very few of them have access to the internet.
However, we do also make use of social media platforms like Facebook to reach out to our customers, especially the youth.
In addition, we organise talk shows and community gatherings with the assistance of local leaders with whom we work hand in hand to provide educational and inspirational materials to people, teaching them about smart agriculture techniques.
6. Who Are Your Main Competitors?
Just like any business, we have got competitors; our major competitors include Camp Green and Spark Agro-Initiatives.
Image from: The Conversation
7. What Mistakes Have You Made in Business and What Did You Learn From Them?
As a victim of hunger and poverty, my dream was for every family in slums to have a vertical farm. I ended up giving some vertical farms on credit. Unfortunately, most of them failed to pay and we ended up with huge losses.
This taught me to shift the risk of payment default to a third party. Every customer who may need our farms on credit is now linked to our partner micro-finance bank. By doing this, it is the responsibility of the bank to recover the funds from our customers and it has worked well.
8. Apart from This Industry, Name an Untapped Business Opportunity in Uganda.
Manufacturing of cooler sheds for the storage of perishable agricultural produce is one untapped opportunity. Currently, Ugandan smallholder farmers lose up to 40% of their fresh produce because of a lack of reliable cold storage systems.
Providing a cheap and reliable 24/7 cold storage system would dramatically reduce post-harvest losses for these farmers.
Vertical Farming Takes Root In Taiwan
Taiwan is uniquely placed to benefit from the application of information technology to agriculture, enabling it to help provide food for an expanding global population.
Exposed root system for hydroponically grown plants at YesHealth's iFarm in Taoyuan. Photo: Jules Quartly
After becoming a world leader in semiconductors and other electronic products, Taiwan is now looking to smart agriculture as its next vine to climb. The island aims to supply much of the world’s fruit and vegetables within the next 30 years.
This might seem rather unlikely until you consider that the future of farming is not land and labor but factories and robots. Furthermore, Taiwan already possesses in abundance the tools that tomorrow’s smart farmers will use, including solar and advanced light technology, chemicals, gene editing, drones, smart sensors, software, algorithms, data mining, and big data.
Many of these technologies are being put to use in a glittering new 14-story vertical farm at Copenhagen Markets in Denmark’s capital. The first phase of construction of the 7,000-square-meter facility finished in early December. It is one of Europe’s biggest and most efficient vertical farms and was built using a blueprint of patented technologies from Taiwan’s YesHealth Group.
The result of a partnership between YesHealth and Danish agritech startup Nordic Harvest, the farm looks like a fancy warehouse from the outside. The interior is fitted with rows upon rows and columns upon columns of trays containing leafy greens, growing under an intense battery of more than 20,000 smart LED lights. The plants are tended by engineers in lab coats and guided by software that processes over 5,000 individual data points to optimize plant health.
Rows of fresh produce grown under batteries of LED lights at iFarm. Photo: Jules Quartly
The LEDs provide variable spectrum light for 100 different kinds of plants, nanobubble hydroponics oxygenate the roots and inhibit bacterial growth, and liquid microbial fertilizers derived from oyster shells, brown sugar, and soy milk provide essential nutrients for plants and soil. Even the music played to the plants is science-infused, with classical or light jazz music ranging between 115 and 250 Hertz seeming to work best.
Production at the new vertical farm is set to begin in the new year and will scale up to around 3,000 kilograms of leafy vegetables per day by the end of 2021, equating to approximately 1,000 tons of greens annually. Crucially, unlike most farms, these figures are close to guaranteed since production is not at the mercy of climate, the weather, pests and disease, pesticide residue, nitrate levels, or hundreds of other variables that affect traditional farming.
According to Jesper Hansen, YesHealth Group’s Chief Communications Officer, the partnership with Nordic Harvest has been a productive one so far. It took just five months to install the farm and all the produce is pre-sold to ensure the operation is profitable by Q3 of 2021.
“This collaboration is just the start of a long-term journey together,” Hansen said in an email from Denmark. He notes that the two partners plan to expand to other Scandinavian countries over the next several years.
Hansen credits Taiwan for its efficient development of the technology and know-how to reproduce vertical farms all over the world and calls the Danish development “a crucial milestone in our international expansion.” He adds that the company is eyeing new partners in Europe, Asia, and the MENA (the Middle East and North Africa) region.
YesHealth is the brainchild of serial tech entrepreneur Winston Tsai, who started an LCD screen company at age 21. His “eureka moment” came after being diagnosed with liver cancer and partly linking his illness to pollution in foods. After recovering, he made it his mission to produce affordable, pesticide-free produce by harnessing the power of technology.
He founded YesHealth Agri-Biotechnology Co. Ltd. in 2011 and six years later established YesHealth iFarm in Taoyuan’s Luzhu District. The iFarm cultivates an ever-expanding range of leafy vegetables and herbs in a 2,500-square-meter warehouse factory. It produces 1,500 kilograms of leafy greens per day, a yield which the company says is 100 times more efficient than a traditional farm using the same space and requires only 10% as much water. In addition, YesHealth has a farm in China’s Shenzhen, which harvests up to 2,500 kilograms per day.
A tour of iFarm is well worth a visit and introduces the wide variety of plants grown there. Photo: Jules Quartly
YesHealth’s products are sold to major retailers both in Taiwan and abroad, including restaurants, hotels, and airports. Its stated aim is to supply a total of 7,000 kilograms of leafy greens per day worldwide in 2021.
Diners enjoy a meal at iFarm’s restaurant, which overlooks the vertical farm. Photo: Jules Quartly
Having sampled the produce at the iFarm, I can confirm the arugula grown there is as tasty as any I have tried, while the lettuce and leguminous alfalfa is a perfectly clean, green, and crunchy eating experience – the result, I was informed, of an optimal growing environment and harvesting at exactly the right time.
A plate of salad featuring leafy greens grown at the iFarm site. Photo: Jules Quartly
In a sense, it’s back to the future for Taiwan, which had a largely agricultural economy up until the 1950s. Agriculture was one of the pillars supporting the nation’s economic miracle after World War II. With the help of mechanization and productivity gains, agricultural production at that time contributed around a third of Taiwan’s GDP.
In more recent times it has accounted for just 1.8-1.9% of GDP. That greatly reduced figure, which includes animal husbandry, fishing, and forestry, is not due to a decline in agricultural output per se, so much as the growth in manufacturing and the emergence of a pervasive service sector.
Taiwan has a wide range of rich, often volcanic soils that are exceptionally fertile, along with a subtropical climate that provides plentiful sun and rain. It is known as the “Fruit Kingdom” because of the quality of its fruit, with dozens of varieties ranging from bananas and papayas to wax apples and guavas. More than 100 kinds of vegetables grow all year round.
On the other hand, Taiwan’s mainly mountainous geography means just 25% of the land is suitable for farming. Meanwhile, climate change is affecting agricultural production by increasing summer temperatures and making rainfall more unpredictable. At the same time, considerable soil erosion, acidification, contamination by chemicals and heavy metals, and strong pesticide use have diminished soil quality over the last 50 years.
Furthermore, the proportion of Taiwanese involved in farming has rapidly declined, from 37% of the population in the early 1970s to the current 15% or less, according to the Yearbook of the Republic of China. Not only is the farming population declining, but it’s also ageing as well.
Those factors may not pose as much of an issue, however, since the old model of agriculture is being disrupted so dramatically that even economies of scale are being upended. Given the large size and advanced technology of the U.S., it may come as no surprise that it is the world’s biggest exporter of food as measured by value. Second on the list, however, is the Netherlands, which has just 0.045% the area of the U.S.
According to a National Geographic report in September 2017, the Netherlands’ achievement can be attributed to the work coming out of Wageningen University & Research, 80 kilometres from Amsterdam in the heart of Food Valley – the world’s agricultural equivalent of Silicon Valley in California. The university strives to come up with ways to increase yields and sustainability, and then to disseminate that knowledge.
New generation
With its strong background in information technology, Taiwan is in a good position to follow that example. The island manufactures everything required for what is known as precision agriculture, a farming management concept that uses IT to collect data from multiple sources as a means of increasing crop yields and boosting profitability. Taiwan is thus the ideal place for putting together prototypes relatively quickly and cheaply.
YesHealth, for example, makes its own LED lights through a local contractor rather than relying on a major manufacturer like Philips, which means it’s nimbler in terms of bringing focused, new tech to the market – and reaping the dividends. According to the company’s Program Manager, Dennis Jan, Taoyuan’s iFarm has the sixth generation LED lighting, while new iterations that are increasingly productive and energy-efficient are being rolled out on an almost annual basis.
The Council of Agriculture (COA) recognized some time ago the need for a precision approach to farming. In 2016, it developed the “Smart Agriculture 4.0 Program,” which was passed by the legislature a year later.
COA realized that the nation’s “calorie-based food self-sufficiency rate is relatively low” and that “shortages in food supplies and escalations in food prices” will inevitably occur as the world’s population expands from 7.5 billion to an expected 10.5 billion by 2050.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says that in order to meet the needs of all these additional people, about 70% more food needs to be produced. Gains achieved in improving crop yields have plateaued and are unlikely to rise again without a complete transformation of the agricultural landscape through the introduction of city farms, vertical farming, and the application of information technology.
In a written response to Taiwan Business TOPICS, COA commented: “With the rapid development of sensing technology, smart machinery devices, IoT, and big data analysis, smart agriculture has been growing in various fields.
“For example, it can monitor and control the production environment automatically to keep animals and crops in the best condition,” COA said. “It can predict harvesting dates and yields through data analysis and make adjustments to maintain a balance of production and marketing, and it can use smart automated machinery in agricultural operation to significantly reduce the labor burden.” Such uses, says the Council, “make agriculture more competitive.”
Fruitful results
Besides fruit orchards, other sectors that COA has included within Agriculture 4.0 include seedlings, mushrooms, rice, aquaculture, poultry, livestock, and offshore fisheries.
COA cites Taiwan Lettuce Village as an enterprise that has benefited from precision farming. The company halved fertilizer use but improved harvest efficiency 1.5 times by introducing a fertilization recommendation system, a harvesting date and yield prediction system, synchronous fertilizing technology, and transplanter and harvester technology.
According to COA the application of precision farming increased yield prediction accuracy by 5% and prevented 350 metric tons of overstocking. In addition, plant disease and pest control were improved through the use of a cloud-based system and machine learning algorithm. “The results were very fruitful,” COA concluded.
Agriculture 4.0 doesn’t just apply to the growing of produce; it also looks at the storage, transport, and export of goods. As an example, COA points to a relatively new fruit hybrid that was originally developed in Israel in the late 1960s. The atemoya – or pineapple sugar apple (鳳梨釋迦), as it is known in Taiwan – is a heart-shaped fruit with green, scaly skin. A cross between wax apples and the cherimoya (often referred to as Buddha’s head fruit locally), it has become synonymous with Taiwan and export success, much like the kiwi fruit and New Zealand.
Previously, 90% of the country’s atemoya exports went to China because it is so close. Later, the Taitung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station introduced a frozen whole-fruit technique that enables 95% of thawed fruit to have a “consistent ripening texture and dramatically improved the raw material quality.”
The technique involves a quick freeze to -40° Celsius, which inhibits bacteria, allowing the whole fruit to be transported at a fairly standard -18°C. After thawing, it can meet the rigorous food safety standards of Japan and South Korea.
Traditional farmers may harbor concerns about agriculture becoming a primarily manufacturing process, taking place under artificial light. However, Kevin Lin, Head of Business Development at YesHealth, insists that what the company is doing is still agriculture.
“This is nature; we are just optimizing it,” he says. “Sustainability is at the forefront of what we do, and our focus now is on ensuring the energy costs of vertical farming – such as heating and lights – are lowered and the source is sustainable.”
In this way, Lin says, Taiwan can produce cheap, healthy, and environmentally friendly food that can help feed the world, even as the global population approaches the staggering 10.5 billion mark.
GROW Impact Accelerator Invites Applications From Startups Fostering Food Sustainability
This is a unique opportunity for startups operating in new frontiers of foodtech and agtech to supercharge their growth by tapping into a global network with GROW as their gateway to Asia and the world
January 19, 2021
GROW is based in Singapore, at the heart of Asia Pacific. Image credit: lena_serditova / iStock
GROW, the impact venture builder backed by AgFunder, is now accepting applications for its 2021 Impact Accelerator program. This is a unique opportunity for startups operating in new frontiers of foodtech and agtech to supercharge their growth by tapping into a global network with GROW as their gateway to Asia and the world.
This program marks the GROW Impact Accelerator’s second cohort, backed by AgFunder’s GROW Impact Fund. It will include bespoke coaching, mentor support, expert sessions, peer learning, and access to AgFunder’s unrivaled industry network to help businesses scale aggressively into new markets around the world. Successful applicants will receive US$200,000 in cash and in-kind investment on founder-friendly terms.
Agrifood is the sector where impact investors expect to increase their allocation the most over the next five years, according to the Global Impact Investing Network’s 2020 investor survey. Startups participating in the GROW Impact Accelerator will be given the tools to implement ESG principles and to track how their technology solutions help bring positive impact to people, place, and planet. We deliver a complete program that will provide access to experts, partners, potential customers, and impact-focused investors.
Last year, GROW ran its Singapore Food Bowl program, focused on accelerating early-stage startups that can contribute to local food security. Find out more here
Established to advance sustainability in the agrifood system through its support of extraordinary founders, GROW has designed the GROW Impact Accelerator program to propel not just commercial growth for participating startups, but personal growth for the entrepreneurs behind them. As venture capital investors we are in pursuit of profit, but GROW will also imbue in its alumni an ethos of doing well by doing good; one that will remain with them long after the program has finished.
The GROW Impact Accelerator is based in Singapore but will be conducted as a fully virtual program until international travel resumes. Applicants should have an MVP, be well on the way to establishing product-market fit, and should be operating in at least one market. Our interests stretch end-to-end across the agrifood value chain with a focus on technologies that allow for scalability while delivering on impact creation.
Invest with Impact. Click here.
Areas of particular interest for our 2021 intake include (but are not limited to):
Biotech and digitalization to advance sustainable agriculture;
Circular economies (eg, sustainable materials and closed-loop production systems);
Climate-smart agriculture and aquaculture (technologies for carbon emissions reduction, regenerative agriculture, water use);
Alternative proteins, innovative foods, and novel ingredients;
Food waste valorization;
Supply chain rationalization;
Technologies to support smallholder farmers (eg, robotics, decision support, chemical reduction, financial inclusion).
To encourage as diverse and representative a cohort as possible, GROW is especially interested in receiving applications from teams with at least one female founder.
You can find more detailed information and apply here.
Applications close on 28 February at 23:59 GMT+8.
UNITED KINGDOM: Work Could Start Soon On Futuristic Derbyshire Food Hub
Planning application in for scheme, which would create 5,000 jobs
Planning Application In For Scheme, Which Would Create 5,000 Jobs
BY ZENA HAWLEY
7 JAN 2021
This is how the SmartParc campus would look (Image: Ashtonsmith)
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Food production could be in full swing by the end of the year at a giant new Derbyshire industrial site.
That's if a planning application submitted by SmartParc gets the go-ahead in the near future.
The company has applied to create a 155-acre, hi-tech food manufacturing campus on the former Celanese site at Spondon.
It will provide state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, start-up incubation units, and a potential location for a food manufacturing technology centre of excellence.
The idea is to combine purpose-built food production units and a central distribution facility bringing food producers together on one campus. In the process, it is expected to create up to 5,000 direct jobs.
The company's ambition is to provide a sustainable blueprint for the industry. This will harness the latest developments such as vertical farming and smart technology to improve production and energy efficiency, reducing costs, and increasing competitive advantage for the site's tenants.
Vertical farming is a new development and is where crops are grown indoors in stacked layers, mitigating the vagaries of the weather and eliminating the need for pesticides.
This is an example of vertical farming (Image: SmartParc)
Jackie Wild, SmartParc chief executive, said: "We are delighted to take another step forward in our plans to put Derby at the heart of the UK’s future in sustainable, efficient food manufacturing.
Most Americans Have Roundup in Their Bodies. Researchers Say One Week of Eating Organic Can Help
Organic, pesticide-free eating is an important factor in health and is something consumers should remain conscious of when shopping.
Photo courtesy of Scott Warman, Unsplash.
One week of eating organic can dramatically reduce pesticide levels in the body, according to a recent study conducted by the Health Research Institute, Commonweal Institute, and Friends of the Earth.
The group of researchers tracked the pesticide levels of four families across the United States. They took measurements after six days on a non-organic diet and again after six days on an organic diet.
The study, and a companion study published last year, found 16 different kinds of pesticides and chemicals in every participant. But after six days of organic eating, these compounds decreased an average of 60.5 percent—and some as much as 95 percent. Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup and the most used pesticide in the world, dropped an average of 70 percent.
A study by agricultural economist Charles Benbrook finds that the use of glyphosate has spiked 15-fold globally since genetically modified, “Roundup Ready” crops were introduced in 1996. The percentage of Americans with traceable levels of glyphosate in their bodies rose from 12 percent in 1972 to 70 percent by 2014, according to researchers at the University of California San Diego.
Glyphosate exposure has been associated with a wide range of health problems. Researchers have flagged glyphosate as a probable carcinogen, and the chemical has been linked to kidney disease, reproductive issues, DNA damage, hormone and digestion disruptions, fatty liver disease, and more.
The recent study poses organic eating as a straightforward way to avoid glyphosate. But the authors also recognize that organic food isn’t always accessible.
To improve the availability of organic foods in the United States, the team calls for top-down policy changes—like stricter regulations on pesticide use, more federal research into the effects of pesticides, and aid for farmers as they transition to organic farming.
“Our federal pesticide policy system is broken, and we need people shouting about that,” Dr. Kendra Klein, a co-author of the study and Senior Staff Scientist at Friends of the Earth, tells Food Tank. “Companies like Bayer, Syngenta, and Dow are spending millions lobbying, and they’re also spending tens of millions of dollars to shape the narrative and perpetuate myths, like the myth that we need pesticides to feed the world.”
Klein points out that just 1 percent of U.S. federal agricultural research dollars go towards ecological farming, and pesticide regulations are few and far between. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has loosened some pesticide restrictions in recent years. Between 1993 and 2008, the EPA raised the threshold for glyphosate residues on oats from 0.1 ppm to 30 ppm.
Larry Bohlen, Chief Operating Officer at HRI Labs and another co-author of the study, also emphasizes a lack of resources for farmers who want to transition to organic farming. He explains that universities and government training programs have taught farmers how to use pesticides for decades. “If they placed models of successful organic farming side-by-side with the synthetic chemical models, farmers would have choices instead of just one option,” Bohlen tells Food Tank.
Stringent pesticide regulations might seem like a lofty goal in the U.S., says Klein, but change is already underway abroad. Earlier this year, the European Union announced plans to halve the use of “high risk” pesticides by 2030 and make at least 25 percent of farmland organic.
To spur change in the U.S., Bohlen urges consumers to vote with their wallets, if they’re able. “Each person’s purchase is a small vote that, when considered collectively, sends a signal back to the grocer and the farmer about what type of food is desired. It’s your purchase that has one of the biggest effects on land, farmer, and consumer health.”
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