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VIDEO: Is the Future of Agriculture Micro-Farms?
Is the future of agriculture micro-farms? When the pandemic hit, the retail food landscape changed dramatically. With “big food” supplying most restaurants and grocery stores, they faced numerous challenges— from labor shortages, redistribution challenges to distribution sites with long travel times— causing many individuals to turn to smaller, local farms.
July 2, 2021
Is the future of agriculture micro-farms? When the pandemic hit, the retail food landscape changed dramatically. With “big food” supplying most restaurants and grocery stores, they faced numerous challenges— from labor shortages, redistribution challenges to distribution sites with long travel times— causing many individuals to turn to smaller, local farms.
In this week’s episode of TheSquare Podcast, we have a curious conversation with Jeff Bednar, Owner and founder of Profound Microfarms and Profound Foods. The Profound family business started as a 2.6-acre farm in Texas growing leafy greens, edible flowers, culinary herbs, and microgreens in 17,000 sq ft of hydroponic greenhouses.
Source: Vertical Farm Daily
Babylon Micro-Farms Establishes New Corporate Headquarters In Richmond, Virginia
The company has developed disruptive technology - a cloud-based platform that operates vertical farms through a mobile phone app that controls all aspects of farming at the touch of a button
Richmond, VA (February 2021) Babylon Micro-Farms has chosen Richmond, Virginia as the site for their corporate headquarters, opening a new office and R & D space in historic Scott’s Addition. The move from Charlottesville was driven by the company’s growth and need for a larger talent pool - they had been courted by California and Arizona as an up-and-coming tech company in the indoor ag-tech space.
The company has developed disruptive technology - a cloud-based platform that operates vertical farms through a mobile phone app that controls all aspects of farming at the touch of a button. The indoor ag-tech industry is projected to grow globally from USD $121.26 billion in 2019 to USD $167.42 billion by 2025, a compound annual growth rate of 5.4% according to the latest report released by Market Data Forecast last week.
Babylon’s CEO and Co-Founder, Alexander Olesen, commented on the move. “Richmond is the perfect launchpad for our next phase of growth. It has a dynamic business eco-system and gives Babylon the chance to build an even stronger foundation for the future with everything it has to offer.”
Babylon began hiring locally in Richmond prior to the move, scaling up their operations in preparation for the anticipated increase in sales in 2021. Graham Smith, CTO and Co-Founder of Babylon, said “Our growth has been based on significant R & D we were able to accomplish because of support from The Center for Innovative Technology, the National Science Foundation and investors that understood early on the potential for this technology. Richmond offers a hub where innovation and industry intersect and having our headquarters here will fuel our expansion.”
The company expects to triple its workforce in the next three years, adding jobs in every department, from assembly to engineering. For more information visit www.babylonmicrofarms.com or contact janet@babymicrofarms.com for interview requests.
Babylon Micro-Farms team, from left to right: Alexander Olesen, CEO and co-founder; Marc Oosterhuis, COO; and Graham Smith, CTO, and co-founder. Courtesy of Babylon Micro Farms
ABOUT BABYLON MICRO-FARMS
At the touch of a button, Babylon Micro-Farms delivers a simple, yet engaging indoor growing experience. Babylon helps senior living communities, hospitals, schools, and hospitality companies showcase their commitment to providing fresh, nutritious produce and sustainability to their residents, employees, and customers.
They have designed a complete on-site farming service that makes growing simple for anyone, thanks to their plug-and-play Micro-Farms and Guided Growing App. Babylon offers the most affordable, efficient, and advanced vertical farming platform available, remotely managed through the cloud with unparalleled customer service. Since their humble beginnings as a social entrepreneur student project, Babylon have attracted investors from Silicon Valley, been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to support their research, patented a groundbreaking technology, and received recognition by Virginia's Governor Northam for their contribution as a technology innovator following their successful application for funding from the Center for Innovative Technology.
Babylon has designed a software platform to reclaim the decentralized food system of the 21st Century - using modular vertical farms that enables anyone to grow local produce on-site, all year round, indoors. They launched their first products focusing on the health care and senior living markets where our vertical farms provide access to food-as-medicine quality food and a variety of therapeutic activities.
Website:
https://www.babylonmicrofarms.com/
Press Contact:
Sharon Rettinger
Little Leaf Farms Raises $90M to Grow Its Greenhouse Network
Massachusetts-based Little Leaf Farms has raised $90 million in a debt and equity financing round to expand its network of hydroponic greenhouses on the East Coast. The round was led by Equilibrium Capital as well as founding investors Bill Helman and Pilot House Associates. Bank of America also participated.
by Jennifer Marston
Image from: Little Leaf Farms
Massachusetts-based Little Leaf Farms has raised $90 million in a debt and equity financing round to expand its network of hydroponic greenhouses on the East Coast. The round was led by Equilibrium Capital as well as founding investors Bill Helman and Pilot House Associates. Bank of America also participated.
Little Leaf Farms says the capital is “earmarked” to build new greenhouse sites along the East Coast, where its lettuce is currently available in about 2,500 stores.
The company already operates one 10-acre greenhouse in Devins, Massachusetts. Its facility grows leafy greens using hydroponics and a mixture of sunlight supplemented by LED-powered grow lights. Rainwater captured from the facility’s roof provides most of the water used on the farm.
According to a press release, Little Leaf Farms has doubled its retail sales to $38 million since 2019. And last year, the company bought180 acres of land in Pennsylvania on which to build an additional facility. Still another greenhouse, slated for North Carolina, will serve the Southeast region of the U.S.
Little Leaf Farms joins the likes of Revol Greens, Gotham Greens, AppHarvest, and others in bringing local(ish) greens to a greater percentage of the population. These facilities generally pack and ship their greens on the day of or day after harvesting, and only supply retailers within a certain radius. Little Leaf Farms, for example, currently servers only parts of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.
The list of regions the company serves will no doubt lengthen as the company builds up its greenhouse network in the coming months.
Bringing The Future To life In Abu Dhabi
A cluster of shipping containers in a city centre is about the last place you’d expect to find salad growing. Yet for the past year, vertical farming startup Madar Farms has been using this site in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, to grow leafy green vegetables using 95 per cent less water than traditional agriculture
Amid the deserts of Abu Dhabi, a new wave of entrepreneurs and innovators are sowing the seeds of a more sustainable future.
Image from: Wired
A cluster of shipping containers in a city centre is about the last place you’d expect to find salad growing. Yet for the past year, vertical farming startup Madar Farms has been using this site in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, to grow leafy green vegetables using 95 per cent less water than traditional agriculture.
Madar Farms is one of a number of agtech startups benefitting from a package of incentives from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) aimed at spurring the development of innovative solutions for sustainable desert farming. The partnership is part of ADIO’s $545 million Innovation Programme dedicated to supporting companies in high-growth areas.
“Abu Dhabi is pressing ahead with our mission to ‘turn the desert green’,” explained H.E. Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director General of ADIO, in November 2020. “We have created an environment where innovative ideas can flourish and the companies we partnered with earlier this year are already propelling the growth of Abu Dhabi’s 24,000 farms.”
The pandemic has made food supply a critical concern across the entire world, combined with the effects of population growth and climate change, which are stretching the capacity of less efficient traditional farming methods. Abu Dhabi’s pioneering efforts to drive agricultural innovation have been gathering pace and look set to produce cutting-edge solutions addressing food security challenges.
Beyond work supporting the application of novel agricultural technologies, Abu Dhabi is also investing in foundational research and development to tackle this growing problem.
In December, the emirate’s recently created Advanced Technology Research Council [ATRC], responsible for defining Abu Dhabi’s R&D strategy and establishing the emirate and the wider UAE as a desired home for advanced technology talent, announced a four-year competition with a $15 million prize for food security research. Launched through ATRC’s project management arm, ASPIRE, in partnership with the XPRIZE Foundation, the award will support the development of environmentally-friendly protein alternatives with the aim to "feed the next billion".
Image from: Madar Farms
Global Challenges, Local Solutions
Food security is far from the only global challenge on the emirate’s R&D menu. In November 2020, the ATRC announced the launch of the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), created to support applied research on the key priorities of quantum research, autonomous robotics, cryptography, advanced materials, digital security, directed energy and secure systems.
“The technologies under development at TII are not randomly selected,” explains the centre’s secretary general Faisal Al Bannai. “This research will complement fields that are of national importance. Quantum technologies and cryptography are crucial for protecting critical infrastructure, for example, while directed energy research has use-cases in healthcare. But beyond this, the technologies and research of TII will have global impact.”
Future research directions will be developed by the ATRC’s ASPIRE pillar, in collaboration with stakeholders from across a diverse range of industry sectors.
“ASPIRE defines the problem, sets milestones, and monitors the progress of the projects,” Al Bannai says. “It will also make impactful decisions related to the selection of research partners and the allocation of funding, to ensure that their R&D priorities align with Abu Dhabi and the UAE's broader development goals.”
Image from: Agritecture
Nurturing Next-Generation Talent
To address these challenges, ATRC’s first initiative is a talent development programme, NexTech, which has begun the recruitment of 125 local researchers, who will work across 31 projects in collaboration with 23 world-leading research centres.
Alongside universities and research institutes from across the US, the UK, Europe and South America, these partners include Abu Dhabi’s own Khalifa University, and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, the world’s first graduate-level institute focused on artificial intelligence.
“Our aim is to up skill the researchers by allowing them to work across various disciplines in collaboration with world-renowned experts,” Al Bannai says.
Beyond academic collaborators, TII is also working with a number of industry partners, such as hyperloop technology company, Virgin Hyperloop. Such industry collaborations, Al Bannai points out, are essential to ensuring that TII research directly tackles relevant problems and has a smooth path to commercial impact in order to fuel job creation across the UAE.
“By engaging with top global talent, universities and research institutions and industry players, TII connects an intellectual community,” he says. “This reinforces Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s status as a global hub for innovation and contributes to the broader development of the knowledge-based economy.”
Farm In A Box Planned For Bridgeport's East End
BRIDGEPORT — You will not find any vast acres of fertile soil and crops in the East End neighbourhood. So the state, city and area activists have teamed with an entrepreneur on what they all said they believe is the next best thing: farmland in a box
Image from: CT Post
BRIDGEPORT — You will not find any vast acres of fertile soil and crops in the East End neighbourhood. So the state, city and area activists have teamed with an entrepreneur on what they all said they believe is the next best thing: farmland in a box.
Joe Alvarez, founder of High Ridge Hydroponics of Ridgefield, describes it on his website as “an indoor, vertical, hydroponic, shipping container farm to be located in the most urban settings throughout the world.” And the East End — which has been labeled a “food desert” because of the lack of fresh edibles easily available to residents there — will be that urban setting.
“We’re very excited about this,” Keith Williams, head of the East End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone community group, said during a teleconference Friday announcing a $49,999 state grant for Alvarez’s project. “Fresh vegetables. Healthy. That’s what we’re all about — healthy eating.”
High Ridge’s container will produce young micro-greens from broccoli, kale, cabbage, arugula and other plants to be sold at the East End NRZ’s market as a salad mix.
“These greens are harvested after only 10 to 14 days from being planted, which is extremely quick (and) they are super concentrated in nutrition,” Alvarez said.
Friday’s teleconference included several dignitaries who pledged to do everything they can to ensure High Ridge’s success in town, including Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, state Agriculture Commissioner Bryan Hurlburt, state Sen. Marilyn Moore, state Rep. Andre Baker, Mayor Joe Ganim and Edward Lavernoich of the Bridgeport Economic Development Corporation.
“I hope this project has a lasting and positive impact on your community,” Bysiewicz said. “And I hope it will become a model for other urban areas in our state to grow their own food using innovative technology and techniques.”
“This is not just a shipping container in the city,” Hurlburt said. “This is a much larger, deeper and richer project that we get to celebrate today.”
State Rep. Joe Gresko, D-Stratford, was also included, but wearing a different hat. Gresko works for Ganim continuing a mission started by former Mayor Bill Finch to turn Bridgeport from an ex-manufacturing hub into a leader in the green and environmentally sustainable economy.
It was under Finch that the East End was previously promised an urban green house on the site of the former “Mt. Trashmore” illegal dump. That project, dubbed “Boot Camp Farms” because it would hire veterans, was announced in 2013 and was also supposed to have financial backing from the state. But the developers had no prior experience in that field and the proposal never broke ground.
Alvarez, according to his online biography, “studied environmental science at Fordham University in New York City, graduated in May of 2017 (and) has worked as a private organic gardener, an aquaponic farmer, built greenhouses, maintained greenhouses and designed several custom hydroponic growing systems.”
Hurlburt said he felt confident the new project would be a success.
Alvarez “has limited experience but he knows what he’s doing. ... I know how much Joe was calling us and emailing us and how badly he wanted this grant to make it a reality. I know his heart is right where it needs to be to make it a success.”
“We’re all in this together to make sure Joe has the support he needs to be successful,” Hurlburt emphasized.
There are still important details to be finalized, including getting a site for the shipping container and additional money to cover the full, nearly $150,000 cost. Gresko said that the NRZ was negotiating to use some property and that “when the time comes” Bridgeport will “match” additional private funds Alvarez obtains.
“We’re going to keep an eye on this and troubleshoot as we go forward any issues,” Gresko said.
Alvarez said he hopes to complete construction by the fall. And the colder months are when his crops will be the most needed, said Deborah Sims, who operates the NRZ market.
“After farmer’s market season is over, we have difficulty sourcing (fresh food),” Sims said.
“Three hundred sixty five (days) we’re going to have the greens available,” said Gresko.
Baker recalled how his East End funeral home has hosted some farmer’s markets and called the High Ridge project “a long time coming.” He also told Bysiewicz he hoped similar initiatives to offer more fresh food to his constituents will follow.
“Lieutenant governor, we’re going to be leaning on you and the governor for more support,” he said. “You’re going to hear more from us.”
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.
Is AppHarvest the Future of Farming?
In this video from Motley Fool Live, recorded on Jan. 28, Industry Focus host Nick Sciple and Motley Fool contributor Lou Whiteman discuss AppHarvest, one such SPAC that is looking to disrupt the agriculture industry. Here are the details on what AppHarvest wants to do, and a look at whether the company represents the future of farming.
Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are red-hot right now, with investors clamoring to get into promising young companies.
In this video from Motley Fool Live, recorded on Jan. 28, Industry Focus host Nick Sciple and Motley Fool contributor Lou Whiteman discuss AppHarvest, one such SPAC that is looking to disrupt the agriculture industry. Here are the details on what AppHarvest wants to do, and a look at whether the company represents the future of farming.
Nick Sciple: One last company I wanted to talk about, Lou, and this is one I think it's -- you pay attention to, but not one I'm super excited to run in and buy. It was a company called AppHarvest. It's coming public via a [SPAC] this year. This vertical farming space. We talked about Gladstone Land buying traditional farmland. AppHarvest is taking a very different approach, trying to lean into some of the ESG-type movements.
Lou Whiteman: Yeah. Let's look at this. It probably wouldn't surprise you that the U.S. is the biggest global farm exporter as we said, but it might surprise you that the Netherlands, the tiny little country, is No. 2. The way they do that is tech: Greenhouse farm structure. AppHarvest has taken that model and brought it to the U.S. They have, I believe, three farms in Appalachia. The pitches can produce 30x the yields using 90% less water. Right now, it's mostly tomatoes and it is early-stage. I don't own this stock either. I love this idea. There's some reasons that I'm not buying in right now that we can get into. But this is fascinating to me. We talked about making the world a better place. This is the company that we need to be successful to make the world a better place. The warning on it is that it is a SPAC. So it's not public yet. Right now, I believe N-O-V-S. That deal should close soon. [Editor's note: The deal has since closed.] I'm not the only one excited about it. I tend not to like to buy IPOs and new companies anyway. I think the caution around buying into the excitement applies here. There is a Martha Stewart video on their website talking up the company, which I love Martha Stewart, but that's a hype level that makes me want to just watch and see what they produce. This is just three little farms in Appalachia right now and a great idea. This was all over my watchlist. I would imagine I would love to hold it at some point, but just be careful because this is, as we saw SPACs last year in other areas, people are very excited about this.
Sciple: Yeah. I think, like we've said, for a lot of these companies, the prospects are great. I think when you look at the reduced water usage, better, environmentally friendly, all those sorts of things. I like that they are in Appalachia. As someone who is from the South, I like it when more rural areas get some people actually investing money there. But again, there's a lot of execution between now and really getting to a place where this is the future of farming and they're going to reach scale and all those sorts of things. But this is a company I'm definitely going to have my radar on and pay attention to as they continue to report earnings. Because you can tell yourself a story about how this type of vertical farming, indoor farming disrupts this traditional model, can be more efficient, cleaner, etc. Something to continue paying attention to as we have more information, because this company, like you said, Lou, isn't all the way public yet. We still got to have this SPAC deal finalized and then we get all our fun SEC filings and quarterly calls and all those sorts of things. Once we have that, I will be very much looking forward to seeing what the company has to say.
Whiteman: Right. Just to finish up along too, the interesting thing here is that it is a proven concept because it has worked elsewhere. The downside of that is that it needed to work there. Netherlands just doesn't have -- and this is an expensive proposition to get started, to get going. There's potential there, but in a country blessed with almost seemingly unlimited farmland for now, for long term it makes sense. But in the short term, it could be a hard thing to really get up and running. I think you're right, just one to watch.
No Dirt? No Farm? No Problem. The Potential For Soil-Less Agriculture Is Huge
It’s a growing industry — $9.5 billion in sales is expected to nearly double in the next five years — that stems, in part, from concerns about growing enough food to feed a worldwide population expected to hit 10 billion in the next 30 years.
At Plenty’s South San Francisco hydroponics growing facility, a million plants produce leafy greens that are sold through area grocery stores. The company plans to open a farm in Compton this year.
(Plenty)
Imagine kale that doesn’t taste like a punishment for something you did in a previous life. Envision leafy greens that aren’t limp from their journey to your plate. Anticipate the intense flavor of just-picked herbs that kick up your latest culinary creation a notch or three.
Then consider the possibility that such advancements will play a role in altering the face of agriculture, becoming sources of flavorful, fresh produce in “food deserts” and making farm-to-table restaurant cuisine possible because produce is grown on the premises, even in urban areas.
This is the potential and the promise of hydroponics (a term that also includes aeroponics and aquaponics systems), the soil-less cultivation of crops in controlled environments. It’s a growing industry — $9.5 billion in sales is expected to nearly double in the next five years — that stems, in part, from concerns about growing enough food to feed a worldwide population expected to hit 10 billion in the next 30 years.
The growing method isn’t new. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, dating to the 6th century B.C., maybe a precursor to today’s hydroponics, if they existed. (Historians disagree on that as well as where the gardens were.) Then, as now, technology is a key to giving growers, not Mother Nature, more control overproduction.
The size of today’s systems varies. They might be as simple and compact as an in-home system that’s about the size of a couple of loaves of bread stacked on top of each other. Some of the growing popularity of those units may be connected to the pandemic, according to Paul Rabaut, director of marketing for AeroGarden, which produces systems for in-home crop production.
“As soon as the pandemic was declared in mid-March and the quarantine took effect, we saw immediate growth spikes, unlike anything we’d ever seen before,” he said. Those spikes resulted, he said, from the need for entertainment beyond Netflix and jigsaw puzzles, a desire to minimize trips to the grocery store and the promise of teachable moments for kids now schooled at home.
At the other end of the spectrum are large urban farms. Plenty, for instance, has a South San Francisco hydroponics growing facility where a million plant sites produce crops, some of which are sold through area grocery stores. The company hopes to open a farm in Compton this year that’s expected to be about the size of a big-box store and will grow the equivalent of 700 acres of food.
Plenty scientists, engineers and growers at work in their South San Francisco hydroponics growing facility.
(Plenty)
“It’s a super vibrant community with a rich agricultural history,” Nate Storey, a cofounder of the vertical farming company, said of the Compton facility. “It also happens to be a food desert.
“Americans eat only about 30% of what they should be eating as far as fresh foods,” he said. “We started this company because we realized the world needed more fresh fruits and vegetables.”
As different as hydroponics growing systems are, most have this in common: The plants thrive because of the nutrients they receive and the consistency of the environment and can produce crops of fresh leafy greens and other vegetables, various herbs and sometimes fruits.
Such controlled-environment agriculture is part of the larger trend of urban farms, recognized last year by the May opening of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. The farms’ proximity to larger markets means produce can be delivered quickly to consumers, whether they’re grocery shoppers, airline passengers, students or communities in need or restaurants, an industry that has been devastated in the last year.
Today’s micro-and mega-farms have taken on increased importance, partly because of world hunger, which will increase as the population grows.
Add increasing urbanization that is gobbling available agricultural land in many countries, mix in climate change and the scramble for water to grow crops — as much as 70% of the world’s water is used for agriculture — and the planet may be at a tipping point.
No single change in the approach to feeding the world will shift the balance by itself.
Hydroponic farming is “a solution,” said Alexander Olesen, a cofounder of Babylon Micro farms in Virginia, which uses its small growing units to help corporate cafeterias, senior living centres, hotels and resorts provide fresh produce, “but they are not the solution.”
Babylon Micro farms in Virginia provides fresh produce for corporate cafeterias, senior living centers, hotels and resorts.
(Babylon Micro-Farms Inc.)
For one thing, not all crops are viable. Nearly everything can be grown using hydroponics but some crops, such as wheat, some root vegetables (including carrots, beets and onions), and melons and vining crops, are impractical. The easiest crops to grow: leafy greens, including spinach and lettuce; microgreens; herbs such as basil, cilantro, oregano and marjoram; some vegetables, such as green peppers and cucumbers; and certain fruits, including tomatoes and strawberries.
Although hydroponic farming means crops grow faster — thus increasing output — the process comes with a significant carbon footprint, according to “The Promise of Urban Agriculture,” a report by the Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Marketing Service and Cornell University Small Farms Program. Lights generate heat, which then must be removed by cooling. Lettuce grown in traditional greenhouses is far cheaper, the report says.
If these crops can be grown traditionally — in a garden or in a commercial field — why bother with growing systems that are less intuitive than planting seeds, watering and harvesting? Among the reasons:
Climate control: Such indoor agriculture generally means consistent light, temperatures, nutrients and moisture for crops no longer held hostage by nature’s cycles of drought, storms and seasons.
Environmental friendliness: Pesticides generally aren’t used and thus create no harmful runoff, unlike field-grown crops.
Productivity: Leafy greens tend to be cool-season crops, but in a controlled environment, it’s an any-time-of-year crop without the worry of depleting the soil because of overuse because, of course, there is no soil.
Use of space: AeroFarms, a former steel mill in Newark, N.J., boasts that it can produce 2 million pounds of food each year in its 70,000 square feet, or about 1.3 acres. California’s Monterey County, by contrast, uses nearly 59,000 acres — out of 24.3 million acres statewide of ranches and farms — to grow its No. 1 crop, which is leaf lettuce valued at $840.6 million, its 2019 crop report showed.
AeroFarms in Newark, N.J. boasts it can produce 2 million pounds of food each year at its 70,000-square-foot facility in Newark, N.J.
(AeroFarms)
Food safety: In E. coli outbreaks in late October and early November of last year, fingers pointed to romaine lettuce that sickened consumers in 19 states, including California. In November and December of 2019, three other outbreaks of the bacterial illness were traced to California’s Salinas Valley. A Food and Drug Administration study, released in May with results from that trio of outbreaks, “suggest(s) that a potential contributing factor has been the proximity of cattle,” whose faeces often contain the bacteria and can find its way into water systems.
That’s less of an issue with crops in controlled-environment agriculture, said Alex Tyink, president of Fork Farms of Green Bay, Wis., which produces growing systems suitable for homes and schools.
“In the field, you can’t control what goes where,” he said, including wildlife, livestock or even birds that may find their way into an open growing area.
And as for workers, “The human safety approaches that we take [with] people in our farm make it hard for them to contaminate even if they wanted to,” he said.
“Before people walk in, they gown up, put their hair in nets, beards in nets, put on eye covering and bootie covers for their shoes, then walk through a water bath.”
None of the statistics matter, though, unless the quality of soil-less crops matches or exceeds that produced traditionally.
Not a contest, new-age growers say. Flavors of leafy greens, for example, tend to be more detectable and, in some cases, more intense.
So much so that when AeroFarms introduced its baby kale in a New York grocery store, Marc Oshima, a cofounder and chief marketing officer, says he saw a woman do what he called a “happy dance” when she sampled this superfood. The version that AeroFarms produces is lighter and has a “sweet finish,” Oshima said, compared with adult kale grown in traditional ways that some say make the superfood fibrous and bitter.
Storey, the cofounder of Plenty, judged his Crispy Lettuce mix successful when his children got into a “rolling-on-the-floor fistfight” over a package of it.
Some credit for that flavor can be attributed to the time from harvest to market. Arizona and California are the top lettuce producers in the U.S., but by the time the greens get to other parts of the country, they have lost some of their oomph. AeroFarms and Plenty, for instance, distribute their commercial products to nearby grocery stores in New York and the Bay Area, respectively, where their time to market is significantly reduced.
And when was the last time you had a salad on an aeroplane flight that didn’t taste like water gone bad? Before the pandemic constricted airline traffic, AeroFarms was growing greens to be served to passengers on Singapore Airlines flights from New York’s JFK. The fresh vegetables travelled just five miles from the warehouse to Singapore’s catering kitchen, a new twist on the farm to (tray) tabletop.
Because the turnaround from harvest to market is shorter, Storey said his products often last several weeks when refrigerated.
Leafy green vegetables are grown by AeroFarms.
(Emily Hawkes)
And perhaps best of all? Growers say that because the greens have a flavorsome peppery, some like mustard — salad dressing may be optional, perhaps dispossessed in favor of the flavor of naked greens.
Getting consumers interested in vegetables and incorporating those foods into their diets is especially important, growers say, because of skyrocketing rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, especially for populations in food deserts.
Tyink grew up in rural Wisconsin but moved to New York to pursue a career in opera. By chance, he sampled some produce from a rooftop garden that he called life-altering. “My eating habits changed because [the greens] changed my emotional connection to food,” he said.
His exposure to homelessness and poverty on the streets of New York also focused his attention on what people consume and why. Price and convenience often drive bad food decisions and unhealthy habits.
Young farmers in training can help change those habits; some of Fork Farms’ systems are used in schools and other nonprofit organizations for children. Kids become accidental ambassadors for the nutrient-rich crops, and the fruits of their labors go to school cafeterias or to local food distribution centres in their communities.
“I really think when you lose fresh, locally produced food, you lose something of [the] culture,” said Lee Altier, professor of horticulture at Chico State University, where he has been working with students to develop its aquaponics program. “I think it is so important when communities have an awareness … that this is for their social integrity.”
As for the future, much still needs to be done to put such products in the right hands at the right time. That requires investment, innovation and technology to perfect the systems and keep costs under control, never mind persuading buyers and consumers that food that’s healthy can also be satisfying.
Is it a puzzle worth solving? Storey thinks so. “I want to live in a world where [we create] delicious, amazing things,” he said, “knowing that they are not coming at a cost that we don’t want to pay.”
About Catharine Hamm
Catharine Hamm is the former Travel editor for the Los Angeles Times and became a special contributor in June 2020. She was born in Syracuse, N.Y., to a peripatetic family whose stops included Washington, D.C.; Honolulu; and Manila. Her varied media career has taken her from McPherson, Kan., to Kansas City, Mo., San Bernardino, Salinas and L.A. Hamm has twice received individual Lowell Thomas Awards, and the Travel section has been recognized seven times during her tenure as editor. Her favourite place? Always where she’s going next.
US - INDIANIA - Vertical Farm Is On The Way Up In Nappanee
No matter what the weather is outside, the inside of Micro Farms' futuristic, squared-off, Venlo Dutch greenhouse is as balmy as a pleasant summer evening. The facility covers just one-quarter of an acre of land, but the output of produce sustains the cash-and-carry business managed by Dion Graber
by Steve Grinczel
October 23, 2020
It's harvest time throughout Michiana.
Then again, it's always harvest time at Micro Farms LLC in Nappanee, where growing season for tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and peppers includes every day from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.
No matter what the weather is outside, the inside of Micro Farms' futuristic, squared-off, Venlo Dutch greenhouse is as balmy as a pleasant summer evening. The facility covers just one-quarter of an acre of land, but the output of produce sustains the cash-and-carry business managed by Dion Graber.
"We have the best of all seasons in Indiana here inside, so that's what's really nice," he said.
Cucumbers and lettuce are harvested on a daily basis and tomatoes and peppers are picked three times a week.
"With most of your outdoor stuff, some things harvest earlier in the season, but basically, you have four months of harvest, so they're all done now. We have 12, and that's what really sets us apart," Graber said. "It is really hard to grow in winter, with a lot less lighting and stuff, so your production is down, but we're still able to produce fresh produce when it's snowing outside."
Evidence of greenhouse-like structures dates back to the 1400s, but Graber's facility—known as a vertical farm—has more in common with science fiction than archeology.
Micro Farms' hundreds of plants are grown in a high-tech, aeroponic-hydroponic system, which means their roots never touch a speck of dirt.
Seeds are germinated in foam cubes and eventually moved to the main growing area where they reach up to the underside of the pitched roof. Four varieties of lettuce grow in patented plastic cups, developed by Micro Farms, that fit into wide PVC tubes.
"Nothing is sitting in water," Graber said. "Our tubes are a combination of aeroponics and hydroponics. There's a nozzle that comes down the middle of each tube and sprays out. The cups hold the cube of lettuce, and then the water just drips down through and the roots grow into the middle of the tube."
Tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are rooted in rows of large, rockwool growing medium cubes set on the floor.
"With that, you have fewer chances for diseases," Graber said.
Non-stinging bumblebees are brought in to pollinate the plants and other natural means are used to control pests. No chemical growth or pesticide inputs are used, Graber said.
Tomato vines produce optimally for six to eight months and average about 45 to 55 feet in length. Cucumber plants average about 3 inches of growth per day and plants eventually stand 18 feet tall. Pepper plants get up to 15 feet.
While water is obviously key component of a hydroponic operation, greenhouses typically use far less water to grow the same plant cultivated outdoors.
"We also collect rain water off of this roof and the building next door to feed our plants," Graber said. "Close to 80 percent of our water is rain water. We have about 35,000 gallons worth of storage."
The watering system, located in the basement, is tailored to the needs of each crop with nutrients Graber compared to over-the-counter, human health supplements.
Graber grew up on his family's nearby farm that transitioned from dairy to spe-cialty beef cattle when he was a youngster. His father, Loren, became interested in hydroponics after reading an article about the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., where they have been growing and abundance of vegetables indoors without soil or "fairy dust," according to FarmFlavor.com, since 1982.
"That really intrigued him so he kind of just stayed with it, and 25 years later he and his agronomist, Steve Kiefer, decided to go into the greenhouse business, and here we are, six years in now," Graber said. "I was working on the farm with the cows and doing custom hay, and helped build the greenhouse.
"I wasn't planning on working here, but then it just all came together and decided to give it a shot."
In addi-tion to being self-taught, Graber crammed his way through Arizona State University remote classes on growing tomatoes and peppers indoors.
As arable farmland continues to dwindle and populations grow, hydroponic agriculture has long been studied as a potential solution to increased demand on the world's food supply. Hydroponic plants are generally considered three to 10 times more productive than outdoor soil-based plants. According to Neil Mattson, of Cornell University's School of Integrative Plant Science, 20 to 50 times more lettuce per acre can be produced in a greenhouse than in a field.
In a recent LAist.com story, Plenty farms, a San Francisco-based startup, claimed its state-of-the-art vertical system can grow 350 times more produce per square foot than a conventional farm can.
In 2006, Epcot set a world record with 32,000 tomatoes produced by a single plant over a 16-month period.
"We're looking at how to grow things indoors and what works best in this area," Graber said. "This is basically a university for growing. I've tried close to 60-some different kinds of lettuce, four different kinds of tomatoes, six different kinds of peppers and four different kinds of cucumbers just to see what works best in this environment."
Graber makes due with whatever sunshine Mother Nature will provide, while supplementing minimally with artificial light.
"You actually have a little more wattage of sunlight in winter than you think with all the reflection," he said. "That's why everything inside of this greenhouse is powder-coated white because 1 percent more reflection creates 1 percent more yield, and you've got rays bouncing all over the place in here.
"It's definitely big for us to be able to grow fresh produce all year-round."
Graber's mature produce looks uniform and flawless, and he said it compares favorably with similar products grown outdoors.
"We feel we're pretty close to garden-taste," he said. "Some people prefer different flavors, and our lettuce definitely sets us apart just because of how fresh it is. It's harvested less than eight hours before you get it."
Graber sells his produce on-site on Wednesday and Friday afternoons with an order-and-drive-through set-up patterned after the one the Chick-fil-A fast-food chain has been employing during the pandemic.
"Even in the dead of winter, you never have to get out of your vehicle," Graber said. "We also supply some mom-and-pop grocery stores, a couple of restaurants and a bakery."
Micro Farms is also part of a start-up, online delivery service called Local Farms Direct (localfarms direct.com) that is designed to deliver fresh produce and a wide variety of fresh baked goods from Amish bakers and other private bakeries to work environments, such as office complexes.
"One of the best things about this job is you see new growth and progress every day with your plants, along with just being able to get your customers some healthy food throughout the year," Graber said. "We have a very loyal base of customers."
With advancements in LED lighting, hydroponic producers are able to grow produce in almost any enclosed space, including abandoned buildings, warehouses and even caves. Futurists have long envisioned the day when urban crops for big cities will be grown indoors in tall buildings occupying a real estate footprint that's a fraction of a farm field.
Indoor farming was a $23.75 billion industry in 2016 and expected to grow to $40.25 billion in 2020, according to MarketsandMarkets.com study.
"This is definitely just the beginning," Graber said. "I would have said, when this first was built, we were one of the most advanced facilities in Indiana if not the U.S. We've probably been way surpassed by now because this industry is growing very fast.
"It's food and people have to have food to live."
GP Solutions Partners With Soilless Science to Create Premier Brand of “Living Soils”
Product line will heighten company’s brand in $262 billion organic food market
Corona, CA – March 19, 2019 – GP Solutions (OTC:GWPD), a leading developer of modular automated micro-farms, has partnered with Soilless Science to create a proprietary lineup of premium “living soils.”
These unique soil-less mediums contain no dirt and will be certified pathogen free. The mixtures will contain beneficial micro-organisms that form the foundation of highly active “living soils” that will produce abundant, healthy crops of all types.
Soil mixtures will be developed for a variety of crops - each with its own unique, beneficial composition.
The mixtures are vegan based, and use no animal products. Compare this to other products that use fish and animal waste products, which inherently contain harmful pathogens and bacteria, and can contaminate crops and potentially cause widespread illness.
As the public becomes more aware of the dangers of traditional farming and the potential harm from “dirty” soil, consumers will start demanding that their food is grown in controlled environments using healthy soil mediums.
GP Solutions will be providing this proprietary soil-less mixture to its customers of GrowPod automated farms, as well as to the general public within the near future.
GrowPod, by GP Solutions, is a unique, stackable, modular indoor micro-farm that grows clean produce in a controlled environment. By utilizing specialized air and water filtration, and its proprietary pathogen-free living soils, the GrowPod system can deliver some of the highest quality produce in the world.
“The traditional approach was to add chemicals, fertilizers, weed killers and other dangerous additives to soil and crops,” said George Natzic, President of GP Solutions. “Today, we know this can be very harmful to the public. That’s why I’m proud to be developing new living soils that are pathogen free and full of beneficial nutrients to produce high velocity, healthy crops of all kinds.”
For more information, visit: www.growpodsolutions.com, or call (855) 247-8054.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes statements considered “forward-looking” within securities laws. These statements represent Company’s current judgments, but are subject to uncertainties that could cause results to differ. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on these statements, which reflect management’s opinions only as of today’s date. Company is not obligated to revise statements in light of new information.
Connect:
Email: info@growpodsolutions.com
Website: www.growpodsolutions.com
Facebook: facebook.com/GrowPodTechnology
Twitter: @GrowPodSolution
US (SC): Indoor Urban Micro Farm Could Be Coming To Myrtle Beach
“I think my family will be glad to have me out of the dining room,” Margot Tennant smiled after getting the nod from Myrtle Beach’s Planning Commission to start an indoor urban micro farm.
Tennant has been operating Seedside Greens from her home in Plantation Point but she’s “kind of at max capacity.”
The business involves growing vegetables on vertical racks under grow lights, she explained. The vegetables are sold to restaurants such as Kindbelly Cafe and Fire & Smoke Gastropub.
Tennant said she is hoping to lease an 850-square-foot facility in the St. James Square area near the Food Lion off 38th Avenue North.
Her micro farm could be the first of its kind inside the city, if approved by the Myrtle Beach City Council. Tennant had to get the planning commission’s approval because micro farming was not included in any zone.
The planning commission is recommending it be allowed in mixed use medium density zones. It is also recommending a one-year pilot program so any negative impacts can be addressed. The pilot program is limited to six permits for urban micro farming and it includes a two-year amortization limit in case the city would decide they do not want micro urban farming allowed in the city.
Other limits in the pilot program include the production and growing has to be done indoors and the space can’t be more than 2,000 square feet.
GrowPod Provides Solutions to Help Feed Earth's Growing Population
Modular micro-farms provide additional food production to meet global needs, and bring healthy produce to underserved areas.
NEWS PROVIDED BY Grow Pod Solutions
Feb 20, 2019
CORONA, Calif., Feb. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- GP Solutions (OTC: GWPD), a leading developer of automated micro-farms, announced its new systems can help meet the food production needs for the future.
Earth's population is 7.68 billion, and is expected to grow to over 9 billion within 30 years.
According to a report from the University of Minnesota, "To feed those who are currently hungry—and the additional 2 billion-plus people who will live on the planet by 2050—our best projections are that crop production will need to increase between 60 and 100 percent."
However, with scarcity of land and resources, this poses immense challenges.
"Further expansion of agriculture is a poor solution to meeting future needs because we're using nearly all of the land that's suitable for agriculture already," the report emphasized. "Relying on increased production will be an important solution, but not a sufficient one."
Additionally, food isn't being grown near where it is needed. According to the United Nations, 815 million people in the world are under-nourished.
GrowPod is part of the solution.
GrowPods are modular, scalable, transportable, indoor "micro-farms" that grow high quality, pathogen-free foods using a fraction of resources required for conventional farming.
The system utilizes both hydroponics and soil-based platforms along with proprietary air and water filtration, to create the perfect environment for growing food virtually anywhere, in any season or climate.
GrowPods can be installed in just hours, so as demand rises or shifts, it is easy to put additional pods into service.
For more information, visit: www.growpodsolutions.com, or call (855) 247-8054.
ABOUT GP SOLUTIONS:
GP Solutions designs "GrowPods" – innovative indoor micro farms that provide optimum conditions for plant cultivation with total environmental control.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes predictions or information that might be considered "forward-looking" within securities laws. These statements represent Company's current judgments, but are subject to uncertainties that could cause results to differ. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on these statements, which reflect management's opinions only as of the date of this release. The Company is not obligated to revise any statements in light of new information or events.
Connect:
Email: info@growpodsolutions.com
Website: www.growpodsolutions.com
Facebook: facebook.com/GrowPodTechnology
Twitter: @GrowPodSolution
What Makes Your Lettuce Look and Taste So Good? It May Be the Fish
Karel Holloway, Special Contributor
Connect with Karel Holloway Email
That perfect lettuce in the clamshell box at the grocery store may owe its deep color and rich taste to fish.
More and more produce grown aquaponically is pouring into the highest-end restaurants, farmers markets and grocery stores in North Texas. Hydroponics, a similar water-based growing method, is increasing as well, providing the perfect produce prized by chefs and consumers.
One innovation is "living lettuce." The lettuce is harvested with the roots still attached. The roots harbor water and nutrients that continue feeding the plant, giving it a much longer shelf life. Mostly green leafy vegetables, like lettuce, and some herbs are grown aquaponically or hyrdroponically. Microgreens and edible flowers also are part of the mix. Larger vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are grown in some bigger facilities.
These types of farms require far less space, water and artificial chemicals than traditionally grown produce. Entrepreneurs and enthusiasts see water-based growing as the future in supplying urban areas.
Profound Microfarms owner Jeff Bednar harvests lettuce inside the hydroponics greenhouse at Profound Microfarms in Lucas.
(Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer)
Fish or no fish?
Aquaponics uses fish, usually tilapia or koi, to provide nutrient-rich water that is circulated to plant roots. The plants clean the water, which is pumped back to the fish tanks.
Goldfish tank in the aquaponics greenhouse at Profound Microfarms in Lucas.
(Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer)
Please, no jokes about lettuce growing in fish poop. The solids from the fish are cleaned from the water before it ever reaches the plants. Ammonia in the water is refined into nitrogen that feeds the plants. Aquaponics systems can be outdoors, but commercial growers usually use greenhouses.
Hydroponics systems don't use fish, instead depending on a mix of nutrients that are endlessly recirculated. And, please, no marijuana jokes.
The systems don't use herbicides or pesticides and are less subject to contamination.
Lettuce growing in the aquaponics greenhouse at Breeden Fresh Farms in Terrell.
(Erin Booke)
Upstart ideas
Harrison Breeden, 27, is president of Breeden Fresh Farms in Terrell. His aquaponics greenhouse produces 6,000 heads of lettuce a week on less than an acre of land.
"I'm passionate about this," Breeden says.
He had an interest in alternative ways to produce high-quality food and studied agricultural resource management at Texas State University. There was no class in aquaponics, but it was presented in some class materials. Intrigued, he put together a small system to see how it worked and was hooked. He decided he'd like to start an aquaponics farm, and his parents agreed to help.
"They believe it is the future," Breeden says.
The aquaponics greenhouse at Profound Microfarms uses koi fish and goldfish.
(Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer)
'Let's move to the country'
Richard and Sharon Hastings of East Texas Aquaponics have a similar story.
They worked in technology and lived in a suburban home in an increasingly crowded Austin. Their kids were grown and they were thinking ahead to retirement.
"We certainly wanted to look at doing something different. We were getting more and more interested in food," Richard Hastings says. "I said, 'Let's move to the country.'"
While they thought it was a good idea, they weren't sure what to do. Neither had farmed and they weren't really interested in traditional growing. They had a large koi pond in their yard, which prompted them to look into aquaponics.
They studied it and decided it had potential as a business and bought a small farm in Mineola to begin their aquaponic adventure growing lettuce, herbs and edible flowers. They now have a 6,600-square-foot greenhouse and plan to expand. Most of their produce goes to East Texas grocery stores and farmers markets, and they also contribute to the East Texas Food Bank.
Profound Microfarms owner Jeff Bednar harvests lettuce inside the hydroponics greenhouse.
(Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer)
A sustainable option
It was a small aquaponics kitchen experiment with his daughter, Lily, that led Jeff Bednar to create Profound Microfarms in Lucas.
He was working in real estate, tired of driving all over the area and missing his kids. He began researching and taking classes and decided an aquaponics farm was the business he wanted to start.
Growing crops traditionally didn't seem to be a viable business model, he says. Soil is depleted, it takes a lot of water, and is too subject to the weather, he says.
"I wanted to do something more sustainable for the future," he says.
He grows more than 150 types of produce, most of which goes to Dallas area restaurants such as Petra and the Beast, Cedars Social and more. Chefs are interested because they can get different types of greens when they want them and it's really, really fresh.
And because it's fresh, there is less waste.
"Chefs tell me that a typical box of lettuce from farms has about 40 percent waste. Ours is about 5 percent," Bednar says.
Swiss chard grows in a hydroponics system greenhouse at Profound Microfarms.
(Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer)
A growing trend
What the three growers have in common is the desire to start a sustainable business that will help with food supply issues. The number of those like them is growing, though most of the evidence is anecdotal.
"We are seeing an uptick in young people looking to get back into agriculture," says Chris Higgins, owner and editor of Urban Ag News.
Hennen Cummings, a professor at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, concurs. He teaches aquaponics and has seen an increase in enrollment. Classes have grown to the point that students jostle for position in the Hydrotron, the university's name for the aquaponics lab.
Bednar thinks water-based crops will always be a small part of the market, but already there are restaurants and some grocery stores that get much of their greens from local water-based farms. Breeden supplies several large chains and is working to provide produce to school districts.
And even though the product is more expensive than traditional lettuce, it makes up part of the difference with lower transportation costs and less waste.
"It's not going to solve world hunger," Higgins says, "but there is value there."
Purdue Grad Wants His Invention To Reduce Food Deserts
Purdue Grad Wants His Invention To Reduce Food Deserts
May 24, 2018, by Randy Spieth
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – A new appliance for the home could soon get mass produced, allowing owners to grow fresh fruits and vegetables without ever leaving their homes. Scott Massey, the CEO and co-founder of Heliponix, has just unveiled his first GroPod and wants to see it become an appliance to tackle hunger.
A GroPod is a little smaller than a standard dishwasher or oven. It uses hydroponic technology to grow seed pods, similar to single-serve coffee containers.
“When you buy a pod for it, and you plug it in, your GroPod already knows what you put in," Massey said. "Different plants have different environmental preferences and the unit will find the average temperature, light cycle, humidity for your variety, among many other variables, and give you specifically the best growing conditions based of what you like to eat.”
Massey first worked on self-sufficient plant growing while on a NASA project as a student at Purdue. He has also used hydroponic technology to start farms in the western Africa country of Togo. Today, he has help start one of the largest farm systems in the region, with space at two Togo universities, a co-working space, and at the U.S. Embassy compound.
“One system for $300 can grow about 500 pounds of vegetables, annually," said Massey. "That’s enough to feed a family.”
Massey said once you see a child suffer from malnutrition, it's a difficult image to get out of your head. That's why he wanted to help.
The creator of the GroPod said he'd like to see the appliance come hand-in-hand with federal housing assistance programs. He came up with the idea after an internship on the El Paso, Tex. and Juarez, Mexico border. There he was building Section 8 housing and saw what a food desert can do to people.
The SNAP program could serve as financial assistance to have seed pods mailed to the homes of low-income families.
"The only thing they had was a McDonald's and a convenience store," Massey said. "After time, you just get obese."
Massey unveiled his first finished GroPod Thursday. He's using it as part of a demonstration to people and organizations working to improve food options in the city at the Flanner House. Some investors were also expected to be on hand.
The finished product is being given to his customer later Thursday night. He added he has many more orders in for the appliance.
Massey, who is from Evansville, is discussing selling the invention to a mass producer of kitchen and household appliances. He said he believes his creation could be on shelves everywhere in a little over a year.
“This is designed to be a common appliance that can be integrated into any home," said Massey. "It does not to be plumbed in. It does not need a special outlet. It only requires Wi-Fi and a standard 110-volt outlet.”
Filed in: News
Good Life Growing Wants To Bring Back North City, One Micro-Farm At A Time
FEATURED
Raising North St. Louis
Good Life Growing Wants To Bring Back North City, One Micro-Farm At A Time
By Tiffany Shawn
James Forbes, Micah Pfotenhauer, James Hillis and Jack Redden work in one of the hoop houses of Good Life Growing at the corner of Sarah and Evans avenues in the city's historic Ville neighborhood.
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
According to the USDA, food deserts are parts of the country void of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. This is largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and healthy food providers.
The local business Good Life Growing is combatting urban decay and food insecurity by way of urban farming. Located northwest of Saint Louis University in the city of St. Louis, it is working to bring healthy food to local food deserts. Sitting on almost two acres, Good Life Growing is focused on methods of organic farming, like aquaponics, hydroponics, and aeroponics.
"We convert vacant, neglected urban spaces into thriving, productive micro-farms,” said co-founder and CEO James Forbes.
Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (the soil-less growing of plants) that grows fish and plants together in one integrated system. Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment rather than soil.
“I got my start in sustainable agriculture accidentally after graduating from Mizzou’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources in ‘08, but I never planned to use the degree," Forbes said.
He was inspired to learn more haphazardly while watching an episode of "Doomsday Prepper" about surviving the apocalypse by using a solar panel and junk to make an aquaponics system. After his college days, Forbes and friends would practice building systems in one another’s backyards, and it was mind blowing.
“You can catch rainwater and raise fish and plants in any setting – rural or urban, indoors and outdoors, hot or cold," Forbes said.
City dwellers often have to live by way of convenience, lacking access or education to obtain healthy food.
"People load up on unhealthy food, which is why I think North St. Louis has such a higher rate of diabetes, liver failure, heart disease, obesity, asthma, etc.,” Forbes said. “It’s a compounding problem. Convenient food is not actually cheap. It adds up over the long run, and adds insane medical bills and prescriptions."
Poor health can lead people to self-medicate, which may lead to addiction, then fueling crime and narcotics trafficking.
“Because people living in food deserts lack access to food and dignifying work, it leads, from my observations, to the many social issues plaguing society today," Forbes said.
Good Life Growing aims to inspire, train, educate and incubate aspiring social enterprises to take up empty, blighted land that developers and investors ignore and turn them into thriving food-production organizations.
"I hope that people copy our urban farming model and spread it in every economically and resource-depressed part of the planet,” Forbes said. “Food injustice, to me, is one of the greatest tragedies that exist in the developed world, and I believe St. Louis is a microcosm.”
Forbes realizes it takes a village to improve the village.
His mentor, Ellis Bell, a 5th generation sharecropper from Mississippi, supported Forbes’ vision while he worked for him.
“He hired me on to his insurance brokerage and had me focused on agricultural insurance. I attended St. Louis Agriculture Club meetings with him,” Forbes said.
“From those meetings I got hooked up with the developers working on Farmworks, met a ton of great people and ultimately got access to our property in The Ville. I thought blending his concept of connecting youth to agriculture in an urban setting would be a good way to repurpose property and provide a skilled trade component. Lastly, he had me pursue expanding his non-profit organization that aimed at getting rural African-American youth exposed to agricultural studies so they can get access to the growing agriculture business sector.
He also relies on his aunt Ruth Smith, former president and CEO of Human Development Corporation of Metropolitan St. Louis, for daily guidance, community engagement and empowerment, and Alderman Sam Moore helped navigate city politics. His partners Matt Stoyanov, Bobby Forbes, and James Hillis, constantly help him to improve operations, and Roy Roberson, Jack McGee, and Janette Kohl are North St. Louis residents who keep him informed.
"On one acre of land, a family can generate over $40,000 a year. One acre equals three vacant lots in the city,” Forbes said. “They just have to learn how to grow, wash, package, and sell. With urban agriculture, we can introduce a new system of self-sustainability, healthier food options, occupied land, rising property values, better housing and schools, legal enterprise – and more businesses will move in."
Forbes noted that urban farmers with small plots face obstacles getting into the for-profit sector of the agriculture industry.
"It’s been historically geared to wealthy, predominantly white, rural people. I tell kids in The Ville all the time that there is a $5.2 trillion pie in food retail/production, and 99 percent of that is coming from the top 10 percent of the wealthiest food producers. The bottom 90 percent don't even touch the industry because we all assume farmers are poor and work too hard,” he said.
“I hope to see 1,000 families get into micro-farming, unify under a local collaborative of brands, retake and then reinvest in their communities. I'd then hope that, with good health and money, North St. Louis and other blighted urban cores can begin the long journey of unraveling systemic oppression."
Microfarm Startup Wins Pitch Competition
Microfarm Startup Wins Pitch Competition
Mike Platania February 22, 2018
Two food-based startups won a total of $11,000 Tuesday night at Randolph-Macon College. (Mike Platania)
A UVA-born startup focused on water-based gardening is set to sow more seeds after taking home $10,000 in a pitch competition this week.
Charlottesville-based Babylon Micro-Farms, which makes a Keurig-like appliance for growing produce, won Dominion Energy Innovation Center’s 2018 Pitch Competition, held Tuesday at Randolph Macon College.
Startups pitched to a panel of judges that included Virginia BioTechnology Research Park president and CEO Carrie Roth and Startup Virginia executive director Bryan Bostic. The $10,000 prize was provided by the center, an Ashland-based office and coworking space for startups.
Founded in 2017, Babylon makes a “micro-farm,” which grows produce through hydroponics, a gardening method using nutrient-rich water instead of soil as a base to grow plants. Babylon has set up micro-farms in some Charlottesville eateries and UVA dining halls.
Other finalists were TMI Consulting, a Richmond-based firm focused on diversity in workplaces, and AnswersNow, an online service connecting parents of autistic children with therapists. AnswersNow was part of Richmond-based accelerator Lighthouse Labs’ 2017 class.
In addition to the startup competition, three R-MC students also pitched for a $1,000 prize, provided by the college’s The Edge Career Center.
Veg Head Foods, a vegan food truck concept by R-MC senior Sheridan Skurupey, won the student competition, beating out tutoring service Meta Language and Northern Virginia United FC, a semi-professional soccer team.
The competition was the second startup pitch contest in the region in recent months.
In November, Capital One held a competition for Lighthouse Labs’ latest class at its West Creek campus. RoundTrip, a non-emergency medical transportation company, won the $5,000 prize. A few weeks later, RoundTrip went live in the Richmond market.