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Achieving The Impossible: Growing Food In The High Arctic
April 13, 2019
David Nikel Contributor
He [caption photo credit="Polar Permaculture"] POLAR PERMACULTURE
Flying north over the vast permafrost and glacial mountains of Svalbard is quite the sight. Midway between the north of Norway and the North Pole, the endless white doesn’t inspire confidence that anyone could survive here, let alone thrive. Yet people do.
Ben Vidmar transplanted himself from the USA into this incredibly remote corner of the Arctic circle. He works as a chef in Longyearbyen, the main settlement, and has his own business, Polar Permaculture. He told the Life in Norway Show of his love for the archipelago: “Svalbard is so raw and pure. It is one of the only places left where you can experience true silence. This is a place where you only find people who want to be here. People who do not love the place leave.”
Breaking the cycle of importing and waste
Longyearbyen is the world's northernmost permanently inhabited community, with a long history of polar exploration and a true frontier spirit. Almost everything that is eaten on the island has to be imported from mainland Europe by boat or plane, while a lot of the waste ends up in the ocean. When Vidmar began working as a chef in some of Svalbard’s best restaurants, he quickly found frustration. When fresh food does arrive, much of it is spoilt and has to be thrown away.
Through Polar Permaculture, he aims to solve one of the biggest headaches of life at 78 degrees north: obtaining fresh food while reducing waste. However, deciding to do something about the problem and making that happen are two very different things. The headaches are many. Average temperatures - while rising fast - are low year-round. In the winter there is no direct sunlight for four months, and no light at all for more than two of those. Even at the height of summer, mountaintops surrounding the settlement are topped with snow.
Microgreens proved popular
Not to be put off, he poured substantial time and savings into creating the first and only gardening operation on Svalbard while still working as a chef. He began by growing microgreens in an insulated room and the produce was quickly snapped up by local hotels and restaurants. The operation has since expanded to a temporary greenhouse, in which he grows all kinds of plants from May to September, and an indoor hydroponics lab running year-round.
Inside the Arctic hydroponics lab of Polar Permaculture | DAVID NIKEL
He follows the principles of permaculture - developing an agricultural ecosystem designed to be sustainable.
Permaculture uses organic gardening and farming practices but it goes beyond these practices and integrates the garden and home to create a lifestyle that impacts less on the environment. Permaculture brings production of food closer to consumers and the consumer’s wastes back into the cycle. It also reduces the energy wasted in transporting the foods by producing the foods where the people are. In permaculture the people contribute in their daily life toward the production of their food and other needs. - Permaculture Visions
Vidmar isn’t doing this to be trendy. He believes that sustainability is the only option. “Everything here is imported so we want to create locally-grown food for Longyearbyen. We try to collect back the waste, which we compost. We then use the compost we produce to grow more food,” he says.
Different kinds of challenges
By researching other Arctic projects, he discovered the possibilities of using red worms to produce a natural fertilizer from food waste. Because the worms are a non-native species, he had to obtain special permission. Even cats aren’t allowed on Svalbard. Local authorities vetoed his plans to keep chickens to produce eggs, while even his greenhouse only has temporary permission as the settlement has strict zoning rules.
It’s a challenge Vidmar is meeting head on, because he believes a focus on sustainability is the only way to give the settlement a future. While he is inspired by projects like the Inuvik Community Greenhouse, whose hundred or so members grow fruit, vegetables and even flowers in Alaska, it’s not so easy to replicate such a project on Svalbard. The community is a temporary one. There is a hospital but there is no welfare system. “If you want to live here, you have to be able to fend for yourself. You cannot be born on Svalbard, and you’re not allowed to die here either,” he explains.
Sustainability brings possibility
Still, his vision is to create a truly sustainable community for the few thousand people that currently call Longyearbyen their home, however long they stay for. “It can happen, but it takes everyone working together. There are over 1,000 dogs here but their organic waste is just thrown away. That manure can be used to create energy. We want to connect all the other companies and help make everything more sustainable,” he says.
He continues to work part-time as a chef while he looks for ways to raise funds for the business. He now offers tours to interested visitors, ranging from a 2-hour hands-on farm tour to a ‘Day in the life of an Arctic farmer’ experience, on which you see every part of the farm and his life.
As for the next project? He plans to open his own zero-waste restaurant called the Greenhouse. “We want to do on a small-scale what we would like to see for the city. We will provide fresh, locally-grown food, use less single-use plastic, and compost the waste,” he says.
My latest book, How to Find a Job in Norway, is available now in paperback and eBook. My 450-page travel guidebook, Moon Norway, is here.
David Nikel Contributor
I was born in the UK but moved to Norway in 2011 and haven't looked back. I run a website and podcast for fellow expats, authored the Moon Norway travel guidebook, help Norwegian companies with their English, and spend my free time touring the country to discover more about the people and places of this unique corner of the world. I write for Forbes with an outsider's inside perspective on Norway & Scandinavia.
Arctic Farmer Defies Icy Conditions To Grow Vegetables
Arctic Farmer Defies Icy Conditions To Grow Vegetables
Benjamin Vidmar
On the icy Norwegian islands of Svalbard, located well above the Arctic Circle, the maximum temperature was just 13°C last year and the minimum temperature a frosty -24°C.
For more than three months of the year, the sun doesn't even rise over Svalbard.
And yet, one farmer/chef has taken it upon himself to try to grow food there. FRANCE 24's team went to meet him.
"Svalbard will become an example for the world"
A while ago HortiDaily published an article about Benjamin Vidmar, who grows vegetables in Svalbard. Read that article here.
Source: France24
Publication date: 5/2/2018
Author: Jobke den Hertog
Copyright: www.hortidaily.com
New Technologies Allow Sustainable Farming In The Arctic
New Technologies Allow Sustainable Farming In The Arctic
Bambi Majumdar January 23, 2018
Eco-chef and foodie Benjamin L. Vidmar has used "polar permaculture" to grow food in the Arctic. (Image: Polar Permaculture)
In "The Martian," Matt Damon showed us how we can grow food even when stranded on the frigid surface of Mars. Back on Earth, this method has been successfully proven by eco-chef and foodie Benjamin L. Vidmar.
The small Arctic town of Longyearbyen is known for its spectacular Northern Lights. But now it is making news for the successful implementation of "polar permaculture" that Vidmar introduced here (which also happens to be the name of his company, Polar Permaculture).
For a long time, the town had to pay a hefty price to procure all its food and produce from outside. All that has now changed with the use of modern technologies like polar permaculture, which makes use of hydroponic systems, insulated greenhouses and compost-warmed geodesic domes.
They are also using the waste from the island to produce biogas and grow their food. The design keeps in mind the fragile ecosystem of the North Pole and ensures that the environment is well-protected. This shows how technology is changing the world of fresh produce and creating regional food security.
This emerging technology can grow fresh food even in the coldest and darkest regions on Earth. Scientists are hopeful that they can soon grow fresh food in an arid desert throughout the year.
Permaculture design techniques are inspired by nature. They have the potential to turn a simple garden into an ultraproductive food source. This could be a game-changer for those who want holistic and organic produce. With Vidmar's project, we now have evidence for indigenous growth in extremely cold climes as well.
There are many regions like Longyearbyen that suffer from poor soil and unsuitable conditions for growing food. Most of the food needs to be shipped into these areas while waste is dumped without recycling.
The polar permaculture technique looks at both these ends and offers a solution. It has helped Vidmar close the loop, reuse and recycle the waste to create a "circular economy." Food insecurity and food waste are worrisome issues. With the help of innovative technologies, it now seems a sustainable food culture is possible.
Vidmar's efforts are mirrored by Canadians Ben Canning and Stefany Nieto. They are working to produce affordable fresh food in the Arctic Canadian community of Naujaat. Remote locations like these suffer from lack of indigenous produce, and poverty is rampant, too.
Shocked by the conditions there, they partnered with organizations like Enactus Ryerson to bring about affordable, healthy food to the locals. They create greenhouses to grow fresh produce in otherwise harsh and impossible conditions. Much like Vidmar, they use techniques like insulated greenhouses hydroponic systems and compost-warmed geodesic domes, among others.
Other innovative strategies that defy the extreme climates include cold-weather container farms. Simple and brilliant, the technology transforms a shipping container into a hydroponic greenhouse.
Called the Arctic Growing System, this is slowly empowering remote Arctic communities to grow their greens on site. The future may see other remote locations benefit the same way, thereby lowering food insecurity around the world.
Polar Permaculture Grows Fresh Food In One of The Coldest, Darkest Regions on Earth (Video)
We've heard about how holistic and nature-inspired permaculture design techniques can green a desert and transform ordinary gardens into ultra-productive "food forests." But what about practicing permaculture principles to help grow food in the cold Arctic region -- is it possible?
Polar Permaculture Grows Fresh Food In One of The Coldest, Darkest Regions on Earth (Video)
Kimberley Mok (@kimberleymok)
Science / Sustainable Agriculture
December 21, 2017
© Polar Permaculture
We've heard about how holistic and nature-inspired permaculture design techniques can green a desert and transform ordinary gardens into ultra-productive "food forests." But what about practicing permaculture principles to help grow food in the cold Arctic region -- is it possible?
That's something that American-born professional chef and foodie Benjamin Vidmar is exploring with his project, Polar Permaculture. Based out of Longyearbyen, a town of 2,500 that's located on Svalbard, Norway's archipelago of islands (yes, the same place with the so-called doomsday seed vault), Vidmar is experimenting with innovative ways to grow fresh food and creating a "circular economy" in a rugged, cold place that is dark for 3 months out of the year, and where most supplies have to be shipped in. Watch him explain in this short feature on NBC:
Vidmar is trained as a professional chef and has worked in hotels and cruise ships around the world. In 2007, he landed a job in one of Longyearbyen's hotels, and has stayed there since, raising his family. However, since childhood Vidmar has always been interested in sustainable agriculture, and a few years ago he got tuned into permaculture, recently getting trained in permaculture design practices.
© Polar Permaculture
He's since brought these skills back to Longyearbyen, setting up a geodesic greenhouse, and bringing in red worms to help with composting the locally produced organic waste, which can then be used to grow food here. This is an important point that's not to be taken for granted; on Svalbard, the soil is extremely poor and unsuited for growing food, so if it were not for the worms and compost, soil would literally have to be shipped in.
NBC/Video screen capture
On an island where everything is transported in, and waste is either dumped into the ocean or shipped back to the mainland for disposal, Vidmar's aim is to look for ways to close the loop, reusing and recycling outputs back into inputs whenever possible:
I had initially wanted to do a permaculture project in Florida where I presently spend a month each year, but something told me to do it here in Longyearbyen. There was a huge need for it is as we presently dump all sewage directly into the sea without any treatment facility. We also mine and burn coal. All produce is shipped and flown in, so I basically believe the place chose me to complete this mission, to help make this place more sustainable.
Surprisingly, one of the biggest obstacles has been local politics: the island is socially conservative and has no agricultural zoning regulations in place. It took Vidmar a year and a half to get permission to import his worms. "So with our permaculture project we are basically rewriting all of the history books, looking to change the laws and grow food here once again." says Vidmar.
NBC/Video screen capture
Polar Permaculture/Video screen capture
Currently, Polar Permaculture is the only supplier of fresh, locally produced food on the island, serving all the major hotels and restaurants. The greenhouse is used only when the sun is out, otherwise they grow their veggies -- mostly microgreens, chilies, tomatoes, onions, peas, herbs and so on -- inside their lab -- basically a converted room in one of the local hotels. They've also recently set up a small quail farm, and are producing eggs to eat. The future goal is to scale things up, and to increase food security and reduce waste on this remote island, says Vidmar:
Before we started this project, there was no one speaking about composting, or having locally grown food. All around the Arctic, many people are farming and growing food, but here we were only relying on shipments. After starting this, we now have much more support to expand and increase what we are able to produce. We want to install a biogas digester and also set up a system that can process most of the cities sewage and turn it into biogas that we can use to heat our greenhouses.
Growing food in one of the planet's harshest regions seems like an impossible task, but it appears that through the principles of permaculture, and a lot of dedication, it can be done. Besides growing food, Polar Permaculture offers courses, tours, and gourmet cooking classes. For more information visit Polar Permaculture.