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USA: Wichita, Kansas - Fidelity Bank’s New ‘Car Park’ Adding Ground-Floor Restaurant, Rooftop Urban Farm
Called Rise Farms, it will include 5,000 square feet of space where fresh vegetables and herbs will be grown in raised beds, large planters, and a 24x70-foot long hoop house
Fidelity Bank is embarking on a $51 million project to build a 10-story tower next to its existing five-story headquarters at Main and English. It also plans a new 505-stall parking garage. BY JAIME GREEN
The ground level of Fidelity Bank’s new five-story “car park” on Market between Waterman and English will soon have a new 4,000-square-foot restaurant on its main level.
And that’s not even the biggest news to come out of the project this week.
In addition to the restaurant — which Fidelity isn’t ready to share details about quite yet — the new parking garage will also be home to a rooftop urban farm that bank officials say will be the largest in the Midwest.
Called Rise Farms, it will include 5,000 square feet of space where fresh vegetables and herbs will be grown in raised beds, large planters, and a 24x70-foot long hoop house. The food the farm produces will be used not only by the new ground-level restaurant tenant but also by other restaurants around Wichita. Fidelity Bank employees also will be beneficiaries of the produce, and the first crops should be ready by fall.
The rooftop project will include a private event center with retractable garage doors where Fidelity can house small events and gatherings during warm weather seasons as well as a 5,622 square-foot solar farm featuring 204 solar panels, which produce 380 watts each. The panels, which weigh about 35,000 pounds, are already up and running and producing enough energy to provide the power for the car park and its first-floor tenants.
A rendering of what Fidelity Bank’s rooftop Rise Farms will look like Courtesy FIDELITY BANK
The car park, which has 405 stalls, 24 electric car charging stations employees can use, and daytime public parking on the ground level, just opened and is the first part of a $51 million Fidelity Bank expansion project that also will include a new 10-story, 135,000 square-foot office tower at 100 E. English, where the bank’s parking deck is. Construction on that hasn’t started yet.
The idea for the rooftop farm came about after Fidelity polled its employees about what types of tenants they would like to see move into the 17,000 square feet of retail space on the car park’s ground level, said Aaron Bastian, Fidelity’s president, and CEO. Overwhelmingly, they said they’d want a restaurant.
In the course of meeting with potential restaurant tenants, Bastian said, one suggested the idea of raising fresh produce on the roof.
Bastian, who said that local food culture is a topic he’s passionate about, liked the idea, but bank leadership decided they’d need to consult with an expert to pull it off.
“When we started talking about this idea, we wanted to go out and find people we could partner with to help create what we think could really be a cool downtown amenity,” Bastian said.
Fidelity has since partnered with Leah Dannar-Garcia, the owner of Firefly Farm at West 21st Street North and North 159th Street East, who already raises produce that she sells to about 38 Wichita restaurants. She’ll be in charge of the farm and will offer its produce for sale to restaurants on her route. The ground-floor restaurant, though, will get first dibs.
Fidelity Bank’s new car park in downtown Wichita just opened to employees. By fall, it will have a ground-floor restaurant and a rooftop farm. Courtesy FIDELITY BANK
Dannar-Garcia has been working with the bank for about a year, she said and has mapped out her growing plans in detail. Once it gets going, she’ll have plants growing in beds and containers along both the north and west sides of the building as well as in the climate-controlled hoop house. The bank envisions a program in which Fidelity employees will be able to volunteer to work the farm, and they’ll also set up some type of program where employees can get boxes of fresh produce to take home.
Once it’s fully functioning, the farm will produce vegetables like beets, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts as well as greens like arugula, Swiss chard, and spinach. It’ll also grow herbs, including parsley, cilantro, and Greek oregano.
“We’re going to grow in all four seasons on this farm, so we’ll have spring, summer, fall, and winter crops,” Dannar-Garcia said.
The project is a “natural extension” of the bank’s health, wellness, and green initiatives, it says. One goal of the farm is that it produces zero wasted food.
“Whether that means it gets donated, we haven’t defined that yet,” said Melissa Knoeber, executive vice president at Fidelity who is also the bank’s director of culture and talent. “But that’s really important to us.”
Construction on Rise Farms should start in the spring, and the first crops should be ready by fall.
COURTESY FIDELITY BANK
DENISE NEIL
316-268-6327
Denise Neil has covered restaurants and entertainment since 1997. Her Dining with Denise Facebook page is the go-to place for diners to get information about local restaurants. She’s a regular judge at local food competitions and speaks to groups all over Wichita about dining.
5 Benefits of Corporate Wellness Programs
“Food has a direct impact on our cognitive performance,” according to Harvard Business Review author, Ron Friedman
11-12-2020 Babylon Microfarms
Your company wouldn't be functioning without the hard work and dedication of your staff. Day in and day out, they serve your business and help further its future. To retain happy, healthy employees for years to come, consider implementing an employee wellness program..
Show employees how much you genuinely care about their well-being in and outside the workplace
Learn the benefits of corporate wellness programs for both your company and employees.
1. Healthy Employees Are More Productive
Every employer wants to boost their employees’ level of productivity, but how?
Did you know that health and nutritional wellness link to cognitive wellness? Your brain needs fuel, but not just any fuel – high-quality foods that provide long-lasting energy.
“Food has a direct impact on our cognitive performance,” according to Harvard Business Review author, Ron Friedman.
In other words, people who eat healthier at work tend to focus and retain information better than those with an unhealthy lifestyle.
Have you ever heard of “brain food?” Several foods are associated with boosting brain power such as berries, walnuts, leafy vegetables, and fatty fish. However, your employees probably aren’t showing up to work with a bag of fresh produce.
Partnering with a company like Babylon-Micro Farms can help you empower healthy employees in the workplace.
Babylon-Micro Farms can quickly install a smart, indoor farming system with a seed bank delivered right to your door. The team of gardening experts will remotely manage your farm for an optimal harvest. Plus, you can monitor your garden through an app, giving your office fresh, healthy vegetables within arms reach.
2. Reduce Employee Health Risks
The traditional American diet exceeds the recommended consumption levels and limits of calories from solid fats and added sugars, refined grains, sodium, and saturated fat. The general unhealth of an average American explains these daunting statistics on health and wellness:
14% of adults aged 18 and older smoke cigarettes.
72% of adults aged 20 and older are obese or overweight.
80% of adults don’t exercise enough.
If you can help employees form healthy habits in the office, you’re supporting their wellness outside of the office. Employer wellness programs give employees access to professional medical help when they need it and take preventative measures when appropriate.
As it currently stands, studies show that diseases such as diabetes are likely to increase by more than 50% by 2030.
Employee wellness programs give employees health on a silver platter, which they might not have otherwise. Help employees defeat the odds and reduce their health risks with a wellness program that promotes healthier nutrition and effective behavior changes.
3. Reduce Employee Wellness Program Costs
If you're wondering how employee wellness programs benefit employers, here’s the answer: Employee wellness programs save employers money.
As Rucker notes, “The notion that workplace wellness can reduce an organization’s costs is not a new concept” (International Journal of Workplace Health Management). Unfortunately, some companies don’t take advantage of the benefits, and their employees pay for it.
Why have a wellness program? You can help prevent employees from becoming part of the statistics above, and, as a result, save money on employee healthcare costs.
A Rand study reviewed a decade of data from Fortune 100 employer’s wellness programs, and the cost savings amounted to $136 per member and a 30% reduction in hospital admissions.
The benefits of promotion of health and wellness in the workplace are equally helpful to employers and employees. Be the change in your company and promote wellness.
4. Help Employees Pursue Personal Wellness Goals
Many of your employees may think about getting healthier, but they haven't taken actionable steps to make it a reality. One of the benefits of corporate wellness programs that you can’t quantify is inspiring your staff to pursue a healthier version of themselves.
As the saying goes: the first step is always the hardest. You can help employees start a life-changing health journey by providing the information and resources they need.
For example, integrate a step-counting competition at work. What started as healthy workplace competition may turn into an employee’s passion for running!
Start Meatless Monday to encourage plant-based eating to promote employee health and support the environment. You may find that some employees enjoy a vegetarian day of the week and pursue an entirely plant-based lifestyle.
Giving your employees the initial push and introduction to health and wellness that they needed won't go unnoticed. Start pursuing health in small ways to create a ripple effect in your business.
5. Lessen Stress in Your Workplace
Do you want to reduce the amount of stress in your workplace? Stress doesn’t just happen at work, but it follows everyone – employees and employers – home.
A MediKeeper survey found that nationwide, people with access to an employee wellness program are less stressed about work and less stressed overall than the general population.
Employee wellness programs shouldn't merely be focused on promoting constant workouts and a healthy diet. Be sure to motivate employees to prioritize their mental health as well.
You can do this by integrating mental health days off, encouraging conversation about mental illness, and providing resources for those who need professional help.
Consider implementing mental wellness activities such as yoga, meditation, and daily walks to help your employees reduce their stress levels during the workday.
Bring Employee Wellness Into The Workplace
Now that you've seen several benefits associated with employee wellness programs, it's time to start one today.
Begin a lifelong journey of wellness in the workplace by installing micro-farms. Indoor farming is the wave of the future, and your company can lead the way.
Compact, indoor micro-farms can be a great way to show your dedication to employee wellness by providing fresh, healthy, pesticide-free food at their fingertips. Go above and beyond for your staff to promote the importance of employee health to your company.
Contact Babylon Micro-Farms to get started, ask questions, or get more information on using indoor farms to support your employees’ wellness.
Source and Photo Courtesy of Babylon Microfarms
VIDEO: Growing Healthy Food Indoors
How many of us live in apartments or townhomes and long for a big backyard to start a garden?
How Many of us Live in Apartments or
Townhomes And long For a Big Backyard to Start a Garden?
Well with new technology, indoor herb growers give anyone the chance to grow their own food. You don't even need a backyard anymore to grow healthy foods.
Now, you can do it all from the comfort of your home. In this article, we're going to talk about our favorite indoor herb grower right now and why you should try it for yourself!
Read more
Fresh Microgreens, Off The Wall And Onto Your Plate
To get started with the system, restaurant owners need "just 28” of wall space and a dream to grow their own produce", as Andrew puts it
Picture the scene. You're in a restaurant, a delicious plate of food is sitting before you on the table. Then the chef shows up. "Just one minute, please", he says, walking over to the wall and harvesting some fresh microgreens from it. He sprinkles the finishing touch onto the dish. "Voilà!"
If it sounds like fiction, think again, because in several restaurants across the U.S., this scene may well occur, thanks to the in-restaurant cultivation systems from inHouse Produce. One of the restaurants that uses the cultivation racks is Scratch Bar & Kitchen in Los Angeles.
"At Scratch|Bar, we have always prided ourselves on being as 'from Scratch' as possible, making our own butter, vinegar, bread and even charcuterie," says Gavin Humes, executive chef at the restaurant. "Working with inHouse Produce was a way for us to get even the production of microgreens inhouse. It also gave us the ability to work on growing specific microgreens that were not always available from our traditional suppliers, which has been fantastic."
Local cultivation, remote management
So, how do these indoor cultivation systems work? Andrew Blume, co-founder of inHouse Produce, explains that most of the functionality on the gardens is automated. Farm technicians are tasked with the once-monthly deep sanitation of the system, which currently takes a team of two approximately one hour. "We have some design improvements coming up that should reduce the labor requirement", Andrew says.
To get started with the system, restaurant owners need "just 28” of wall space and a dream to grow their own produce", as Andrew puts it. "A big advantage of the service model is that the farm technician can also be the account manager and delivery person. When they do the clean, they replenish supplies and speak with the client about how the garden is performing. This is a great time to get feedback and to make micro-adjustments that will improve our offering."
In addition to the monthly visits, each farm has multiple cameras that take images at regular intervals. These images are uploaded into a database and inform computer vision and machine learning algorithms. "Soon we will be rolling out automated text message reminders to the restaurant staff for when to do basic tasks like moving trays or harvesting."
It sounds straightforward, and according to Gavin, it is. "It's pretty simple. We trained one of our cooks, and of course management to be familiar with it, and the team at inHouse Produce has always been very helpful in resolving any issues that we do have."
Microgreens à la carte
The inHouse Produce gardens are capable of growing over 100 different microgreen varieties. "During the sales process, we meet with the chef to hone in on what crops will be great for their menu. This is our favorite part of the job because we love the creativity of our chef partners; food will always benefit from a strong chef-farmer relationship", Andrew says.
Gavin agrees that getting to pick and choose what microgreens to grow is one of the main advantages of the system. "Really there are two main advantages. First, it allows us to have more control over the microgreens that we work with. If we order from a vendor, they come in whatever size they come in, and in the varieties they choose to grow. With inHouse Produce, we're able to customize our offerings, and also harvest them when they're precisely the size and maturity level that we prefer. Second, it provides a focal point in the dining room that starts lots of conversations and gets people excited about what we have."
Spicing up the dining experience
Gavin goes on to say that at Scratch, they already frequently used microgreens before. "We still use them now, but since they're of a wider range of styles and varietals, we're able to use them in more creative and interesting ways, as opposed to solely as garnish to look nice. They're able to be more integral to the dish."
Asked about his favorite dish that incorporates the greens from the inHouse Produce system, Gavin says: "Probably the most interesting is our leek dish. Specifically, we take a full-grown leek, slice it into medallions, and sear it hard in a pan. Then we punch the center our of the leek, slice the interiors and cream them. We fold those creamed leeks back into the 'shell' of the leek, top it with a mustard made in house from leeks, and then top the whole thing with crispy leeks to give it texture. We incorporate the philosophy of 'root to stem' cooking with leeks in using the inHouse Produce system to produce microleeks to garnish the dish. So it's leeks, stuffed with leeks, topped with leeks and garnished with microleeks."
And the effect of the inHouse Produce gardens goes beyond the plate. According to Gavin, responses from patrons have been overwhelmingly positive. "Guests have commented frequently on how unique and cool the system looks, and we are regularly asked questions about how it works, and what uses we get out of it. When we're not too busy we encourage our guests to even go over to the system so they can get an up close look at it, and how we use all the cool products we can grow!"
For more information:
inHouse Produce
310-853-0617
info@inhouseproduce.com
inhouseproduce.com
Publication date: Tue 18 Feb 2020
Author: Jan Jacob Mekes
© HortiDaily.com
For In-Store Farms To Succeed, Finding The Right Balance Is Key
High-tech growing operations promise to efficiently supply retailers with greens. But the bigger payoff may be in offering shoppers a bit of food theatre
High-tech growing operations promise to efficiently supply retailers with greens. But the bigger payoff may be in offering shoppers a bit of food theater.
Credit: Jeff Wells
AUTHOR: Lauren Stine
Feb. 6, 2020
To appeal to consumers' growing desire for transparency and to know where their food came from, retailers across the country have brought local products into their aisles. They've also created informational web pages, integrated with nutrition apps and encouraged suppliers to tell their story to customers.
With 95% of consumers saying they'll pay more for locally grown products and 21% saying they eat local at least twice a week, though, companies are feeling the pressure to up the ante. Some, like Kroger and Whole Foods, have taken that step by bringing high-tech produce farms into their aisles — a budding movement that's made possible by advancements in growing technology.
Discover how to improve engagement among hourly employees by providing predictability and flexibility.
“Across the indoor farming industry, there have been dramatic decreases in cost when it comes to the physical hardware, advanced LED lighting and technology platforms automating a lot of the growth cycle,” Alexander Olsen, founder of automated mini-farm purveyor Babylon Micro-Farms, told Grocery Dive.
As more and more retailers discuss shifting center store operations online and accentuating the store perimeter, miniature produce farms promise to offer a supply line as well as a touch of food theater.
“We are also seeing a lot of traditional goods that grocers stock being purchased online and it’s freeing up a lot of space in-store,” Olsen said.
Retailers have been bringing cultivation to their stores for several years now. As early as 2012, Rouses sought to dazzle shoppers with an aeroponic garden on the rooftop of one of its New Orleans store locations. Hy-Vee and H-E-B's Central Market stores have also experimented with growing operations, with the latter adding a 53-foot modified shipping container full of greens to one of its Dallas stores.
Whole Foods has established a few different store growing operations. In 2018, it added an in-store mushroom growing display inside its Bridgewater, New Jersey store. The system was provided by Smallhold, a Brooklyn-based indoor farming company that also sells its mushrooms to local restaurants. A few years earlier, the chain partnered with urban greenhouse operator Gotham Greens to open a growing facility on top of a Brooklyn store location.
Credit: Kroger
The trend has gained momentum in Europe and Japan. Founded in 2013, Berlin-based InFarm has placed its in-store farms, which grow leafy greens, herbs, and vegetables, in hundreds of European stores, while Amazon Fresh sells its produce in Germany, France, and Switzerland. Last year, the company raised $100 million in Series B funding.
InFarm recently made its U.S. debut with two Kroger-owned QFC stores in Seattle and will bring its sprigs of kale, mint, cilantro, and dill to 13 more banner locations this year. The greens are initially planted at a nearby distribution center before being transferred to the store, where each plant's growth is monitored remotely by the company. The price points for the greens are competitive at $2.99 per bunch.
Grocery Dive reached out to Kroger and Whole Foods for comment but did not hear back by press time.
InFarm has lofty ambitions for its in-store farms, hoping to significantly impact grocery and restaurant supply chains, according to co-founder and CMO Osnat Michaeli.
“By growing produce on-demand and as close to possible to where it’s consumed, retailers are able to reduce food waste and sunk costs typically linked to industrial farming,” Michaeli wrote in an email to Grocery Dive. “We find that when retailers are able to understand the value, quality and flexibility of our business model they are more than enthusiastic to enter into conversations to explore our farms.”
Retail attraction or real action?
Although in-store farm displays and gardens are attractive additions, farming is no small feat even at a micro-scale.
“I think this trend is going to be closer to food theater and closer to a niche that engages the public and excites them about fresh produce,” Neil Mattson, associate professor at Cornell’s School of Integrative Plant Science, told Grocery Dive. Through his research, Mattson specializes in controlled environment agriculture systems such as hydroponics.
Operating an in-store farm is not for the novice beginner, he adds, noting that a retailer or its farming partner will have to allocate employees to monitoring the in-store farm to ensure it’s working properly. This requires intensive training, adds labor hours and could take the employee away from other tasks that still need doing.
If an in-store farm is not operating properly, the plants could fall victim to unsightly mold, disease and other issues that would make the display unappetizing to shoppers. Should a situation like this arise, the plants must be stripped out immediately and all surfaces must be sanitized, leaving an empty display, said Mattson.
Even for high-tech farming systems that are remotely monitored, Mattson has concerns about long-term success.
"Plants are biological systems so sometimes they don’t grow as fast as you think they should or some other factor becomes limiting and you have to adjust," he explained.
Credit: Pixabay
Mattson also questions whether an in-store farm could supply enough produce to be more than just an interesting display for consumers. Produce sales in the U.S. totaled $60.8 billion during 2018, representing a 1.7% increase over the prior year. The input costs for indoor farming systems, namely water, and around-the-clock electricity to power LED lights, are also substantial barriers even for large-scale indoor growing operations.
“It’s hard to foresee this producing the quantities of produce at the price points needed to become the widespread way that most Americans would buy their lettuce," Mattson said. "I think it is an expensive way to grow produce in a supermarket.”
High-tech farming operations have struggled to overcome high costs in the past, but the new crop of companies like InFarm and Babylon claim their systems are much more cost-effective and scalable.
To the extent that a retailer could overcome these challenges, benefits to having an in-store farm would include cutting out distributors and other middlemen, who often hike up the price of produce, and increasing store traffic, Mattson said. He believes the success of in-store farms may depend on balancing production needs and efficiency with the desire to amuse consumers.
Mattson said a larger-scale operation like Whole Foods' rooftop farm in Brooklyn offers the benefits of a customer draw with a more viable supply line. In recent years, retailers have also turned to large greenhouse and vertical farming operations to supply stores. Gotham Greens operates greenhouses in five states while BrightFarms operates greenhouses in four states and supplies to retailers like Giant Food, Acme and Food Lion.
Finding the middle ground
For Brooklyn-based grower and Whole Foods partner Smallhold, providing mushrooms first and in-store farms second has been a recipe for success. The duo behind the operation started out in a shipping container offering locally grown mushrooms to restaurants. They began asking their buyers whether they could fit a mini mushroom farm on-site and were encouraged enough to start modeling a prototype.
Whole Foods Local Forager Elly Truesdell ate lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant where one of Smallhold’s mushroom farms is located and promptly contacted the company to see about locating one at a Whole Foods store, according to co-founder Adam DeMartino.
“We didn’t intend to start a produce brand, it just sort of happened and a lot of that was because of Whole Foods,” DeMartino told Grocery Dive.
Today, Smallhold maintains mini mushroom farms in restaurants and retail locations, including two Whole Foods stores. It also sells mushrooms under a branded label.
Smallhold visits retail locations where its mini-farms are located once a week to swap out materials and harvest mushrooms. To achieve the volume that a retailer like Whole Foods demands, the company breaks up the growth process, completing the final stages, or fruiting, in-store. Mushrooms have an advantage over other crops grown indoors because of the high weight per square foot that mushrooms usually yield, according to DeMartino.
“Is it right for everyone? I’m not sure. That’s why it’s not the only thing we do,” co-founder Andrew Carter added. “How we look at it is we are offering a bunch of different tools to accomplish the task of getting mushrooms into the hands of everyone in the U.S. and hopefully the world. One of these tools is increasing the visibility of farming by growing on-site.”
IKEA Wants All Restaurants To Be Self-Sufficient in Herbs and Lettuce
Many IKEA customers like to grow their own fruit and vegetables. "What if we could do the same?" they wondered at the Swedish retail chain
Many IKEA customers like to grow their own fruit and vegetables. "What if we could do the same?" they wondered at the Swedish retail chain.
The company is testing smallscale urban farms, exploring whether they can become self-sufficient in some of the fresh produce used in IKEA restaurants.
Container farms
In FY18, they grew their own herbs and lettuces in small-scale urban farms in Sweden and Switzerland. In FY19, they extended the tests, installing medium-scale container farms with romaine and frisée lettuces outside the IKEA Malmö and IKEA Helsingborg stores in Sweden. The farms use hydroponic technology and operate in a circular way, with food waste from the store used to create a nutrient solution to feed the lettuces.
Promising results
Early results show the container farms produced enough to supply the in-store restaurants with all the lettuce they need. Since they’re grown onsite, the lettuce can be used almost straight away, meaning they’re fresher, tastier and contain more nutrients. They also grow faster, with less water and waste than conventional farming and without the use of pesticides and herbicides. A life-cycle assessment shows that when the urban farm is powered by renewable energy, the carbon footprint of the lettuce is 30% smaller than the ones we would usually use. IKEA is planning to extend urban farming so that they become self-sufficient in herbs and lettuce across all store restaurants.
Cost-cutting
The main challenge is that the produce IKEA uses is currently more expensive than a conventionally farmed alternative. They’ve already made progress on reducing these costs, and they’re continuing to find ways to improve efficiency. Ingka Investments has also invested in two urban farming businesses in the USA and Estonia to support development of the industry.
For more information, check out the Ingka Group Sustainability Report.
Publication date: Fri 31 Jan 2020
Florida: Meet The Brick Street Farms Cultivation Hub!
The Cultivation Hub will house a 2 story 6,500 Sq mixed-use space. In The Hub, we'll be serving coffee, beer, wine, and you'll be able to sit and enjoy healthy grab-n-go food options from our 1,800 Sq farm-to-table market
You wanted more greens, and baby you're going to get more greens! Meet the Brick Street Farms Cultivation Hub! Set to begin construction in February, The Cultivation Hub will house a 2 story 6,500 Sq mixed-use space.
In The Hub, we'll be serving coffee, beer, wine, and you'll be able to sit and enjoy healthy grab-n-go food options from our 1,800 Sq farm-to-table market! We'll be hosting pop-up restaurants, food trucks, private dinners, events and more! Not only that, we'll have 10 container farms, more than doubling our farm size!
Our current Farm Market will be transitioning to a commissary kitchen where Brick Street Canning Company and other local food businesses will be working out of. We are BEYOND excited!
During construction, we will be temporarily relocating off 22nd Ave S. At that time you'll be able to order your greens online and pick up from one of our pick up locations, or you can visit us at the Indie Flea Green Market. We also plan on popping around town in our refrigerated van, so be on the lookout!
We are seeking local food-based businesses to partner up with. Email illene@brickstreetfarms.com if you're interested in finding out more details!
VISIT OUR WEBSITE
US: OHIO - 8,600 sq ft Indoor Aquaponics Facility Opened In Toledo
There's a new farm in Toledo, and it's located inside a building downtown. Balance Farms is an aquaponics farm in Downtown Toledo vertically integrated with parent restaurant Balance Grille
There's a new farm in Toledo, and it's located inside a building downtown. Balance Farms is an aquaponics farm in Downtown Toledo vertically integrated with parent restaurant Balance Grille.
Their restaurant has been active for nearly a decade, serving vegetable-focused Build-a-Bowls, Asian-inspired Tacos, and seasonal snacks to the Toledo and Cleveland communities
Balance Grille held a grand opening showcase Friday night for its state-of-the-art aquaponics farm, germinating right in the heart of downtown Toledo.
The new 8,600 square-foot facility uses waste from fish as a natural fertilizer for plants to grow in water, pesticide-free. The facility cultivates crops grown outside the soil, specializing in leafy greens, microgreens, living herbs, and fruiting vegetables such as peppers and tomatoes. Additionally, the farm utilizes LED lighting and energy-efficient climate control systems that reduce utility usage. The farm runs on the organic fish matter produced by its collection of tilapia and koi fish.
"In any Balance location, you will notice the open-kitchen concept that informs customers on how their food is being prepared. Opening the Balance Farms helps us take the concept of transparency to another level by showing customers where their food is coming from", they explain.
Scheduled tours are available for groups and individuals.
To View The Video, Please Click Here
Publication date: Mon 25 Nov 2019
Australia - Coming Soon: Acre Farm & Eatery Is A 2500-Square-Metre Urban Rooftop Farm And Cafe In Burwood East
The cafe will be located inside an enormous glasshouse with 450 square metres of vertical gardens in which about 15,000 seedlings have been planted (mainly high-yield greens and soft herbs)
There’s a vertical strawberry wall, a glasshouse cafe
with 15,000 seedlings and even a chicken coop.
28 October 2019
by NICK BUCKLEYSHARE
One of Broadsheet’s top ten stories of all time was the February 2018 news that the “world’s most sustainable shopping centre” was being planned for Burwood Brickworks in Melbourne’s east.
The development enlisted eco-pioneer, florist and designer Joost Bakker as a creative consultant to help turn the project’s rooftop into an urban farm, cafe, and restaurant space, which will open in December as Acre Farm & Eatery.
The cafe will be located inside an enormous glasshouse with 450 square metres of vertical gardens in which about 15,000 seedlings have been planted (mainly high-yield greens and soft herbs). Inside, the kitchen is behind glass walls too, giving diners a view of the chefs cooking the ingredients harvested from the rooftop. Adjacent to the cafe is a farmhouse-style restaurant with large windows looking out over the Dandenong Ranges.
Surrounding both dining rooms will be 2500 square metres of urban agricultural land, including a vertical strawberry garden, a chicken coop, established trees and ankle-height gardens that you’ll walk through to reach the glasshouse. Currently being planted are at least 12 varieties of tomato, as well as kale, silverbeet, baby carrots and heirloom baby vegetables, plus established olive and citrus trees. Even the flowers used to decorate the restaurant will be grown on the roof.
“You’ll kind of lose your sense of place going from a shopping centre to what feels like a rural area,” says executive chef Brad Simpson, who spent seven years in the kitchen at Prahran pub The Smith (first as head chef, then as executive chef) before it was sold in July last year. “We want people to feel relaxed, as if they’re in the country, and it’s going to have a warm, homely feel.”
The rooftop gardens and glasshouse will provide some of the produce used in Acre’s kitchens, but they won’t fully sustain them. The gardens are also partly designed to be an educational tool, to get diners to consider the provenance of what they’re eating.
“The reality of the situation is that for us to just use what came off the roof for the restaurant we’d run out pretty quick … you need hectares and hectares of space to do that,” says Simpson. “We’re going to grow as much as we can on the roof while keeping it looking lush so that it can educate people and be a bit of a showpiece for what happens inside.”
Produce brought in from outside will come from local Victorian growers following the same ethos as Acre.
“I’m looking at dealing with farms that operate the same soil-health programs that we will operate on the rooftop. No sort of harsh sprays or anything like that. We want the comparison for what we source outside of the farm to match as closely as possible to what we’re doing on it,” says Simpson, who points to a simple dish of eggplant relish, toasted seeds, and baby vegetables as being indicative of his menu.
“It’s probably the most remedial dish on the menu in some ways … it’s kind of a jazzed-up crudité plate. It’s utilising stuff that’s just been pulled out of the ground,” he says.
Setting up the kitchen has been a learning process for Simpson, who’s trying to minimise food waste and single-use plastics. For example, he’s done away with a Cryovac – a machine used to vacuum-seal food in plastic bags – something he says he never would have imagined doing without five years ago. And the new skills he’s learning are being integrated into his life outside the Acre kitchen too.
“I’m learning things at home just through this process. I’m saving apple skins and apple cores that my son doesn’t eat and turning it into apple cider vinegar,” says Simpson. “Things that I’d just normally throw out I’ve started thinking about differently. I’m making crackers from old sourdough that I don’t get through and stuff like that.”
In that spirit, expect to see secondary cuts of meat on the homely, approachable menu. One dish in the works is a whole, slow-roasted pork knuckle (using hind-quarter hocks from free-range Victorian pigs) with lovage and fennel from the garden, and apple.
“I’m really into the family-style of eating and making sure our menu’s not too structured, that it’s approachable, colourful, social food,” says Simpson. “I don’t want to be cutting edge … I want it to be social, family food that everyone’s going to be able to sit down and enjoy and most importantly not be intimidated by.”
Acre Farm & Eatery is set to open in early December at Burwood Brickworks, 78 Middlesborough Road, Burwood East.
Photography: Courtesy of Acre Farm & Eatery
US: COLORADO - EPFL + Caulys --> Inauguration - October 21st & 23rd, 2019
We have installed 18 automated indoor greenhouses at EPFL (Coupole, CO building), to produce ultra-local and fresh food for the campus!
We are pleased to invite you to the Inauguration Days
of the EPFL + Caulys installation!
What is it?
We have installed 18 automated indoor greenhouses at EPFL (Coupole, CO building), to produce ultra-local and fresh food for the campus!
This will be the occasion for you to explore the details of this unique urban farming installation, and enjoy delicious greens grown there!
When?
21st and 23rd of October 2019 from 12h00 to 14h00: information stand and tasting of microgreens grown on-site,
22nd of October 2019 from 12h00 to 14h00: presentation and aperitif!
At EPFL, just there!
We look forward to seeing you there!
Caulis team
How This Aquaponic Farm Is Transforming Rome’s Dining Scene
A short drive southeast of Rome, four young entrepreneurs are paving the way to a greener dining scene in the Italian capital – with the help of 400 koi fish
September 30, 2019
Livia Hengel Contributor
Travel share stories about travel, culture, food & wine.
The Circle's founders from left: Simone Cofini, Valerio Ciotola, Thomas Marino and Lorenzo Garreffa.
COURTESY OF THE CIRCLE
A short drive southeast of Rome, four young entrepreneurs are paving the way to a greener dining scene in the Italian capital – with the help of 400 koi fish. That’s because the group of friends-turned-business owners are the founders of The Circle Food & Energy Solutions, a farm designed to produce food and energy in the most sustainable and competitive way: through aquaponics.
The Circle grows in a vertical system so plants and aromatic herbs thrive year-round.
COURTESY OF THE CIRCLE
“We began with the idea to resolve concrete problems of scarcity like the lack of land, water and food,” says Thomas Marino, co-founder and director of marketing for The Circle. The farm, in fact, strives to create a positive impact through innovation. “We wanted to use any waste to fuel our production,” he adds.
Aquaponic farming is a circular system of agriculture that uses fish to naturally fertilize the crops, and in turn uses the plants themselves to purify the water, creating a virtuous cycle of growth with little to no waste. This system saves more than 90% of water compared to traditional farming methods, making it an excellent solution in environments with scarce resources like water or arable land. And because crops are grown vertically in greenhouses, the team is able to grow plants and aromatic herbs year-round – without the use of chemicals or pesticides.
The Circle has 400 Japanese koi fish that provide natural fertilizers for the farm's plants.
The four founders of The Circle – Valerio Ciotola, Simone Cofini, Lorenzo Garreffa and Thomas Marino – graduated with degrees in biotechnology, political science and marketing, making them perfectly poised to develop a sustainable agricultural business and communicate its advantages. And at only 27-years-old, they’ve managed to do what many Italians can’t: thrive in an environment notoriously difficult for entrepreneurs.
The Circle has plans to expand its team as it becomes a leader in sustainable food production.
Since it was established in 2017, The Circle has created partnerships with a hundred restaurants in Rome and throughout Italy, providing fresh crops and herbs to celebrated names like Il Pagliaccio (two-Michelin stars), Marco Martini Restaurant (one-Michelin star), Roscioli, Zia and Marzapane. The company’s sustainable ethos and technical expertise undoubtedly first generated interest in The Circle but it’s the farm’s quality products that have helped grow their loyal clientele.
The Circle grows hundreds of micro herbs including baby salad, wild strawberries, stevia and mustard ... [+]
BLIND EYE FACTORY
“The restaurants we work with appreciate the variety and quality of our products,” says Mr. Marino, “And we pride ourselves on customization.” The Circle grows hundreds of plants, vegetables and aromatic herbs and works closely with chefs to create bespoke varieties destined to dress and enhance the plates of their guests. Mustard leaves, red basil, lemon thyme, and edible flowers are just some of the varieties grown in the greenhouse.
The Circle provides kitchen plants and micro herbs for celebrated restaurants like Il Pagliaccio in ... [+]
COURTESY OF IL PAGLIACCIO
The future looks bright for The Circle, which began with just a 1000-square meter greenhouse and recently inaugurated a second structure to meet rising demand. This additional space will allow the farm to triple its production and help reach €500,000 in revenue by the end of the year, establishing it as a leader in the production of sustainable food. The Circle has also been selected as a partner for Innesto, the first carbon-neutral “social housing” project in Italy which will be developed in the coming years along the Scalo Greco Breda railway in Milan.
The Circle recently inaugurated a second greenhouse to meet rising demand.
COURTESY OF THE CIRCLE
“We want to create the first hectare of aquaponics farm in Europe by the end of 2020, championing the most sustainable food production plant on the continent", says Mr. Marino. The company also has plans to expand its technology outside of Europe and work with partners across Africa, South America and Asia.
Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website.Livia Hengel
I'm an Italian-American writer, photographer and culture enthusiast with a penchant for la dolce vita and a severe case of wanderlust. Originally born in Rome, I grew up moving around the world from a young age, fueling my curiosity and igniting my passion for travel. I lived in Washington DC, Peru, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Turkey before returning to Italy in 2010. Today, I strive to offer a fresh perspective on Italy - one that goes beyond the stereotypes and main attractions and provides insight into the cultural nuances of the country. My writing and photography have been published in The Independent, Telegraph Travel, Fodor’s, Time Out and USA Today.
Rochester Institute of Technology: New "AgTech" Cropping Up On Campus
RIT recently hired its first-ever farmer, David Brault. Brault, a native of Irondequoit, New York and a University of Vermont graduate in Horticulture, is now taking care of leafy greens and herbs grown on-site in RIT’s new hydroponic container farm. The farm is located in a 40-by-8-by-9.5-foot up-cycled shipping container just behind the Campus Center
by Catherine Rafferty | published Oct. 8th, 2019
RIT recently hired its first-ever farmer, David Brault. Brault, a native of Irondequoit, New York and a University of Vermont graduate in Horticulture, is now taking care of leafy greens and herbs grown on-site in RIT’s new hydroponic container farm. The farm is located in a 40-by-8-by-9.5-foot up-cycled shipping container just behind the Campus Center.
“Alright, close your eyes and picture a farm. You'll see a field, maybe someone on a tractor and there's dirt and all that," Brault described. "Then you go a step removed, and you put in a greenhouse. And then you take a step farther and now you've got a hydroponic greenhouse. And you remove the greenhouse and you've got hydroponics inside this container. So it's different.”
The farm was installed on June 10, 2019. Kory Samuels, executive director of RIT Dining Services, said the project made sense with the recent renovation of Gracie’s as just another way to “up our game” in the quality of food on campus. RIT is just one of two universities in the state to have a hydroponic farm on campus, the other being Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Hydroponics is defined as growing plants with nutrients and water but without soil. The plants are rooted either in water or an artificial medium which can include substances like sand, gravel, perlite, peat moss, sawdust, coir or Rockwool.
Some crops are better to grow hydroponically than others. Brault said he started by growing lettuce and herbs because of their size and quick turnover rate. Crops like corn are a less practical option because of the lower yields and the space needed to grow it. The container is lit by LEDs that use special bulbs emitting only red and blue light spectra, the most beneficial lighting for optimizing plant growth.
RIT’s farm is a vertical farming system created by Freight Farms, which has provided shipping container farms to many other college campuses. The container is insulated so crops can be grown year-round. Brault can control lighting, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide levels, concentration of fertilizer and pH levels in the farm all from his smartphone. It operates as a closed system, meaning the water used to feed the plants is recycled for the next crops.
"This is an offering that I think distinguishes us versus other campus dining programs."
WHY HYDRO?
Samuels first saw a shipping container farm at a National Association for College and University Food Service conference back in 2016. Samuels had noticed an interest in seasonal menus and locally sourced produce at other universities. RIT doesn't have an agriculture school, so Samuels saw the hydroponic farm as the perfect solution for RIT's tech-oriented community.
“It was an idea that was kind of put on our roadmap that it'd be cool to eventually get to the point where we are not just sourcing our food as local as possible, but potentially actually being a part of the food system," Samuels said.
In terms of food safety, it's safer for RIT Dining to produce their own product because they can control everything, including the cleanliness of the space, the fertilizer they grow with, the water they use and who touches the product.
In terms of sustainability, Brault explained, you don't have to worry about fertilizer runoff — a major concern in conventional agriculture. It's also hyperlocal, so any emissions that would have been produced in processing and transporting the product are eliminated.
“This requires capital investment, but once it’s operational, it is lower maintenance. Also you get more yield, so you can grow a lot more in a smaller space and you can grow crops faster and you get a better quality and quantity of crop — and you can do it all year,” Brault stated.
The farm is also an appealing addition to RIT's dining resume. RIT Dining can make decisions about its offerings since it's all in-house owned and operated. Samuels and Brault see this program as a new way to draw in prospective students. Campus life is an important part of the college experience, and food is just one aspect of that. Brault thinks that students' expectations are setting the bar high.
“They [students] are starting to expect a different level of experience in dining. This is an offering that I think distinguishes us versus other campus dining programs,” Brault said.
IMPACT
The first container is just a small seed in a larger plan for RIT Dining and its farm. Both Brault and Samuels would like to see the program expand, in growing more crops and potentially adding more containers to campus. They also see the farm becoming a teaching tool for students. Samuels suggested farming could become a new wellness or sustainability course offering in the future for students to learn more about the agriculture industry.
"I look at the farm as a way to connect our department and students in just another way."
Brault was hired to jump-start the program, but there's talk of bringing in student employees to assist with planting and harvesting. There's the potential for co-op and research opportunities collaborating with programs in the academic departments or Student Affairs. Collaboration could also extend out into the greater Rochester community through programs like FoodLink and Recover Rochester, said Samuels.
Overall, Samuels wants students to use the farm to connect and gain a new perspective.
"I look at the farm as a way to connect our department and students in just another way," he said.
RIT Dining will not be able to provide all the food on campus solely from the farm as they serve over 14,000 meals per day between all of their dining locations, concessions and catering. However, the farm will produce 10 to 15 percent of the produce on campus.
The farm is currently growing bibb lettuce, salanova lettuce, basil, cilantro, parsley, kale, swiss chard, tatsoi, mizuna and arugula. Next time you are at an RIT-catered event and you see some salad, know that it’s freshly grown — right from the container.
Colorado: Urban Farm, Restaurant And Market Coming To Englewood
Behind that glass window will reside a hydroponic system where plants will grow on indoor towers. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants year-round in sand, gravel or liquid with added nutrients without using soil. Farms that use the hydroponic method use up to 10 times less water than traditional farms, according to the National Park Service
Grow + Gather Will Occupy The Old Bill's Auto Service Building
Monday, September 16, 2019
Joseph Rios
jrios@coloradocommunitymedia.com
George Gastis sold his tech business four years ago — a year after he packed his bags and moved to Englewood from Platt Park. Contemplating what his next move would be, he knew he always had a green thumb and a love for food.
At first, he had planned to find a property to purchase or rent where he would grow food that would be sold to grocery stores and restaurants. In the process of planning his next steps, Gastis purchased the old Bill's Auto Service building, located at 900 E. Hampden Ave.
“The idea quickly became more than just a place to grow food. There seemed to be a great opportunity to create a place where not only can we grow food, but reconnect the neighborhood and surrounding communities,” said Gastis, referring to places like Littleton, south Denver, Greenwood Village and other areas near Englewood. “Our geographic location is sort of strangely unique in the sense that we sit on the edge of some of those communities.”
After planning and talking to people from his past, Gastis realized there was an opportunity to create a hub around food at the old Bill's Auto Service building. Gastis seized the opportunity, and depending on construction, Grow + Gather will open its doors in October. The development will be a casual restaurant and a market that'll sell coffee and freshly harvested produce and foods - all grown at Grow + Gather.
“When we moved to this neighborhood, I saw the potential in this area. There wasn't a ton to do,” said Gastis. “Combined with trying to figure out what I wanted to do and recognizing the opportunity here — Englewood seemed to be in the process of reviving itself with a lot of new businesses moving in, a lot of development, certainly (Swedish Medical Center) and their role they played in the community — it seemed really interesting.”
The restaurant will be operated by chefs like Caleb Phillips, a Tennessee native who plans to bring a Southern twist to some of Grow + Gather's dishes. Phillips says the menu will be simple, but it'll center around ingredients that will come from Grow + Gather's farm. Some of its dishes will include biscuits, salads, pies, egg dishes, and grits. Beer will also be available at the restaurant, brewed from the second level of the building.
“It's just the neatest idea. I get to walk 20 yards to get fresh vegetables,” said Phillips. “The community has already been super kind and receptive. I think it's going to be a lot of fun.”
When customers walk through Grow + Gather's community room, an area designated for guests to have coffee and for classes on gardening and cooking, they'll be able to see their food being grown behind a glass window. Behind that glass window will reside a hydroponic system where plants will grow on indoor towers. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants year-round in sand, gravel or liquid with added nutrients without using soil. Farms that use the hydroponic method use up to 10 times less water than traditional farms, according to the National Park Service.
Gastis says the rooftop of the building will serve as rooftop greenhouse, where he'll grow crops like tomatoes.
“It is exciting to see a new business concept like Grow + Gather here in Englewood as well as the repurposing of the property once occupied by Bill's Auto Service. It is sure to bring new life to that area,” said David Carroll, executive director of the Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce. The chamber works to promote its business members while engaging with new businesses in the city.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF GEORGE GASTIS
VIDEO: Get An Inside Look At A Vertical Indoor Microgreens Business - From Growing Systems To Harvesting
Located in East Garfield Park, Garfield Produce Company is an indoor vertical farm and a licensed wholesale food establishment in the City of Chicago
More About Garfield Produce Company:
Website: https://www.garfieldproduce.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garfieldpro...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/garfieldproduce
Located in East Garfield Park, Garfield Produce Company is an indoor vertical farm and a licensed wholesale food establishment in the City of Chicago.
The company was formed with the social mission of serving the neighborhood by building sustainable wealth and creating employment in Chicago’s impoverished areas while growing some of the highest
Thinking Outside The Box: RIT Hydroponic Farm Changes The Dining Experience
The lettuce is tasting fresher at RIT’s main campus since the university installed a hydroponic farm-in-a-box behind the Student Alumni Union
September 23, 2019
A. Sue Weisler
Inside the 40-foot-long farm-in-a-box, farm manager Dave Brault harvests some leafy greens. By using a vertical hydroponic system, Brault is able to maximize the farms growing space.
The lettuce is tasting fresher at RIT’s main campus since the university installed a hydroponic farm-in-a-box behind the Student Alumni Union.
Made from an upcycled freight container, the new RIT Hydroponic Farm will provide fresh produce for the chefs who serve nearly 14,000 meals on campus every day. So far, the farm has produced roughly 40 pounds of greens since farm manager Dave Brault started harvesting in early August. Once Brault establishes a consistent growth cycle, he hopes to harvest roughly four times per month.
A. Sue Weisler
Produce from the farm is already being used in Brick City Café and by RIT Catering. In the future, the produce will be used at all dining areas on the main RIT campus.
Rather than using soil to grow plants and provide them nutrients, plants on a hydroponic farm get everything they need from water. Using a vertical hydroponic system for RIT’s farm, Brault anchors the seedlings in a breathable mesh that allows for water flow, and he hangs them from the ceiling in long containers to maximize space.
RIT is one of few universities in the United States that has implemented a hydroponic garden to help sustain its dining needs. Stony Brook University, the University of Arkansas and Clark University have also had success using the same hydroponic set-up RIT adopted, purchased from Freight Farms.
“It helps us stand apart from other universities. This is how we keep RIT and RIT Dining at the forefront of innovation,” said Denishea Ortiz, director of strategic marketing and retail product management for Auxiliary Services. “It is one of many steps that we have taken to highlight the fact that RIT has an innovative campus beyond the classroom.”
Right now, Brault is focusing on growing smaller, leafy greens like basil, cilantro, kale, arugula and different varieties of lettuce. Going forward, he will get feedback from RIT chefs to see what types of produce are in high demand.
“This is square one and from here we have a huge opportunity to turn this farm into something lasting and impactful,” said Brault. “Hopefully, other universities will see that it can be done and that the logistical challenges in implementing something like this are not insurmountable.”
Gabrielle Plucknette-DeVito
Emma Junga, a third-year mechanical engineering student with a concentration in energy and the environment, works at the farm a few days a week. After taking a tour of the farm, Junga was interested in the process and asked Dave Brault for a job. Now, she helps care for the plants, including planting and harvesting, and helps give tours to help share information about the new farm.
Ortiz explained that the goal is to provide produce for all dining facilities on campus. Before they can roll things out on a larger scale, Brault and RIT Dining are experimenting with the growth cycles and outputs to learn what the farm is capable of.
The greens from the hydroponic farm are currently supplying produce for Brick City Café and are being used by RIT Catering.
“Brick City Café is known for its salad bar, thus the proximity of the farm is a chance to provide a literal farm-to-table experience,” Ortiz said. “The produce is fresher and contains more nutrients.”
Before coming to RIT, Brault built and established his own hydroponic farm in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Brault said he looks forward to the unique opportunities the university can provide with its plentiful resources of man-power, brain-power and technological innovations.
“Farming is not something that most people would think involves a lot of technology, but the industry needs these advances to address the challenges that are coming our way,” he said. “I think RIT will continue to find ways to innovate and use technology to help farmers move forward.”
Raising The Roof: Cultivating Singapore’s Urban Farming Scene
Whether you’re wandering through a residential area or exploring the recently re-opened Funan mall, you may have noticed new urban farms sprouting up – flourishing with fruit, herbs and vegetables, occasionally tilapia inconspicuously swimming in an aquaponics system
September 23, 2019
by STACEY RODRIGUES
NOKA by Open Farm Community at Funan Mall is one of the latest urban farms to take root in Singapore. (Photo: NOKA)
Call it a social movement or Singapore’s solution to sustainable self-sufficiency, but urban farming in our garden city is growing to new heights.
Whether you’re wandering through a residential area or exploring the recently re-opened Funan mall, you may have noticed new urban farms sprouting up – flourishing with fruit, herbs, and vegetables, occasionally tilapia inconspicuously swimming in an aquaponics system.
Urban farming has become quite a bit more than a fad or innovation showcase for our garden city. “The practice of urban farming has picked up in scale and sophistication globally in recent years,” said an Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) spokesperson.
“In Singapore, we encourage innovative urban farming approaches such as rooftop farming, which optimizes land, introduces more greenery into the built environment, and potentially enhances our food supply resilience.”
Several companies have taken on the gargantuan task of cultivating the urban farming scene here. Rooftop farming pioneer, Comcrop (short for Community Crop), has been hard at work with its latest commercial farm, an 11-month-old greenhouse in Woodlands Loop. Edible Garden City (EGC) has more than 200 farms across the island and works closely with restaurants to ensure sustainable supply and demand.
READ> WHY THIS MICHELIN STAR CHEF SPENDS SO MUCH TIME ON SINGAPORE FARMS
Indoor micro-greens being grown at NOKA. (Photo: NOKA)
Citiponics has made a name for itself building water-efficient aqua organic “growing towers” that can be used to build anything from butterhead lettuce to sweet basil. In April this year, they opened the first commercial farm on the rooftop of a multi-story car park. The farm produces vegetables sold at the Ang Mo Kio Hub outlet of NTUC FairPrice under the brand, LeafWell.
Sky Greens is arguably the most impressive urban farming venture. It is the world’s first low carbon, hydraulic driven vertical farm, and has been recognized globally for its sustainability innovation.
There are several benefits to having our farms so close to home. Through community gardens or access to commercial-scale farm produce, the public have an opportunity to understand how food is grown.
As urban farmers take great care to ensure produce is pesticide-free, while incorporating sustainable zero-waste and energy-saving practices, there is also comfort in knowing where the food comes from and its impact on the environment.
READ> THE ARCHITECTS OUT TO SAVE THE WORLD THROUGH SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
Mushrooms fruiting in a chamber at NOKA. (Photo: NOKA)
“Having food production within the city or heartland [also] brings food closer to the consumers as it cuts transport costs and carbon emissions, and may improve environmental sustainability,” said a spokesperson from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), the new statutory board created in April this year to develop the food supply and industry.
However, there are also broader concerns of the impact of climate change and food security in Singapore. It is why much is being done by the likes of the SFA to achieve “30 by 30” – “which is to develop the capability and capacity of our agri-food industry to produce 30 per cent of Singapore’s nutritional needs by 2030,” said the SFA. “Local production will help mitigate our reliance on imports and serve as a buffer during supply disruptions to import sources.”
Singapore still has a long way to go as the urban farming scene is still a very young one. But there are opportunities for growth given the continued development here. In the URA’s latest phase of the Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High-Rises (LUSH) 3.0 scheme, “developers of commercial and hotel buildings located in high footfall areas can propose rooftop farms to meet landscape replacement requirements.”
Naturally, developers are taking advantage of this. One of the newest kids on the block is the urban rooftop farm run by EGC for new Japanese restaurant, Noka by Open Farm Community at Funan. Noka is putting its money on offering Japanese cuisine that infuses local ingredients, from the butterfly blue pea to the ulam raja flower – ingredients grown and tended to by the farmers at EGC’s 5,000 sq. ft. urban garden just outside Noka’s windows.
(Photo: WOHA)
“The urban farming space is still in the emerging stages of development,” said Bjorn Low, co-founder of EGC. “We are literally scratching the surface of what’s possible. The areas of growth are in the application of urban food production in urban design and city planning, the use of urban farms for deeper community engagement and the role urban farms plays in creating social and environmental impact in the city.”
While many farmers have found ways to convert existing rooftop spaces into farms or gardens, Jonathan Choe, associate at WOHA Architects, says that one of the greatest opportunities to advance urban farming in Singapore is to build an entirely integrated system that not only incorporates growing spaces, but also how these farms can interact with the entire building infrastructure – from building cooling measures to water recycling and energy management. The firm, which has their own testbed rooftop garden, is currently working on the upcoming Punggol Digital District development.
Dwarf bok choy. (Photo: WOHA)
READ> THE ARCHITECTS DESIGNING THE PUNGGOL DIGITAL DISTRICT ON CREATING A GREENER SINGAPORE
But the greatest challenge for urban farmers is truly economies of scale. “Agriculture on its own is already a challenging industry due to industrialization of farming and our food system,” said Low. “Scale is a limiting factor in the city, and urban farming business models need to be able to adapt to both the challenges of a globalized food system and the availability of cheap food, whilst operating in areas of high cost and overheads.”
It begins with cultivating an awareness of and demand for local produce amongst both consumers and businesses alike. For Cynthia Chua, co-founder of Spa Esprit Group – the people behind Noka – taking an interest in agriculture is more than necessary, as it will have long-term benefits in preparing for the future generation of Singaporeans.
White radishes. (Photo: WOHA)
READ> HOW SINGAPORE’S RESTAURATEURS ARE RISING TO THE CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABILITY
Restaurants like Noka, which choose to highlight local produce are an easy way in for consumers to learn about the benefits of supporting local farming businesses. As a business owner, Chua has also noticed that “traveling chefs from different countries are gaining interest in playing with our tropical produce.” In Chua’s opinion, it is the “right timing” to push innovation and continue to turn this “scene” into a fully sustainable industry.
“As a city-state, the general population is disconnected from farming and the way food is being farmed,” said Low. “Urban farms should become touchpoints for us to learn about sustainable agriculture techniques, and encourage consumers in Singapore to eat more responsibly, locally and ethically.”
US , New York - Green City Growers Will Be Maintaining An On-Site Rooftop Garden For The Rainbow Room
The garden’s location on the 11th floor of 30 Rockefeller Center in hashtag#nyc is part of a revitalization of what was previously the “International Garden,” which was part of a collection of rooftop gardens installed throughout Rockefeller Center in 1935. We can’t wait to bring this historic garden back to life at 30 Rock!
Green City Growers is excited to announce that we will be maintaining an on-site rooftop garden for the iconic Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center starting this fall!
This organic vegetable and herb garden will provide fresh ingredients to be used in the Rainbow Room’s culinary program.
The garden’s location on the 11th floor of 30 Rockefeller Center in hashtag#nyc is part of a revitalization of what was previously the “International Garden,” which was part of a collection of rooftop gardens installed throughout Rockefeller Center in 1935. We can’t wait to bring this historic garden back to life at 30 Rock!
USA - Indiana - 'FARMacy' Restaurant/Greenhouse To Launch Here, With Global Hopes
Pending city council rezoning approval and the issuance of building permits, Barber intends to construct a $5 million to $8 million prototype aquaponics greenhouse, restaurant and exercise facility, to be called FARMacy, on West Jackson Street, a block west of the St. Mary's Church
Seth Slabaugh, Muncie Star Sept. 6, 2019
Glynn and Kellie Barber stand in a client's greenhouse in Daleville.
(Photo: Jordan Kartholl/The Star Press)
MUNCIE, Ind. — Glynn Barber, an urban-agriculture entrepreneur, sets a container of ripe, black-cherry heirloom tomatoes on the conference table in his Briarwood Lane office on a recent morning.
"Do me a favor," he says. "Take one of those tomatoes home and set it in a window. Tell me if it rots. I guarantee it will never rot, it won't draw the first gnat, it won't draw fungus, it won't draw mold. It'll dry out, and take almost a year to do it, guaranteed."
Besides being sweet and juicy, he believes the tomatoes taste so clean and pack so many nutrients that it warrants marketing them —and similarly grown produce — as "pharmaceutical grade."
Pending city council rezoning approval and the issuance of building permits, Barber intends to construct a $5 million to $8 million prototype aquaponics greenhouse, restaurant and exercise facility, to be called FARMacy, on West Jackson Street, a block west of the St. Mary's Church.
Barber has patented an aquaponics system — a combination of aquaculture, or raising fish in tanks, and hydroponics, or raising plants in troughs of water — called Environmentally Controlled Sustainable Integrated Agriculture (ECSIA).
The cherry tomatoes used in his demonstration to The Star Press were raised in an ECSIA greenhouse in Daleville doing business as Healthy Life Organics.
Barber's greenhouse systems also are operating in a number of other locations across the country — including one owned by the city of East Chicago; the North Central Indiana Teen Challenge in Elkhart; Wapahani High School; and Urban REAP in Waco, Texas — plus Haiti.
Tomatoes grow year-round inside a Daleville greenhouse. (Photo: Jordan Kartholl/The Star Press)
And Barber has much, much bigger plans.
The Muncie FARMacy is intended to be a model for 50 to 75 more of these facilities to be built across the country over the next three to five years, says another person at the conference table, venture capitalist Peter Florio, of Capital Gains Corp., Palm Harbor, Fla.
"Peter brought 100 percent of the money to the table," Barber said.
"Looking at these products," Florio said of the ECSIA system and related ventures, "I can tell you it's probably a long time before anybody catches up with the technology or innovation. It really is that far ahead. It's so far advanced and run so efficiently that it's not close to the realm of traditional aquaponics. We think it's huge. We see it as a global market."
Peter Florio, Palm Harbor, Fla., is an investor in Glynn and Kellie Barber's planned aquaponics chain. (Photo: Seth Slabaugh, The Star Press)
Capital Gains Corp. says it is planning an initial investment of $200 million. The company is associated with Barclay Group, a real estate firm with the same Palm Harbor street address as Capital Gains. Barclay Group's name appears on FARMacy architectural drawings by EMPAD Architecture, Clearwater, Fla.
► Daleville aquaponics startup grows powerhouse food
The FARMacy facility in Muncie would include a juice bar and The Blue Crayz restaurant with seating for 67 patrons; two research labs; a commercial kitchen for locally made food products like barbecue sauce; an exercise center with patented, low-impact machines; and a 9,000-square-feet aquaponics greenhouse, to contain about four fish tanks, 90 troughs and 450 growing trays.
"To help us tell our story, the restaurant name, The Blue Crayz, was chosen as spin from the fresh water lobster, also known as the Australian red claw crayfish, that is grown in our system underneath the floating plants," said another person at the conference table, Barber's wife Kellie. "It is also one of our mascot cartoon characters used in the educational materials and coloring books for children."
An architectural rendition of the proposed FARMacy facility in Muncie. (Photo: Photo provided)
The restaurant will offer salad blends using greens for healthy diets targeting individual health concerns, such as diabetes, hypertension, and gastrointestinal disorders, she said.
"We also will offer several healthy, chemical-free protein options to add to salads … With the nutrient-dense, intense-flavored produce we grow, we guarantee you won’t have a tasteless salad from our restaurant," she went on.
Glynn Barber gives a demonstration, piling leafy greens onto a scale on the conference-room table. "Two ounces is a lot of greens," he says, as it takes him a couple of handfuls to tip the scale at two ounces.
The FARMacy will include a drive-thru window where Barber envisions customers picking up two-ounce salads of healthy fruits and vegetables prescribed by doctors.
"This product will keep for weeks," Barber said. "The shelf life on our product is fantastic, the reason being it is so nutrient dense it doesn't rot or draw pests. We are growing pharmacy-grade food. We are not out to compete with the big-box stores. We're literally looking at food-prescription-type programs."
The salads won't include lettuce. It's not nutrient-dense enough.
The Healthy Life Organics ESCIA greenhouse in Daleville, for example, grows produce that ranks high on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list of "powerhouse fruits and vegetables," including watercress (No. 1), chard (No. 3), chives (No. 14), kale (No. 15), arugula (No. 18), tomatoes (No. 27), and strawberries (No. 30).
A Daleville-based aquaponic greenhouse grows a variety of vegetables year-round. (Photo: Jordan Kartholl/The Star Press)
Longevity spinach, turnip greens and beets are among many other crops Barber's systems are growing.
Powerhouse foods are strongly associated with reduced chronic disease risk on the basis of 17 nutrients of public health importance, such as fiber, protein and vitamins A, B-12 and C.
"We are targeting disease with fruits and vegetables," Barber said, holding up a copy of the book "Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself."
Barber has approached a major heath insurance company about coverage for "prescription food." He's also working with local doctors and faculty at Ball State University.
Glynn and Kellie Barber are growing food to fight disease. (Photo: Seth Slabaugh, The Star Press)
"I am a huge advocate for this food production system and believe it can transform communities," Scott Truex, an associate professor of urban planning at Ball State and co-founder of the Sustainable Communities Institute, told The Star Press. "All of these projects integrate the ECSIA system with other value-adding objectives that we believe will allow a community to create a new food eco-system that is a catalyst for change."
The institute believes that food, water, and energy are the triggers to transform a community.
"When a community must depend on systems that can fail at any moment, its members are vulnerable," the institute says. "Systems must be developed that maximize resources and build wealth for the local economy, rather than outsourcing the resources to Wall Street."
► BSU students build mobile greenhouse
Here's how the ESCIA system works: fish waste is mineralized to make nutrient-rich water that flows into troughs where plants float in growing trays. Freshwater lobsters, aka crayfish, eat the dead ends on the plant roots. Plant-filtered water flows back to the fish tank, fresh and clean, after going through a water-polishing system.
Barber says FARMacy's 9,000-square-feet aquaponics greenhouse — much larger than the "satellite" or "family farmer" greenhouses like the ones at Wapahani, East Chicago and Elkhart — can replicate a 40-acre farm field while using less water than a family of four, while operating on only 22 amps of power.
Members of a Gary church visits the Teen Challenge ECSIA greenhouse in Elkhart. (Photo: Photo provided)
The FARMacy's "farmer's commercial" greenhouse module is designed to grow up to 3,600 pounds of produce weekly, along with 4,800 pounds of yellow perch annually.
"That's a lot of salad," Barber said. "We don't mention a lot about aquaculture because we don't grow enough fish to make a dent. The fish are just a nutrient source for us. We're much like a pet store. We're not breeding fish, not raising fish, we are feeding fish and mineralizing that fish waste to grow fruits and vegetables."
The IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital Foundation will ask city council at its Sept. 9 meeting to approve a change in zoning to allow construction of the FARMacy project in the 2500 blocks of West Jackson/Main streets, south of BMH. The foundation owns the property, which is mostly vacant lots used for storage.
"We are excited to lease the land for a project which has the potential to improve access to fresh produce, forge community partnerships and provide a mechanism for health education and research," physician Jeff Bird, president of the hospital, told The Star Press.
A Daleville-based aquaponic greenhouse grows a variety of vegetables year-round. (Photo: Jordan Kartholl/The Star Press)
The rezoning request ran into some opposition when it was introduced at the council's August meeting.
Heavy-equipment operator and unsuccessful city council candidate Audie Barber (no relation to Glynn Barber), warned council that "if you open it up for a fish farm, then you've got to open it up for a pig farm, a dairy farm … We are opening ourselves up to bringing farms inside the city limits. Chicken farms. The next thing you know, Tyson will want to put up a big grow house over here for their chickens."
Attorney Maura J. Hoff, representing the hospital foundation, responded that city ordinance prohibits industrial livestock farms like Audie Barber was talking about. She provided council little information about the project.
Council President Doug Marshall and councilman Jerry Dishman voted against introduction of the the rezoning ordinance, but seven other council members approved it.
► Funny farmer makes headlines
When The Star Press first wrote about Barber's ECSIA system, in 2014, there were literally hundreds of people designing and building their own aquaponics systems, ranging from a fish tank with herbs in the kitchen to small systems capable of supplying farmers markets or local restaurants.
At the time, Laura Tiu, aquaculture extension specialist at Ohio State University, told the newspaper, "I've yet to see a large, commercial-scale operation. We've not yet seen a model system that is economically proven that can be replicated. I believe that this is what Glynn, as well as many others, are trying to achieve."
She compared characterized aquaponics primarily as a hobby. But that was then.
What does Tiu — now a fisheries/aquaculture/marine education extension agent at the University of Florida — say now?
She still remembers Barber, whom she calls "an aquaponics pioneer in the Midwest."
Tiu is now seeing a few commercial-scale aquaponics operations that appear to be profitable, including northeast Florida's Traders Hill Farm, which advertises leafy greens "that grow faster, taste better, last longer and waste nothing." Its customers include grocery stores and restaurants.
As far as a $200 million investment in Barber's venture, Tiu said, "In my experience, just throwing money at something is not what makes it work — careful business planning is. With aquaponics, the ability to access and serve specialty markets seems to be one of the keys.
"I believe that farms located in areas with high demand of organic/natural produce, unique produce, willingness to pay more for produce, will have the best success rate. I still don’t think it’s a cheap way to grow food, but it certainly opens up areas where traditional crop practices are not available."
A Daleville-based aquaponic greenhouse grows a variety of vegetables year-round. (Photo: Jordan Kartholl/The Star Press)
An Air Force veteran and former tool and die maker, Barber exudes confidence, energy and enthusiasm.
After giving The Star Press a 45-minute presentation of his business plan, he asked: "Are you getting the picture? Are you disappointed? Isn't this amazing?"
The components that make up the ECSIA system, such as pumps, clamps, fiberglass and plastic, are all being manufactured in Indiana, including Anderson, Redkey, Eaton, Lafayette, Elkhart and Muncie. A fresh water lobster hatchery is set up in New Castle.
Barber invented the system in his garage in Redkey out of necessity — treating his son's schizophrenia with healthy food — after consulting potheads growing elite marijuana; university researchers; doctors and others.
His business plan includes a partnership with Marion-based Insurance Management Group to provide ECSIA growers insurance coverage, including greenhouse structures, equipment, ECSIA system modules, business income, system breakdowns, off-premise power interruption, liability, and workers compensation.
"We are the only company that has this," Barber said. "We don't make a dime on the insurance, which costs $1,183 a year."
The red claw crayfish is the inspiration for the name of the FARMacy's Blue Crayz restaurant. (Photo: Kellie Barber)
In addition to the proposed chain of FARMacy facilities, Barber has taken steps to construct his first commercial-size ECSIA module in Daleville, with 48 fish tanks, 1,080 troughs and 5,400 grow trays. It is designed to produce up to 45,000 heads of leafy greens, 6,000 pounds of fruiting vegetables and 700 pounds of fish per week.
"We've never built one that big," Barber said. "It will have robotic harvesters and things that we've developed to put there. It will be a big research and development center and a full-blown production center."
Barber says he's also getting ready to build a factory in Daleville to manufacture ECSIA components.
The staff at ECSIA headquarters, doing business in the Lyndenbrook Place office park as Balance Holdings LLC, includes an office manager, an environmental scientist, a marketing manager, and an artist.
A drawing of a freshwater lobster/crayfish that is the namesake of a FARMacy restaurant proposed on West Jackson Street in Muncie (Photo: Seth Slabaugh, The Star Press)
Barber expects each FARMacy facility across the country to attract 10 to 15, easy-to-maintain "satellite" or "co-op growers" using ECSIA technology.
"We will partner with and buy from those satellites but we won't own them," Barber said.
A "satellite greenhouse" similar to the one in Elkhart, managed by an ex-heroin addict, can generate $300,000 to $400,000 in revenue per year at a cost of less than $50,000 a year, according to Barber, who says it takes three men two hours a day to operate the greenhouse.
Anyone with an eighth-grade education can follow the greenhouse's operating manual, which runs a couple of hundred pages long, he added.
Joey Sarver manages the Teen Challenge ECSIA greenhouse in Elkhart. (Photo: Photo provided)
A graduate of the Central High School class of 1986, Barber said he chose to headquarter his venture here because "Muncie was the birthplace of sustainable agriculture with the Ball jar."
Ball Corporation was a manufacturer of glass jars used for home canning of fresh, high quality food.
"This isn't a feel-good thing," Barber says of his undertaking. "This is about the health of a community."
Contact Seth Slabaugh at (765) 213-5834 or seths@muncie.gannett.com
Red Sox President & CEO Sam Kennedy And Fenway Sports Group Partner Linda Henry Dish On The Five-Year Anniversary Of Fenway Farms
What started out as a dream of having a spot at Fenway Park to grow sustainable and organic produce has turned into a 10,600-square foot rooftop farm churning out organically grown vegetables and fruit to diners at Fenway Park’s Dell/EMC Club restaurant (as well as throughout the park)
Photo Credit: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox
What started out as a dream of having a spot at Fenway Park to grow sustainable and organic produce has turned into a 10,600-square foot rooftop farm churning out organically grown vegetables and fruit to diners at Fenway Park’s Dell/EMC Club restaurant (as well as throughout the park).
Located on the roof of the Front Office on the third base side of the EMC Level, it is here where the team at Green City Growers tends to this sustainable spot at America’s most beloved (and now greenest) ballpark. Celebrating its fifth year, Fenway Farms has produced 21,000 pounds of produce since inception that Aramark Executive Chef Ron Abell uses to prepare dishes from carrot hummus to scallion pancakes.
Photo Credit: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox
How did Fenway Farms come to be? “About six years ago, Red Sox Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Gilula and I were sitting in a game in the suite about 100 yards from here,” said Red Sox President & CEO Sam Kennedy at the five-year anniversary celebration yesterday. “Linda, who we had worked with for a long time at that point, who is passionate about lots of Fenway sports group issues and Boston and works on a variety of different things, especially sustainability, especially engaging kids and works closely with everyone in the front office, said, ‘Guys, guys, I have an idea.’ She said, ‘Come out, I want to show you something.’ We walked out here and she said, ‘What do you think about Fenway Farms and putting a garden here? Wouldn’t that be incredible?'”
Photo Credit: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox
And the rest, as they say, is history. “When I was growing up, I remember summer nights of just having our fresh tomatoes,” said Linda Henry, Fenway Sports Group Partner and Red Sox Foundation Board Member. “We had this one problem there. We were at the losing end. We had this epic battle with this gopher in our backyard and I have a brilliant dad and he worked so hard. We put up netting; we put up traps and we were not winning. In fact, my dad found the spiciest hot peppers he could find and planted them just for the gophers. The gophers left us the hot peppers, but took everything else. I never lost my passion for gardening and the appreciation for what real fresh vegetables are.
I was captivated by what Green City Growers was doing because they were finding a way to bring rooftop gardens in an inexpensive and accessible way. This is something very attainable. We wanted to show this was something incredibly productive without a huge investment. What better way to show the potential for sustainable living than growing organic produce right here. If it can work in a place where hot dogs, peanuts and Cracker Jacks are considered three square meals, then we felt others would join us and that’s really what happened, which has really been amazing. Fenway Farms for me represents a daily miracle. Whoever imagined a working vegetable garden on the roof of the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball?”
Urban Denver Building By Tres Birds Houses A Japanese Restaurant And Aeroponic Greenhouse
US firm Tres Birds Workshop has topped a Japanese restaurant in Denver, Colorado with a greenhouse featuring soil-free growing towers
Jenna McKnight | July 4, 2019
US firm Tres Birds Workshop has topped a Japanese restaurant in Denver, Colorado with a greenhouse featuring soil-free growing towers.
The building is located within a block-long, mixed-use development called S*Park, short for Sustainability Park.
Local studio Tres Birds Workshop designed the entire development – which encompasses housing, commercial space and urban farming – near the downtown area of the Colorodo city.
For one corner of the site, the team created a two-story building to house a street-level restaurant and an upper-level greenhouse.
Rectangular in plan, the building consists of a relatively solid base made of brick and concrete. Up above, a fully glazed volume is topped with a multi-gable roof, giving the building a distinctive look.
The ground level was designed for Uchi, an award-winning restaurant that serves up a range of Japanese fare, from wagyu beef and oak-grilled fish to sushi and sashimi. Its first location opened in 2003 in Austin, Texas.
"Uchi creates food with fresh ingredients in ways that defy expectations," said the architects. "The design intent was to support this mission through the programme of the building and the sensory experience of the space."
On the exterior, the restaurant is announced via a large, backlit sign. Visitors step into an L-shaped dining area that is organised around a central sushi counter and bar. The dining area features two rooms with different atmospheres – one is light and warm, while the other makes use of darker tones. Wooden screens help delineate specific zones.
Like other parts of the S*Park development, the architects sought to use common materials in an unexpected way. One of the eatery's most distinctive features is its southern wall, which is composed of reclaimed red bricks and custom-made crystal blocks.
"These crystal bricks transfer light and energy, connecting the comfortable interior to the distant cityscape and the eye of the passerby to the warm light within," the studio said.
The area adjacent to the brick wall features a "chaotic" ceiling installation made of raw wooden planks that were remnants of past projects by Tres Birds Workshop. The timber boards help soften noise and add to the room's sense of enclosure. The darker dining room also has a wooden ceiling installation, although here the slats are arranged in a more orderly fashion.
The dining furniture consists of dark wooden chairs and tables, and booths with tan upholstery. Concrete flooring lends an industrial feel that is countered by the ample use of wood throughout the eatery.
Up above, the team created a 7,000-square-foot (650-square-metre) greenhouse that "supplies the kitchen with the freshest organic greens available throughout the year".
Managed by Altius Farms, the growing area features white, aeroponic towers that require no soil. The plants – which include lettuce, herbs and edible flowers – are regularly misted with nutrient-laden water.
The greenhouse conditions are monitored by sensors that help control heating and cooling and cue the opening of roof and side vents, according to Denver's 303 Magazine. In addition to Uchi, the urban farm provides leafy greens for a number of local restaurants and markets.
With an ever-growing population, Denver has seen a construction boom in recent years. Other projects in the Colorado city include The Source Hotel, which is composed of irregularly stacked volumes, and Zeppelin Station, a large metal-clad building that overlooks train tracks. Both projects were designed by US firm Dynia Architects.
Photography is by James Florio.
Read more: Architecture Glass USA Bricks Restaurants Greenhouses Colorado Denver