How To Grow Food In A Concrete Jungle

Editor’s Note: The vertical farming industry continues to evolve as more operators come online. The diversity of operators and crops being grown will allow for new products to go to market and provide the consumer with fresher choices for their shopping carts. Agritecture’s client, Agricool, is one of many CEA operators leading the way.

CONTENT SOURCED FROM BBC

BY DALIAH SINGER

Building flourishing farms in the heart of cities used to be just a utopian fantasy. Now it's an important step towards developing a smart, diversified food system capable of feeding a growing world population.

Guillaume Fourdinier has lived in Paris for six years, but he still misses the taste of the fresh cereal grains, beets, carrots, and more that grow on his family's farm in Verton. There, in northern France's countryside, eating locally is a way of life – not simply a trend or a sticker on an apple at the grocery store.

“Local food is everywhere when you are in the countryside. You get fruits and vegetables with better taste, more nutritional value,” he says. “When you are in Paris, what is local food? There is nothing coming from a local farm. I think for quality of life for people living in big cities this is a big problem.”

In 2015, Fourdinier co-founded Agricool, an urban farm that's now comprised of 11 recycled shipping containers on the north side of the city. Eight farmers plant, harvest, pack, and deliver the pesticide-free lettuces, herbs, and strawberries to 60 supermarkets (though Fourdinier expects that number to grow to at least 200 retailers by the end of 2021).

mage sourced from BBC

Urban farms like Agricool are part of a broad collection of metropolitan agricultural efforts including everything from vertical farms to greenhouses to aquaponics to community gardens. The idea of cultivating food in or near cities is not new (see the victory gardens of both world wars, for example), but these ventures have become increasingly popular in recent years as the local food movement strengthens. After the rise of the supermarkets led many people to feel disconnected from food production, consumers are again paying more attention to how and where their food is grown, along with how far ingredients must travel between field and plate.

From Brussels to Nigeria, entrepreneurs and farmers are reimagining what farms are and conceiving innovative technology to help grow food in smaller spaces and in more sustainable ways. They're attempting to fix existing food supply chain concerns, which we've all became intimately familiar with in the past year. Images of picked-over grocery shelves and farmers tossing out produce early in the Covid-19 pandemic broadcast the failures and fragility of our current systems.

By 2050, it's estimated that the global population will balloon to almost 10 billion, and 68% of those people will live in cities. That means we'll have to produce more food than ever before, to feed people who live farther from the rural areas where most crops and animals are cultivated. Bringing production closer to where consumption happens could increase food security, improve our health and lessen the industry's considerable impacts on the planet – if we're able to grow enough nutrient-rich grub, that is.

In the United States, it's estimated that urban and peri-urban farms account for almost 15% of the country's farms. Among them is 80 Acres Farms, a vertical farming operation based in Ohio but which has eight locations in four states, all of which use zero pesticides and require 97% less water consumption compared to traditional farms. (Vertical farming refers to growing crops in vertically stacked layers in a controlled environment, often incorporating soilless techniques.)

Co-founders Mike Zelkind and Tisha Livingston are trying to push the potential of this multi-billion-dollar industry further. To date, enterprises like theirs have primarily focused on easy-to-grow leafy greens – which won't sustain civilisation on their own – but with advancements in technology Zelkind and Livingston have been able to add more substantial crops like peppers, tomatoes and baby cucumbers. They explain how their farms have incorporated sophisticated technologies in the video below.

80 Acres is a year-round operation that optimises its growing environments based on the plants' genetics, harvests at the peak of ripeness, and relies on a smaller delivery radius to get food to customers within a day of its picking. It's “democratising high-quality food”. 

“You can enable people, no matter where they live, to reconnect to the food supply,” Zelkind says. 

Image sourced from BBC

Technology has made the duo's goals increasingly achievable – and made indoor farming both more efficient and more affordable. 80 Acres' farms are, on average, 300 to 400 times more productive than field farming, Zelkind says, because the vertical structure creates room for more crops in less space and because the produce grows faster. 

At Agricool, which also relies on a tiered growing system, Fourdinier says his containers produce 120 times more sustenance per square meter than in traditional field growing and 15 times more than most greenhouses.

“Ten years ago, this was science fiction,” Zelkind says. “Tomorrow it's going to be so ubiquitous that everybody's going to be doing it and we will think, 'Oh my God, did we really ship our berries 2,000 miles a few years ago?'”

To that end, 80 Acres is commercializing what it's learned through Infinite Acres – a partnership with Netherlands-based horticulture technology firm Priva Holding BV and the UK's online grocery giant Ocado. The project provides the technology, operations help, and necessary infrastructure to help budding farmers and interested municipalities launch their own indoor farms. 80 Acres operates a reference design and demonstration farm in Hamilton, Ohio, that's capable of robotically planting, harvesting, and packaging around 1.5 million pounds (681 tonnes) of leafy greens annually. It proves the “economic feasibility of vertical farming indoors”, Livingston says. “We intend to build a farm like this farm all over the world.”

Which gets to the big question: Can a patchwork of metro area farms actually grow enough to feed future populations?

“To say that it is a solution to all of the ails? No, it's never going to be to me because we don't grow calorie crops in controlled spaces. I think it's a compliment. It can provide resilience on a very local level in that you have multiple [food] sources and you're not relying on just one supply chain,” says Anu Rangarajan, director of the Cornell Small Farms Program, which works to advance the viability of small farms. “It becomes part of a whole platform of food supply.” 

In Paris, Agripolis recently opened Nature Urbain Farm on the seventh story of the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. Five gardeners currently tend to the tomatoes, strawberries, eggplant, and even butternut squash growing on the world's largest rooftop farm using a closed-circuit, aeroponics system. The facility is only one-third complete, but there will be room for 20 gardeners to harvest up to 1.1 tons (1,000kg) of 35 varieties of fruit and vegetables every day. This surprising farm on a central Paris rooftop is already bearing fruits.

Image sourced from BBC

Local Vertical Farm Startup Joins Growing Global Market

What if there was a more sustainable way to provide fresh, truly local greens to our communities? And what if there was a way to do it while bringing diverse flavors to the table year-round?

It sounds like an ambitious goal. But it is one that Carina Biacchi and her partner, Alvaro Fernandes, are set to meet.

Ortaliza Urban Farms is a dream that has been sprouting for some time now.

Carina Biacchi is no stranger to business. With a bachelor’s and postgrads in business administration, she has worked in several different sectors, from NGOs to massive corporations. “I’ve mostly worked in sales and marketing” Carina states. “And I have entrepreneurship in my DNA. My parents were entrepreneurs long before I was born.”

And as formidable as Carina is, she is among good company. Alvaro Fernandes, her partner, is an Agronomist Engineer. “He’s a passionate specialist in controlled environment agriculture” Carina explains.

When the two met they quickly started dreaming about their own indoor farm. Years passed, and the two immigrated to Canada and started a family. But those entrepreneurial sparks continued to fly.

“It took us a while to build our lives in Canada,” Carina states. “But we continued to research the idea we had. We kept visiting other businesses in the industry and we even traveled to New York and other areas to see what they had to offer in terms of vertical farms.”

But what is vertical farming? Vertical farming is a growing worldwide phenomenon set to add significant value to the food system. Food security and sustainability continue to be some of the top concerns for city planners, and venture capital firms are investing big into vertical farm operations.

And what is an urban farm? Simply put, urban farming is growing food in urban areas. “We’re located right on Main Street,” Carina states. “In a commercial zoning area. That is pretty unique by itself, and the town of Kingsville has proven to be the perfect partner to help us launch our dream.”

A hyper-local farm-to-plate experience

And while Ortaliza is not the first micro green seller in the region, they are the first to create a storefront, creating an exciting farm-to-plate experience, loaded with flavor and freshness.

“We are truly local!” Carina stresses. “Sometimes, when you see that something is “local” on your grocery shelves, it’s actually from another part of the Province. That might be fine for large vegetables, but greens are special. Think of all the nutrients you would get from a full vegetable but concentrated to deliver all that deliciousness in every single bite. Microgreens require just-picked freshness, so we are super, hyper-local. We’re only growing and selling here in our County.”

This business model, Carina explains, also allows them to reduce food mileage and consequently, food waste. “Leafy greens in Canada can sometimes travel thousands of miles before reaching their destination” Carina reports. “And it can take up to two weeks for the produce to get there. We have a commitment to sustainability, and we will always be local, no matter where we spread our roots to in the future.”

One of Ortaliza’s business Advisors, Adam Castle of WEtech Alliance says the launch of this business in Kingsville represents a unique opportunity for the Startup. “Here we are in the very heart of greenhouse agriculture, not just for Canada but seconded only to Holland from a global perspective,” says Castle. “So you’re planting yourself in a community that lives and breathes agriculture, who knows the value of being able to see where your food comes from and how it’s grown, at a time when the average consumer is more engaged than ever in providing the freshest, most sustainably grown food they can for themselves and their family. I applaud Kingsville for making room at their table for new kinds of agriculture, and being a business-friendly partner that our clients can count on.

“…it certainly fits hand-in-hand with the innovation and the diversification that we’re trying to identify with.”

One enthusiastic supporter of this innovative new business is Nelson Santos, the Mayor of Kingsville and the Deputy Warden of Essex.

“This isn’t your typical business, but it certainly fits in with the entrepreneurial spirit that we have in our community,” Nelson explains. “And it certainly fits hand-in-hand with the innovation and the diversification that we’re trying to identify with. They are touching on all the different aspects of what the community is looking for. Their business is one that is certainly going to turn quite a few heads. It’s very exciting, both in regards to the food aspect and the extension of agriculture.”

Ortaliza is now taking pre-orders for their home delivery service at www.Ortaliza.ca, which promises to deliver a lot more than leafy goodness.

“We want to be more than a farm-to-table service,” says Carina. “We want our customers to think of us as their weekly dose of living, natural vitamins that add easy nutrition to just about every recipe they can think of!”

To learn more and become a friend of the farm, head to www.ortaliza.ca or find them on social media at @OrtalizaFarms 

Fresh Impact Farms Awarded Arlington's First Agriculture Grant

Mark Hand, Patch Staff

Operating since 2018, Fresh Impact Farms uses hydroponic technology to grow a variety of speciality herbs, leafy greens, and edible flowers indoors. (Mark Hand/Patch)

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington County received its first-ever agriculture fund grant from the state, money that will go to Fresh Impact Farms, an Arlington-based company that plans to double production at its indoor growing facility.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday that he had awarded an Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development, or AFID, Fund grant to Arlington totalling $15,000 to be given to Fresh Impact Farms. The company will receive a total of $30,000 from the government, with Arlington County matching the state grant with local funds.

"Agriculture continues to be a key driver of our economic recovery in both rural and urban areas of our commonwealth," Northam said Monday in a statement. "Innovative, dynamic businesses like Fresh Impact Farms are demonstrating how exciting new opportunities can grow out of pandemic-related challenges."

"I congratulate the company on their success and am thrilled to award the first-ever AFID grant to Arlington County to support this expansion," the governor said.

In recent decades, Arlington County has grown into one of the most densely populated counties in the nation. Up until World War II, Arlington still had plenty of farmland. But over the past 60-plus years, the only farming in the county has been of the backyard and patio variety or in the community gardens in the Four Mile Run area.

Operating since 2018, Fresh Impact Farms uses proprietary hydroponic technology to grow a variety of specialty herbs, leafy greens, and edible flowers indoors.

"Governor Northam's award to Fresh Impact Farms, Arlington's only commercial farm, is an innovative way to celebrate unique uses of technology to help a small business pivot during the pandemic," Arlington County Board of Supervisors Chairman Matt de Ferranti said. "I am thrilled that Fresh Impact Farms is growing and looking to the future of a sustainable food supply."
The company will invest a total of $137,500 as part of the expansion, which will include a second grow room, a larger production facility, and an educational hub where customers, after the pandemic, will be able to see how their food is harvested.

Fresh Impact Farms' community-supported agriculture or CSA, program focuses on leafy greens and home kitchen-friendly herbs and has grown them steadily since the program's creation last April. Along with residential customers, the company now has smaller wholesale clients in the Washington, D.C., area.

The future is bright for urban agriculture, said Ryan Pierce, founder of Fresh Impact Farms, located in the back of a Lee Highway strip mall. (Mark Hand/Patch)

After the start of the pandemic, Fresh Impact Farms decided to shift its business model to a CSA delivery service in order to continue generating revenue.

"Seizing the opportunity created by more people cooking at home, the company initiated a Community Supported Agriculture program targeting area residents," the governor's office said.

"Now, with vaccinations underway and the restaurant industry poised to rebound, Fresh Impact Farms is expanding, which will allow the company to resume supplying their restaurant customers, while also meeting new demand through their CSA program," the governor's office said.

Over the next three years, the company expects to grow an additional 10,500 pounds of Virginia-grown leafy greens, herbs, and edible flowers for restaurant and CSA customers.

The future is bright for urban agriculture, said Ryan Pierce, founder of Fresh Impact Farms, located in the back of a Lee Highway strip mall.

"The support and generosity from the Commonwealth and Arlington County will be valuable as we expand our production and move towards a hybrid model of serving both the needs of restaurants and consumers," Pierce said in a statement. "As the owner of a local food business, nothing gets me more excited than seeing the community come together in support of local food."

The funds from the Arlington County Industrial Development Authority, together with the state grant, represent "an important investment in urban agriculture, sustainability, and technology," Arlington County IDA Chair Edwin Fountain said in a statement. "This project will advance the County's innovative and forward-thinking approach to developing new sectors of economic activity in Arlington."

Aquaponics In The Heart of Zurich

They produce greens, but they travel to work by streetcar and don't need to put on weatherproof clothing. That's because Umami employees will harvest vegetables and herbs already in the early growth stages, as so-called microgreens. And they do so in a largely self-built facility, on the 4th floor of an office building in Zurich's Kreis 4 district.

Full-time producers instead of restaurant operators
In the beginning, the three friends Manuel Vock, Robin Bertschinger and Denis Weinberg wanted to open a restaurant. They wanted to produce half of the products themselves. At the same time, Manuel Vock was researching aquaponics systems for his bachelor's thesis. He introduced the principle to his friends, and the team began building a prototype set-up in a former archive in 2016.

That was the end of their restaurant plan and at the same time the beginning of completely self-produced food. The guys grew several varieties of microgreens and sold them to restaurateurs who were excited to have a regional product. "Up to that point, microgreens from the Netherlands were the only alternative," says Luca Grandjean, who joined the team of Umamigos (as Umami employees call themselves) in 2019.

The aquapinic facility / Image: Umami

Microgreens
Microgreens, unlike sprouts, grow on a substrate or in soil, require light and nutrients, and are consumed without roots. They are vegetables or spice plants that are harvested immediately after their cotyledons develop. As a result, microgreens contain a high concentration of vitamins and trace elements. The small plants are used as nutritional supplements and can add sweetness and spice to different dishes.

Fish excrement as fertilizer
Regionality is not the only plus of the little plants. Umami grows the microgreens in a cycle based on nature; the only input is fish feed. But even this is actually food waste and, additionally, insects that Umami produces via scraps.

African cichlids (tilapias) and other fish species swim in various tanks, and their excretions enrich the water with nitrogen and other micronutrients. The enriched water flows into the system to the tray on which the microgreens thrive.

These are sown on a hemp-based substrate and positioned in hard trays so that their roots can touch the water, absorbing the nutrients. The water, now purified by the plants, flows back to the fish, who recharge it. Thanks to this recirculation system, only about 1% of the water needs to be replaced with fresh drinking water each month. "That's about two bathtubs full of water. Just what is lost to evaporation," Grandjean says.

Aquaponics
Aquaponics refers to a process in food production that combines raising fish in aquaculture and cultivating crops in hydroponics. There are various combinations, such as the cultivation of tomatoes and the production of tilapias, as described in this article.

Not just fish and microgreens are part of the 'ecosystem', as the Umamigos like to call their jungle. Mussels, shrimp, snails, algae and many other plants also contribute to the Umami ecosystem. "We are copying nature. Yet we have learnt that the more players there are in the cycle, the better the system works," says Luca Grandjean. This might seem to be a contradiction, but he explains: "If there are just two actors in the system and something happens to one of them, the system is quickly unbalanced."

Nomen est omen
Their most important element, he says, is Zurich's tap water; it sets the pace. "We have no soil percolation, 95% less water loss than conventional agricultural systems," Grandjean says.

Environmentally-friendly production, free of chemicals, strikes a chord with consumers. Above all, however, the products have to taste right, says Luca Grandjean. It's no coincidence that the three friends named their startup Umami when they founded it in 2015. The Japanese word means tasty or spicy, and is one of the five basic tastes, alongside sweet, sour, bitter and salty.

"The glutamate found in meat, for example, tastes umami," Grandjean explains. He adds: "The microgreens are very palatable and don't contain glutamate, but our fish do." He is referring to the license to sell fish that the Umamigos recently obtained.

For more information: https://www.eat-umami.ch/  

Little Leaf Farms Raises $90M to Grow Its Greenhouse Network

by Jennifer Marston

Image from: Little Leaf Farms

Massachusetts-based Little Leaf Farms has raised $90 million in a debt and equity financing round to expand its network of hydroponic greenhouses on the East Coast. The round was led by Equilibrium Capital as well as founding investors Bill Helman and Pilot House Associates. Bank of America also participated.

Little Leaf Farms says the capital is “earmarked” to build new greenhouse sites along the East Coast, where its lettuce is currently available in about 2,500 stores. 

The company already operates one 10-acre greenhouse in Devins, Massachusetts. Its facility grows leafy greens using hydroponics and a mixture of sunlight supplemented by LED-powered grow lights. Rainwater captured from the facility’s roof provides most of the water used on the farm. 

According to a press release, Little Leaf Farms has doubled its retail sales to $38 million since 2019. And last year, the company bought180 acres of land in Pennsylvania on which to build an additional facility. Still another greenhouse, slated for North Carolina, will serve the Southeast region of the U.S. 

Little Leaf Farms joins the likes of Revol Greens, Gotham Greens, AppHarvest, and others in bringing local(ish) greens to a greater percentage of the population. These facilities generally pack and ship their greens on the day of or day after harvesting, and only supply retailers within a certain radius. Little Leaf Farms, for example, currently servers only parts of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. 

The list of regions the company serves will no doubt lengthen as the company builds up its greenhouse network in the coming months.

How This Vertical Farm Grows 80,000 Pounds of Produce per Week

Bowery Farming uses technology to prioritize accessibility and sustainability in their produce growing operations

To some, the pristine growing conditions and perceived mechanical interference of a vertical farm can seem unnatural, but at Bowery Farming “interference” is actually not the goal at all. “We don’t really think about how people are involved in the growing process, but how to take people out of the growing process” says chief science officer Henry Sztul. “Our goal is actually to have as few people walking around our plants as possible.”

Bowery Farming is a network of vertical farms working to reengineer the growing process. Using a system of light and watering technology, Bowery is able to use 95 percent less water than a traditional outdoor farm, zero pesticides and chemicals, and grow food that tastes as good as anyone else’s. 

Bowery Farming uses vertical farm-specific seeds that are optimized for flavor instead of insect resistance and durability. Seeds are mechanically pressed into trays of soil, and sent out into growing positions, or racks within the building that have their own lighting and watering systems. Each tray gets its own QR code so that they can be monitored and assigned a customized plan for water and light until they’re ready to be harvested.

Irving Fain, Bowery Farming’s founder and CEO contemplates the prediction from the United Nations that 70 to 80 percent of the world’s population will be living in and around cities in the next 30 years. “Figuring out ‘how do you feed and how do you provide fresh food to urban environments both more efficiently as well as more sustainably?’ is a very important question today, and an even more important question in the years to come.”

Bringing The Future To life In Abu Dhabi

Amid the deserts of Abu Dhabi, a new wave of entrepreneurs and innovators are sowing the seeds of a more sustainable future.

Image from: Wired

A cluster of shipping containers in a city centre is about the last place you’d expect to find salad growing. Yet for the past year, vertical farming startup Madar Farms has been using this site in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, to grow leafy green vegetables using 95 per cent less water than traditional agriculture. 

Madar Farms is one of a number of agtech startups benefitting from a package of incentives from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) aimed at spurring the development of innovative solutions for sustainable desert farming. The partnership is part of ADIO’s $545 million Innovation Programme dedicated to supporting companies in high-growth areas.

“Abu Dhabi is pressing ahead with our mission to ‘turn the desert green’,” explained H.E. Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director General of ADIO, in November 2020. “We have created an environment where innovative ideas can flourish and the companies we partnered with earlier this year are already propelling the growth of Abu Dhabi’s 24,000 farms.”

The pandemic has made food supply a critical concern across the entire world, combined with the effects of population growth and climate change, which are stretching the capacity of less efficient traditional farming methods. Abu Dhabi’s pioneering efforts to drive agricultural innovation have been gathering pace and look set to produce cutting-edge solutions addressing food security challenges.

Beyond work supporting the application of novel agricultural technologies, Abu Dhabi is also investing in foundational research and development to tackle this growing problem. 

In December, the emirate’s recently created Advanced Technology Research Council [ATRC], responsible for defining Abu Dhabi’s R&D strategy and establishing the emirate and the wider UAE as a desired home for advanced technology talent, announced a four-year competition with a $15 million prize for food security research. Launched through ATRC’s project management arm, ASPIRE, in partnership with the XPRIZE Foundation, the award will support the development of environmentally-friendly protein alternatives with the aim to "feed the next billion".

Image from: Madar Farms

Global Challenges, Local Solutions

Food security is far from the only global challenge on the emirate’s R&D menu. In November 2020, the ATRC announced the launch of the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), created to support applied research on the key priorities of quantum research, autonomous robotics, cryptography, advanced materials, digital security, directed energy and secure systems.

“The technologies under development at TII are not randomly selected,” explains the centre’s secretary general Faisal Al Bannai. “This research will complement fields that are of national importance. Quantum technologies and cryptography are crucial for protecting critical infrastructure, for example, while directed energy research has use-cases in healthcare. But beyond this, the technologies and research of TII will have global impact.”

Future research directions will be developed by the ATRC’s ASPIRE pillar, in collaboration with stakeholders from across a diverse range of industry sectors.

“ASPIRE defines the problem, sets milestones, and monitors the progress of the projects,” Al Bannai says. “It will also make impactful decisions related to the selection of research partners and the allocation of funding, to ensure that their R&D priorities align with Abu Dhabi and the UAE's broader development goals.”

Image from: Agritecture

Nurturing Next-Generation Talent

To address these challenges, ATRC’s first initiative is a talent development programme, NexTech, which has begun the recruitment of 125 local researchers, who will work across 31 projects in collaboration with 23 world-leading research centres.

Alongside universities and research institutes from across the US, the UK, Europe and South America, these partners include Abu Dhabi’s own Khalifa University, and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, the world’s first graduate-level institute focused on artificial intelligence. 

“Our aim is to up skill the researchers by allowing them to work across various disciplines in collaboration with world-renowned experts,” Al Bannai says. 

Beyond academic collaborators, TII is also working with a number of industry partners, such as hyperloop technology company, Virgin Hyperloop. Such industry collaborations, Al Bannai points out, are essential to ensuring that TII research directly tackles relevant problems and has a smooth path to commercial impact in order to fuel job creation across the UAE.

“By engaging with top global talent, universities and research institutions and industry players, TII connects an intellectual community,” he says. “This reinforces Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s status as a global hub for innovation and contributes to the broader development of the knowledge-based economy.”

UNFI Picks Up Living Greens Farm Products in Midwest Expansion

I|mage from: Living Green Farms

Living Greens Farm (LGF), the largest vertical, indoor aeroponic farm in the US that provides year-round fresh salads, salad kits, microgreens and herbs, announced the addition of significant new retail distribution of its products in the upper Midwest to independent, specialty, and co-op retailers.

Starting February 2021, LGF’s full line of products featuring ready-to-eat bagged salad products (Caesar Salad Kit, Southwest Salad Kit, Harvest Salad Kit, Chopped Romaine, and Chopped Butter Lettuce) will be carried by UNFI Produce Prescott (formerly Alberts Fresh Produce). UNFI Produce Prescott is a division of UNFI, which distributes food products to thousands of stores nationwide. Their focus is on independent, specialty and co-op retailers.

UNFI has eight warehouses nationwide. LGF’s products will be carried by their upper Midwest location, located just across the river from the Twin Cities in Prescott, WI. This distribution center services hundreds of retailers throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska. UNFI is the first national Certified Organic distributor, something they take a lot of pride in. Their produce and floral businesses are rooted in local farms and seasonal import growers.

LGF’s proprietary vertical indoor farming method yields the highest quality and freshest produce available. This is because there are no pesticides or chemicals used in the growing process. And because LGF’s growing, cleaning and bagging process significantly reduces handling and time to the retail shelf, consumers enjoy the freshest product on the market. These benefits continue to attract new users and new retail distribution as UNFI Produce Prescott is the second UNFI location to carry LGF. In December, UNFI’s Hopkins, MN location began offering LGF products.

For more information on why Living Greens Farm products are the cleanest, freshest and healthiest farm salads and greens available, go to www.livinggreensfarm.com.

Farm In A Box Planned For Bridgeport's East End

Image from: CT Post

BRIDGEPORT — You will not find any vast acres of fertile soil and crops in the East End neighbourhood. So the state, city and area activists have teamed with an entrepreneur on what they all said they believe is the next best thing: farmland in a box.

Joe Alvarez, founder of High Ridge Hydroponics of Ridgefield, describes it on his website as “an indoor, vertical, hydroponic, shipping container farm to be located in the most urban settings throughout the world.” And the East End — which has been labeled a “food desert” because of the lack of fresh edibles easily available to residents there — will be that urban setting.

“We’re very excited about this,” Keith Williams, head of the East End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone community group, said during a teleconference Friday announcing a $49,999 state grant for Alvarez’s project. “Fresh vegetables. Healthy. That’s what we’re all about — healthy eating.”

High Ridge’s container will produce young micro-greens from broccoli, kale, cabbage, arugula and other plants to be sold at the East End NRZ’s market as a salad mix.

“These greens are harvested after only 10 to 14 days from being planted, which is extremely quick (and) they are super concentrated in nutrition,” Alvarez said.

Friday’s teleconference included several dignitaries who pledged to do everything they can to ensure High Ridge’s success in town, including Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, state Agriculture Commissioner Bryan Hurlburt, state Sen. Marilyn Moore, state Rep. Andre Baker, Mayor Joe Ganim and Edward Lavernoich of the Bridgeport Economic Development Corporation.

“I hope this project has a lasting and positive impact on your community,” Bysiewicz said. “And I hope it will become a model for other urban areas in our state to grow their own food using innovative technology and techniques.”

“This is not just a shipping container in the city,” Hurlburt said. “This is a much larger, deeper and richer project that we get to celebrate today.”

State Rep. Joe Gresko, D-Stratford, was also included, but wearing a different hat. Gresko works for Ganim continuing a mission started by former Mayor Bill Finch to turn Bridgeport from an ex-manufacturing hub into a leader in the green and environmentally sustainable economy.

It was under Finch that the East End was previously promised an urban green house on the site of the former “Mt. Trashmore” illegal dump. That project, dubbed “Boot Camp Farms” because it would hire veterans, was announced in 2013 and was also supposed to have financial backing from the state. But the developers had no prior experience in that field and the proposal never broke ground.

Alvarez, according to his online biography, “studied environmental science at Fordham University in New York City, graduated in May of 2017 (and) has worked as a private organic gardener, an aquaponic farmer, built greenhouses, maintained greenhouses and designed several custom hydroponic growing systems.”

Hurlburt said he felt confident the new project would be a success.

Alvarez “has limited experience but he knows what he’s doing. ... I know how much Joe was calling us and emailing us and how badly he wanted this grant to make it a reality. I know his heart is right where it needs to be to make it a success.”

“We’re all in this together to make sure Joe has the support he needs to be successful,” Hurlburt emphasized.

There are still important details to be finalized, including getting a site for the shipping container and additional money to cover the full, nearly $150,000 cost. Gresko said that the NRZ was negotiating to use some property and that “when the time comes” Bridgeport will “match” additional private funds Alvarez obtains.

“We’re going to keep an eye on this and troubleshoot as we go forward any issues,” Gresko said.

Alvarez said he hopes to complete construction by the fall. And the colder months are when his crops will be the most needed, said Deborah Sims, who operates the NRZ market.

“After farmer’s market season is over, we have difficulty sourcing (fresh food),” Sims said.

“Three hundred sixty five (days) we’re going to have the greens available,” said Gresko.

Baker recalled how his East End funeral home has hosted some farmer’s markets and called the High Ridge project “a long time coming.” He also told Bysiewicz he hoped similar initiatives to offer more fresh food to his constituents will follow.

“Lieutenant governor, we’re going to be leaning on you and the governor for more support,” he said. “You’re going to hear more from us.”

Ensuring Singapore's Food Security Despite the Odds

Image from: Reuters

As with most issues that impact national security in Singapore, it often seems that the odds are stacked against us.  Food security — access to safe and nutritious food — is a challenge on several fronts. 

Singapore is a small city-state with limited resources, with only 1 per cent of land available for food production, and over 90 per cent of food is imported from an increasingly disrupted world. The Covid-19 pandemic has further amplified the gravity of safeguarding food security.  The city-state has been proactively planning for long-term food security through the Singapore Food Agency’s (SFA) strategy of “three food baskets” — diversifying food sources, growing locally and growing overseas.  This approach has served the Republic well in securing a supply of safe food.

DIVERSIFIED SOURCING IS KEY

Singapore’s food importers leverage the nation’s connectivity and the global free trade environment to import from multiple sources in about 170 countries and regions worldwide.  Should there be a disruption to any one source, importers are able to tap alternative food sources and ensure supply remains stable. Lockdown measures brought about by Covid-19 underscored Singapore’s vulnerabilities to supply disruptions in food. 

It was not by luck that the Republic’s food supply remained stable and market shelves continued to be promptly restocked — it was the result of a deliberate whole-of-government strategy to diversify food sources. To keep the nation’’s diversified food supply lines intact amid the Covid-19 global pandemic, SFA worked closely with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) to monitor Singapore’s food supply situation. Together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these economic agencies worked with like-minded countries to maintain open trade links.

LOCAL PRODUCTION AN IMPORTANT BUFFER

SFA drives innovation in local farms with the ambitious goal of producing 30 per cent of Singapore’s nutritional needs by 2030 as part of our “30 by 30” plan.  To meet this goal, we need a holistic and long-term approach to space-planning, boosting agri-food technology and developing local agri-specialists. To facilitate and support the establishment of high-technology and productive farms in Singapore, SFA tenders out land based on qualitative criteria such as production capability, production track record, relevant experience and qualifications, innovation and sustainability.

In addition, a masterplan for the greater Lim Chu Kang (LCK) region, spanning about 390ha of land, will be undertaken in consultation with stakeholders over the next two to three years.  The redeveloped LCK agri-food cluster will produce more than three times its current food production.

Building on the above efforts to grow Singapore’s high-tech agri-tech sector, SFA will continue to partner with the Economic Development Board and ESG to attract best-in-class global agri-tech companies, as well as to nurture promising homegrown agri-tech companies into local champions and help them to expand overseas.

EXPLORING ALTERNATIVE, UNDERUTILISED SPACES

Urban food solutions are expected to play a key role in global food security.  While there are progressive enterprises operating out of farmlands and industrial estates, some agricultural game-changers are also taking root in unconventional areas — indoors, on rooftops and in underutilised spaces.

SFA worked with the Singapore Land Authority to introduce an urban farm at the former Henderson Secondary School site, which was transformed into Singapore’s first integrated space comprising an urban farm, childcare centre and nursing home within a state property.  The farm space within the site was awarded in May 2019 to social enterprise City Sprouts, and it has become a vibrant destination for the young and old to learn about urban farming and enjoy a relaxing day out.

Citiponics, the first commercial farm located on a multi-storey car park in a residential neighbourhood, harvested its first yield of vegetables in April 2019.  In September 2020, another nine sites atop multi-storey car parks were awarded for urban farming. 

The successful bidders included proposals for hydroponic and vertical farming systems with a variety of innovative features, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain technology and automated climate control.  These sites have the potential to collectively produce around 1,600 tonnes of vegetables annually.

Image from: Ciitiponics

TAPPING TECH

The Agriculture Productivity Fund (APF) supports local farms in their capability development and drive towards higher productivity.  Through APF, SFA co-funds the adoption of farming systems to better control environmental variables, test-bed technologies and boost production capabilities. Between October 2014 and September 2020, a total of almost S$42 million has been committed to 115 farms.

The Covid-19 pandemic presented greater impetus to speed up local food production capacities. In September 2020, SFA awarded S$39.4 million to nine companies under the 30x30 Express Grant to quickly ramp up food-farm outputs over the next six months to two years. With advanced robotic and digital systems increasingly being used in farming, Singapore’s vegetables farmers have also become innovative agri-engineers and specialists in their own right.

With support from the 30x30 Express Grant, urban farming engineering solutions firm Indoor Farm Factory Innovation will set up an indoor vegetable farm with a vertical integration growth system up to 8m in height in a fully controlled and pesticide-free environment.  The farm will leverage artificial intelligence farming systems integrated with IoT monitoring, dosing irrigation and an advanced environmental control system to achieve optimum growing conditions all year round.

Seng Choon, a chicken egg farm that has been in business for more than 30 years, has also proved itself a modernist in its operations.  The company uses a computer that scans eggs to ascertain if they are clean; while feeding systems, temperature controls and waste cleaning systems have been automated with SFA’s support. Singapore’s efforts at ensuring food security would not be complete without support from consumers.  To boost recognition of local produce among consumers, SFA brought the industry and public together to create a new “SG Fresh Produce” logo. 

Farmers have been using this emblem on their packaging since August 2020. A website was also launched to provide a trove of information on locally farmed food. While the Covid-19 pandemic has led to import restrictions, it also helped to accelerate support for local produce. With public support for local farmers and other key measures, Singapore can beat the odds in ensuring food security in this ever-evolving, ever-disrupted world.

Is AppHarvest the Future of Farming?

Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are red-hot right now, with investors clamoring to get into promising young companies.

In this video from Motley Fool Live, recorded on Jan. 28, Industry Focus host Nick Sciple and Motley Fool contributor Lou Whiteman discuss AppHarvest, one such SPAC that is looking to disrupt the agriculture industry. Here are the details on what AppHarvest wants to do, and a look at whether the company represents the future of farming.

Nick Sciple: One last company I wanted to talk about, Lou, and this is one I think it's -- you pay attention to, but not one I'm super excited to run in and buy. It was a company called AppHarvest. It's coming public via a [SPAC] this year. This vertical farming space. We talked about Gladstone Land buying traditional farmland. AppHarvest is taking a very different approach, trying to lean into some of the ESG-type movements.

Lou Whiteman: Yeah. Let's look at this. It probably wouldn't surprise you that the U.S. is the biggest global farm exporter as we said, but it might surprise you that the Netherlands, the tiny little country, is No. 2. The way they do that is tech: Greenhouse farm structure. AppHarvest has taken that model and brought it to the U.S. They have, I believe, three farms in Appalachia. The pitches can produce 30x the yields using 90% less water. Right now, it's mostly tomatoes and it is early-stage. I don't own this stock either. I love this idea. There's some reasons that I'm not buying in right now that we can get into. But this is fascinating to me. We talked about making the world a better place. This is the company that we need to be successful to make the world a better place. The warning on it is that it is a SPAC. So it's not public yet. Right now, I believe N-O-V-S. That deal should close soon. [Editor's note: The deal has since closed.] I'm not the only one excited about it. I tend not to like to buy IPOs and new companies anyway. I think the caution around buying into the excitement applies here. There is a Martha Stewart video on their website talking up the company, which I love Martha Stewart, but that's a hype level that makes me want to just watch and see what they produce. This is just three little farms in Appalachia right now and a great idea. This was all over my watchlist. I would imagine I would love to hold it at some point, but just be careful because this is, as we saw SPACs last year in other areas, people are very excited about this.

Sciple: Yeah. I think, like we've said, for a lot of these companies, the prospects are great. I think when you look at the reduced water usage, better, environmentally friendly, all those sorts of things. I like that they are in Appalachia. As someone who is from the South, I like it when more rural areas get some people actually investing money there. But again, there's a lot of execution between now and really getting to a place where this is the future of farming and they're going to reach scale and all those sorts of things. But this is a company I'm definitely going to have my radar on and pay attention to as they continue to report earnings. Because you can tell yourself a story about how this type of vertical farming, indoor farming disrupts this traditional model, can be more efficient, cleaner, etc. Something to continue paying attention to as we have more information, because this company, like you said, Lou, isn't all the way public yet. We still got to have this SPAC deal finalized and then we get all our fun SEC filings and quarterly calls and all those sorts of things. Once we have that, I will be very much looking forward to seeing what the company has to say.

Whiteman: Right. Just to finish up along too, the interesting thing here is that it is a proven concept because it has worked elsewhere. The downside of that is that it needed to work there. Netherlands just doesn't have -- and this is an expensive proposition to get started, to get going. There's potential there, but in a country blessed with almost seemingly unlimited farmland for now, for long term it makes sense. But in the short term, it could be a hard thing to really get up and running. I think you're right, just one to watch.

UAE Agri-Tech Growing With New Multi-Million Dollar Fundings For Smart Farms

HALAL INDUSTRY BY PETRA LOHO

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08 MAY 2020

INSIGHT

SALAAM GATEWAY

When Stanford Graduate School of Business alumnus and private equity expert Sky Kurtz started in Silicon Valley, he had no idea his investor and entrepreneur journey would lead him to farm tomatoes in the middle of the Arabian desert.

While a New Zealand composite materials business brought Kurtz to Dubai, what made him stay was to help the United Arab Emirate build food security.

“There’s a need to move to more resource-efficient agriculture everywhere, not only in the UAE,” Kurtz told Salaam Gateway. “The Middle East is just an extreme case with less arable land and little water.”

Food security largely covers three dimensions — the availability, affordability, and accessibility of food. The UAE’s biggest challenge is availability, given its agricultural limitations.

Conscious of the importance, the UAE established a State Ministry for Food Security in 2017, leading to the UAE National Food Security Strategy 2051 formulation.

The strategy aspires to champion agribusiness trade facilitation, enable technology-based production and food supply, promote international trade partnerships, enhance nutritional intake, and reduce waste, according to the ministry’s website.

Supporting the strategy financially, in March 2019, the Abu Dhabi government announced a 1 billion dirhams ($272 million) incentive package to support the development of the domestic agri-tech industry.   

Offering rebates up to 75% of R&D costs, along with other monetary and governing privileges, the scheme targets three agricultural segments to increase production: precision farming and agrarian robotics, bioenergy, and indoor farming.

SMART FARMS

Having co-founded his tech-enabled agribusiness focusing on year-round generation of fruits and vegetables already in 2016, Kurtz’s Pure Harvest Smart Farms hasn’t enjoyed grants from this government package yet, albeit being a perfect match.

However, in April, the firm raised $20.6 million in additional funding and secured a further $100 million commitment from Kuwait’s national investment company Wafra to finance the company’s local and regional expansion.  

“We want to grow very quickly. That’s why we raised such a large sum of capital,” Kurtz said. “Access to funds is a competitive advantage in this capital intensive business as we’re building food infrastructure.”

Initially, Pure Harvest received a $5.6 million seed funding from Shorooq Investment Partners and aligned with the UAE government by securing a 5.5 million dirhams ($1.5 million) investment through the Mohammed bin Rashid Innovation Fund in October 2018. 

Kurtz’s fundraising success reflects on a worldwide trend: the global funding to agriculture technology start-ups grew by 43% year-on-year, to almost $17 billion in 2018, according to AGFunder, an online venture capital platform. The U.S., China, and India accounted for almost 80% of all agri-tech funding.

GREENHOUSE PROOF OF CONCEPT

Pure Harvest operates a high-tech, semi-closed, and climate-controlled greenhouse.

“We see ourselves as an energy company,” said Kurtz. “We harvest solar power and turn it into healthy calorie sources as cheaply as possible.”

Growing the product hydroponically, Kurtz views Pure Harvest exceedingly similar to a vertical farm.

“The big difference is we use natural light. We have more than most plants can utilize,” Kurtz said, alluding to the Middle East’s equator proximity.  

However, the entrepreneur feels his business model is to a greater extent financially viable than vertical farming.

“Our costs for certain products are under one dollar per kilogram,” the Pure Harvest CEO added. “Vertical farms produce typically between $3.50 and $5.50 per kilogram.”

Kurtz claims to have one of the world’s lowest manufacturing costs, of any food production system, including the most ambitious Dutch producers. 

“We are producing at a competitive cost structure now at our pilot farm. At scale, we believe we can do even better,” Kurtz said.

Pure Harvest’s pilot facility harvests about 600 tons bumblebee-pollinated and pesticide-free-grown tomatoes annually.

The company grows a variety of 17, soon to be 20, different kinds of tomatoes — from small, snack-able ones to exotic and aromatic Japanese pink ones.

“Tomatoes are a truly dynamic and technically challenging crop to grow,” Kurtz explained. “Growing greens is a lot easier, and the tomato market is super competitive with both local, regional and international competition – making it a great test case.”

“It was a matter of proving our concept from a technical but also commercial standpoint,” Kurtz explained, referring to the firm’s institutional investors seeking an ROI-making mass-market product as the company matures.

NO WASTE OF WATER

“We don’t waste anything. We capture it and use it somehow. Whether that’s heat energy, cooling capacity, or water,” Kurtz said.

When the greenhouse is closed, Pure Harvest controls and captures evaporation, the treated condensation is reinjected into the irrigation system to water the plants.

According to Kurtz, Pure Harvest uses a little over 30 litres of water per kilogram of production, compared to the around 250 litres of traditional farms.

This is a saving that is crucial for a water-scarce country like the UAE, listed the third most insecure country in the Middle East, after Yemen and Kuwait on the Pardee RAND Food-Energy-Water security (FEW) index.

The country’s renewable water resources are less than 100m3/capita/year — or one-tenth of the 1,000 m3/capita/year water poverty line — according to an article by Hameed et al. published by MDPI, a peer-reviewed journals issuer.

STRAWBERRY FIELDS AHEAD

Forming a partnership with Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, the founder and CEO at the Alliances for Global Sustainability, Pure Harvest secured over 30 hectares to design more greenhouses.

“We’ll build out Sheika Shamma’s land in multiple stages to a production capacity equaling around 24 hectares,” Kurtz said, noting the current farm is just under one hectare.  

The geographical expansion plans will see Pure Harvest also build in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Extending the product line, Pure Harvest will start growing greens and strawberries in the UAE soon.

MORE INVESTMENT

Early April, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) announced it would provide 367 million dirhams ($100 million) to four firms – two local, two American – to establish new R&D and farming facilities.

“The UAE has been keeping the investments in the agricultural R&D in focus for a transformative food system,” Dr. Dino Francescutti, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) UAE representative, told Salaam Gateway.

“By determinedly facilitating R&D among its stakeholders, the UAE will be able to develop and benefit from new technologies, increase productivity and efficiency of its limited agricultural resources, thus contributing to the country’s food security and resilience.”

One of the four recipients of ADIO’s $100 million is Madar Farms, a vertical farming pioneer operating a R&D farm growing seven different microgreens in Masdar City.

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Founded in 2017 by Kuwaiti Abdulaziz AlMulla, Madar will build the world’s largest commercial-scale indoor tomato farm located in the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi that lies between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Farming vertically is certainly going up. From $2.5 billion in 2017, the vertical farming market size will likely surpass $20 billion by 2026, according to a research report by Global Market Insights.

Vertical hydroponic farms require artificial lighting, heating, and cooling systems, ventilation, shade and nutrient dosing, the Produce Marketing Association writes in the 2019 Fresh Produce Industry: United Arab Emirates report.

This explains why many UAE farms are hesitant to adopt the new technology regardless of the government support offered, fearing the increased set-up and electricity costs, according to the trade organisation.

There are more challenges to deal with, though.

“The agri-tech products developed in Asia, Europe, or North America were created to be successful in their environments and cannot simply be copied and pasted here in the UAE,” Madar Farms brand manager Haifa Alrasheed told Salaam Gateway.

“Effective localisation is the key to success as dust, humidity, and heat can take their toll.”

The tomato farm, designed by the Dutch producer Certhon will be installed with more than 5,000 LED fixtures and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2020. Certhon also equipped Pure Harvest’s pilot farm.

“This 5,000 square meter (0.5 hectares) facility will enable us to grow approximately more than a ton of fresh tomatoes every day,” Alrasheed said. “The domestic production only covers about 8% of the total consumption.”

“We’ll also triple the microgreens supply, sold through four online portals,” Alrasheed explained.  Demand dependent, the current daily capacity is up to 10 kilograms.

UAE CONSUMPTION   

By one calculation, the UAE’s food consumption is to grow at an annualized rate of 3.5% from 8.7 million tons in 2018 to an estimated 10.3 million tons in 2023, according to Alpen Capital’s September 2019 “GCC Food Industry” report.

In 2016, the UAE consumed 1.5 million tons of vegetables, with tomatoes being a favorite.

Domestic tomato production grew to over almost 79,000 tons in 2018, nearly 80% up from 2016, according to FAO statistics.

Despite the increase, the UAE is still not self-sufficient and must import to meet the demand.

With a 27.4%, 13.5%, and 12% share in dollar value, Jordan, India, and the Netherlands were the top three source markets for the UAE in 2018, according to the U.N. Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Iran and Malaysia followed with a 10.5% and 7.7% share, respectively.

COVID-19 CHALLENGING FOOD SECURITY

Now, the COVID-19 pandemic amplifies just how fragile food security is beyond the lack of arable land and water scarcity. 

“The diffusion of the pandemic poses major food security and supply chain threats worldwide,” the United Nations’ FAO UAE representative Dr. Francescutti said.

Labour shortages to produce, harvest and process food; an increasing farmer’s struggle to access the markets; the decreased perishable commodities supply, and transport restrictions blocking deliveries cause the risk, the FAO expert explained.

Sky Kurtz’s solution to mitigate such food supply chain risks is simple. “Support the homegrown champions,” he said, appealing to both the UAE leadership and to consumers.

(Reporting by Petra Loho; Editing by Emmy Abdul Alim emmy.abdulalim@salaamgateway.com)

Lead photo: Photo: Vertical farming at Madar Farms in the UAE. Photo supplied by Madar Farms.

© SalaamGateway.com 2020 All Rights Reserved

The World’s First “High-Tech Eco Village” Will Reinvent Suburbs

BY ADELE PETERS 

A half-hour commute from Amsterdam, a piece of farmland is slated to become a new kind of neighborhood. Vertical farms, along with traditional fields and orchards surrounding homes, will supply food to people living there. Food waste will turn into fish feed for on-site aquaculture. Houses will filter rainwater, but won’t have driveways. A “village OS” tech platform will use AI to simultaneously manage systems for renewable energy, food production, water supply, and waste.

The 50-acre neighborhood, which will be nearly self-sufficient as it collects and stores water and energy, grows food, and processes much of its own waste, was initially planned for construction in 2017. The developers, called ReGen Villages, struggled with red tape–the area, on a piece of land that used to be underwater but was reclaimed in the 1960s when a seawall was constructed–has regulations that make it difficult for someone other than an individual homeowner to build on land that is mostly used for farming now. But after the project finally got government approval this month, it’s ready to take its next steps.

[Photo: ReGen Villages]

“We can connect a neighborhood the way it’s supposed to be connected, which is around natural resources,” says James Ehrlich, founder of ReGen Villages. If the project raises the final funding needed to begin construction, what is now a simple field will have new canals, wetlands, and ponds that can soak up stormwater (the area is seven meters below sea level, and at risk for flooding) and attract migrating birds. The land will be planted with trees, gardens, and food forests. Vertical gardens inside greenhouses will grow food on a small footprint. The 203 new homes, from tiny houses and row houses to larger villas, will provide needed housing in an area where the population may double in 15 years. The houses range in cost from 200,000 to 850,000 euros.

As cities become increasingly expensive and crowded, Ehrlich believes that this type of development may become more common. “In the last few years, we’ve really seen that the market has shifted and that there’s a hollowing out of cities,” he says. “They are really expensive and the quality of life is going down, and as much as millennials or younger people really want to be in the city, the fact is that they can’t really afford it . . . the trends are really moving toward this kind of neighborhood development outside of cities.”

[Photo: ReGen Villages]

There’s also a need to rethink infrastructure so it works more efficiently, with a lower environmental footprint. The new development considers everything–from electricity to sewage–as an interconnected system, and software links the pieces together. Electric cars, for example, which will be parked on the perimeter of the neighborhood to keep streets walkable, can store some of the extra power from the neighborhood’s solar panels and other renewable energy.

The neighborhood works differently than most. Because of the expected arrival of self-driving cars in coming years, and to encourage walking and biking, the houses aren’t designed with parking; a new bus line along the edge of the neighborhood, with a dedicated bus lane, can take residents to the town of Almere or into Amsterdam. (As in other parts of the Netherlands, separated bike paths also connect to the city.) Water will come primarily from rain collection. The on-site farming, including raising chicken and fish, will supply a large portion of the local food supply. If neighbors volunteer for the community–to garden, or teach a yoga class, or provide elder care, for example–the community will use a blockchain-based time bank to track their hours, and then provide a discount on their HOA fees.

[Photo: ReGen Villages]

A “living machine,” a system that uses plants and trees to filter sewage, and a separate anaerobic digester, can handle the neighborhood’s sewage and provide irrigation or water reused in energy systems. A system for processing food and animal waste will use black soldier flies and aquatic worms to digest the waste and create both chicken and fish feed. Other household waste–like cans and bottles–will be handled by the municipal recycling system, at least initially.

It’s a design that Ehrlich believes is feasible elsewhere, though it may not easily fit into existing regulations, and it would need political support. (Some other “agrihoods,” neighborhoods with built-in farming, do already exist, like Kuwili Lani in Hawaii, which also uses renewable energy and harvests some rainwater.)

“We know that governments around the world are in a desperate situation to build probably over a billion new homes around the world,” he says. “It’s a terrible housing crisis. At the same time, they wrestle with a number of things: the commercial interest of farmers, the commercial interests of traditional real estate developers, material companies who have a way of doing things that they’ve been doing for 100, 150 years. Most of the rules on the books relate to this district-scale thinking–of grid-based electricity, of district-scale water, of district-scale sewage.”

Financing is another challenge: While typical real estate developers look for large rates of return and quick exits, ReGen Villages plans to stay involved in its developments and get long-term, single-digit returns. The company is still raising the last round of money needed for the new development. Because Almere has regulations that don’t allow for high density, the initial development will also be more expensive. But once it’s built–something that Ehrlich expects to happen in 2019–others can follow more quickly. “We have access to a lot of really big money that’s waiting for us to finish the next pilot, and so we need the proof of concept,” he says.

The company has plans to build future developments near cities like Lund, Sweden, and Lejre-Hvalso, Denmark, and it ultimately hopes to bring a low-cost version of the neighborhoods to developing countries. “We can imagine going to rural India, sub-Saharan Africa, where we know the next 2 [billion] to 3 billion people are coming to the planet, and where we know that hundreds of millions of people are moving into the middle class,” he says. “And [we want] to get there as quickly as we can to provide new kinds of suburbs, new kinds of neighborhoods.”

Future of Farming Is Rooting Itself In Central Oregon

A sustainable, shipping container 'vertical farm'

By: Lauren Melink  

July 26, 2018

Around the Bend Farms

BEND, Ore. - There’s a new farm in Central Oregon, and it’s a bit different from your standard homestead.

It’s called Around the Bend Farms. And for now, you’ll find it in a laboratory at OSU-Cascades.

Around the Bend Farms CEO, Ben Marsh describes it like this: "It's definitely not your archetypal farmer who is in a field, sweating in 95-degree weather with a big combine. Our combine is a computer or a micro-controller."

Around the Bend, Farms is a non-profit organization that’s partnered with OSU-Cascades to create a personal food computer.

"What that means is that the computer can tell this thing, 'OK, I need you to turn on a light.' And this thing goes 'All right,' and turns on a light," Marsh said.

The farm is a sustainable "vertical farm" that after being programmed with the correct grow recipe, runs on its own.

"We’re controlling the heating, the cooling, the air movement, the lighting, temperature," Marsh said

The goal is to eventually build computer-run, sustainable, vertical farms inside shipping containers.

Lance Porter is an energy systems engineering graduate involved in the project. He thinks the computer farm will attract a different type of farmer.

"The newer generations really want to be more involved in where their food comes from and especially involved in how it’s made and how it’s produced," Porter said

Executive research associate Makena Whitaker said this unique kind of farming will hopefully keep people coming back.

"It’s more fun if you make farming fun and interesting. People will stick around," Whitaker said.

Around the Bend Farms also hopes to create a sense of community around growing food. 

"Food was always a family endeavor and a community-based endeavor, and we want to kind of get back to that," Marsh said. 

Around the Bend, Farms is in its early stages of development, but already they’ve tripled the size of their crop and hope to have a shipping container farm in Bend within two years.

For more information on the farm, you can visit the website at this link: https://www.aroundthebendfarms.org/

South Korean Government To Create 4,300 Jobs In Smart Farm Industry

Government To Create 4,300 Jobs In Smart Farm Industry

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Korea Bizwire in Agriculture, Business, Industries, Top News

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The agriculture ministry is hopeful that the move will help create more than 4,300 jobs over the next few years in the burgeoning smart farming industry. (Image: Yonhap)

SEOUL, April 17 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean government has announced plans to create 4,300 jobs in the smart agriculture industry by 2022.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs revealed measures to attract young workers into smart farming by providing training courses and building large-scale smart farm complexes during a meeting with financial officials on Monday.

Smart farming brings information and communications technology to greenhouses and livestock farms and allows farmers to remotely control the growing environment of crops and animals through smartphones and computers.

The latest announcement focuses on creating innovation models, a shift from the previous plan to introduce smart farming at existing farms, under which young entrepreneurs and farmers will be trained and other related businesses will be supported.

Training courses will be available from next year and will last for 20 months, with plans to create 600 professionals by 2022.

In addition, young farmers who complete the courses will be given government subsidies to open a smart farming business on 30 hectares of land that will be allotted to them, while agricultural loans at lower interest rates will be available for both new and experienced farmers.

Plans to build a smart farm test site are also underway where research projects, exhibitions and tests will take place to help enhance the competitiveness of South Korean smart farms.

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The South Korean government has announced plans to create 4,300 jobs in the smart agriculture industry by 2022. (Image: Ministry of Agriculture)

Through joint efforts between research institutes and companies, the government is poised to establish South Korea’s own Priva, a Dutch company that produces the world’s highest quality climate control systems.

A total of four smart farming innovation valleys will be built across the country by 2022, multi-purpose venues consisting of a training center, smart farms for rent, and a test site.

The agriculture ministry is hopeful that the move will help create more than 4,300 jobs over the next few years in the burgeoning smart farming industry.

Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)