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CANADA: Local Leaf Farms To Open Vertical Farming Site In Kingston
Purchasing local produce will become easier year-round after Local Leaf Farms opens their newest vertical farming site on Innovation Drive. Their innovative take on farming removes the need for a lot of land, and our Canadian dependency on weather
Credit: localleaffarms.com
Purchasing local produce will become easier year-round after Local Leaf Farms opens their newest vertical farming site on Innovation Drive. Their innovative take on farming removes the need for a lot of land, and our Canadian dependency on weather.
Local Leaf Farms is on a mission to change the way food is produced and distributed in Canada, growing superior quality food that’s safer, fresher, and more sustainable. Using vertical farming technology first invented by NASA, they are able to provide Canadians with pesticide and herbicide-free, hyper-local produce (grown within the city it is sold) year-round. With a model that has them delivering the product directly to store shelves within hours of harvest, they ensure maximal freshness of the product, while reducing both food waste and the carbon footprint of transportation.
Packed in 100% plastic-free, compostable containers, their innovative technology provides retailers & consumers with a fully traceable food source, via a QR code on the package, that allows instant access to all details about how the product in a specific package was grown, when and by whom.
Kingston Economic Development and the City of Kingston are pleased to welcome this new business to our community in the St. Lawrence Business Park. “I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Local Leaf Farms to Kingston,” says Mayor Paterson. “This is a company that brings an exciting and innovative approach to local food that will bring great benefits to our residents, and will further position Kingston as a leader in food security and sustainability.”
The Local Leaf facility will be located in a new development at 800 Innovation Drive and is anticipated to open in late October of this year. This business is a $450,000 investment in the Kingston community in terms of start-up costs and is expected to create seven (7) full-time jobs locally.
“We’re proud to have Local Leaf Farms joining the innovative businesses that will be sharing one roof at 800 Innovation Drive when it opens this fall,” says Ben Pilon, President of BPE Group. “Their focus on sustainability and food security aligns nicely with our business philosophy, making this agreement a natural fit. With tenants like Local Leaf, 800 Innovation Drive, will see job creation, strengthen our local economy, and show the world that good things grow in Ontario.”
“As we scale to build 20 production facilities across the country by 2025, Kingston was an obvious choice. As a gateway to eastern Ontario, Kingston represents the perfect mix of a City whose municipal government understands the importance of both innovation and the food sector, an Economic Development Office that is exceptional in supporting out of town businesses in their relocation and a community that values sustainable, quality food products. It was an obvious choice that we are excited to commence upon,” says Steve Jones, President, and CEO of Local Leaf Farms.
“We are excited that Local Leaf Farms selected Kingston as a new site for their 7,000 sq. ft. facility. Their business mission aligns with the City of Kingston’s vision for innovation, entrepreneurship, and food security making it a great fit in the community,” says Shelley Hirstwood, Business Development Officer, Attraction & Aftercare with Kingston Economic Development Corporation. “The Kingston Economic Development team is looking forward to continuing to work with Local Leaf Farms as they became established.”
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Farm Fresh Produce - Fresh Is Better
In 2010, we planted the seed of a new idea. When Steven Ceccarelli started this company, his goal was to take a fresh approach to growing and packing produce. Today, Farm Fresh has grown into one of the most innovative and reliable produce distribution operations around.
Fresher is better - Fresh produce, of course. But also fresh ideas. New ways of thinking about the age-old business of getting great tasting sweet potatoes and blueberries and napa cabbage and more - from field to table. Not throwing out the past for the safe of shiny new objects, but taking a clear-eyed look at what works, what we can improve, and where there are opportunities for smart, strategic growth.
The Difference
What makes Farm Fresh Outstanding in the field?
We get it. Because we grow it.
In addition to working with a reliable team of experienced growers, we own and operate our own sweet potato farm. Not only does this mean we know first-hand the challenges our partners face — it also means we have greater control over supply.
We give you fresh thinking. Every step of the way.
We’re a grower. We’re a packer. We’re a distributor. We’ve been across the country and around the world. We understand every link in the chain — and we make sure each and every one is strong enough to keep you supplied with everything you need, week in and week out, whatever the weather, wherever you are.
You buy it, you name it.
You’ve spent time and money building your brand, so it only makes sense to show it off every chance you get. We’ll work with you to create completely customized packaging for your shipments, so it’s your private label that customers see when the produce arrives.
We’re sustainable for the long haul.
The entire Farm Fresh operation is designed to work toward an optimized carbon footprint, which in practice means:
• Using natural pesticides and conserving water in the fields
• Installing a rain water collection system at our warehouse
• Exploring ways to incorporate recycled materials and generate solar power in our buildings
• Developing smart packaging solutions that maximize truck-packing efficiency
• Deploying advanced logistics and near-siting to minimize road-based emissions
We mind the GAP.
We proudly follow the standards of GLOBALG.A.P., a key reference in the worldwide push towards best practices in the produce industry, now covering more than 100 countries.
We’ve got nothing to hide.
Around here, one day of really hard work is just like any other; we don’t need time to clean up or hide things under the rug when company comes. So if you want to see what we’re all about, drop by anytime.
Fresh produce, fresh ideas, fresh opportunities — let’s find out what we can do to help each other grow.
Toll-Free: 1-800-606-9267 (YAMS)
Fax: 1-800-807-9267 (YAMS)
Local N.C. Phone: 910-920-9871
Local Quebec, Canada: (514) 461-0836
Local Mississippi Phone: (662) 796-1977
Cell Phone: (910) 508-8933
Skyfarms - U.S. - Seed To Sky - The Way To Zero Hunger
The challenge: Zero Hunger. The opportunity: A $15B market, 60% increase in food production to feed a growing population, most which are living in urban areas with no access to local food, and 80% of agriculture pursuing SMART upgrades in farming.
When we didn’t have enough money to buy food we grew it. But why in a world, where we produce enough food to feed 10B, do 1/3 go hungry and 1/3 are obese? Almost 1/3 is lost or wasted, or given to livestock.
The UN decided to tackle this challenge by declaring in 2001 in the Millenium Sustainable Development Goals that we had the technology and resources to end hunger. A greater focus on farming was on the rise. Then in 2015 the Sustainable Development Goals decided we had reached the moment where by 2030 we would reach Zero Hunger.
Additionally, plant-based diets are being recommended by health professionals around the world as a way for us to sustain ourselves as a whole population. And ever since we have been teaching and talking to anyone who wanted to know more about agriculture.
After working with a CEO of a $4B Fortune 500 company for a year, our founder decided it was time to take matters into his own hands and launch an agriculture movement. Getting back to his sustainable roots, the founder pursued a vision that was ahead of its time but is finally now in fashion. This came with challenges as the AgTech and Smart Farming market was unknown and has just reached its tipping point in 2018. Vertical growing, and growing in soilless mediums in any location, at anytime, would be the way we could grow food on every corner, but required better incentives for regular citizens to become stakeholders in the food production, distribution and consumption.
It once was said, ”let thy food be thy medicine.” And rightfully so. It not only provides us energy, but catapults entire civilisations and controls populations. Historically, the agrarian age brought about writing, money, roads, laws, and society as we know it.
Food is such an intrinsic part of survival so the people who owned the food became kings, but then resources of the many began to flow to the few. And its been that way ever since. It’s time to democratise, empathise and re-civilise through food distribution, and disruption.
The challenge: Zero Hunger. The opportunity: A $15B market, 60% increase in food production to feed a growing population, most which are living in urban areas with no access to local food, and 80% of agriculture pursuing SMART upgrades in farming.
