UAE’s “Green Sheikh” Visits Green Bronx Machine, Gotham Greens And CS55

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22-July-2021

by Green Bronx Machine

Green Bronx Machine founder Stephen Ritz welcomes the "Green Sheikh," His Royal Highness Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi to GBM's National Health, Wellness and Learning Center at CS 55 in the South Bronx.

1. Green Bronx Machine founder Stephen Ritz welcomes the "Green Sheikh," His Royal Highness Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi to GBM's National Health, Wellness and Learning Center at CS 55 in the South Bronx.

2. Green Bronx Machine

   The "Green Sheikh," His Royal Highness Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi tours Green Bronx Machine's National Health, Wellness and Learning Center at CS 55 in the South Bronx.

3. Gotham Green Co-Founder and CEO Viraj Puri (r) hosts the "Green Sheikh," His Royal Highness SheikhAbdulaziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi, along with Green Bronx Machine Founder Stephen Ritz and former GBM student and current Gotham Greens employee Corey Gamble at their Brooklyn-based greenhouse.

4. Senior officials from NYC Department of Education, the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, NYS Senator Gustavo Rivera, and other staff and community from CS 55 greet His Royal Highness Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi at Green Bronx Machine's National Health, Wellness and Learning Center.

Newswise — BRONX, NY, July 22, 2021 – Green Bronx Machine founder Stephen Ritz and his students welcomed yesterday His Royal Highness Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi, to their classroom at the National Health and Wellness Learning Center (NHWLC) at CS 55 in the Bronx.

A member of the ruling family of Ajman of the United Arab Emirates and an environmental adviser to the Ajman Government, HRH is a globally acclaimed humanitarian and philanthropist whose work focuses on mindfulness, well-being, spirituality, sustainability, and nutrition, particularly in children and those living in marginalized communities. 

During the visit, HRH, known as the “Green Sheikh,” and Ritz, often called “America’s Favorite Teacher,” had a chance to catch up on all things ag education-related and see what GBM students are growing and learning during the Summer Rising school program that is currently in session.  In fact, GBM’s students hosted a luncheon for HRH, preparing and serving him a vegan meal made from vegetables grown by them right in their NHWLC classroom.  Prior to arriving at CS 55, Ritz accompanied HRH on a tour of Brooklyn-based Gotham Greens, a longtime GBM supporter, and partner. Gotham Greens, a pioneer in sustainable indoor farming with the largest network for hydroponic greenhouses in North America, brings a fresh perspective to how businesses can operate with a triple bottom line.

"The power of friendship between the UAE and USA started many years ago via multiple platforms.  Events like these help that friendship to continue to blossom and grow. Today, we all come together for sustainability, stewardship, and the best interests of all children. Today, we celebrate education and possibilities,” said His Royal Highness Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi.  “After many years of working together overseas, to be able to visit my dear friend, Stephen Ritz, and see the work of Green Bronx Machine personally, in his home country and home community is beyond exciting. To see this classroom and to visit Gotham Greens is to truly understand what is possible when people work together with innovation and dedication to change lives. This is what community looks like. This visit helps to share our work, our commitment, and our shared vision for the future and the planet for everyone to see - all around the world. I want to thank the NYC Department of Education, the residents of the Bronx, Stephen's family, colleagues, and the community at Community School 55 and the staff at Gotham Greens for their gracious hospitality. I look forward to continuing our sharing, our learning, and our working together." 

Longtime sustainability allies, the two green leaders met years ago in UAE via government officials with The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) of Dubai.  KHDA is responsible for the growth and quality of private education in Dubai.  The two quickly became friends, sharing their passion for impact work, philanthropy, sustainability, education, and wellness initiatives. 

Stephen continues to work in UAE with ESOL Education.  Based on the model of Green Bronx Machine's National Health, Wellness, and Learning Center, ESOL launched the International Health, Wellness and Learning Center at Fairgreen International School located in the heart of Dubai’s The Sustainable City – the first net-positive city in the world.  Fairgreen International School is considered a Top Twenty School in the UAE and is known for innovation globally. 

“It has been an honor hosting His Royal Highness Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi, our dear friend, colleague, and fellow believer in the power of the plant to grow successful people, communities and economies,” said Ritz.  “We look forward to our continued work with HRH.  We are always ready to bring the Bronx to the world and make epic happen for millions more across the globe.” 

Over the coming months, HRH and Ritz will embark on a series of joint projects including a series of books for young people about bringing the farm to the desert, as well as building farms throughout the UAE to address food insecurity, agricultural innovation, workforce development, and overall health and wellness. 

“We built our first greenhouse in New York City in 2011 with the mission to reimagine how and where fresh food is grown,” said Viraj Puri, Co-Founder, and CEO of Gotham Greens. “His Highness, Green Bronx Machine, and Gotham Greens all share a passion for environmental advocacy and building a more sustainable future for our planet and for people around the world. We believe business can be a force for good, so we plant roots in the neighborhoods surrounding our greenhouses through long-standing partnerships with community groups and non-profit organizations like Green Bronx Machine, bringing nutritious, local food and STEM education to cities across America. We know that the impact from these programs extends beyond the borders of our neighborhoods and are proud to share learnings from our experience over the past decade.”

About Green Bronx Machine

Founded in 2011 by Global Teaching Prize finalist and life-long educator Stephen Ritz, Green Bronx Machine (GBM) is an impact-driven, for-purpose organization with 501(c)(3) status.  GBM builds healthy, equitable, and resilient communities through inspired education, local food systems, and 21st Century workforce development. Dedicated to cultivating minds and harvesting hope, its school-based model and propriety curriculum uses urban agriculture aligned to key school performance indicators, to grow healthy students and healthy schools.  Simultaneously, GBM also transforms once fragmented and marginalized communities into neighborhoods that are inclusive and thriving.  For more information, visit www.greenbronxmachine.org.

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USA - FLORIDA: Finn Farms Begins Production At Babcock Ranch

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Reporter: Erika Jackson
Writer: Jackie Winchester

June 21, 2021

From Seeds To Your Table,

There’s A One-Of-A-Kind Prototype

Greenhouse In Southwest Florida

The goal is to naturally grow produce year-round without fighting Florida’s humidity, and one company did it with 95% less water than traditional agriculture.

“This is controlled environment agriculture at its best,” said Oskari Kariste, founder and CEO of Finn Farms at Babcock Ranch.

What exactly does that mean? To break it down, the greenhouse is about the size of a soccer field. It can seed 60,000 plants a day and produce 1.5 million pounds of greens a year. That’s the same as 60 acres of open-field farming.

“This is totally the future of farming,” Kariste said.

He brought Finnish farming to Southwest Florida, dropping it in the heart of Babcock Ranch.

“What better way to do it than when you’re thinking about sustainability and innovation all at the same time,” said Syd Kitson, CEO, and chairman of Kitson & Partners.

The $13 million greenhouse uses recycled rainwater and condensation from the plants. It takes 95% less water to keep these plants thriving compared to traditional farming.

The plants grow on 300-foot-long tables. Most are harvested in less than 30 days.

“You have to see taste and feel the production in your hands and we are able to show how premium our quality is,” Kariste said.

“It’s always local and fresh, I think that’s the key component.”

Finn Farms is negotiating with buyers to start selling its produce. Phase two of the project is expected to be double the size and include vertical farming.

GERMANY: New 'Supermarket of The Future' Has A Greenhouse On Top

What will the shopping centre of the future look like? How do you build sustainably? According to REWE, it is one with a greenhouse on top. Last Friday, the German retail giant opened their first Green Farming pilot store in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. It is the first supermarket with a rooftop greenhouse in Europe and it combines retail with a basil farm and fish farm. "Since 2009, we have already built over 200 Green Buildings in Germany. The new store with integrated rooftop farm is the logical next step for us," says Peter Maly, Divisional Director REWE Group and responsible for REWE stores in Germany.

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Supermarket and production facility
"The Green Farming store is not just a supermarket, but also a production facility in the middle of the city. On the rooftop farm, which is operated by our partner ECF Farmsystems, 800,000 basil plants grow each year using aquaponics, which receive excrement from the fish that we breed on site as fertilizer. No pesticides are used in the process," shows Jürgen Scheider, Chairman of the Management Board REWE Region Mitte. Rewe is Germany's second-largest supermarket chain. 

"Our vision is to provide people with sustainably produced food. That's why I'm pleased to be able to help realize the dream of a self-producing supermarket here in Wiesbaden," adds Nicolas Leschke, founder and managing director of ECF Farmsystems. The company created a technique to couple aquaculture fish production with the hydroponic production of leafy greens. "Perch and basil are part of two resource saving cycles. The fish fertilize the basil plants with their excreta. These in turn clean the water from the fish tanks, which can then flow back to the perches. The use of this cycle system enables food production with 90 percent less water consumption compared to conventional agriculture, as the water is used twice."  

Basil supplied locally
The basil is already available at the opening and will also be delivered to 480 REWE stores in Hesse and parts of Rhineland-Palatinate. Around 14,000 pots of basil are packaged plastic-free on site every week and according to the REWE team, the sustainable packaging saves 12 tonnes of plastic per year.

At the same time, about 20,000 cichlids are bred in basins on about 230 square metres under sustainable conditions and processed on site. This produces about one tonne of fish meat per month. The fish is expected to be on sale by the end of 2021. 

ECF Farmsystems uses LED lamps for their herb cultivation, supplied by Fluence. They've gained experience with these lamps in their urban farm ECF Farm Berlin, which they constructed earlier and currently operate and of which the products are also sold to Rewe. Their other projects include planning and construction of the rooftop farm ecco JÄGER in Bad Ragaz in Switzerland and the rooftop farm on the Ferme Abattoir in Belgium.

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Construction and operating
"With Green Farming in Erbenheim, we are ushering in a new generation of green stores at REWE," says Peter Maly with REWE, adding that holistic sustainability not only includes product ranges but also construction and operation.

Wood is the core element of the supermarket: around 1,100 cubic metres of the renewable raw material were used here. "The indigenous coniferous wood stores more than 700 tonnes of CO2. In 30 years, the wood will have grown again and the CO2 balance will be balanced." Columns made of stacked wood form the supporting structure for the glass roof farm and form a vaulted structure that extends into the store. Inside, customers look out onto a glass atrium, the greenhouse on the roof. "A natural marketplace ambience with lots of daylight was created," Peter reveals. 

A lot of daylight can be used through the glazed east and west facades and the atrium. In addition, intelligent cooling and heating technology, 100 per cent green electricity and the use of rainwater for the roof farm, sanitary facilities and cleaning of the store ensure that resources are conserved.

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Also the assortment focuses entirely on freshness with a large fruit and vegetable section including a salad bar, many regional and organic products as well as a glass butchery with a show kitchen and meat from animal welfare farms. In front of the store, local suppliers can offer their products in specially produced market stalls.

"The new REWE store in Erbenheim is a milestone in the development of modern supermarkets. I am very pleased and also a little proud that this special project has been realized in our region," says Jürgen Scheider, Chairman of the Management Board of REWE Region Mitte. "We are particularly proud of the wide range of products from over 100 regional and local suppliers."

Publication date: Fri 4 Jun 2021
Author: Arlette Sijmonsma
© VerticalFarmDaily.com

OGVG And Blue Radix Introduce Autonomous Greenhouse Management In Ontario

The Ontario government is supporting greenhouse growers by investing over $3.6 million in 12 innovative projects to help develop new technologies, recover from the impact of COVID-19 and enhance competitiveness and innovation.

One of these approved projects is ‘Autonomous Greenhouse Management’- a collaboration between the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) and Blue Radix, an independent Dutch AI-tech specialist for the international greenhouse industry. This project is supported through the Greenhouse Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative, a cost-share program funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and delivered by the Agricultural Adaptation Council.

Autonomous growing with Crop Controller
“Together with OGVG we introduce autonomous growing with Crop Controller to Ontario vegetable growers,” says Ronald Hoek, CEO of Blue Radix. “Crop Controller is a service: data models and algorithms control the greenhouse installations 24/7, supported by off-site Autonomous Greenhouse Managers with in-depth knowledge about crops, energy, and data. With autonomous steering of the greenhouse installations, the crop strategy is put into practice with artificial intelligence. Crop Controller is not developed to replace growers. The grower is still needed to define the crop strategy. Ultimately, they can manage more hectares and worry less about repetitive actions and routine thinking. The algorithms do the work for them in their daily operations.”

“We are very thankful to the Ontario government for the GCII funding of this project. It will help greenhouse businesses improve their productivity with adopting autonomous growing. Greenhouse owners are less dependent on crop experts, will have a higher operational profit while limiting their operational risks and usage of resources,” says Ronald.

Main objectives project
The project looks to meet four main objectives:
1) To research the specific needs of Canadian growers (compared to Dutch growers) related to autonomous greenhouse management and translate these needs into product features.
2) To research and implement the adjustments that must be made to improve the match of Crop Controller with different Canadian (Ontario) climate conditions.
3) To demonstrate the working of the Blue Radix data models and algorithms. This helps growers to better understand the value and adopt this new technology in their company.
4) To share knowledge with market peers and help growers to work with this new technology in their day-to-day operations.

OGVG will select three vegetable greenhouse production locations across Ontario to participate in the project. During the project OGVG & Blue Radix will share information regularly about progress and results through articles, learn ‘n’ lunch sessions, presentations and online demos.

About the GCII program
The Greenhouse Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative is a cost-share program, to help the sector to create, adopt and invest in innovative new technologies to reduce production costs, increase productivity and improve produce quality. Enabling operations to expand their businesses, attract new investment and create good jobs. It is delivered by the Agriculture Adaptation Council, on behalf of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).

About OGVG
Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) represents approximately 200 farmers responsible for over 3,200 acres of greenhouse tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers across the province. With farmgate sales of over $1 billion in 2019, support for over 13,000 jobs, a contribution of $1.8 billion to the economy and a consistent track record of growth, the sector is a valuable economic driver for the province.

About Blue Radix
Blue Radix is an independent Dutch AI-tech specialist for the international greenhouse industry. Blue Radix creates solutions with artificial intelligence for daily decisions and actions in greenhouses. Greenhouses offer an efficient way to produce food and flowers in a sustainable manner. But the number of skilled people with expertise of growing crops in greenhouses is declining every year. This has direct impact on yield, costs, continuity and product quality. Blue Radix offers solutions for these challenges: smart algorithms which optimize and steer climate, irrigation and energy continuously and autonomously, supported by off-site Autonomous Greenhouse Managers. Always working with the grower’s unique crop strategy as a starting point. Blue Radix offers growers a digital brain for their greenhouse.

For media inquiries, please contact:

OGVG
Mr. Joseph Sbrocchi, General Manager
T 519-326-2604 or 1-800-265-6926
Email: j.sbrocchi@ontariogreenhouse.com
www.OGVG.com

Blue Radix
Mrs. Marijke van Rongen, Manager Global Marketing & Communications
T +31 6 53 43 38 39
E-mail: marijke.vanrongen@blue-radix.com
www.blue-radix.com

Feeding A City From The World’s Largest Rooftop Greenhouse

The New Greenhouse Will Accelerate Lufa’s Mission To Grow Food

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Image: REUTERS/Mariana Bazo

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20 Apr 2021

Sean Fleming

Senior Writer

• The world’s largest rooftop greenhouse is in Montreal, Canada.

• It measures more than 15,000m2 and produces more than 11,000kg of food per week.

• The company behind it had to hire 200 new employees due to pandemic-driven demand.

Can you grow enough produce for an entire city in rooftop greenhouses? Two entrepreneurs in Montreal, Canada, believe it might be possible.

Lauren Rathmell and Mohamed Hage cofounded Lufa in 2009. The company has four urban gardens in the Canadian city, all in rooftop greenhouses. Lufa’s most recent sits on top of a former warehouse and measures more than 15,000m2 – larger than the other three greenhouses combined. Its main crops are tomatoes and aubergines, producing more than 11,000kg of food per week. It is, the company says, the largest rooftop greenhouse in the world.

Lufa says its new rooftop greenhouse in Saint-Laurent, Montreal, is the largest in the world. Image: Lufa

An ambitious goal

Rathmell says the new greenhouse will accelerate Lufa’s mission to grow food where people live and help it to meet an “ever-growing demand for fresh, local, and responsible foods”.

The company – which says it’s not trying to replace local farms and food makers, acknowledging that not everything can be grown on rooftops – follows what it calls ‘responsible agriculture’ practices. These include capturing and recirculating rainwater, energy-saving glass panels, and an absence of synthetic pesticides. Any waste is composted and reused, and food is sold directly to customers on the day it is harvested. Lufa also has a fleet of electric vehicles to make those deliveries.

“Our objective at Lufa is to get to the point where we’re feeding everyone in the city,” Hage said in an interview in Fortune. Lufa’s fifth greenhouse is due to open later in 2021.

At the moment, Lufa grows food for around 2% of the city’s population. While that might sound like a modest proportion, interest in urban agriculture is on the rise. Presently, agriculture in urban areas tends to be more common in developing countries. But the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) favours an increase in urban agriculture, saying it can have “important benefits for food security”.

Urban farming is often more common among poorer members of society. Image: UN FAO

A growing global trend

Urban agriculture has been taking off in other parts of the world in recent years, too – from shipping containers in Brooklyn, New York City, to allotments in unused spaces in Brussels, Belgium.

And at 14,000 m2, there’s Nature Urbaine in Paris – which claims to be the world’s largest urban rooftop farm. Nature Urbaine rents out growing space to Parisians who want to grow their own crops. Tenant farmers pay around $450 per year per 1m2 sized plot. They get a welcome pack with everything they need to start growing, as well as regular access to the Nature Urbine gardening team who are on hand to offer advice and support.

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Lufa produces more than 11,000kg of food per week, including tomatoes and aubergines. Image: Lufa

Lufa’s first greenhouse was opened in 2011, in Montreal’s Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, to grow herbs, microgreens, cucumbers, and peppers. Two more were added in 2013 and 2017, with the fourth joining last year. It sits on top of a former Sears warehouse in the Saint-Laurent area of the city.

In addition to its own produce, Lufa also sells a selection of other locally made or grown food, including bread, cheese, and drinks to its customers. Rising demand for its service, in the wake of the pandemic, led to the company hiring an additional 200 people, and partnering with 35 new farmers and food makers.

Have you read?

• This Belgian start-up allows anyone to become an urban farmer

• This illuminated field isn't just pretty - it's helping to grow crops

• Grow your own: Urban farming is flourishing during the coronavirus lockdowns

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

BrightFarms Hosting Virtual Event To Open North Carolina Farm

April 14th, 2021
- by Lilian Diep     

HENDERSONVILLE, NC - As spring creates a new liveliness in the air, companies across our industry are preparing to host events to inspire connection between members. BrightFarms is one of the latest, announcing that it will be hosting a grand opening of its new state-of-the-art farm in Hendersonville, North Carolina of May 7. In addition to industry members, the event will be open to the public and will educate those in attendance about BrightFarms’ vision to scale farming across the U.S.

Throughout the past year, BrightFarms has transformed the Hendersonville site to include sustainable, high-tech agricultural capabilities. The facility is one of the largest indoor salad farms in the Carolinas, expected to grow more than 2 million pounds of salad per year for supermarkets in the Carolinas and throughout the Southeast.

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BrightFarms is hosting a grand opening ceremony for the unveiling of its new state-of-the-art farm in Hendersonville, North Carolina on May 7

The grand opening ceremony will be held via Zoom and will offer participants a first-hand look at the company’s most technologically advanced farm yet. According to a press release, the new greenhouse will add to BrightFarms’ network of sustainable greenhouse farms, serving markets including Charlotte, NC; Winston-Salem, NC; Greenville, SC; Spartanburg, SC; and Atlanta, GA. The grower already has existing farms in operation in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois.

Featured at the event will be prominent speakers that include North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis; Sam Kass, former White House Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition; and Steve Platt, BrightFarms CEO. The ceremony will begin with the speakers and conclude with a virtual tour hosted by Founder, Paul Lightfoot, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

BrightFarms has transformed the Hendersonville site to include sustainable, high-tech agricultural capabilities, making it one of the largest indoor salad farms in the Carolinas

To sign up to attend the event, click here.

As BrightFarms and other greenhouse growers across the industry continue to expand, AndNowUKnow will bring you the latest.

Is Controlled Environment Agriculture Addressing The Issues Facing The Agriculture Industry?

Exclusives From Urban Ag News

February 19, 2021

David Kuack, UrbanAgNews.Com

BrightFarms founder and president Paul Lightfoot, who is chairman of the USDA Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee, said controlled environment agriculture could play a major role in helping to solve some of the significant issues facing the ag industry and U.S. Photos courtesy of BrightFarms

As chairman of the USDA Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee, Paul Lightfoot at BrightFarms is looking for ways to make major improvements in food production, sustainability, and consumption.

When Paul Lightfoot founded BrightFarms in January 2011 he had no experience in commercial food production. Ten years later he is president of one of the fastest-growing controlled environment agriculture companies in the United States. Starting with one 54,000-square-foot greenhouse facility in Pennsylvania in 2013, BrightFarms has expanded with greenhouse operations in four states with a total production area of 700,000 square feet.

“I had a background in retail supply chain improvement,” Lightfoot said. “I was running a supply-side software company for about nine years and was thinking about whether I could create an opportunity that would combine my career with my personal interest in healthy sustainable food. I studied different opportunities and came across the leafy greens supply chain as one that was ripe for destruction.

“At the time, all salads in North America basically came from the West Coast, either Salinas, Calif., in the summer or Yuma, Ariz., in the winter. I identified a very centralized, very industrialized supply chain that wasn’t benefitting consumers.”

Paul Lightfoot said an increasing amount of growth in the leafy greens market is coming from controlled environment agriculture.

Lightfoot said the concentrated field production locations and long-distance shipping required to deliver leafy greens to East Coast markets was not good for the product.

“Most leafy greens are five to seven days old when they arrive at retailers’ distribution centers, and that shows in the quality, nutrition, and taste,” he said. “I also thought field food production had some Achilles heals’ in terms of food safety and sustainability, which I thought would become more important, providing BrightFarms with a terrific market opportunity.

“I knew that consumers would continue to focus on healthy eating and that the demand for salads was going to rise. I grew confident that BrightFarms could disrupt a supply chain that was fragile and vulnerable.”

After opening its first greenhouse facility in 2013, Lightfoot said by the end of 2014 the company had figured out its operating model.

“We began to raise serious capital,” he said. “We graduated from venture capital to private equity in 2016 as we hit the national stage. We opened much larger greenhouses, one in Virginia to serve the Washington, D.C., market and one in Illinois to serve the Chicago and Milwaukee markets. Those were in partnership with Ahold Delhaize and Kroger.

“Before then I don’t think the produce industry had taken controlled environment salad production seriously. After 2016 we established ourselves as a contender to continue winning market share.”

Lightfoot said just about every major retailer in the U.S. now has an indoor-grown salad program on its shelves.

“There are billions of dollars of market share to be captured with leafy greens,” he said. “It’s a big and growing segment and by far the lion’s share of the growth is coming from controlled environment local production like ours.”

Helping to solve ag industry, societal issues

In October 2020 Lightfoot was elected chair of the USDA’s Fruit & Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee (FVIAC). Formed in 2001, the purpose of the committee is to examine issues that impact the fruit and vegetable industry and to provide recommendations and ideas to the Secretary of Agriculture on how the USDA can tailor programs to better meet the needs of the produce industry. FVIAC currently has four working groups: food safety, production, labor and trade.

“During our committee meetings the members develop a series of recommendations on the matters that are within the preview of the USDA,” Lightfoot said. “These recommendations are relevant to fruit and vegetable companies in the U.S., including growers, shippers, distributors, retailers and other organizations that have a stake in this space.”

Controlled environment vegetable production could be instrumental in providing consumers with healthier, more nutritious, better-tasting produce that is locally grown.

Lightfoot said the U.S. agriculture industry has an opportunity to help tackle some of the most pressing issues facing the U.S., including climate change and nutrition. 

“We have a society where the majority of Americans are obese or nearly obese and an extremely high percentage is diabetic or pre-diabetic,” he said. “The leading cause of death in the U.S. is from chronic diseases that are a result of our diets.

“We don’t need fancy technology to see the solution. Only about one in 10 Americans eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables. Shifting our diets away from highly processed foods and toward more fruits and vegetables would reduce diet-related chronic diseases, reduce the costs of healthcare, and even improve our military readiness.”

Another area where Lightfoot said the agricultural industry could help resolve issues is related to climate change.

“It is well understood that the energy and transportation sectors are huge contributors to climate change,” he said. “In general, as a world, we are making progress on those fronts. I’m not alone in driving an electric car and powering my home with wind-powered electricity.

“Less well understood is that the U.S. agriculture industry emits 10 percent of our country’s greenhouse gases. It is also one of the most vulnerable sectors to more volatile weather that results from climate change.”

Lightfoot is particularly concerned about the impact the agriculture industry is having on the country’s top soil and water resources.

“We’re mining our soil,” he said. “If we continue to degrade our soils, we only have about 50 seasons of soil left in the Midwest. Farming practices in the Midwest and California have also had a major impact on waterways, reducing sources of potable water.

Paul Lightfoot said just about every major retailer in the U.S. now has an indoor-grown salad program on its shelves.

“More biodiversity needs to be introduced into the areas of the West Coast that currently grow our salads. It has become a monoculture, which has removed the life from the soil and disrupted the water cycles. One idea would be to provide incentives to those farmers to “re-wild” some of that land, adding biodiversity to restore the soils and water cycles. That lost production capacity could be offset with the growth in high intensity indoor farms.”

Taking the CEA industry seriously

Lightfoot said his participation with FVIAC is beneficial to BrightFarms and to the CEA industry.

“It is important to remember that I am representing the entire fruit and vegetable industry in my role with FVIAC,” he said. “I care about BrightFarms like I care about a child, but in this role I will be speaking for the entire industry.

“The U.S. should be doubling the per capita annual consumption of fruits and vegetables. Because Americans are not eating enough fruits and vegetables, our country is suffering.”

Lightfoot said his participation with FVIAC, along with being a board member of the United Fresh Produce Association, reflects the changes occurring in the CEA industry and how it is viewed overall by the agriculture industry.

“The CEA industry was considered fairly new and only recently has it become a bigger player,” he said. “These ag organizations recognize that and want our representation. We are glad to have it. We think we have an important voice and I’m glad to be able represent the CEA industry.”

For more: BrightFarms, Farm Support Center, Irvington, NY 10533; (866) 857-8745; info@brightfarms.com; BrightFarms

This article is property of Urban Ag News and was written by David Kuack, a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas.

Rooftop Greenhouse Agrotopia Is Taking Shape

Little by little, the roof greenhouse on the crate shed of the REO Auction in Roeselare is taking shape. Compared to the very first visible work, there is already a real greenhouse on the roof, as greenhouse builder Deforche Construct shared recently. 

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After the Christmas break, the construction team went back to work. The project is scheduled for June 2021, but the official opening is due August this year. After that, the greenhouse will be ready for the 'Festival of the Future' which will be held in Roeselare in September, they shared in a LinkedIn update. 

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Stijn Cappon (Deforche Construct), Francis Vancraeynest (Deforche Construct), Johan Vermeulen (Maïs Automatisering), and Jago van Bergen (Van Bergen Kolpa Architects) at the laying of the first pile for the project in July 2019. Deforche is constructing the greenhouse, whilst Maïs Automatisering will take care of the technical completion of the greenhouse. Van Bergen Kolpa Architecten has designed the jagged façade and the twelve-meter high greenhouse as a landmark.

Vegetable garden 
The REO Auction is located in the heart of West Flanders. "The vegetable garden of Western Europe", the initiators say. The rooftop greenhouse offers space for both leafy and fruiting vegetables. In co-creation projects, suppliers, knowledge institutes, governments, growers, and technology companies are included in crop research. The first processes have already been set up, such as cultivation on water with densely sown crops and vertical farming.

All greenhouse departments will be equipped with LED artificial lighting and a specific climate control system that relies even more on all the knowledge of plant physiology. The greenhouse will be 8000 square meters and will be 8.4 meters separate from the first floor, on the roof of the crate shed.

Vertical cloths are used as shields between the departments, preventing light from radiating into the environment. This is particularly relevant when growing vertically. The rooftop greenhouse does not have its own heating installation: heat is provided by the municipal waste incinerator MIROM and by auction REO.

Festival of the Future
As was recently announced, the Province of West Flanders has chosen the rooftop greenhouse as the location for the 'Festival of the Future'. Three editions will take place between 2021 and 2025. The first edition is planned from 23 September to 3 October 2021.

A document with 'eye-catchers' from the multi-annual budget of the province reads: "At the foot of the rooftop greenhouse there will be built a universe of experience. During two weekends, the general public will be able to discover the agriculture, biodiversity, and food of the future in an exciting journey through an export space. Besides, an attractive and widely accessible evening program will be prepared.

During the week, schools will also be involved, through original workshops. Workshops on computational learning for primary and secondary education, for instance, will be organized. The students will here learn to build a 'Mini-Agrotopia'".

According to the province, the project is characterized by an 'intensive co-creation course of the Province of West Flanders, Inagro, TUA West, POM West Flanders, PTI and the education expertise cell of the Province of West Flanders'. The West Flemish colleges VIVES and HOWEST also 'actively contribute' to the development of the Festival.

Some history
Dominiek Keersebilck of the REO Auction told more about Agrotopia in an interview that appeared earlier in Primeur. The arrival of the rooftop greenhouse is a new step in the history of the auction, he says. 

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REO Veiling was founded on 20 July 1942 by 27 professional horticulturists from "Roeselare and surroundings" (REO). Due to WW II they had to wait until November 21, 1944, for the first auction day. The story of the REO Auction started in a small shed of a potato trader in the center of Roeselare. After that, the auction moved five times to cope with the increasing supply of horticultural products from West Flanders.

In 1978, REO auction introduced block sales. Also, 1983 was an important year because in that year a simultaneous sale was organized with the Centrale voor Glasgroenten in Sint-Katelijne-Waver for the first time. In 1987 the board of directors decided to build a new and larger auction complex at the current address at the Oostnieuwkerksesteenweg. The new complex was taken into use on 1 April 1991 and officially inaugurated on 24 May.

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Rooftop greenhouse
The old auction buildings on the Diksmuidsesteenweg made way for the current packaging department, and a new crate shed was built on the adjoining Vuylsteke site, which was put into use at the end of 2015. A rooftop greenhouse is currently being built on the roof of this packaging shed.

Agrotopia
According to commercial director Dominiek Keersebilck, a lot has changed in recent years. "The REO Auction has seen an increase in turnover and the volume of product sold in recent years. Whereas we have achieved record sales in recent years, this will probably not happen this year due to the corona crisis. This in no way means that there will be no further development on our site. At the moment there is indeed the development of the rooftop greenhouse called "Agrotopia".

The rooftop greenhouse is meant for research and with this technical knowledge, we want to anchor horticulture, here in West Flanders. Also, space can be made for other forms of horticulture, such as vertical farming and urban crop. The rooftop greenhouse allows research into vertical horticulture along a wall of 12 meters high and in the meantime, other innovative cultivation possibilities, such as the cultivation of leafy crops in containers, are also under consideration.”

This article originates from our Dutch magain Primeur - www.agfprimeur.nl. 

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For more information:
REO Veiling
www.reo-veiling.be 
info@reo.be  

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Publication date: Thu 7 Jan 2021

Meet The Urban Greenhouse Developers of The Future

Urban Greenhouse Challenge'2 participants share experiences

Create a liveable and healthy environment for urban dwellers, ensuring that a city can feed itself sustainably. That's the premise of the Urban Greenhouse Challenge, the second edition of which ended in August with the announcement of the winners. We spoke with the three winners, Team Bagua, Team KAS and TeAMSpirit about their journey through the challenge of designing an urban greenhouse in Dongguan, China.

Chinese symbolism
Gabriel Malaquin and Olivia Manzart are two of the members of Team Bagua, which took first place in the challenge. "We wanted to value China’s agricultural history and culture. We need to reinvent agriculture to have a lower environmental impact and Dao inspired us to take the strengths of traditional agriculture and merge with innovation and technology. Dao represents the importance of flow and flexibility and we think this is key to finding local solutions to urban farming", they describe the inspiration behind their concept.

"What else than a popular Chinese symbol to represent what we want to be one of the next wonders of Dongguan? When we think of any Chinese symbol, we think of Bagua. The symbol is an important precept of Taoism. Composed of 8 different earthly and godly elements to showcase duality, and represents the importance of flow and flexibility. 

"When we learnt more about the symbol and what it meant, we found it incredibly close to what we wanted to create. From our desire to both use technology and traditional techniques, to the need to create circularity of energy and wastes. We created our project following what the symbol meant, hence the name Bagua."

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Team Bagua concept art

Third-place winners TeAMSpirit also took inspiration from Chinese mythology, although in their case the design came before the symbolism. Their Turtle design surely catches the eye, but they didn't come up with a turtle at first, explains team member Annie Berendsen. "Initially, we started off with the different functions we had in mind: public space, crop production and research. This came with an open ground floor, a big dome and a cubical. After the first design phase, we decided to 3D-print our building. When we began exhibiting our model, we repeatedly received comments that it resembled a turtle. The team really didn’t know what to think of this at first, but luckily our two Chinese members explained its symbology within Chinese mythology, and we realized just how relevant the turtle was to our concept. They explained that it represents wisdom, longevity and a long life, which perfectly encapsulated what we strived for with our resilient greenhouse. So that’s how the turtle found us!"

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TeAMSpirit

Circularity
An important factor in Team Bagua's design was circularity. "Fertilizer inputs and leachates are key environmental issues in current agriculture and our solution was to produce all nutrient requirements of the crops onsite", Gabriel and Olivia explain. "Through using local agricultural and household organic waste we transform it into high quality substrate and nutrient solution using a biodigester. Our greenhouse design maximizes the use of sunlight to grow crops to reduce the need for nonrenewable energy to run LED lighting. Using new solar shade panels and a biodigester, Bagua can produce a significant proportion of the energy needs of the building."

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Team Bagua concept art

From the architectural side, they proposed the use of materials that met a specific criteria that helped guarantee circularity in the building. "For example, we wanted the materials to be locally produced. The materials also had to be lightweight and highly resistant in order to minimize the amount of material and to reduce the foundation needed to support the building."

Architectural challenges
Speaking of architecture, combining food production with a community center of sorts comes with a number of challenges. For Team Bagua, the main challenge was to design a project that combined efficiently the production of quality food with spaces for social interaction and learning. "In addition, using local resources and materials, and making it a low environmental impact building was also a large challenge", Gabriel and Olivia say. "Having Dongguan (China) as the location of the project, we needed to work in a geographical and cultural environment very different from where most of the team are from. In addition we were a very diverse group of people, which reinforced our main concept: Bagua, the Taoist philosophy of adapting. With the project we sought not only to adapt to the neighborhoods and local areas, but also to adjust to their different activities and needs. For this reason we proposed a flexible building with multi-purpose areas that could evolve over time or adapt to the new use that the city requires."

Team KAS, runners-up in the challenge, put emphasis on two main things in their design: uniqueness and profitability. "Of course, sustainability and circularity are considered and incorporated as the bases, but we really wanted to create something feasible and realistic. The given space for the indoor food production system was limited; therefore, it was a natural choice for us to incorporate indoor farming production systems such as hydroponics and aeroponics", Kyungchun Kim tells us on behalf of the team. In the beginning, they were considering other choices such as herbs, medicinal plants, and microgreens. "However, according to our calculation, these choices weren’t even enough to break-even our initial investment in a span of 10 years." So, after a series of meetings, they finally came up with alternative options, which were high-value crops such as ginseng and dragon fruit.

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Team KAS

Because the challenge site was separated into two big areas, which were the construction site and the basic farmland, the total area of the challenge was big with about 30,000 m2, but the majority was the basic farmland, which they were only allowed to build any construction in less than 5% of the land. "The basic farmland was a huge opportunity to miss out on if we didn’t cultivate anything on it", Kyungchun says. "Therefore, in order to maximize the total profit (by cultivating on the basic farmland), we lowered the building height (in order to prevent the sunlight blockage by the building) and implemented the cross cultivation system to ensure a yearlong production. We also invented a foldable greenhouse that can be deployed anywhere in the basic farmland, to protect our crops from the harsh environment of the Dongguan area."

For TeAMSpirit, one of the most pressing challenges was also attempting to merge all the different activities and ideas that the team came up with. "Being such an interdisciplinary team, all of us had exciting ideas on what the building should be, ranging from innovative aquaponic systems to sustainable building materials and circularity systems. The synthesis of all these ideas into a functional concept was challenging but proved itself extremely rewarding by the end of the competition."

Coaches help close the gap
During the Challenge, the teams had to solve a range of important challenges to ensure they were meeting environmental, social and economic sustainability of the project. Fortunately, they got some help from the coaches. "We are a team of 10 students. Even with the best intentions in the world, we would not have been able to answer the key objectives and criteria of the Challenge without the help of the coaches", Gabriel and Olivia tell us. "We were able to talk to people that have been working in the industry for decades, and that confronted the same concern as us during their careers. Incorporating all aspects in the greenhouse was complex, but was made easier with the support of professionals. The coaches were able to steer us in the right direction or provide constructive feedback on new technologies and ideas. For example, coaches made sure our ideas were not premature concepts and were backed up by evidence, which helped a lot with being confident and trusting our ideas."

Kyungchun agrees: "It truly was an amazing experience working with all the coaches. Meetings with them were constant eye-opening moments, and they really helped us to think from a practical perspective. We were also feeling relieved after the meetings, as we got our what-ifs validated by the experts and coaches, which became a huge motivation to power through the 'un-tacted' COVID-19 era."

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A view of Team KAS' project. The building was developed based on the Lingnan style, and it merges the surrounding landscape and the indoor food production in an attractive way.

Thomas (Zhuzi Ye), another member of Team KAS, adds that "thanks to the powerful social network of WUR, the experts who established contact with us and provided us with advice are all veterans in this industry. They gave very specific and constructive feedback on our proposal. In the meeting with our coaches, they answered our questions generously. Their professional attitude and perspective of thinking made me realize that there is still a gap between what I learned in the 'ivory tower' and the industry's needs. In addition, their enthusiasm for helping us makes us have high hope for this industry."

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A look inside 'The Turtle' of TeAMSpirit

TeAMSpirit also received a lot of guidance and feedback from the various coaches and experts, as team member Tearlach Barden also says. "Firstly, our team’s coach Alexander Laarman was able to connect us with relevant experts in the myriad of academic fields that were required for the competition. The advice received from the experts allowed us to address the interdisciplinarity of the competition and helped us compartmentalize within our sub teams. For instance, within the plant production sub team, we were able to collaborate with Parus and create an optimized lighting scheme that fit our multi-seasonal greenhouse."

Engaging the community
As the first prize winners, Gabriel and Olivia share that they are super excited about the prospect that Bagua urban greenhouse will be built in the Marina Center Agriculture Park (CAP project), Dongguan, China. They are currently waiting to hear more specific details about the next steps.

When that time comes, The Bagua will not only be a food production plant. It has been designed as a landmark for social integration and diversity, which, Olivia and Gabriel expect, will also entice investors to jump onboard the project.

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The Bagua urban greenhouse

The project will work with schools to get children and young people to understand where their food comes from and be a part of the Great Food Transformation. "We want people to be enthusiastic about new agricultural solutions, by teaching them important and meaningful skills, and to improve the image of farmers in China, considered lower-class", they explain. This way, Team Bagua aims to bridge the gap between the richer and poorer population in Dongguan.

Through the Bagua game app, they also aim to get the next generation excited about agriculture. The app engages people to understand the challenges farmers face, while being interactive and fun. And through the Bagua Prospective Producers Program, the next generation will be inspired to get involved in agriculture.

Bagua will also have a variety of programs that the local community can get involved in, whether it's cooking classes, a community garden, exercise classes or eating at the 0km restaurant. By bringing food waste to the Bagua or volunteering, consumers are rewarded with points, which they can then use to buy produce in the vegetable and fruit shop - another way to reduce food insecurity and help those most disadvantaged living in Dongguan.

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Inside view of Team Bagua's greenhouse

Team KAS also tried to engage the local community in their project, Kyungchun explains: "For instance, we created a membership app, where our members can actively participate in our production system, monitor what we do, and even vote for what we should grow. We also have onsite attractions, where locals can experience cuisines made with our own produce, visit the food production system, and learn more about the new and future farming in our education program."

TeAMspirit went for a reward system not unlike Team Bagua's. Tearlach: "Our ‘Living lab’ connects stakeholders, researchers and the local community together. This collaboration was also done through our ‘Turtle Eggs Currency’: a currency system that encourages the people of Dongguan to provide green waste to the building that can be transformed into biogas and energy. The ‘turtle eggs’ that the people receive from this can be used to receive discounts in other local sustainable businesses."

The future of food production
The project designs for the site in Dongguan could be considered a blueprint for the future of food production. "We need to change the way we do agriculture to have a lower environmental burden", according to Olivia and Gabriel. "Climate change poses significant challenges for the future of growing food and feeding a growing urban population. Food production must change to be more circular, maximising local resources, closing nutrient loops, and minimising external inputs. Through circular economy, we believe it is possible to create a more localised food production system that is profitable, has a low environmental impact and improves livelihoods. Urban farming will not replace field production, but it plays an important role in feeding growing cities more sustainably. We see urban farming and field food production working together to change practices to reduce soil erosion, improve water management, reduce phosphorus and nitrogen water pollution and ultimately reduce the environmental burden of agriculture."

COVID-19 also highlighted the need for local, affordable food production, Olivia and Gabriel argue. That's why they tried to make the greenhouse as closed as possible, so pests would not enter. "We can grow food without pesticides; people are concerned with quality and food safety. With a semi-closed greenhouse we can produce the highest quality, safest food for less money, to make it available not only to richer populations. We didn't just want to make healthy safe food, but make it affordable."

Kyungchun agrees, saying that the future of food production is at risk. "Western countries, such as the Netherlands are very progressive in investing in the future of food production, however, not many countries in the world are. They lack knowledge, skills, resources, and infrastructure. Innovation is very important, but implementation is as important. Therefore, it is critical for our generation to go out to the world and think about the ways to feed the world. This challenge was a stepping stone for me to think of that question in a practical manner, and I am happy to learn through this project that there are many like me."

Thomas adds that there is still a lot of room for future improvement in the food production system. "The market’s demand for the quantity and quality of food is constantly increasing. But the bottleneck of the current industry of food production has been touched for a while. How to adapt the information technologies such as big data, AI, and IOT in food production, and the optimize the energy consumption of food production (such as artificial lighting) would be a foreseeable breakthrough in the near future."

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Team KAS concept art

Tearlach also sees the future of food production moving away from centralised corporate supply chains and back into local communities. "While this statement may have seemed outlandish just a few months ago, I hope, and believe, that the recent effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have revealed just how vital a system such as this is today", he says. "Rather than transport our farmed food across vast areas of land, releasing millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide as we do it, perhaps we could introduce small-scale dispersed areas of land dedicated to innovative farming. These could potentially be greenhouses that incorporated reliable agricultural technologies such as vertical farms and aquaponic systems that would maximise the output of food to the communities in the surrounding area. Ideally, these closed systems would help us begin to move away from intense factory farming and closer to an approach that better mimics a natural and balanced ecosystem."

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Another view of TeAMSpirit's project

Branching out in the industry
Ultimately, the end of the Urban Greenhouse Challenge'2 is just the beginning for many of the participants. "The project has made us excited about the future opportunities within urban agriculture. Many of us are interested in working for companies that push agriculture to the next level", Olivia shares. She is starting her own farm and is excited to implement key concepts from Bagua into a passive solar greenhouse to grow microgreens. 

"We believe that one of the keys to a sustainable and healthy future is to focus on food security and availability in urban areas. We are passionate about this and a few team members would love to be part of such projects in the near future. Please contact team Bagua if you have a project that addresses this and we can provide resumes."

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Team Bagua's design incorporates the map of China in the grounds surrounding the building as a community garden

Kyungchun and his team are also working on further developing a few of the ideas from their project. "We really see the value of our creations and we know we can contribute in the future of farming. For me, I am currently working on creating new teams for two different projects. I absolutely loved the energy and the creativity that flew out of this project, and, most importantly, I learned a lot. Hopefully, I can be on another HortiDaily interview, with a different project."

The members of TeaAMSpirit are also eager to branch out in the industry, as Tearlach tells us. "We are currently contemplating our future steps and discussing how the framework of our concept may potentially be applied elsewhere. For instance, the outside space of our building was a space dedicated to low cost reliable farming practices that could be applied more universally than the costly innovative technologies that were a focus in our indoor production. Consequently, it is a personal goal of mine to expand on this idea, and potentially come up with a global framework that encapsulates the reliability of traditional farming with innovative low-cost practices. This could be particularly impactful in impoverished communities if such a framework utilised the knowledge of locals to native plant species as well as provided education on how to implement this knowledge through new technologies."

For more information:
Team Bagua
Gabriel Malaquin
malaquin.gab@gmail.com

Olivia Manzart
oliviamanzart@gmail.com 

Team KAS
Kyungchun Kim
kyungchun.kim@wur.nl

TeAMSpirit
Tearlach Barden
tearlachbarden37@gmail.com
www.instagram.com/teamspirit_ug

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Publication date: Tue 22 Sep 2020
Author: Jan Jacob Mekes
© HortiDaily.com

USA - (COLORADO) Rooftop Greenhouse Sets Arvada Restaurant Apart

At Lot One, Produce Is “As Fresh As It Gets”

July 13, 2020

Casey Van Divier
cvandivier@coloradocommunitymedia.com

When residents Jaime Miles and Josh Timon opened their first restaurant, the plan was to source their produce as locally as possible — right from the rooftop.

On restaurant Lot One's opening day, July 9, 2019, the restaurant's so-called “Roof to Table” operation — growing produce for the restaurant in a greenhouse rooftop — was just a concept. The business-owners had yet to build the greenhouse on top of the building, begin the growing process and find a way to keep their business open during a then-unforeseen pandemic.

But on July 9, 2020, Roof to Table wasn't just a plan anymore; on the restaurant's first anniversary, Timon found himself giving a tour of the rooftop greenhouse to four customers, explaining everything from climate-controlling the greenhouse to sourcing unconventional herbs and greens.

“People want to know where their food is coming from,” he said. “At Lot One, we produce a fresher product. It doesn't sit in a warehouse.”

And he added that the greenhouse is about more than how Lot One's food tastes — it is the restaurant's story.

Located at 13730 W. 85th Dr., Lot One boasts of popular sandwiches, a flavor profile drawing from across the globe, and its Roof to Table efforts.

As of July 9, the greenhouse was not yet at full capacity, Timon said, with the business-owners planning to further fill the greenhouse and expand growing efforts to other parts of the roof.

Timon estimated the plants grown in the greenhouse — which includes a long list of vegetables and herbs, from cherry tomatoes to lettuce to Swiss chard — accounts for about 20-25% of the produce used in Lot One's dishes and some of its cocktails. Eventually, the business owners hope to grow enough produce to donate to community organizations, as well.

The greenhouse operates year-round, with the types of ingredients available to the kitchen rotating throughout the months, said executive chef Ray Clinton.

“It's fun because we get to play with a lot of things you don't normally see,” Clinton said. “With the food trends now, people are getting away from mass-produced food, and this is as fresh as it gets.”

For Arvada residents Lyle and Beth Williams, “the food is what brings you back” to Lot One, Lyle said. But it's many components of the restaurant that have made it a favorite spot for the couple, with both the restaurant's ambiance and greenhouse included on that list.

The couple toured the greenhouse on July 9 with Les and Keri Williams, family members visiting from Tennessee.

“The idea of fresh from the roof, that's an appeal to everyone,” Les said. “And the business's philosophy of wanting to give back to the community is heartwarming.”

This summer, despite health regulations related to the pandemic, the restaurant is now able to operate at 100% of its usual capacity after working with the city and the nearby homeowners' association, Village of Five Parks Master HOA, to set up a tent and other outdoor seating right outside its space.

And it's a good thing, too, Timon said — because even as the pandemic continues, the restaurant has needed all the seating it can get.

“Last night, it was packed here,” he said. “The Arvada community has truly supported us. We were able to survive because of them.”

IF YOU GO

WHERE: 13730 W. 85th Drive

PHONE: (720) 949-0808

WEBSITE: eatatlotone.com

Keywords

Lot One, rooftop greenhouse, Josh Timon, Casey Van Divier, Arvada Colorado