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It's Hard To Grow Vegetables In This Mountain Town. Then This Farmer Had An Idea
Operating an indoor farm in the snowy northwest corner of Wyoming wasn't exactly the job Yehia had envisioned for herself years ago. In 2008, after the New York City-based architect moved to Jackson to start a new firm, Yehia wanted to try something innovative in her new community
By Jeremy Harlan, CNN
September 14, 2020
Jackson, Wyoming (CNN) It was a no-brainer when it came to finding the best job for Ty Warner.
"Ty is our tomato guy," said Nona Yehia, co-founder and CEO of Vertical Harvest, an innovative three-story greenhouse in downtown Jackson, Wyoming.
Nona Yehia, the founder of Vertical Harvest in Jackson, Wyoming.
As she watched the slender 6'5" Warner carefully weave his way through a towering canopy of plants, pulling ripe tomatoes hanging above, Yehia smiled with pride. "Ty is good at every part of growing tomato plants. It is really impressive."
Operating an indoor farm in the snowy northwest corner of Wyoming wasn't exactly the job Yehia had envisioned for herself years ago. In 2008, after the New York City-based architect moved to Jackson to start a new firm, Yehia wanted to try something innovative in her new community.
"We really wanted to address the local sustainable source of food," she said.
The idea To Go Up
Jackson sits at an elevation just over 6,000 feet, nestled between Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and the Teton National Forest, and its location means there is very little space and conducive weather for farmers to grow fresh produce for the bustling tourist town.
"We came together to look for an out-of-the-box solution and that's where the idea to go up came from," Yehia said.
"Up" was on a 1/10 of an acre lot abutting an existing parking garage.
In July, Nona Yehia, CEO and co-founder of Vertical Harvest, announced a second vertical farm in Westbrook, Maine. The second Vertical Harvest will be five times larger than the original Wyoming farm and will open in 2022.
In the spring of 2016, Vertical Harvest began growing its first lettuce, microgreens, and tomato plants. The farm's current staff of 40 now grows year-round and cultivates the amount of produce equivalent to ten acres of traditional outdoor farming.
Yehia says all of the produce grown is distributed to 40 local restaurants and four grocery stores.
"Nona has approached it as bringing something unique to chefs that they then can use and feature all year round," said Ben Westenburg, the executive chef and partner of Persephone West Bank in nearby Wilson, Wyoming. "It's just so easy to call up Vertical Harvest and be like, 'I need some salad greens and tomatoes and some really beautiful microgreens.' And they're like, 'Okay, we'll be there tomorrow.'"
'We're pairing innovation with an underserved population'
Ty Warner, a Vertical Harvest employee, is tasked with picking and pruning hundreds of the indoor farm's tomato plants.
While planning for a new greenhouse, Yehia and her design team realized they had to do more with the project than just grow fresh greens for locals.
"There was a bigger problem," Yehia said. "People with physical and intellectual disabilities in our town who wanted to work, who wanted to find consistent and meaningful work, were not able to do so. We're pairing innovation with an under-served population and really creating a sea change of perception of what this population is able to do."
Half of Vertical Harvest's workers have physical or intellectual disabilities. Yehia, whose older brother is disabled, says every single employee, including Warner -- who is autistic -- is critical to keeping Vertical Harvest functioning.
"We can empower the most under-served in our communities just by giving them a chance and giving them something to be able to give back to," Yehia explained.
"It's hard for people with disabilities to find a job," says Sean Stone, who used to wash dishes at several restaurants in town before joining Vertical Harvest as a farmer. "I'm glad to help the community and grown them fresh produce to have."
Growing beyond Wyoming
In July, Yehia announced Vertical Harvest would be expanding to serve a second community. The new farm located in Westbrook, Maine, will open in 2022 and will be five times larger than the original Wyoming greenhouse.
The goal is to grow a million pounds of produce each year for local restaurants, grocery stores, hospitals, and schools.
Mycah Miller, a Vertical Harvest employee, packages lettuce greens to be delivered to one of four grocery stores the vertical farm services in Jackson, Wyoming.
"In moving to Maine and having a much larger space, we're excited to play out the model of providing local produce at an urban scale," she says.
Yehia believes the global pandemic this year has forced consumers and communities around the country to explore new ways to get fresher produce from closer sources.
"COVID has shined a spotlight on what we knew ten years ago when we were looking at this vertical model: We have a centralized food system and it's kept us from getting fresh, local, good-tasting food," Yehia said. "I think Covid-19 has forced people to ask why that is and how they now can get locally-grown food they like in the summertime and get it year-round. It's exactly what Vertical Harvest is about."
Darryn Keiller, Autogrow CEA And The Way Forward In A COVID-19 Reality
Autogrow is a New Zealand-based global technology company and a world leader in controlled environment farming
Autogrow is a New Zealand-based global technology company and a world leader in controlled environment farming. Most of the work they do is about moving farm operators from analog to digital management of the farm. They offer products for both smaller farms, like automation systems, and for newer, larger farms they offer a crop management platform FarmRoad and yield prediction for greenhouse based tomato production. Darryn Keiller, CEO of the company (photo right), talks about how the virus is impacting the industry and how their technologies can help growers post-COVID.
Dashboard FarmRoad
COVID-19 impacts
A major impact of COVID-19 is that virtually every greenhouse producer in the world relies on immigrant labour and there have been a lot of challenges to get labour forces across the borders everywhere. “There’s been high infection rates on large commercial greenhouse producers in North America.” There’s also been a concern about the safety of the produce.
The impacts of the virus have been very different for growers around the world. “For instance, we have two similar customers producing leafy greens and herbs, one in the US and one in Australia. They both supplied their produce to restaurants and specialty supermarkets and got hit really hard with those supermarkets and restaurants having to shut down. They had to find new ways of getting their product into the market. The one in the US started supplying directly to consumers, was able to pivot quickly. And unfortunately, the one in Australia is in a very remote location and did not have that option. They’re still operating but had to let a large portion of their staff go.”
Solutions
There were a lot of challenges in food production before COVID-19, but the virus does amplify those issues. To summarize it, farms have to become more efficient. Most of the industry is still analog, and Autogrow is creating new solutions to take growers into the digital realm. “It’s about how we apply software and data and artificial intelligence. In that regard, we’re having a lot of engagement from growers in Europe, the US, Mexico, Canada. All large enterprises looking for ways to advance the way that they operate their farms.”
Another thing that Darryn and his colleagues see it that the global crisis is invoking local business helping other local businesses. They are curious to see if those changes will stay, and expect that to become visible in the coming months or years. “And for us, it’s really about the growers who need help. Our focus is on them now. The last thirty years have been about the individual, now the situation requires us to work together and be more selfless.”
Vertical PAR
Action
The company has seen a little extra enquiry from the Middle East, but even more from India. People there are looking into hydroponics, looking to start up a hydroponic business for local productions. There is also more enquiry from South East Asia and parts of Europe. “People are taking more proactive action now, realising their own risk and wanting to do something about it.”
For more information:
Publication date: Fri 21 Aug 2020
Author: Marlies Guiljam
© HortiDaily.com
Publix Grows Hydroponic Produce At Greenwise Store
Publix has partnered with local hydroponics firm Brick Street Farms to grow, pack and harvest hydroponic lettuce in a container farm located outside its Lakeland, Florida Greenwise Market store
Krishna Thakker@krishna_thakker
Aug. 3, 2020
Dive Brief:
Publix has partnered with local hydroponics firm Brick Street Farms to grow, pack and harvest hydroponic lettuce in a container farm located outside its Lakeland, Florida Greenwise Market store.
The 40-foot container farm will grow an equivalent of 2.5 to 3 acres of lettuce and can operate 365 days a year in any weather conditions, Brick Street Farms told Grocery Dive in an emailed announcement. It substitutes soil for mineral-rich water, which means no pesticides are needed. The container farm uses 90% less water than a traditional farm and produces 720 heads of lettuce each week.
Customers can watch the produce grow through a window on the side of the container and purchase heads of lettuce inside the store.
Explore how the current landscape is impacting coffee manufacturers and how organic and fair trade can help ensure long-term success of the industry.
Dive Insight:
Publix has recently stepped up its partnerships in alternative agriculture. Earlier this year, the company began hosting Vertical Roots' interactive mobile hydroponic farm in the parking lots of its grocery stores and Greenwise locations. In March, Publix began selling microgreens from Kalera, a hydroponic farm on top of a Marriott hotel that lost all its business due to coronavirus, at 165 stores.
Hydroponic farming has been plagued by inefficiencies and high costs in the past, but improvements in technology are helping suppliers better meet retailers' demands for pricing and scale. On-site farms also add a bit of theater that can draw curious shoppers to stores.
Publix isn’t the only food retailer exploring this field. Kroger last year installed mini hydroponic farms in a handful of Seattle stores in partnership with Infarm, a start-up based in Germany. Around the same time, Gordon Food Service and indoor farming startup Square Roots opened their first co-located hydroponics farm on Gordon’s headquarters in Wyoming, Michigan. H-E-B and Whole Foods have also experimented with hydroponics in and around their stores.
Having a hydroponic farm at the store removes the need for transportation and storage of lettuce before it hits shelves, according to Brick Street Farms. It also allows Publix to sell the produce in-season all year round, providing some supply stability.
Although omnichannel business is booming for grocers like Publix right now, many are looking for ways to drive traffic to their stores, where they can make the most money per order. Grow farms and other safe, eye-catching attractions could be one way to accomplish this.
Follow Krishna Thakker on Twitter
Lead Photo: Permission granted by Publix
Filed Under: Fresh food Natural/organic
Welcome To Robbinsville, NJ–Home of The First Municipal Freight Farm!
Since Freight Farms sold its first farms in 2013, we have had farmers join our community from all over the world, with a range of backgrounds and business models. Yet, the Robbinsville Farm stands out from all of them because it is the first and only Freight Farm owned by a whole town
A One-of-a-Kind Town Farm
Since Freight Farms sold its first farms in 2013, we have had farmers join our community from all over the world, with a range of backgrounds and business models. Yet, the Robbinsville Farm stands out from all of them because it is the first and only Freight Farm owned by a whole town.
That’s right! The Robbinsville Township of New Jersey came together to bring the Leafy Green Machine™ (the fore-bearer of our current Greenery™) to their town, and the farm operations and distribution has remained a town activity ever since.
We spoke with farm coordinator, Hope Cahill, about her role at the one-of-a-kind Robbinsville farm and how the project gets the entire community–from student to senior citizen–involved.
The Robbinsville Farm on location at the Senior Center.
Image | Robbinsville Hydroponic Farm on Facebook
The town hydroponic farm
A fresh take on a public service.
When the Robbinsville Farm arrived at the local Senior Center in November 2017, Robbinsville became the first municipality in New Jersey (and in the world!) to install a vertical hydroponic Freight Farm. For the town, it was about more than bringing healthy and local food to the community. Robbinsville quickly made their Freight Farm a key piece in education, volunteer, and food access initiatives. The farm’s location on site at the Senior Center was no coincidence either, with a large part of the harvest dedicated to the center’s dining operations and the local chapter of Meals on Wheels.
The initiative was spearheaded by the Robbinsville mayor, Dave Fried, who–upon seeing a similar type of container farm–sent the Robbinsville Recreation Manager a message saying ‘I would love this for the township. Let’s figure out how to do this’. After a long research phase, the town found Freight Farms. For the town, Freight Farms was the perfect choice since they were able to get everything they needed to run the farm–from purchase to supplies, to training, to customer service–in one. To this day, Mayor Dave is one of the farm’s staunchest supporters.
Nearly three years after its installation, the Robbinsville Farm is still serving its community faithfully. The produce goes directly to the seniors at the Robbinsville Senior Center, Meals on Wheels, and the food bank at Mercer Street Friends (a New Jersey non-profit that offers school and employment opportunities and hunger relief programs). In this way, Robbinsville is able to improve food security, increase access to fresh food, and reduce the risk of obesity and obesity-related diseases.
Hope explains the additional value of having a farm directly in Robbinsville
“Because we are distributing so local, we are able to reduce “food miles” that are required to transport nutritious food...Many who volunteer say how relaxing it is therefore we are also improving mental health and promoting relaxation. We also offer field trips to schools, businesses and families to educate people about healthy eating, sustainable agriculture and [hydroponics].”
Town-owned, community-operated
Farm Coordinator, Hope Cahill
It takes a village to raise a farm.
With so many important outlets for the produce, one challenge for Robbinsville was to ensure the farm ran smoothly while also engaging as many community members as possible. For that, Robbinsville hired Hope to manage the operations and the large group of volunteers that run the farm. Unlike many of our farmers for whom hydroponics is their first foray into agriculture, Hope came to the Freight Farm a seasoned expert.
While attending a vocational high school, Hope took courses in Horticulture and Landscape Management which exposed her to a range of plant-related topics, with everything from floral design and landscaping, to pest and greenhouse management. With this experience, she was able to join the Future Farmers of America after graduating; In the years following high school, Hope got certifications from Rutgers University in fields like beekeeping, landscape management, and aquaponics. During that time she served as the New Jersey FFA State Reporter and then State President, which gave her the opportunity to travel the whole state teaching students the importance of agriculture. All this combined experience made her eager to join the Robbinsville Farm team, seeing it as a perfect way to combine her passion for agriculture with her desire to teach and help fight hunger in the local community.
While Hope is the mastermind behind the farm operations, it is the volunteers who really give the farm program life, and capture the whole scope of the Robbinsville community. Volunteers include the seniors who attend the senior center, Meals-on-Wheels recipients, students–and anyone else with the interest and willingness to learn more about hydroponics.
Together, Hope and the volunteers grow a variety of lettuces, such as Butterhead, Bibb, Red and Green Leaf Romaine, Summer Crisp, Oakleaf, Lollo Rossa, and the occasional herbs. The community reaction? They love it.
Hope explains how she manages her large group of volunteers
“Monday and Tuesday are Harvest and transplant days. Wednesday’s, we seed, rotate the towers and do farm maintenance such as cleaning and mixing fertilizers...As Farm coordinator I oversee everything that goes on in the farm and schedule the volunteers. Every Monday I send out the following weeks farm tasks listing jobs to be done and time slots. Then the volunteers will sign up and I will schedule them in.”
COVID-19 had an obvious impact on the volunteer workforce that drives the Robbinsville farm. When the virus reached New Jersey, only Robbinsville Township paid staff were able to run the farm for the purposes of health and safety. This led Hope and her coworkers to change their operations to best meet the needs of a community in crisis. A simple change, like eliminating a Spring Harvest mix, helped them maximize their weekly harvest and reduce time spent in the small space farm.
In spite of all this, Hope believes that the volunteer program will bounce back after the pandemic thanks to the hard work she and her team have done to get the whole community invested in the farm’s success over the years.
Get to know Hope as she shows us how she plants seeds at the Robbinsville farm!
Interested in starting a farm in your town? Get in touch.
New Growcer Hydroponic System Will Allow Sheshegwaning to grow Fresh Produce For Residents At Any Time of The Year
It may only be a sea container at this time, but soon Sheshegwaning First Nation (on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, Canada) will be able to grow fresh produce on a year-round basis in this unit and build food security for the community
By Tom Sasvari
July 3, 2020
New Growcer hydroponic system will allow Sheshegwaning to grow fresh produce for residents at any time of the year
SHESHEGWANING – It may only be a sea container at this time, but soon Sheshegwaning First Nation will be able to grow fresh produce on a year-round basis in this unit and build food security for the community.
“We took delivery of the Growcer self-contained hydroponic system,” stated Sheshegwaning Chief Dean Roy last Thursday. “With this project, we will be able to provide some food security as we will be able to produce fresh produce and food year-round here. With COVID-19 there have been times we haven’t been able to get fresh produce as readily as we want from neighboring grocery stores.”
He pointed out, “Growcer is a self-contained modular hydroponic system. We just have to hook up services for hydro and water and will have a representative of Growcer on hand soon to provide training on how to use the system to grow the produce here locally.”
“We should be able to produce 500 heads of fresh produce such as different lettuce weekly, year-round,” said Chief Roy. “I think we will be starting with romaine lettuce and other leaf lettuces, red kale, basil and parsley and we will be able to grow strawberries, for example, in the winter with this system.”
“We took delivery of a sea container last week for the Growcer system,” said April Folz, economic development officer for Sheshegwaning, this past Monday. “The week of July 13 Growcer company representatives will be on hand to provide training. After that, we will be up and running.”
Ms. Folz explained, “we’re going to be growing green products such as romaine lettuce, spinach, bok choy, basil, mint, and dill. And once we get going we will want to get into growing other different greens and produce.” She noted, “we were having a hard time getting fresh greens in local stores, but with this system in place, this will be available at all times. Local residents won’t have to travel to the nearest grocery store.”
Ms. Folz said, “we’re hoping to be able to provide a subscription box for residents, where for say $10 they will be able to get five heads of fresh greens at a time. The hydroponic system will allow for 450 heads of produce to be grown each week.”
“Growcer outfits everything that is needed in the sea containers, and there will be a desk for a systems manager to work at and the actual green area where the seeds are planted and the produce is grown,” said Ms. Folz. With this new system in place, one full-time person will be hired as well as two part-time casual positions will be created.
Chief Roy noted the community currently has a job posting for a systems manager.
Ms. Folz added, “we have a community logo/branding competition for a name for this program here and are hoping to get local input on a name. We will be taking input and submissions until July 15.”
Farm to Fork: This Millennial Urban Farmer Grows Vegetables On Carpark Rooftops in Singapore
The ongoing battle against the COVID-19 outbreak and the resultant lockdowns imposed in many countries worldwide have put the spotlight on Singapore’s dependence on food imports and its vulnerability to global supply shocks.
Singapore Announced New Measures in April Aimed At Speeding Up Local Food Production Over The Next Six Months To Two Years.
By Vulcan Post
June 25, 2020
The ongoing battle against the COVID-19 outbreak and the resultant lockdowns imposed in many countries worldwide have put the spotlight on Singapore’s dependence on food imports and its vulnerability to global supply shocks.
The government has repeatedly assured its citizens that Singapore has sufficient food supplies, amid bouts of panic buying that gripped the country when Singapore raised the DORSCON level to Orange.
Although the panic buying has now eased, another cause for concern is that Singapore has a population of about 5.7 million people but it only produces about 10% of its food needs.
To tackle this food crisis, Singapore announced new measures in April aimed at speeding up local food production over the next six months to two years.
This includes providing a SGD 30 million grant to support production of eggs, leafy vegetables, and fish in the shortest time possible, and identifying alternative farming spaces, such as industrial areas and vacant sites.
As part of that project, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and the Housing Development Board (HDB) have launched a tender in May for rooftop farms on public housing car parks.
This means that the rooftops of a handful of multi-story carparks in Singapore will be converted for use to farm vegetables and other food crops from the later part of this year.
Farming hits the roof
The move to find alternative farming space in land-constrained Singapore is part of their strategy to meet the country’s 30 by 30 goal, which is to produce 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030.
Local agritech startup Citiponics did not take part in the tender this time round, though it piloted SFA’s multi-story carpark rooftop farm project in Ang Mo Kio last year.
According to Danielle Chan, co-founder of Citiponics, its 1,800 square metres farm atop the carpark at Block 700 in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 can grow between three and four tonnes of vegetables a month.
They grow up to 25 different types of vegetables naturally without the use of pesticides.
“We currently specialize in growing our own crossbreed of lettuces—Georgina Lettuces—and have also been growing other varieties such as nai bai, Italian basil, and Thai basil based on customers’ requests,” said Danielle.
Sharing more about the Ang Mo Kio site, she said they have been steadily producing pesticide-free vegetables on a monthly basis, supplying to nearby residents and consumers islandwide.
Rooftop farm in Ang Mo Kio. Photo courtesy of Citiponics via Vulcan Post.
Beyond contributing to local food production, this pilot project has also generated “positivity,” which stems from community involvement when visitors get to know and see their food source.
“It brings us great joy to see the senior citizens enjoying their time as they work on farming activities as well as the support we have received from visitors who come to our community markets to self-harvest their produce,” said Danielle.
She added that they hire senior citizens from AWWA Community Home as well as part-time workers to help with farm maintenance.
“We believe that even if one does not have the technical agriculture know-how, they should be able to contribute to food production as well.”
Citiponics is a Singapore-grown urban farming company that started in 2016, which aims to grow safe produce through its zero-waste farming process.
It is co-founded by Danielle and her family friend Teo Hwa Kok, who has a “rich experience in agriculture.”
When agriculture meets tech
The 26-year-old is a National University of Singapore (NUS) graduate, who has worked in technology startups across Singapore and New York, as well as technology consulting companies such as IBM.
But with her tech background, why did she choose to be a ‘farmer’?
“I grew up in an agricultural environment and as such, the farm was always my playground. Growing up, I never had to worry about buying vegetables from the supermarket or doubting my food source. I had the blessing of getting all my vegetables supplies directly from the farm,” explained Danielle.
“Having personally witnessed the wastage as well as the inefficiencies in the traditional farming industry, I knew I wanted to go back to the farming industry to change the way farming is done traditionally as well as to share the blessing of the farm-to-table experience with others.”
Her tech background didn’t go to waste though. She made it a point to integrate technology into Citiponic’s farming processes.
Citiponics at NTUC FairPrice. Photo courtesy of Ministry of Trade and Industry via Vulcan Post.
They have a proprietary vertical farming technology called Aqua-Organic System (AOS). It falls under a solid-based soilless culture, which is different from the likes of traditional farming and hydroponic farming system.
As every drop of water is kept in a close loop within the growing system, it helps to minimize water consumption, using one-tenth of hydroponics water consumption and one-hundredth of traditional farming water consumption.
Due to its vertical nature, it is also able to be seven times more productive than traditional farming.
As it is specially designed to provide a natural farming environment in order to preserve the nutrients value and natural taste of the vegetables, the technology is also pollutant-free and pesticide-free. It’s also anti-mosquito breeding, which makes it very suitable for farming within community and neighborhood areas.
“The AOS farming technology removes the complex technicalities of farming and we wanted to keep it that way to allow people of all ages and backgrounds to have a great experience when they get to farm with our systems,” said Danielle.
COVID-19 does not pose a huge business challenge
All of Citiponic’s farmed produce are segmented to home deliveries, nearby residents, and selected NTUC FairPrice outlets.
Despite their limited farming space, Danielle said that they see a constant stream of supply and sales.
It’s not so much a business challenge, she added, but the need to adapt to the new normal, hence the introduction of home deliveries and engaged logistics channel.
Although COVID-19 does not greatly impact its business, it serves as a timely reminder on the importance of accelerating our local food production.
This pandemic serves a time for us to reflect on how we can enhance our food resilience strategies.
Singapore steps up to be more food resilient
As Singapore is still largely dependent on food imports, the rooftop farming tender and local food production grants are definitely the right steps forward.
According to SFA, Singapore currently secures food supply from about 170 countries.
For instance, Singapore now imports oranges from Egypt, milk powder from Uruguay, eggs from Poland and shrimps from Saudi Arabia as part of its efforts to broaden food supplies.
Danielle is well-aware that food security, food sustainability and food safety are global issues, so she hopes to bring Citiponics’ farming solution to more countries.
Citiponics’ Georgina lettuce sold at NTUC FairPrice. Photo courtesy of Citiponics via Vulcan Post.
“We are not only focused on food production, but also becoming an agritech solution provider. We have developed agriculture technology and designed farming solutions that are suitable for tropical countries, and hope to extend the applicability of our expertise and farming technology to temperate countries as well,” she added.
Citiponics is also looking at scaling its operations to enhance its contribution to local food resilience and grow more communities through the introduction of hyperlocal Citiponics urban vertical farms in various neighborhoods of Singapore.
“We envision Citiponics as a supportive environment that is able to cultivate the next generation of urban farmers and agritech innovators.”
This article was first published by Vulcan Post.
VIDEO: Can Sweden's 'Vertical Farms' Solve Global Food Shortages
The coronavirus crisis has disrupted global food supply chains, leading to shortages in some countries
Al Jazeera takes a look at an intricate farming operation (SweGreen) within Stockholm’s city walls.
by Paul Rhys
July 6, 2020
The coronavirus crisis has disrupted global food supply chains, leading to shortages in some countries.
The World Bank warns 130 million people could be at risk of starvation.
But an increasingly popular urban farming system could provide a solution.
Al Jazeera’s Paul Rhys reports from Sweden's capital Stockholm.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS & SWEGREEN
Vertical Farming vs. Greenhouse Farming: Which is More Efficient?
When starting a farming operation, the first choice you face is what type of farm to start. The options are many: indoor vs. outdoor; arable vs pastoral; intensive vs. extensive. For farmers going the indoor route, one of the biggest decisions is between vertical farms and greenhouses
June 1, 2019
When starting a farming operation, the first choice you face is what type of farm to start. The options are many: indoor vs. outdoor; arable vs pastoral; intensive vs. extensive. For farmers going the indoor route, one of the biggest decisions is between vertical farms and greenhouses. Both vertical farms and greenhouses operate indoors, which means they enjoy benefits like climate control and year-round growing.
While there are differences and similarities between the two, they are best compared in terms of efficiency. For a long time, it was thought that greenhouses were more efficient and profitable than vertical farms, as they do not require artificial lighting. However, a 2018 study out of Quebec (Eaves & Eaves, 2018) showed that vertical farms enjoy a number of benefits over greenhouses, especially if the farm is operating for commercial purposes.
To understand what those benefits are, we first need to understand the reasons for farming indoors.
Why grow indoors?
For most of human history, farming has been an outdoor activity. Plants need sunlight to live, and soil to get water and nutrients from, so it is no surprise that traditional farming is done outdoors.
But as agriculture developed, farmers gradually realized that there were benefits to indoor farming. For one, it keeps pests and diseases at bay, as well as allowing certain crops to be grown all year long. Furthermore, indoor farming in ‘hot’ greenhouses can allow plants to grow faster than they would outdoors. By the late Roman Empire, greenhouse-like methods were already being used for these and other reasons. In the 1800s, Greenhouses hit their stride, as European farmers started using them to grow tropical plants that otherwise would not grow naturally on their continent.
The differences between vertical farms and greenhouses
While vertical farms and greenhouses both practice indoor farming, the similarities end there. Greenhouses rely on sunlight and have their plants arranged on one horizontal plane. This means that they require a large amount of space and are therefore best suited for rural or suburban areas. In comparison, vertical farms can operate in urban areas as they need far less space than greenhouses to operate. This is because vertical farms have plants stacked in layers and rely on artificial light.
Many people have argued that because vertical farms require artificial light, they are less efficient than greenhouses. While artificial lighting is a major cost at vertical farms, it is not necessarily a barrier to profitability. The 2018 study “Comparing the Profitability of a Greenhouse to a Vertical Farm in Quebec” showed that growing lettuce in a vertical farm can actually be more profitable than growing it in a greenhouse. They attributed this to two factors: increased yield per square meter, and centralized distribution.
Yield
The main advantage that vertical farms have over greenhouses is a greater yield per square meter. Although vertical farms have higher light and heat costs, they have the benefit of more produce grown per unit of soil. This means that even though vertical farms cost more to operate, they produce more crops, with the end result being higher revenue.
The 2018 study supports this through the results of a simulation, which showed that lettuce grown in a vertical farm has a slightly higher yield than that grown in a greenhouse.
Distribution
Another major advantage of vertical farms is centralized distribution. Because these farms can be run in almost any kind of building (ex. warehouses), they can be located in urban areas. This puts them right at the heart of major distribution hubs, in the middle of a big local customer base. Therefore, compared to a rural greenhouse, a vertical farm has less distance to travel to get to customers, and when it does have to ship over a distance, it has better transportation options.
As a result, vertical farm crops can be sold more quickly and at higher margins than greenhouse crops. According to the Quebec paper, this creates a perception of freshness that helps the vertical farm produce sell quicker than the greenhouse equivalent.
Gross profits
Due to centralized distribution, vertical farms may enjoy higher gross profits than greenhouses. The Quebec paper showed this to be the case specifically for lettuce grown in the Quebec area. Although the wholesale price of lettuce produced at greenhouses and vertical farms is usually the same, the vertical farm’s lettuce may enjoy a premium when sold in its local market due to the perception of freshness. Additionally, because the vertical farm is located in an urban area, it can ship more fresh produce to more customers, without high transportation costs.
A second reason for the higher gross profits at vertical farms is winter heating costs. It is widely assumed that vertical farms use more electricity than greenhouses. But that’s not necessarily the case. It really depends on the specific farm(s) in question. As the Quebec paper showed, in areas that get extremely cold in the winter, Greenhouses can be very expensive to heat. Depending on how rural their location is, they may need to be heated by a generator; and depending on their size, they may consume quite a bit of electricity. So while the vertical farm needs to be heated year-round, the greenhouse can actually be more expensive to heat in the crucial winter season.
Growth potential
One area where vertical farms really shine is the potential for growth. While sales from greenhouses are growing at 8% year-over-year, sales from vertical farms are growing at a full 30% annually. That means that vertical farms are growing more than three times as quickly as greenhouses. While part of this can be explained by the fact that vertical farms are newer than greenhouses, it also has to do with centralized distribution. Since vertical farms have access to urban distribution centers, they can get more product out, more quickly, than greenhouses can. The greater yield per square meter of vertical farm space also contributes to this fast growth.
Putting it all together
Vertical farming is the cutting edge of agriculture. Offering the ability to grow more crops, in a controlled environment, inside major distributions hubs (i.e. cities), it takes advantage of economies of scale in a way no other farming operation can. In the past, many critics have cited lighting costs as a stumbling block to profitability for vertical farms. But as the Quebec paper showed, vertical farming can actually be more profitable than a conventional greenhouse operation. Especially when situated in major urban centers, and taking full advantage of the distribution benefits that come with that, vertical farms can be highly profitable. And when you add the benefits of automated labor into the equation, the benefits can be greater still.
We see vertical farming as the evolution of the greenhouse.
Latest developments in LED (less consumption) and solar energy (higher efficiency) will reduce the biggest remaining cost factor (energy) during the next years.
Automation will increase the benefits of vertical farming even further
Source: Growcer
Vertical Farming With Hydroponics
In recent years, urban farming using vertical hydroponic systems has gained a lot of attention. Using the latest technology, these hydroponic farms are able to optimize plant growth, providing fresh, local produce, while minimizing water usage, space, transport, and pesticides
In recent years, urban farming using vertical hydroponic systems has gained a lot of attention. Using the latest technology, these hydroponic farms are able to optimize plant growth, providing fresh, local produce, while minimizing water usage, space, transport, and pesticides. However, whether hydroponic farms are superior to traditional farming methods and whether they can replace them has been subject to controversy.
AeroFarms vertical farming facility source: https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2019/5733085/aerofarms/
What is a hydroponic system?
Hydroponics refers to the soilless techniques used to grow plants. There are a number of varieties of hydroponic systems, including aquaponics where live fish are used to provide fertilizer for the plants, traditional hydroponics which involves adding chemical solutions of the required nutrients, and aeroponics which uses a nutrient-infused mist. Hydroponic systems can be grown in a greenhouse using natural light, or more commonly in a vertical system using LED lights, to save space.
Aerofarms aeroponic system uses a nutrient infused mist. Source: https://aerofarms.com/technology/
Advantages of hydroponics
1. No soil
The earth has a finite coverage of arable land on which crops can be grown. Climate change and destructive farming practices cause loss of this soil. Soil erosion is one of the greatest threats to food security. As a result there is a growing demand for alternative, innovative approaches to provide food for the growing population. Hydroponics is one of these, providing a soilless system that can be used anywhere, particularly suited to cities.
2. Transport
As previously mentioned, hydroponic systems offer the advantage of the ability to be grow anywhere, even in the middle of a soilless city. As a result, fresh produce can be made available locally, sold in restaurants and farmers markets with minimal transport. This helps minimise greenhouse gas emissions as well as minimise nutrient loss and damage of produce, as leafy greens are quick to lose their nutritional content once harvested. Better yet, many hydroponic farms allow transport of the live produce to the market, providing the freshest possible option.
3. Reduced water usage
Hydroponic systems can use up to 10 times less water compared to traditional soil-based cultivation due to the recirculation of the water used. This offers a huge advantage as water shortage is of great concern, with field-based agriculture being one of the greatest consumers of freshwater sources - up to 80% of ground and surface waters in the U.S. Therefore, hydroponics offers a sustainable option for crop cultivation, with the growing population causing an increasing demand for food and water.
4. Controlled environment
Growing indoors allows better control of temperature, light, air composition and pests. As a result, crop growth rates, quality and yield can be maximised and can also be grown year-round. Therefore, these indoor farms can play an important role in filling the market gap, providing fresh produce in all seasons.
5. Less space
Indoor hydroponic farms are typically grown vertically, with LED lights for each layer of crops, this allows maximum usage of small spaces making it a viable option for growing crops in the city homes, in a spare room or basement. Moreover, in hydroponic systems plant roots don’t spread out as much in the search for nutrients like when grown in soil, as the roots are suspended directly in nutrient-rich solution. As a result, it is possible to grow crops much closer together, saving space.
6. Less need for herbicides and pesticides
Due to the controlled, soilless environment, pests and disease are minimised. As a result there is little need for use of chemical herbicides and pesticides which is a big bonus for health and food safety, with often no need to even wash the harvested crops.
Disadvantages and challenges of hydroponics
1. Organics debate
It has been subject to debate whether hydroponic systems should be permitted organic certification. Standard hydroponics typically uses a chemical nutrient solution, which are often not organically sourced. Moreover, it is controversial whether the absence of the soil microbiome may effect the food quality, with unknown impacts on the human microbiome, as increasing evidence suggests that the microbes we obtain from food may be an important contribution to our health.
2. limited crop variety
Due to the high light demands of fruiting plants, often requiring a wider light spectrum with a longer growth period, hydroponic technology is currently mostly limited to leafy greens due to costs. Therefore, hydroponics can in no way be seen as a complete replacement for traditional farming methods. Despite this, technological advancements are constantly improving hydroponic growth, possibly making it a viable option for a wider range of crops in the future.
3. Technical knowledge and difficulties
Understanding of the technical set-up of the hydroponics system and plant growth requirements is essential for preventing system failures. Leakages can occur and different crop types may require vastly different nutrient, temperature and lighting conditions. In addition, the close proximity of water and electrics poses risk and careful, regular monitoring of the system is required.
4. initial expenses
Although setting up a hydroponic system can be done on a budget with minimal costs, on a commercial scale, the specialist equipment required can be expensive. After the initial set up costs will be limited mainly to electricity and nutrient costs, the increased plant growth rates and yield often outweigh these added costs.
Concluding remarks
Despite the number of challenges and limitations associated with vertical farming with hydroponic systems, it still offers great potential to contribute to a more sustainable future of farming. It is important to emphasize that vertical farming and hydroponics is in no way a viable replacement for traditional farming practices but an alternative option, particularly suited to cities to help support the demand for fresh, locally-sourced healthy greens, with the growing population. Technological advancements are expected to further improve the costs and efficiency of plant growth in hydroponic systems, giving it high hopes for the future.
Ground Broken on New Hydroponic Facility To Serve The Marginalized Communities in Torrington CT.
The mission of the farm is to provide entry-level, safe, clean “green jobs” to members of the community
Published on July 6, 2020
Joe Swartz
Vice President/Lead Horticulturalist at AmHydro - 36 years as Controlled Environment Ag Consultant and Commercial Grower
June 30, 2020, was an exciting day for the local Connecticut organization, New Opportunities. http://www.newoppinc.org/ After years of planning, the ground was broken on a new hydroponic farm project called "CT Food4Thought" that is going to bring fresh, nutritious, pesticide-free food to local food banks, shelters, soup kitchens, and schools to communities throughout Connecticut. In addition to that, the farm will also supply retail grocery stores and co-ops with fresh produce as a way to generate income for programs through selling the produce grown. New Opportunities partnered with industry-leading Controlled Environment Agriculture Technology company AmHydro of Arcata, CA. (https://amhydro.com/ )
The groundbreaking marked the start of three greenhouses, containing AmHydro’s soilless hydroponic growing systems, being constructed in partner with Borghesi Engineering with plans to expand up to 12 greenhouses in the future. AmHydro VP Joe Swartz and the Commercial Growing Team at AmHydro will provide on-going support and grower training to ensure a successful project and economic sustainability.
New Opportunities is a social service organization that serves marginalized and low-income communities throughout Connecticut. The mission of the farm is to provide entry-level, safe, clean “green jobs” to members of the community. Specifically, CT Food4Thought wants to offer these job opportunities to those with developmental disabilities, those who have been previously incarcerated, and those who are unemployed as a way to provide a path to higher-level employment opportunities in both this industry and others, such as: the field of nutrition, food safety, environmental management, and horticulture.
Dr. James H. Gatling, Ph.D., CEO of New Opportunities, speaks prior to breaking ground.
New Opportunities Foundation had a vision and worked directly with hydroponic industry leader AmHydro to develop the most optimum growing system and production methods available. This hydroponic farm will use 90% less water than conventional field agriculture and will be able to produce more than 10 times the amount of produce that traditional growing methods yield. The farm will also be able to operate year-round due to the environmental controls inside the greenhouse that can simulate the perfect growing conditions for plants even in the dead of winter. This will allow people in Connecticut to have access to fresh, local produce all year in comparison to the normal outdoor growing season in the area that lasts approximately 120 days.
Bill Rybczyk, New Opportunities, Joe Swartz, AmHydro, Jon Jensen, the Corporate Advisory at the project site this Spring.
AmHydro is proud to partner with New Opportunities on their new project CT Food4Thought and is excited to continue to be a part of and support the project through providing training to members of New Opportunities and members of the community.
Quote, from Bill Rybczyk, Director of Research, Planning, and Development for New Opportunities Inc : “We’re planting seeds for lettuce and other herbs, but we’re also planting seeds into people’s lives, and they can then take that, and they begin to grow….and that impacts not only their lives but their children’s lives and their grandchildren’s lives into the future…..and that’s what this project is all about."
For more information, please contact Joe Swartz, VP, AmHydro at Joe@AmHydro.com
Published by
Vice President/Lead Horticulturalist at AmHydro - 36 years as Controlled Environment Ag Consultant and Commercial Grower
Please check out this amazing project that American Hydroponics is proud to be a part of. New Opportunities will be producing fresh, pesticide-free food, local "green jobs," and economic empowerment to marginalized communities.
Truly wonderful. hashtag#LocalFood hashtag#LocalFarms hashtag#WeGotThis hashtag#HelpingOthers hashtag#SustainableFarming
Farm Box Foods - Digital Farming Entrepreneurs
In 2017, an unlikely group of friends—a real estate agent, a solar energy entrepreneur, and a fabricator, decided to take action. From the drive to decentralize food supply chains and assist communities to produce more locally grown, healthy food, FarmBox Foods was born
OUR MISSION
We want to empower communities to produce their own locally grown produce year-round.
We strive to change the way people farm by merging technology and agriculture into a system that greatly reduces water usage and transportation costs while maximizing space.
We see a future where communities have achieved food independence by producing their own healthy food and distributing it locally – no longer relying on centralized food systems.
Our Story
Our planet is in trouble, and we need to find new, innovative approaches to food production.
In 2017, an unlikely group of friends—a real estate agent, a solar energy entrepreneur, and a fabricator, decided to take action. From the drive to decentralize food supply chains and assist communities to produce more locally grown healthy food, FarmBox Foods was born.
Our founders knew they had to search for agricultural innovations. At the heart of this new approach lies the shipping container. Our goal was to develop the most efficient, high-yielding container farm on the market. Early in our research and development, we saw the appeal of vertical farming—this design principle would allow us to maximize limited space. Bringing all these ideas together, FarmBox Foods created a hydroponic farm with an elegant and user-friendly design.
With our hydroponic farm on the market, FarmBox Foods is now looking for new ways to bring more healthy food options to communities. Enter mushrooms. With their myriad health benefits and culinary versatility, mushrooms are the perfect crop for sustainable food systems. Our first-of-its-kind gourmet mushroom farm will debut in 2020 and boost access to this superfood.
FarmBox Foods is changing the way we think about growing food, one shipping container at a time.
It comes down to what’s inside, the “Plant Force One” is built inside of a recycled 40-foot container. Helping the environment and help you change the way you farm
VIDEO: Farm On A Paris Rooftop: Urban Farm Aims To Be Europe’s Largest
The first phase of a vast urban farming project in Paris is now underway following a two-month delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Set on a Paris rooftop, the farm is set to grow over the next two years to become the largest urban farm in Europe
22/06/2020
Text by: FRANCE | Video by: Sam BALL
The first phase of a vast urban farming project in Paris is now under way following a two-month delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Set on a Paris rooftop, the farm is set to grow over the next two years to become the largest urban farm in Europe.
The farm, on a rooftop of the Paris Exhibition Centre in the south-west of the city, currently covers an area of 4,000m², but those behind the project plan to expand the agricultural space to 14,000m² by 2022.
They hope to be able produce around 1,000kg of fruit and vegetables every day in high season thanks to a team of around 20 farmers while providing a global model for sustainable farming where produce is grown locally and according to the seasons. “The goal is to locally supply healthy, pesticide-free products to local businesses, company restaurants, and to farming associations in a nearby area, ” Agripolis president Pascal Hardy told AFP.
Along with commercial farming, locals are able to rent space on the rooftop to grow their own fruit and veg, while visitors can sample the produce at an on-site restaurant.
The farm is part of what appears to be a growing trend in the French capital to produce and consume food locally, with a number of urban farming projects springing up around the city in recent years, while Paris City Hall has committed to creating 30 hectares of urban farming space in the city in 2020.
“The real trend today is towards quality local products, more so than organic,” said Hardy. “We’re at the top of the organic wave, but we’re on the way down, and the challenge now is to be able to show how the products were generated and also to show that they don’t come from the other side of the planet, like beans from Kenya, for example, or from deep in Spain with farming practices that are not very virtuous.”
Aquaponic Urban Farming In Berlin
Thanks to modern concepts, the Berlin start-up ECF Farmsystems is now breeding "perch" and "basil" in the middle of Berlin
REWE.de Nutrition
Perch and Basil From The Capital
Yes, you read it right! Thanks to modern concepts, the Berlin start-up ECF Farmsystems is now breeding "perch" and "basil" in the middle of Berlin. You can buy both in around 140 REWE stores in Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Together with the start-up, REWE is committed to holistic, sustainable and regional food production.
Perch and basil in the middle of Berlin
Regional and sustainable foods are absolutely on-trend right now. More and more people are concerned about the environment, want to avoid unnecessary transport routes and unnecessary packaging material. They like to buy products from their region, but groceries straight from the big city have so far been rare. Thanks to the aquaponics method, it is now possible to grow fruit, vegetables, and even fish in the city. Industrial wasteland and other unused areas in cities can be wonderfully upgraded as “urban farming” areas. Large flat roofs will also be the best areas for urban food cultivation in the future. The Berlin start-up ECF Farm is breeding on the site of an old malt factory fresh cichlid and basil in the middle of the capital. With success! The two entrepreneurs Nicolas Leschke and Christian Echternacht spent five years working on the ideal method of combining fish and plant breeding. Meanwhile, the two true experts in the field of aquaponics and advise interested parties across Europe.
Aquaponics?
AQUAkultur = Fish and other marine animals are raised in large basins on land.
HydroPONIK = Plants are not grown in soil, but in an inorganic substrate (gravel or expanded clay) in greenhouses and fed with an aqueous solution.
How does aquaponics work?
Aquaponics is a mixture of aquaculture and hydroponics, i.e. fish farming and vegetable cultivation are combined in an ingenious way. The principle is very simple: The fish are bred in large fish tanks in aquaculture and fed with organic food. In contrast to conventional aquacultures, the fish are not given antibiotics. Fish excrete ammonium, which is converted to nitrate in a special aquaculture filter. Nitrate is again the main component of the hydroponic plant fertilizer. Here comes the highlight of the method: The water in the fish tanks has to be replaced by three to five percent every day. It is guided from the aquaculture into the hydroponics facility using a special technique. There the basil is irrigated with the water from the fish tanks. The basil is fertilized automatically by the nitrate contained in the water. One can say that the fish feeds the basil. Incidentally, the urban farmers do not use pesticides or genetic engineering for growing herbs. All processes are optimized to protect the environment and resources. The water that the plants do not absorb is cleaned by a natural filter and remains partly in the hydroponic cycle and partly returned to the fish tanks. This creates a constant and resource-saving cycle. is cleaned by a natural filter and remains partly in the hydroponic cycle and is partly returned to the fish tank. This creates a constant and resource-saving cycle. is cleaned by a natural filter and remains partly in the hydroponic cycle and is partly returned to the fish tank. This creates a constant and resource-saving cycle.
Sustainability through "urban farming"?
Thanks to on-site production, manufacturers save six tons of plastic waste a year. For short transport, for example, you can completely do without plastic trays for irrigation. But not only the environment benefits from the short transport routes, the customer can also look forward to locally produced and extremely fresh products.
Is aquaponics a concept with a future? Certainly! With this technology, unused areas in the city can be used sensibly. In addition, water consumption is significantly lower than in conventional agriculture. The quality of the herbs and vegetables is also very high, as it is much easier to control in a closed cycle. However, it has not yet been possible to breed native fish using this technique. In the summer it gets very warm in the fish tanks and at these temperatures only tropical fish feel comfortable. For example the African cichlid, African catfish or the pakus from South America. The options for fruit and vegetable cultivation, on the other hand, are diverse: whether salad, herbs, tomatoes, Strawberries or zucchini - many types of fruit and vegetables can be easily grown in aquaponic farms. The big advantage: fruits and vegetables are only harvested when they are ripe. As a result, they taste much better than green harvested goods that only artificially ripen during transport.
In the vision of the two urban farmers, supermarkets will grow their own vegetables on roofs or other urban open spaces in the future. A first step in this direction is the sale of “perch from the capital” and “basil from the capital” in Berlin's REWE stores. Demand is high and customers are very satisfied with the regionally grown products.
Babylon Micro-Farms On Why Controlled Environmental Agriculture Will Revolutionize Food Security
The coronavirus pandemic is shining a harsh and revealing spotlight on the fragility of our food supply. We can thank a globalized and fragile food supply chain for the empty grocery shelves, rising food prices, desperate farmers and ominous indications of future food disruptions
Indoor Farming Will Drive
A Post-Pandemic Food Supply Reset
JUNE 12, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic is shining a harsh and revealing spotlight on the fragility of our food supply. We can thank a globalized and fragile food supply chain for the empty grocery shelves, rising food prices, desperate farmers, and ominous indications of future food disruptions. The coronavirus pandemic is a historic anomaly we have not experienced in our living history and its effect on our food supply cannot be dismissed. It has taken what had been warnings and made them a reality. But, there is a silver lining in the chaos of our new food reality. Consumer and institutional interest in sustainable food production were growing by leaps and bounds before COVID-19. In the pandemic, we are primed to make real, significant changes. The controlled environment agriculture industry -- solutions as wide-ranging as solar-powered greenhouse growing; hydroponics and aeroponics; vertical farms have grown under LED lights in warehouses; and freight containers or refrigerator-size growing units -- will be an essential part of the sustainable food economy of the future.
Complicated Supply Chains and Food Waste Threaten Our Food Sovereignty
Watching the videos of farmers dumping mountains of zucchini, truckloads of milk and fruit and crops rotting in fields while desperate Americans line up for miles at food banks has been heartbreaking and unsettling. But as shocking as that is, food waste is by no means a new problem. Over ninety-five percent of our leafy greens are grown in California and Arizona. From this drought-threatened region, fragile leafy greens are shipped to multiple distribution points across the U.S., before they finally reach consumers' fridges and then – maybe – their plate. Even once fresh food purchases make it to our homes, consumers alone experience up to 50 percent spoilage. Combine that with unexpected distribution disruptions – as COVID 19 has so recently amplified and we have experienced many times before via foodborne illness outbreaks or climate-change-related weather events – what you get is a highly inefficient process, wasting food that consumers desperately need, and highly vulnerable to food security disruptions that have a nationwide impact.
Reducing transportation miles eliminates a lot of production problems. The more areas growing more food closer to the end consumer results in a more resilient system. It also means a wider selection of fragile fresh greens become viable commercial crops because they can be harvested and consumed quickly. Many biodiverse crop varieties with unique flavors, textures, and nutritional profiles don’t hold up to the long transport miles and processing techniques of industrial agriculture, but with local production, these varieties can become available to consumers again.
Efficient Indoor farming requires a controlled environment. That means we can control insects, diseases and pathogens in a way that simply isn’t possible in large-scale outdoor production methods. This gives us more variability in varieties we can grow — including non-GMO and heirloom cultivars grown without human and earth-damaging pesticides — to produce the freshest and more nutritional food we can. And it puts us incredibly close to the consumer.
In the case of Babylon Micro-Farms, our ‘food miles” are literally as far as it takes to harvest it from one of our on-site micro-farms, plate it up and sit down to eat. The fewer food miles we have to worry about, the more flexibility we have in what can be grown and eaten locally. And the more we can spend our resources working to grow healthy, locally abundant food rather than transportation costs growing crops that were bred to be shipped, not necessarily eaten.
The 21st Century Needs a “Digital Victory Garden” Renaissance
When things really go south, basic needs remain. Food is a big one. That’s why — after the toilet paper panic resided — so many rushed to buy seeds, plant a garden and grow their own food. It is reminiscent of the “Victory Gardens,” the backyard home kitchen gardens, of our last food crises — WWI, the Depression, and WWII — when Americans produced as much as 40 percent of our fresh fruits and vegetables from their own gardens. But today’s world is vastly different from the Victory Garden era of our grandparents. Fifty-five percent of the world’s population currently live in an urban area. That figure is expected to grow to nearly two-thirds over the next thirty years. People in the 21st century don’t have access to a plot of land like their grandparents had. Nor do they have the knowledge or the time to grow food in the traditional ways.
Food is consumed in different ways as well. Once the ‘shelter-in-place’ orders are lifted, we can assume that eating outside of one’s home — in lunch-room business cafeterias, on-the-go, in restaurants, and even when at home, via prepared meals or food kits — will resume, as will financial pressures. Very few families will be able to afford to have a ‘homemaker’ sitting at home making the daily bread from scratch and canning the bumper crop of green beans. Yet, we still need a way to have more control over our own food. And we need to shorten our supply chains to build up resilient, localized foodsheds for our urban populations. But we won’t be able to do it the same way our grandparents did. Luckily, we do have advantages they didn’t — technology, data collection, and analysis. That’s where indoor, controlled environment vertical farms come into play. We are the “Digital Victory Gardens” of the future.
It Will Take Baby Steps, and Many Innovative Solutions, to Reframe our Food Supply
Just a few years ago indoor hydroponic or aeroponic farming under LED lights was perceived as an impractical solution for food production, cost-prohibitive, and unable to produce significant yields. That didn’t stop those of us who saw the potential to develop technology to improve efficiency, increase yields, and ultimately transform this fringe method of crop cultivation into a mainstream industry that future generations can rely on for their fresh produce.
As our technology and expertise evolves, the cost of production is falling and the knowledge and ability to grow more crops more efficiently in indoor environments is increasing. We are also finding different ways to serve different market sectors with a year-round supply of fresh produce, all via indoor farming solutions. The AeroFarms, Plenty, and Bowerys of the world, with their impressively large warehouses stacked sky-high with leafy greens, are serving the wholesale grocery market needs of their local foodsheds. Whereas here at Babylon Micro-Farms we focus on hyper-local vertical ‘micro-farms.’ We are the vertical farm equivalent of locally controlled, small-scale food production. Only we do it via a remotely managed, data-driven, resource-efficient core technology platform.
Babylon was founded on the principles of developing integrated technology to address the missing link that makes vertical farming inaccessible to most communities and organizations. Our belief is that there is a significant untapped opportunity in creating smaller-scale modular indoor farming solutions that can “plug in” to existing food supply chains. However, in order for these solutions to work, they needed to be powered by a comprehensive operating system that enables all of the technical and operational expertise to be outsourced and controlled remotely through the cloud with a meal-prep style subscription of growing supplies delivered as needed to each farm installation. Our modular controlled environment farms can be placed in almost any business lunchroom, healthcare or educational cafeteria or group-living situation like retirement communities. The service is designed to allow anyone to successfully ‘grow their own food’ indoors by supporting them with on-demand delivery of supplies, a Guided Growing app and a remote-managed system. The operating system we have developed is designed to support a range of modular systems and the data we collect allows us to continually refine the user experience, improve yields, and make this kind of crop cultivation accessible to those who need it most.
The point is vertical indoor controlled environment farming is not a one size fits all solution. That’s the beauty of it. There are countless ways this new technology can (and will be) adapted to fit the many needs of our world’s food system. But it’s not just indoor farming innovations that will revolutionize our food system. We are part of a bigger ecosystem that includes innovations like plant-based protein, advances in solar and wind power, robotics, AI technology and carbon-based, and regenerative farming techniques. Together, we are already disrupting the food system as we currently know it. After the COVID 19 coronavirus pandemic recedes, we will completely reshape it.
Don’t Dismiss the Power of Being Involved in Food Production
At Babylon Micro-Farms our ‘micro-farm’ indoor growing technology puts units right in front of the consumers that have the novel experience of watching and monitoring the food they will eat being grown in real-time. This has given us a unique perspective on the psychological power of keeping people involved in the process of growing their own food, like those old Victory Gardens of old. But in new, novel ways. Our technology takes what had seemed strange and novel and makes it accessible to people without the need for horticulture experience. Our customers have responded with immense excitement, pride, and, most notably, strong interest in more sustainable solutions.
This feedback has made it obvious to us just how important it is that we include consumers in the food-growing technology of the future. Removing the people from the process of growing the food they consume was a massive mistake that our current food system made and has paid for. The ‘digital’ food solutions of the future must involve consumers, businesses, and institutions as much as possible in the process of growing their own food. Babylon Micro-Farms technology is uniquely positioned to do just this. But other solutions can find similar opportunities.
It is crucial that we begin giving businesses and their consumers more control over, and more experiences with, how their food is grown. This exposure will lead to people embracing even more sustainable food innovations. We must not leave the end consumer out of the equation.
If we look back in human history there are obvious inflection points. Culturally, economically and psychologically, humans reached a point where they were primed to make giant leaps forward as a society. Among these major shifts are the transition from fragmented hunter-gatherer paradigms to agriculture-based societies, the industrial revolution and the creation of a factory-based economy, and the technological revolution with its modus operandi of data-based solutions.
We are at the precipice of a food renaissance that will completely change how we produce food over the next few decades. Here at Babylon Micro-Farms, we strive to be a leader in this imminent revolution.
https://www.babylonmicrofarms.com/
VIDEO: Fulop Elaborates on Jersey City’s Vertical Farming Program, The First of its Kind in The Nation
“The last couple of months have highlighted that diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and heart disease make people more at risk and that’s more prevalent in communities that have less access to healthy food,” Fulop said. “So we though running a large-scale program that incorporates education and diet, which a lot of people don’t know about, with access to food that can hopefully change habits.”
By John Heinis
June 9, 2020
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop elaborated on the city’s vertical farming program, the first of its kind in the nation and the fourth overall across the globe, during an interview this afternoon.
“The last couple of months have highlighted that diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and heart disease make people more at risk and that’s more prevalent in communities that have less access to healthy food,” Fulop said.
“So we though running large-scale program that incorporates education and diet, which a lot of people don’t know about, with access to food that can hopefully change habits.”
The city will be joining forces with AeroFarms, a Newark-based vertical farming facility, to help make the effort successful.
“Societies’ structural food problems have become more clear with COVID-19. The world needs more distributed, localized food production systems. We also need new ways to get healthy food to our most disadvantaged members of society,” stated AeroFarms CEO David Rosenberg.
Yesterday, the city announcing that there would be 10 farms throughout the city, which are estimated to produce 19,000 pounds of produce a year.
This afternoon, the mayor indicated that two of the locations will be within the Jersey City Public Schools, with the specifics to be determined at a later date, one at Marion Gardens, along with City Hall and the Bethune Center. The remaining locations are still pending.
In addition to the partnership with AeroFarms and the Health and Human Services Department overseeing the program, the World Economic Forum – who describes themselves as “an organization for public-private cooperation” – will also be a key component of the operation.
“We know diet is a key predictor of life expectancy and the Coronavirus has made clear the huge inequities on food access and food education that exists in different communities,” HHS Director Stacey Flanagan said in a statement.
“ … In collaboration with both private-public sector stakeholders, the initiative aims to catalyze new ecosystems that will enable socially vibrant and health and well-being centric cities and communities,” added Head of the Healthy Cities and Communities initiative at the WEF Mayuri Ghosh.
Some residents had questioned what the healthy eating workshops and health-monitoring component of the program would entail and Fulop elaborated today when asked about the particulars.
“It’s not new to have an education component with a city program … just recently, around a similar healthy food initiative – healthy food classes around supermarket shopping. And subsequent to that, we gave vouchers to have people shop with information that they just learned,” he explained.
“It’s important to change habits and incentivize people to do that and at the same time, give them mechanisms to track the progress. So we’re thankful for Quest Diagnostics, which is one of the largest labs in the world on this front and they’re going to help us track and of course keep patient confidentiality.”
Urban Agriculture Grants Awarded to Promote Food Growth in Disadvantaged Communities
Eleven Southeast Michigan urban farming groups received $75,000 in funding from the Mahindra Automotive North America Urban Agriculture Grant Program this week.
by Mid-Michigan Now Newsroom
June 9th, 2020
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., - – Eleven Southeast Michigan urban farming groups received $75,000 in funding from the Mahindra Automotive North America Urban Agriculture Grant Program this week.
The grants address COVID-19’s impact on locally available food supplies in inner-city areas.“We felt that concentrating our 2020 grant funds on strengthening the urban agriculture community’s ability to grow and distribute food to people in need was one of the ways we could be of the most help during the pandemic,” said Rick Haas, Mahindra Automotive North America’s President, and CEO.“
Now more than ever, we need to support Michigan’s urban farmers who are growing healthy food for their communities,” said U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow. “I applaud the commitment of Mahindra Automotive North America and all businesses and organizations who are strengthening urban farms in our state.”
I am confident,” Haas said, “that this year’s grant recipients will rise to—and meet—this new challenge and help improve the quality of life for hundreds, if not thousands, of people throughout this region. Mahindra Automotive North America is grateful and humbled to be able to support their heroic efforts.”
The eleven (11) groups receiving 2020 Mahindra Urban Agriculture Grants are:
Asbury Community Development Corporation (Flint) - $10,000
Burnside Farm (Detroit) - $2,000
Charles Drew Transition Center Horticultural Program (Detroit) - $10,000
Detroit Black Community Food Security Network-D-Town Farm (Detroit) - $15,000
Edible Flint (Flint) - $5,000
Greening of Detroit (Detroit ) - $5,000
Keep Growing Detroit (Detroit) - $15,000
Micah 6 (Pontiac) - $5,000
Mt. Olivet Neighborhood Watch (Detroit) - $2,000
Northend Christian CDC (Detroit) - $5,000
Yorkshire Woods Community Association (Detroit) - $1,000
Lead Photo: Money - WEYI.jpg
Growing Up: The Rise of Vertical Food Production
Vertical farming is a novel food production system that doesn’t require arable land, but instead makes use of derelict spaces in an urban environment. Instead of growing crops the traditional way, in fields, utilizing the sun or greenhouses, vertical farming grows crops by stacking them vertically, in cities, utilizing UV lights
Today the population of the world is approximately 7.8 billion, and it is predicted to grow by another 2 billion people by 2050. Arable land is continuously lost due to industrial development and urbanization, and as such the increasing food demand of the growing population alongside the decreasing of arable land is an enormous challenge. There is thus a need for realistic strategies for implementing novel food production systems around the world. Could the answer lie in vertical farming?
What is Vertical Farming?
Vertical farming is a novel food production system that doesn’t require arable land, but instead makes use of derelict spaces in an urban environment. Instead of growing crops the traditional way, in fields, utilizing the sun or greenhouses, vertical farming grows crops by stacking them vertically, in cities, utilizing UV lights. This method of indoor farming meets all seventeen requirements of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. These goals are a plan to attain a better and more sustainable future for the world’s population and address current global challenges. Furthermore, vertical farming also incorporates all of the Urban Future program’s ten tracks, who believe that cities are key to a sustainable future for our planet.
Furthermore, it has been proposed that rooftop greenhouses be developed in schools in Barcelona, Spain. It is believed that schools can play an important role in environmental sustainability and the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology in Barcelona has developed a procedure to install rooftop greenhouses in compact cities. The implementation of urban agriculture proposals supports the development of novel methods for environmental sustainability in our ever-growing world.
How Does it Work?
There are three main models for vertical farming:
Hydroponics, where plants are grown in a nutrient-rich basin of water.
Aeroponics, where crops’ roots are periodically sprayed with a mist containing water and nutrients.
Aquaponics, which involves breeding fish to help cultivate bacteria that is used for plant nutrients.
Aeroponics uses less water overall but is technically more complicated. Interestingly, the water used in hydroponics can be recycled several times after it has evaporated from the plant and recaptured from the humid air.
Pros and Cons of Vertical Farming
Vertical farming is able to yield more crops per square meter than traditional farming or greenhouses can. Furthermore, vertical farming is not weather or season dependent, and as such year-round crop production is possible. Vertical farming also uses 70-95% less water than traditional methods and as the crops are produced in a well-controlled indoor environment it is possible to eliminate the use of chemical pesticides and grow organic crops with a faster harvesting method. This is key, as one of the biggest problems with fresh vegetables is the time it takes between harvest and consumption. A faster harvesting times could mean that more vitamins and nutrients are also maintained within the produce.
Vertical farming is a relatively new venture and as such, the financial and economic feasibility remains uncertain. Yet several vertical farming companies have been set up in the past decade utilizing old warehouses and disused factories with structures to grow vegetables and herbs. One certain disadvantage is the initial cost of real estate in cities, which could impede the viability of urban locations. In addition, labor costs in cities tend to be higher. Although, maybe most impeding is the total dependence on power for lighting, maintenance of temperature, and humidity, and as such the loss of power for just one day could see a significant loss in production.
Conclusion
Vertical farming has the ability to provide fresh and safe food in sufficient quantities, independent of climate and location. Today, we are well aware of climate change and the immediate need to change our current way of life, as such vertical farming and food production has the potential to become a necessary solution in global food production.
References
The United Nations. Sustainable Development Goals. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
Urban Future Programme’s Ten Tracks. https://www.urban-future.org/about/
What You Should Know About Vertical Farming. https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-you-should-know-about-vertical-farming-4144786
Association for Vertical Farming. https://vertical-farming.net/
How Vertical Farming Reinvents Agriculture. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170405-how-vertical-farming-reinvents-agriculture
Nadal A et al. (2018) Rooftop greenhouses in educational centers: A sustainability assessment of urban agriculture in compact cities. Science of The Total Environment. Jun 1;626:1319-1331
VIDEO: The Future of Farming & Investing in Land - w/ Cubic Farms CEO Dave Dinesen
CubicFarms has developed and patented some of the most advanced automated growing machines for Fresh Vegetables and Nutritious Animal Feed that enable commercial-scale indoor farming, anywhere on earth
May 28, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed fragility in supply chains, such as labour shortages, disruptions in the packing and transportation sectors, and increasing uncertainty in the domestic and international markets. CubicFarms’ automated growing systems have emerged as a key solution to overcoming these challenges by allowing growers to localize food production and provide their markets with fresh produce and nutritious livestock feed reliably and consistently. What does this do to opportunities for land investment?
Speaker Bio:
Dave is the CEO of CubicFarms, one of the world’s leading Ag Tech companies that develops “Technology to Feed a Changing World”. CubicFarms has developed and patented some of the most advanced automated growing machines for Fresh Vegetables and Nutritious Animal Feed that enable commercial-scale indoor farming, anywhere on earth. Dave leads growth at CubicFarms and since inception, has raised over $23MM in capital.
Dave is the former CEO and founder of BackCheck, which became one of the world’s top ten largest background screening companies, where he advanced the company from a start-up to an industry-leading company operating on three continents with over 500 employees.
Recorded: Thursday, May 28, 2020,
**The information provided in this webinar and accompanying material is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered financial or professional advice.
You should consult with a professional to determine what may be best for your individual needs. http://addyinvest.com/