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VIDEO: It's A 2-Acre Farm, Packed Into A Shipping Container That Doubles As A Farm Building
The Farm From A Box system is designed to feed 150 people per year and includes drip irrigation, all of the tools, and its own renewable energy setup
The Farm From A Box system is designed to feed 150 people per year and includes drip irrigation, all of the tools, and its own renewable energy setup.
This plug-and-play farming system combines water-smart irrigation, renewable energy, and precision farming technology in a single shipping container that is said to be capable of supporting the cultivation of almost two and a half acres, using regenerative agriculture practices.
We've covered a few different approaches to the "farm in a box" concept, but all of them so far have been built around the idea of growing the crops inside a shipping container, using hydroponics or aeroponics, and artificial lighting. The Farm From A Box is quite a bit different in that the farming takes place outside of the box (or shipping container) and after the contents have been unpacked and deployed, the box itself becomes the hub of the farm infrastructure.
According to the company, this is a "turnkey farm kit" that can be used to build a stronger local food system, especially in food deserts and in the developing world, where infrastructure can be spotty and unreliable at best, and possibly even non-existent. The system is described as being “food sovereignty in a box" that can be a “Swiss Army Knife” for off-grid farming, and while there is a basic template, each unit can be customized to fit the particular situation."
We want to develop this as a rapid response transitional food production system. The box is really infrastructure for places that are struggling with a lack of infrastructure." - Brandi DeCarli, co-founder of Farm from a Box. While the units are designed to be complete systems with all of the core components (minus the land and water rights and labor, of course), the company doesn't just stop there, but also includes a training system to help "new farmers tackle the steep learning curve of permaculture technique." To me, this is one of the critical parts of the venture, because if you've ever tried to grow food on a larger scale than your own backyard, without having any formal training or guidelines to follow, it can be a humbling experience that is full of failures learning opportunities."
Based on extensive field research, we found that rural communities often lack the resources and infrastructure needed to access nutritious food. We developed a toolkit that contains all of the core components needed to grow your own food, on a two-acre plot of land, without the need for an existing grid. Imagine the good it can do by growing local, organic food for a school, or helping jumpstart food production after a disaster. ‘Farm from a Box’ enables and empowers communities to provide for themselves." - DeCarli
Currently, Farm In A Box has a prototype unit operating in Sonoma, California, and a second version is in the works for deployment in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia. Basic units will cost about $50,000, which includes a 3 kW solar PV array, a battery storage system, a drip irrigation system and water pump (which can be fitted to a well or to a municipal water supply), basic farm tools, a sensor package, a seedling house, and a WiFi connectivity package, all packaged into a single shipping container. Other options are available as well, including a water filtration system, an advanced sensor suite, remote monitoring capabilities, and more.
Swegreen Vertical Farm Goes In-Store in Gothenburg, Sweden
Swegreen's first automated farming unit takes place at ICA Focus in Gothenburg
Swegreen's first automated farming unit takes place at ICA Focus in Gothenburg
Swegreen inks contract with ICA Focus in Gothenburg, to become the exclusive producer of hyper-locally grown vegetables via an automated cultivation system inside the store itself. The agreement is based on Swegreen's subscription-based Farming-as-a-Service, which gives food retailers and restaurants the opportunity to offer their customers fresh crops all year round – harvested directly on-site or in-store.
From left: Andreas Dahlin, CEO at Swegreen. Elsa Adlersson, ICA Focus' responsible for the In-Store greenhouse. Marcus Petersson, chairman at Swegreen.
The contract between Swegreen and ICA Focus concludes that the Gothenburg-based store will be the first in Sweden to offer its customers hyper-locally produced greens grown from seed to fully-grown size inside a store itself. The cultivation facility, which is provided by the Swedish startup company Swegreen, is based on so-called hydroponic cultivation technology that is both resource-efficient and climate-smart. The technical solution also includes the company's special lighting and nutrient recipe, air conditioning system for control of heat, humidity, and CO2 content plus a complete digital monitoring – as well as a data-driven intelligent system for optimization of all cultivation processes.
Through Swegreen's subscription-based business model, Farming-as-a-Service (FaaS), the cooperation between the parties is based on a long-term commitment where Swegreen ensures efficient production at agreed volumes and quality.
- Our FaaS model means that every store and restaurant owner can offer hyper-local, fresh and high-quality crops that are fantastically nutritious and tasty – at very competitive prices, says Swegreen's CEO, Andreas Dahlin.
- We are very proud and happy to start this collaboration with ICA Focus. It is a store that has the will to be at the forefront, and we think there are going to be many who desire to follow their footsteps.
ICA Focus is located in the Gårda district in central Gothenburg, just a stone’s throw away from the famous amusement park, Liseberg, and the Swedish Exhibition and WTC. A flagship store that always has a large assortment of environmental-friendly products.
- Our customers have demanded more locally produced and sustainable greens in our assortment – and it will not be more local and greener than this! Says Daniel Åkerhage, Store Manager at ICA Focus.
- Now we look forward to our first on-site harvest, which we expect to take place later this month.
At full capacity, it is possible to deliver and harvest around 300 units of fresh salad heads and herbs per day in the cultivation facility in the ICA Focus store.
With hydroponic cultivation technology, where the crops grow without soil with lighting from special LED lamps, it is possible to grow vegetables in an urban environment – and thus produce food very close to the consumer. It also removes unnecessary, expensive, and climate-damaging transportations. In addition, the crops do not need to be sprayed by pesticides or herbicides – they are ready to be eaten directly off the growing system. Up to 95% of the irrigation water is reused via the recycling system. Nutrients are also recycled, while the plants receive carbon dioxide through a filtered air intake from the store itself.
Swegreen has developed the cultivation module to be able to create integrated plant environments together with partners in the food and restaurant sector. Therefore, Swegreen has developed a cloud-based control- and monitoring system to make production easy to manage. Through data collection of current factors in the cultivation environment, the system can continuously refine and further optimize the cultivation processes by the use of artificial intelligence.
For more information contact:
Andreas Dahlin, CEO of Swegreen, +46 70-924 00 32, andreas.dahlin@swegreen.se
Daniel Åkerhage, store manager ICA Focus, +46 76-117 16 20, daniel@icafocus.se
Swegreen is a Swedish FoodTech company that combines advanced technology, data science, and agricultural knowledge to be able to efficiently produce high-quality and climate-smart crops in an urban environment. The company offers a subscription-based cultivation service called Farming-as-a-Service (FaaS). It gives food retailers and restaurants the opportunity to offer their customers hyper-locally produced, fresh, nutritious, and tasty greens all year round. www.swegreen.com
ICA Focus is a unique grocery store that has been a rendezvous place for food-loving Gothenburgers for over 25 years. With an assortment of over 35,000 items, you have about twice as much to choose from as in an ordinary ICA store. ICA Focus also has its own bakery, charcuterie and restaurant. The store also has one of Gothenburg's best fish delicate retailers, Fisk i Focus. ICA Focus is located in Focushuset, Gårda, in central Gothenburg.
US: NEW JERSEY - Will NJ's Million Dollar Investment In Vertical Farming Yield Long Term Growth?
Amidst the growth of urban farming projects in the US, a notable development took place earlier in June with the announcement that Jersey City, New Jersey, is to fund the construction and operation of 10 vertical farms in the city; the first municipal vertical farm program in the country
Written By: Theo Longsdon, Agritecture Intern
Amidst the growth of urban farming projects in the US, a notable development took place earlier in June with the announcement that Jersey City, New Jersey, is to fund the construction and operation of 10 vertical farms in the city; the first municipal vertical farm program in the country.
The city has partnered up with AeroFarms in a three-year contract worth $987,000 - with just over half of this sum funding the construction of the farm units and the rest covering the project’s maintenance. The farms will use aeroponics to grow a range of vegetables and will be situated at senior centers, schools, public housing complexes, and municipal buildings across the city, taking six weeks to install, and the first vegetables being ready just two weeks after.
The principal motive behind the program is the recognition that there is a growing need to enhance access to locally grown nutritious food and improve the diet and overall well being of citizens. This is in part related to the impact of Covid-19, which according to Steve Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City, has had a “disproportionate impact on people with pre-existing heart conditions, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes which is directly linked to a person’s diet”. The venture will seek to counter these issues and promote a healthy, sustainable lifestyle through producing 58,000 lb of fresh vegetables over three years – roughly equating to 100,000 servings – and through holding dietary workshops and health screenings for participants. The hope is that a surge in awareness about healthy eating practices, coupled with the distribution of fresh, nutritious produce, will drive a change in people’s eating habits that leads to improvements in the wider, long-term health of the community.
The creation of jobs will be a further benefit of the program. AeroFarms are significant job providers; they have created about 120 jobs through their projects in Newark, and their new indoor vertical farming facility in Danville is projected to generate 92 jobs for the area. Whilst there has been no indication about the exact number of jobs that will be created as part of the program, with the introduction of 10 farms across the city it is clear a number of employment opportunities will arise, thus helping to stimulate economic development in the area.
Yet despite these upbeat anticipations, the cost of constructing and maintaining the 10 vertical farms is high, with the contract worth just under $1m. By AeroFarms’ own estimation the 10 farms will produce around 58,000 lb of produce over their 3 years, meaning that it will cost the city about $17 to produce one lb of produce. This is a colossal sum and represents an expensive economic venture in a time when the city faces a $70m budget shortfall as a result of Covid-19.
In such a climate, an alternative option for the city would be to invest money in supporting local farms and promoting the distribution of their produce. A quick look at local farms in the region highlights how this may be a far more cost-effective option: Alstede Farms, a 600-acre farm based in Chester Township retails a wide range of fresh organic vegetables at a significantly lower price – selling a bunch of their spinach for $2.99; a bunch of kale for $2.99; and a pound of beans for $3.99. Another organic farm in the region – Terhune Orchards - offers similarly low prices, retailing a bunch of their kale for $3.25 per bunch, a Romaine lettuce head for the same price, and a head of green cabbage for $2.95. If the city was seeking a more cost-friendly way of promoting healthy consumption patterns, then taking such an approach may have been the more viable option.
But whilst they may represent the more costly option, vertical farms hold a number of advantages over traditional soil farms. Crop yields tend to be higher, as crops can be grown all year round and conditions can be controlled to maximize growth. Having this controlled environment reduces the susceptibility to climate and local weather conditions that is a major drawback of traditional soil farming. The land area needed to cultivate the produce is far lower, as the vegetables can be stacked vertically – a major benefit at a time of increasing pressure on land. Vertical farms also use much less water as they facilitate the production of crops with 70-95% less water compared to traditional cultivation practices. Finally, the generation of local, year-round farmworker jobs is a clear advantage over conventional outdoor farms in the NJ area that depend primarily on seasonal labor. Taking such factors into account may indeed justify the higher cost of produce associated with the program.
One notable stipulation of the program is that those wanting to gain free access to the produce must partake in healthy eating workshops and quarterly health screenings. This entails the obvious risk that the city has overestimated the demand for education and health monitoring amongst Jersey City residents, which could mean that the uptake is lower than anticipated. If the demand does fall short of what the city anticipates, then issues of distribution may arise and the program’s effectiveness may be undermined. Its success will, therefore, depend to a large extent on the willingness of residents to spend time participating in these workshops and regular health screenings.
Jersey City’s newly launched program represents a pioneering attempt to combat deficiencies in access to locally grown, nutritious produce and awareness about healthy dietary patterns. The decision by the municipal body to step in and sponsor the vertical farms is ambitious and unprecedented in the US, but it also throws up some major questions. For example; will the plan of action lead to a long-term alteration in the diets and lifestyles of those involved? Do the associated benefits outweigh the cost of the program? And ultimately, is it a city’s duty to feed people through its own asset, or should it instead focus on policies, incentives, and programs that encourage the growth and support of local farms?
Vertical Agriculture - Fresh Greens From The Wall Straight to The Plate
There is no doubt that one of the biggest challenges of the next years will be feeding the massive growing population all over the world
There is no doubt that one of the biggest challenges of the next years will be feeding the massive growing population all over the world.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF JULY 12, 2020
(photo credit: Courtesy)
There is no doubt that one of the biggest challenges of the next years will be feeding the massive growing population all over the world. In 50 years, the world’s population is expected to grow by another 2 billion people and due to urbanization one of the problems would be a lack of arable lands.
In recent days where the world pandemic is impacting global food systems, disrupting regional agricultural value chains, and posing risks to household food security there is a heightened awareness of food safety for producers, businesses, governments, and consumers. With border closures and quarantines, supply chain and trade disruptions could restrict people’s access to sufficient and nutritious sources of food.
Vertical agriculture is one of the hottest trends which aim to solve these problems. "Vertical Field" an Israeli company, developed vertical urban farms and active living walls, functioning as growing solutions for smart cities. Vertical Field was established by Mr. Bar-Ness in 2006, motivated by his green thumb and ambition to bring sustainable nature-based solutions into the urban lifestyle. "We understood people’s need to surround themselves with a green, healthy environment" explains Guy Elitzur, the company's CEO.
Vertical Field has developed soil-based solutions, for green cities but mainly for vertical urban food supply. One of the main solutions that the company is focusing on is a vertical, soil-based system for urban farming in any indoor or outdoor space. Vertical Field geophonic growing method has a unique platform comprised of a container with its own sensors, irrigation, and lighting systems and in-house monitoring software which automatically manages all growth phases allowing for less human handling and a more sterile environment in order to grow fresh, healthy and free of pesticides produce all year long.
Upward Farms Announces Rebrand From Seed & Roe and Plans to Open a New Headquarter Farm in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The coronavirus pandemic is significantly increasing consumer demand for organic, sustainable food, indicating heightened awareness for healthy, nutritious eating. Fresh produce sales have remained elevated during the pandemic period, with produce sales showing sustained double-digit, year-over-year growth March through June 2020
Upward Farms announced growth plans including a rebrand from Seed & Roe and construction of a new headquarter farm in Brooklyn that will significantly increase production. These announcements come following the company closing more than $15 million in new funding, including investment led by Prime Movers Lab.
The coronavirus pandemic is significantly increasing consumer demand for organic, sustainable food, indicating heightened awareness for healthy, nutritious eating. Fresh produce sales have remained elevated during the pandemic period, with produce sales showing sustained double-digit, year-over-year growth March through June 2020. As consumers continue to gravitate toward fresh, organic produce and purchase more groceries online, Upward Farms offers consistent product availability and quality, scalability, and a shortened supply chain for East Coasters to receive locally grown greens. Upward Farms' breakthrough approach to indoor aquaponics, using fish to fertilize crops in a complete ecosystem, results in increased yields, more control in disease prevention, and unprecedented food safety. This approach reconnects eaters with flavorful and nutritious local food, rather than relying on long haul distribution systems and imported food.
A look inside the new Upward Farms headquarters, an indoor aquaponic ecosystem growing leafy greens and fish.
“By cultivating complete ecosystems with a strong microbiome and leveraging the precision and control of indoor agriculture, Upward Farms not only grows thriving plants and animals but offers the potential for a sustainable food supply that is both scalable and safe,” said Jason Green, Upward Farms Co-founder, and CEO. “With the support of this capital investment, we will continue to expand the marriage of nature and nurture to produce affordable greens in abundance and make them accessible. Everyone should be able to easily and affordably nourish their body, family, and the planet.”
“As a leading investor in breakthrough scientific companies, we are honored to join Upward Farms' journey to transform billions of lives through next-level nutrition, safety, and deliciousness,” said Suzanne Fletcher, General Partner at Prime Movers Lab and now a member of the Board of Directors at Upward Farms.
Previously known as Edenworks and then Seed & Roe, the company has raised more than $20 million in total funding to date to provide a sustainable source of greens and fish for consumers. The new Upward Farms name and brand is an expression of the company’s mission to heal the broken food system. It also aligns with the company’s plans for expansion, including the opening of additional farms and broadening of its product portfolio for both retail and foodservice. The look for the redesigned logo, new product packaging and digital presence represent Upward Farms’ fresh, clean greens and forward-thinking approach.
In late 2020, Upward Farms plans to unveil a brand new company headquarters in Brooklyn that will demonstrate and advance the company’s next-generation technology through both commercial production and research and development facilities. The new operation is expected to increase production of Upward Farms greens by 20 times over its original facility, also located in Brooklyn. The expansion will enable the brand to supply its washed and ready-to-eat salads to grocery stores across New York City.
Upward Farms’ growing practices eliminate harmful bacteria like E. coli and other pathogens without the use of pesticides, antibiotics or synthetic fertilizers to produce the safest leafy greens on the market. Grown from Non-GMO seeds, Upward Farms leafy greens are pesticide-free, washed, and ready to eat. “Recent events have highlighted what we at Upward Farms already know -- biology has a lifeforce all its own that must be respected. That’s why we are stewards of nature, learning from and building technology to enhance biology,” shared Green.
For more information:
Upward Farms
info@upwardfarms.com
www.upwardfarms.com
Publication date: Fri 10 Jul 2020