LettUs Grow, an indoor farming technology provider, is fast-tracking the building of two vertical farm modules in the city of Bristol to help feed vulnerable communities during the COVID-19 outbreak. The company is teaming up with the food redistribution charity FareShare South West to ensure the produce gets to those who need it most. 

LettUs Grow expects the first of the new aeroponic farm modules to be ready to start producing fresh produce from mid-April, with the first harvests ready to be delivered to FareShare just ten days after the farm’s commissioning. A second, larger module will be following in June. 

Because most of the farm’s operations are automated, they can be run with only one person on site at any given time to allow social distancing of key workers and minimizing strain on an already stretched farm labor force. The food is also produced in a high care environment with few people coming into contact with it. Once up and running, the farms will be able to provide a consistent, predictable and climate-resilient food supply to the local community all year round. 

The coronavirus outbreak has shone a spotlight on the fragility of the UK’s just-in-time food supply chain. The UK only produces 50% of the food it consumes, which leaves it vulnerable to shocks in the global supply chain. The closures and lockdowns enforced due to the pandemic, have created logistical bottlenecks that ripple across these lengthy chains.

Jack Farmer, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of LettUs Grow said: “When we founded LettUs Grow, we wanted to enable anyone, anywhere in the world, to grow fresh produce near its point of consumption. That mission has hardly ever felt as urgent as it does today. We knew we had to get involved and help in any way we could.

“Because our farm modules can be deployed anywhere with an electricity and water supply, they are uniquely positioned to increase regions’ food supply chain resilience by diversifying local food production.”

The FareShare group provides close to 1 million meals a week to frontline charities and community groups working with vulnerable people, such as those experiencing homelessness, mental health issues, domestic violence, loneliness and families who require free school meals. As the Coronavirus situation develops, Fareshare has seen demand for their service rising, particularly in the event of closures of schools, workplaces, and public spaces and people self-isolating.

Phoebe Ruxton, Fundraising Manager at FareShare South West said: “We are absolutely determined not only to stay open but to level up our organization as far as we possibly can to stop the very worst happening. 

“While supermarkets seem empty, there are thousands of tonnes of surplus food in the system. There is no other organization in the region with the capacity to redistribute this food, and FareShare South West is well placed to deliver it straight to those most in need.”

You can help FareShare South West get food to people in need during this crisis by making a financial donation here: faresharesouthwest.org.uk/coronavirus-emergency-fund/. If you’re outside the South West, you can donate here fareshare.org.uk/help-us/.

For more information:
LettUs Grow
lettusgrow.com

Publication date: Thu 9 Apr 2020