US: SOUTH CAROLINA - Indoor Farm Provides Fresh Lettuce To Charleston County Schools
Indoor Farm Provides Fresh Lettuce
To Charleston County Schools
03-16-21
Vertical Roots, a hydroponic farm in Charleston, looks different compared to a traditional farm. Inside the upcycled shipping containers, individual heads of bright green and red lettuce line the walls as they complete the growing process without touching the outdoors.
Vertical Roots’ goal is to revolutionize the way communities grow, distribute and consume food.
“All the founders of the company have always been very inspired and motivated by feeding the community healthy, nutritious food,” said Jessica Diaz, the sales manager at Vertical Roots.
Students at Chicora Elementary School taste-tested Vertical Roots lettuce. PROVIDED
The school system is no exception to the organization’s mission. At the end of February, Vertical Roots began providing all of Charleston County schools with fresh lettuce from the farm.
“They’ve never been in the position where they could have a local lettuce provider,” said Diaz. “You have to be able to provide that product year-round for it to be an option for the farm-to-school program.”
In order to provide food to the schools, a farm has to meet the requirements of the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Order Receipt System Catalog from the Department of Agriculture, which includes sufficient quantity and ability to produce a consistent supply.
Since Vertical Roots’ lettuce is grown indoors in a controlled environment, the lettuce is not impacted by environmental factors, like flooding, droughts or even seasonal changes. This means the lettuce can be produced year-round with each container growing 3,400 heads of lettuce per harvest.
Vertical Roots’ two farms in Charleston and Columbia produced approximately 3 million pounds of lettuce in 2020.
Diaz said it’s taken several years to scale up to the capacity that the farm is currently at; Vertical Roots began in 2016 and currently, it’s the largest hydroponic container farm in the country. The farm provides lettuce to over 1,200 retail locations across 11 states in the Southeast.
Vertical Roots farmers checking on the lettuce in one of the storage containers. PROVIDE
Vertical Roots initially connected with the CCSD in January 2020 during its Harvest of the Month program. Each month, CCSD’s Nutrition Services, in partnership with the Green Heart Project, provides students with nutrition education with a focus on locally grown produce.
“Based on the success of that program, we started having conversations about what would it look like to service the school district in a more meaningful way,” Diaz said.
Each school district is allocated a specific amount of money from the government that goes towards fresh fruits and vegetables based on the number of students and school sizes, according to Kerrie Hollifield, a registered dietitian with the CCSD Office of Nutrition.
She said it’s up to the district on how the funds are spent and CCSD is committed to providing fresh, local produce to students and staff so partnering with Vertical Roots became a natural fit.
The current lettuce options at the schools are the Green Butter lettuce and a cut spring mix. Each day, the schools offer an entrée salad that includes Vertical Roots lettuce, grilled chicken and fresh vegetables including tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots. There is also a side salad option. Occasionally, the schools will offer other options like a lettuce wrap sandwich.
Hollifield said all of the lettuce in Charleston County schools is from Vertical Roots, which means over 50,000 students from 84 schools have a fresh lettuce option. “It’s been awesome to see the kids get excited about salads,” she said.
Since the initiative began, Emily Trogdon, the public relations specialist for Vertical Roots, said the farm has received positive feedback from teachers and parents who are excited that fresh, local lettuce is now available at the schools.
“Children, in general, are always geared towards sweets and candies, salty snacks, but to see them genuinely enjoying the vegetable is just a testament to the product quality itself and to the amazing work that the nutrition program has been doing in the schools,” said Trogdon.
Typically, lettuce that is consumed on a food service or retail level is grown in California or Arizona, so most lettuce travels 2,000 miles before reaching a restaurant or grocery store.
Vertical Roots’ goal is to close the “farm-to-table gap” by providing lettuce with close to zero food miles.
The lettuce growing in an indoor, controlled environment. PROVIDED
Charleston County schools have not had a local lettuce option until the partnership with Vertical Roots because lettuce cannot be grown year-round in South Carolina on a traditional, outdoor farm.
In addition to being grown locally, Vertical Roots’ lettuce is not treated with chemicals or pesticides. Trogdon said she likes to tell people the produce is 100 percent lettuce.
“The produce is incredibly clean and safe to consume,” Trogdon said. “That’s a barrier that the school system doesn’t have to jump over with our produce.”
Vertical Roots controls the entire environment as the lettuce matures from propagation to harvest. The temperature, humidity, amount of light, and water are optimized in order to provide the safest and most productive growing environment.
Vertical Roots’ system speeds up the harvest time to 35 days, versus the 45 to 60 days for traditionally grown lettuce.
The organization is committed to sustainability, specifically with water and land conservation. Indoor farming uses up to 95 percent less water compared to traditional farming due to the ability to recycle and re-filter water throughout the system.
The company is also socially sustainable when it comes to providing fair wages for employees.
While part of Vertical Roots’ mission is to revolutionize the produce industry, Diaz said their goal is not to eliminate traditional farming. She said there are many heritage crops in South Carolina that could not be grown in an indoor system, so the organization fully supports the local farming industry.
When it comes to buying locally, Diaz said ultimately it benefits the county and state. “When you’re buying from a local farm, you’re employing local people who spend that money in the local economy,” Diaz said.
Lead Photo: The lettuce growing in a controlled upcycled shipping container. PROVIDED