Calgary’s Indoor Urban Farms Breaking Down Barriers, Eye Expansion of Local Food Production

December 10, 2018 Darren Krause CALGARY 1

Megan Janz with Deepwater Farms looks over some of the greens the Calgary commercial aquaponics company grows. DARREN KRAUSE / LIVEWIRE CALGARY

The seeds of Calgary’s commercial food industry have been planted, but conditions aren’t yet ripe for the city to harvest the full rewards of urban food production, local producers say.

Former oil and gas engineers Paul and Ryan Wright, along with Dan Clayholt, launched NuLeaf farms, a hydroponic agriculture operation in a southeast Calgary garage.

“We really wanted to find something where we had some passion and where we could apply our skills to really solve some problems,” said Paul.

“Agriculture stood out like a sore thumb.”

They saw an opportunity to use high-end tech they’d been exposed to for the development of more sustainable and efficient year-round food production in Calgary.

“That led to the beginning of us not only developing something that was environmentally sustainable, but we wanted something that was economically sustainable,” Paul said.

They have a proprietary software that optimizes climate conditions and nutrient delivery, light conditions and amount of CO2. It’s allowed them to build a vertical growing system that produces 180 plants per square foot annually, enough to allow them to sell to smaller grocery stores and Calgary restaurants.

Now they’re scaling up. They have a module designed – similar to the size of the garage – but they also have plans for a full-sized manufacturing operation.  

While headway’s been made in the adoption of land-uses for indoor commercial food growth in Calgary, Paul said accessibility to programs to help them scale up is a challenge.

(From left) Ryan Wright, Paul Wright and Dan Clayholt with NuLeaf Farms, a hydroponic operation based in southeast Calgary that grows basil. DARREN KRAUSE / LIVEWIRE CALGARY

“A lot of (granting) agencies are looking for innovation, but the parameters for grants aren’t tailored to anything like this. They seem pretty closed-minded to anything that far out of the norm,” Paul said.

He added that when setting up operations he’s cognizant of the business tax regime in the city and how it compares with jurisdictions like Rocky View County.

Kristi Peters Snider, sustainability consultant with the City of Calgary’s CalgaryEATS! Food Action Plan, said indoor commercial food operations are new in Calgary, with the city seeing mostly outdoor “spin farms” and other  smaller urban farms over the past decade.

Peters Snider said the city’s land use bylaw amendments coupled with Calgary Economic Development’s saying agri-business should be an area of focus has boosted efforts to modernize Calgary’s food rules.

“There’s some work to do, and the role the city can play is in enabling more food distribution pathways to help these growers,” she said.

Paul Shumlich, founder and CEO of Calgary’s Deepwater Farms, an aquaponics operation in southeast Calgary, said it’s early days in all this and any movement forward should be done in consultation with the growers.

“If they go ahead and start implementing things, or drafting policy or bylaws without input from industry, they’ll screw it up. Or they’ll make hurdles that don’t need to exist,” Shumlich said.  

“They (the city) need to understand what we need and then reverse engineer as if we’re the customer.”

Shumlich’s operation, which he started a number of years back, grows plants without soil and feeds the plants with water whose nutrients come from the waste of edible sea bass they’re raising in the same operation.

They’re at one-third capacity and will be expanding in their current space through 2019, also with eyes on a new facility. They’ve launched a crowdfunding campaign to push the production forward.

He said it’s been a challenge being a pioneer locally, as they’re paving the way through the civic bureaucracy.

“We’ve definitely been pioneering a lot of it in terms of getting through all the permitting, land use and through all the inspections,” said Shumlich.

“Everybody that we deal with, from a permitting perspective, has no idea what they’re looking at or how to deal with us, so that’s been a bit of a headache.”

Peters Snider said the city’s working on the development of an urban farm that will not only allow them to test a model of city-owned land used for food production, but also to help inform them on best practices for approaching things like permits and approvals.

She said they have a 17-point action plan that will help break down some of the barriers new operations face – including creating new pathways for the sale of urban farm products.

• Background on City of Calgary rules around food processing, growing and distribution
  

They piloted pop-up LRT markets for the sale of fresh produce and will continue to build out that program. They’re also hoping to open up more markets on city-owned land. More changes to land use are expected in 2019.

“There’s lots more work. I feel that each area of focus helps achieve that goal of producing more local food,” she said.

That’s the goal. Both NuLeaf and Deepwater Farms are committed to the safe, environmentally-friendly and sustainable growth of local food. They both want to scale up and push the boundaries of their business to deliver fresh produce (and in Shumlich’s case, sea bass) to the Calgary and Alberta market.

“We’re trying to supply the big guys,” said Paul from NuLeaf.

“We’re trying to eliminate as much imported product as possible.”

While there are some hiccups, Shumlich said that’s normal when breaking new ground.

“More than anything it’s exciting and fun because there’s no playbook, so what we’re doing is novel,” he said.

NKDA Mulls Panel to Boost Urban Farming

Tarun Goswami Dec 2018 4:15 AM

Kolkata: New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) is considering a proposal to form an empanelled group to assist people, particularly senior citizens, to set up rooftop urban farming. The matter has been discussed in the board of NKDA and a decision in the matter will be soon taken. A notice will be given asking interested groups to respond. It may be mentioned that at Swapno Bhor, the state's first senior citizens' park, organic farming of vegetables has recently been started in collaboration with an NGO and senior citizens, who are members of the same, are overseeing it. Senior officials of the NKDA said many people have shown keen interest to start rooftop urban farming but could not start it because of lack of expertise. For many years, people have been growing flowers on their rooftop gardens. It may be mentioned that in the annual flower show organised by Alipore Agri Horticulture Society there is a section where flowers and cactus that are grown on rooftop gardens and displayed. The best flower grower is also awarded. Now, in addition to flowers, people have shown interest to start rooftop urban farming. But a majority of them lack expertise and knowledge. For example, on rooftop garden pots made of coconut fibres are used instead of earthen pots as they cause heavy damage to the roofs. Again, from where seeds of vegetables can be procured are not known. To address these issues, the empanelled groups will assist those whose are interested to start rooftop urban farming. The group will charge for providing assistance and the rate will be fixed by the NKDA. This will keep the senior citizens socially engaged, the officers felt. To keep the senior citizens engaged and occupied who will be buying accommodation at Snehodiya, an open terrace has been made in the proposed multi-storeyed building whose construction is going on. The senior citizens can utilise the terrace to coach children from economically-challenged families. This will keep them socially busy and also motivate the children to a great extent.

Urban Farm In Brooklyn Looking To Attract Young Farmers

So-called 'urban', or 'vertical', farms have been making their way into some US cities over the past few years. With limited land in major metropolitan areas, indoor urban farms offer the chance for city stores and restaurants to get their hands on locally-grown produce. Square Roots in Brooklyn, New York, is one of these next generation indoor farms. Located in a former Pfizer factory in the Williamsburg district, the company said one of its main aims is to offer young people careers in agriculture.

"The average age of the American farmer is 58," noted Karsten Ch'ien of Square Roots. "With more young people living in cities, we bought shipping containers into the city because that is where many of them live. Young people are very technology literate, and with the rise in demand for healthy, locally-grown foods, this is the perfect combination for them to get involved in the produce industry. As a result, the average age of our farmers is just 24."

Ch'ien said that Square Roots offers training and skill building as part of helping young farmers establish a firm foundation in the industry. "At the heart of Square Roots is the Next-Gen farmer training program, which creates opportunities for more people to become farmers—and future leaders in urban farming—through a year-long commitment on the Square Roots team."

Produce is grown in modified shipping containers. Ch'ien is on the far right.

Growing in shipping containers
Produce at Square Roots is grown in shipping containers, which have been climate controlled and fitted with the latest in vertical farming gadgetry. All the operations are controlled in the company's offices overlooking the parking lot where the ten containers lie. The shipping container model gives the company great flexibility.

"Growing in shipping containers requires less upfront capital to establish and maintain," Ch'ien explained. "They are easy to retrofit and move if we need to. Additionally, it's very simple to expand the farm. Instead of remodeling or building an extension, we simply add another shipping container and fit it out in the same manner. Here in the parking lot, we have plenty of room to grow horizontally. At this stage, it's not practical for us to stack containers due to the need for climbing up and down ladders with produce."

According to the company, each shipping container yields between 50 and 70 pounds of produce each week. The containers have been engineered to be environmentally friendly and food safe. "The mineral nutrient system cycles and recycles, so each container only requires eight to ten gallons of water per day. Any kind of food safety issue can be contained in each farm," Ch'ien said.

Culinary herbs the focus
Vertical farms still have a way to go to become a mainstream source of produce. Currently, they are typically restricted to leafy greens and other plants that have minimal energy requirements. Square Roots focuses on culinary herbs. The herbs are grown and packed inside the container and then delivered to local independent retailers on one of the company's tricycles.

"Leafy greens are the easiest to grow vertically," Ch'ien observed. "We can also grow things like grape tomatoes and other small vegetables. It really depends on the energy requirements of each plant. Here at Square Roots, we focus on culinary herbs, with each container specializing in a herb. Typically, the timeframe of maturity to harvest is four to six weeks, depending on the herb. We grow in sections and harvest each container twice per week, so that there is always produce that is ready to be picked."

Square Roots uses these tricycles to deliver their produce direct to customers in the NYC area.

Ch'ien notes that growing more energy-intensive commodities such as tomatoes and small root vegetables is not economical at this stage but said that this may soon become viable as technology continues to improve. "Outside of leafy greens and herbs, it's very challenging to grow other crops economically right now. However, technology is improving each year, providing us with increased opportunities to scale and moderate costs. Additionally, we want to ensure we balance sellable yields with quality."

As to the question of whether vertical farming is a threat to traditional farming, Ch'ien believes the two are not mutually exclusive, but rather the whole system can work side by side. "We don't see it as a competition between traditional land-based farming and urban, vertical farming. All growers have the same goal which is to deliver the freshest, best quality produce to customers. We believe vertical farming can work in tandem with traditional farming, each serving a useful purpose in the industry."

For more information:
Karsten Ch'ien
Square Roots
Ph: +1 (740) 337-6687 
karsten@squarerootsgrow.com
www.squarerootsgrow.com

Publication date : 12/18/2018 
Author: Dennis Rettke 
© FreshPlaza.com

IKEA and Tom Dixon Announce Urban Farming Collection

Gunseli Yalcinkaya | 29 November 2018  4 comments

IKEA has teamed up with British designer Tom Dixon to launch an urban farming project that encourages city-dwellers to grow food locally.

Dixon and the homeware brand are developing a series of gardening products and tools that can be used by individuals in cities to grow their own food and medicinal plants at home, available in IKEA stores globally in 2021.

Collaboration aims to encourage growing food at home

The project aims to motivate and enable a healthier and sustainable lifestyle for people in cities by making "homes the new farmland".

It also aims to build awareness of where food comes from and show the ways in which growing produce can be introduced into the home. "Food is a crucial part of everyday life, and IKEA wants to inspire and enable a healthier and more sustainable life," said IKEA.

Renders of the two planned levels at the Tom Dixon and IKEA RHS Chelsea Flower Show installation in May 2019

"If more greens were to be grown in homes, it would have a positive impact on the planet with fewer transports, lower water usage and less food waste."

Presentation at Chelsea Flower Show will demonstrate possibilities

An experimental model for growing plants in urban environments will be presented in May 2019 at the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show in Chelsea in London.

It will feature a garden that is divided into two levels. The base garden will include a "horticultural laboratory" where hydroponic technology will be used to grow "hyper-natural" plants.

The raised level – described as a "botanical oasis" – will have a canopy-like ecosystem of trees and plants chosen for their medicinal, health and environmental properties.

The installation aims to explore the difference between natural and technology-driven approaches to farming. "Gardening is unique in its universal appeal and its transformational power," said Dixon.

"Although we are not traditional garden designers, we think we can demonstrate ways that anybody could make a small difference and broadcast not only the beauty but also the functional importance of horticulture through both traditional knowledge and the latest in growing innovation," he explained.

IKEA builds on previous urban gardening products

This is not the first time IKEA has branched into urban farming products. In 2016, the Swedish brand launched an indoor gardening product, intended to bring home hydroponics to a larger market.

"For IKEA, this collaboration is about challenging the way society looks at growing in general and addressing that it’s both possible and rewarding to have a place to grow your own plants in the city," said James Futcher, creative leader at IKEA Range and Supply.

"Food is key to humanity and design can support with better solutions. Because at the end of the day we need people to feel inspired to grow and harvest their own edibles within their homes and communities."

IKEA and Tom Dixon's previous project together was a bed that launched earlier this year with a distinctive furry cover and modular elements that allowed customers to modify the product for their own needs.

Farms in the City: How a Chinese Firm Uses Tech to Boost Yield

By Feng Yilei

2018-12-01 08:01 GMT+8

Updated 2018-12-01 09:06 GMT+8

An appetite for clean, fresh greens is growing with the burgeoning population in Chinese cities and towns. But feeding the rising demand is a challenge, partly because of the country's massive shift from being an agrarian to urban economy.

In the next 15 years, over 200 million Chinese are expected to move from rural areas into urban and suburban environments. This will greatly reduce the labor force on China's arable lands, which some say calls for a revolution in farming methods in order to create sustainable food production.

Beijing COFCO wisdom farm. /COFCO Photo

In suburban Beijing, a number of plant factories built with innovative techniques have incorporated farming into urban growth.

Dr. Wei Lingling, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said controlled environmental agriculture (CEA) aims to get the most output with the least resources at the highest efficiency. They use technology like artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to precisely control production.

On a small plot of indoor space, plants are rooted on layered shelves vertically and bathe in light continuously during the day. Sensors linked to automatic irrigation and temperature control systems provide optimal conditions for growing.

Planned production means a higher yield resource-wise, space optimization, and labor savings. Dr. Wei believes CEA technologies will be more accurate in the future to better balance cultivation and the environment with less energy consumption.

“And in this closed production system, we circulate water and fertilizer to cut emissions, and improve sustainability of agriculture,” she added.

Plant factory using artificial light. /VCG Photo

While many believe this industrialized and intelligent way of farming will gradually replace extensive farming, which relies heavily on manual work and land usage for mass production, ordinary Chinese may have to accept difficulties in their daily lives during the process of moving on to the next stage.

For individual farmers that own the country's hundreds of millions of small plots, some have temporarily transferred their leaseholds to these high-tech farms and are adapting to their new roles.

Villager Wang Xiangang said that he got paid for both his land and working on the farm as an employee meaning he no longer worries about natural disasters and has time to learn about organic farming. He doesn't make as much as he used to, but it is stable.

And when conditions are ripe – will consumers be ready to pay a higher price for the products? Experts say the public will recognize the value of these crops as awareness of food safety and environmental stewardship rises. And once the demand rises, more players are expected to use tech-based food production, which will drive down prices.

Danone Among Backers of French Urban Farming Start-Up Agricool

Posted By: Contributor on: December 07, 2018

French urban agriculture start-up Agricool has secured $28 million in its latest funding round, including an investment from Danone’s investment arm, Danone Manifesto Ventures.

In the past three years, Agricool has developed a technology to grow local fruits and vegetables more productively and within small and controlled spaces, known as ‘Cooltainers’ (recycled shipping containers transformed into urban farms).

The Paris-based business said it is responding to reports which suggest that by 2030 20% of products consumed worldwide will come from urban farming – compared to 5% today.

Other investors in the round – which adds to $13 million previously raised – include Bpifrance Large Venture Fund, Antoine Arnault via Marbeuf Capital, Solomon Hykes and a dozen other backers.

With the new funding, Agricool aims to position itself as a key player in the vertical farming sector. The start-up hopes to multiply its production by 100 by 2021, in Paris first, then internationally, starting in Dubai, where a container has already been installed in The Sustainable City.

Agricool said that its challenge, and that of urban farming, is to help develop the production of food for a growing urban population which wants to eat quality produce, while limiting the ecological impact of its consumption.

In a statement, the start-up said: “Agricool strawberries are harvested when perfectly ripe and contain on average 20% more sugar and 30% more vitamin C than supermarket strawberries.

“The production technique makes for strawberries which require 90% less water to grow compared to traditional agriculture, with zero pesticides, and a reduced transportation distance reduced to only a few kilometers between the place of production and point of sale.”

Agricool co-founder and CEO Guillaume Fourdinier said: “We are very excited about the idea of supporting urban farming towards massive development, and it will soon no longer be a luxury to eat exceptional fruits and vegetables in the city.”

Jenny Quiner Brings Local Produce To Des Moines With DogPatch Urban Gardens

Jake Slobe  December 5, 2018

In the fall of 2015, Jenny Quiner launched Dogpatch Urban Gardens (DUG), the only for-profit farm inside Des Moines city limits.

Before starting the farm, Quiner was a high school science teacher for six years.

“It was a great gig, but in those six years I had three little boys and was just feeling compelled to do something else in my life,” said Quiner.

Just a few years later and Quiner has wrapped up her third successful season and Dogpatch Urban Gardens has become a well-known name within the Des Moines food scene.

The garden’s biggest source of revenue comes from its onsite farm stand, Quiner told Clay & Milk.  The DUG FarmStand is a seasonal onsite locally-sourced store that sells DUG products as well as other items from growers and producers throughout the state of Iowa. DUG also sells products to the Iowa Food Coop, local restaurants and through a subscription service called “Salad Subscription”.

In addition to selling food, the farm also contains an Air BnB called the “Urban FarmStay.”

Dogpatch Urban Gardens is located in the middle of Des Moines and has turned an acre of land to a garden and farm stand selling other local producers goods. (Photo courtesy of DogPatch Urban Gardens).

An expensive roadblock

Earlier this year, county officials told Quiner that the farm stand operates more like a commercial business and would need to make changes in order to follow commercial business requirements.

The unplanned costs and changes forced the Quiners appeal for help from supporters with a Kickstarter campaign.

“We raised around $27,000 and our goal was $15,000,” Quiner said. “We were very excited with how the community rallied and supported us.”

Looking ahead

Quiner recently took part in the Fall 2018 cohort of Venture School to help her better understand who her primary customers are.

“It’s been fabulous connecting with other entrepreneurs in the area. I’ve really enjoyed the program,” Quiner said. “It has really allowed me to better get to know my customers and helped me pinpoint who I need to target my marketing towards.”

Next season, Quiner plans to start holding events to the farm including farm-to-table dinners and wellness workshops.

“We’ve also just added a commercial kitchen space,” Quiner said. So next season we’re going to be focusing in on grab and go options like ready-to-eat salads and sandwiches that people can come and by at the farm stand.”

This Hidden U Of T Rooftop Farm Helps Feed the Hungry—and Could Impact How Cities Eat

By Kimberly Lyn

To feed Toronto, we must import more than 6000 tonnes of food every single day. As a result, more than 30 per cent of Toronto's environmental footprint is food-related—including the impact of shipping, pesticides and packaging. In fact, Toronto's food footprint affects the environment even more than its car traffic. And the reliance on imports also comes with a social cost: for those in poverty, fresh, organic produce can be hard to access.

But atop an engineering building at the University of Toronto, students are conducting a living experiment in doing food differently: one of the city's biggest and most innovative food-producing rooftop gardens.

For more than eight years, Sky Garden's student and alumni volunteer farmers have planted, watered, weeded, and harvested produce on the bright, windswept rooftop of U of T's Galbraith Building. Their yield clocks in at an impressive 500 pounds of fresh, organic produce a year, and they send more than half of it directly to nearby Scott Mission—so that people in need can receive hot meals made with organic, locally grown produce.

“The garden takes inanimate concrete and transforms it into something that’s growing things,” says Matt Stata, a PhD student in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology, who helps oversee the project.

“It’s an example of what's possible,” says Stata. “There are so many unused roof spaces in Toronto that could be producing food... and so many people who would love to garden, but don't have any space to do it. And the people at Scott Mission are ecstatic when we bring over bags and bags of fresh produce. There's a real need.”

That vision is shared by U of T's affinity partners and alumni, who help fund the Sky Garden project. When alumni use a U of T MBNA credit card, or sign up for insurance through Manulife or TD Insurance, these affinity partners contribute a portion of the proceeds to Sky Garden—as well as to other key U of T alumni and student initiatives that are making an impact on our community.

Sky Garden's unique containers

Sky Garden is catching on: its volunteers have been called on to help set up similar rooftop gardens for other Toronto buildings and residences.

Rooftop gardens are a compelling idea because they offer all the benefits of a conventional green roof—stormwater retention, heat reduction, and air quality improvement—but with the added benefits of producing food, building a stronger sense of community, and helping connect people to food, nature, and each other.

Of course, farming on a roof comes with its challenges. Sky Garden's volunteer farmers use special, lightweight semi-hydroponic containers (featuring only a thin layer of soil) instead of covering the whole roof in soil, to ensure the farm doesn't exceed the roof's weight limit—since older roofs like Galbraith's can only bear so much.

They've also learned to cultivate shorter plants, as tall plants such as sunflowers can be bowled over by the strong rooftop wind. "We're actually growing corn this year," Stata says, "but it's a dwarf variety."

Sky Garden volunteers, Cindy and Matt.

Plus, not all produce works out. "We can't seem to grow kale," Stata muses. "We don't get too many pests up here, but for some reason, aphids just go bonkers for our kale." 

But with every year that passes, the students have learned more and more about rooftop farming.

Give pumpkins and squash a few buckets to stretch out in, like they would in a real field.

Rip out plants as soon as they've stopped producing, and replace them with ones that are ready to produce—that way you use your containers more efficiently, and get a much bigger yield.

And don't even think about hand-watering and hand-fertilizing—it might work for a small garden, but it isn't viable for a farm of Sky Garden's size. Instead, the students installed an automated drip irrigation system, so each plant can suck up as much fertilized water as it needs, without drowning or drying out.

Sky Garden has also become a hub for other urban agricultural experiments. It's home to a year-round beekeeping operation, a solar-powered fruit dehydrator, and an array of unusual and heirloom produce—from ghost-white pumpkins to blue (yes, blue) tomatoes.

Sky Garden tomatoes. Photo by Jesse Milns

Student farmers are also trained in seed collection and preservation, and are encouraged to grow their own pet projects. In 2018, Sky Garden is hosting a student's struggling goji berry plant, testing out baby bok choy, and tackling their very first crop of mushrooms—grown in buckets of used coffee grounds, acquired "from a deal we struck with the local Second Cup," says Stata.

And the results have been mouth-watering. "There's a noticeable difference between our melons and grocery store melons," says Stata. "By letting our melons ripen on the vine, they're so much sweeter."

But the sweetest thing of all, according to Stata?

"Seeing how excited the students are to learn."

When you use U of T alumni financial services, you support Sky Garden too. Learn more »

Young, Hip Farmers: Coming To A City Near You

Date:December 3, 2018

Source:Purdue University

Summary:The population of American farmers is aging, but a study shows a new generation of farmers is flocking to cities with large populations, farmers markets and the purchasing power to support a market for niche goods.Share:     

FULL STORY

Farmers markets in larger cities are supporting a new, younger faction of American farmers.

Credit: Purdue University/Mark Simons

If you've been to your neighborhood farmers market or seen a small "local" section pop up in your grocery store, you may have noticed a trend: People want to know where their food is coming from, and the agricultural industry is responding. The number of farmers markets in the U.S. has skyrocketed in recent years, but with an aging population of farmers, who's supporting this growth?

Enter the new American farmer. It's a term used by Andrew Flachs, an environmental anthropologist at Purdue University, to describe a movement of younger people new to agricultural work who do it for different reasons than the conventional farmer. They may be motivated through higher education, personal politics, disenchantment with urban life or in search of an authentic rural identity, he says.

In a new paper in the journal Rural Sociology, Flachs identifies several hot spots where this movement is really taking shape: the West Coast, central Texas and Oklahoma, central Florida and the Great Lakes region.

"We're seeing these hot spots pop up in the peripheries of hip cities," Flachs said. "Some of these places might seem obvious, like the West Coast and the northern Midwest around Madison, the Twin Cities and Chicago. But we also see some things that aren't totally expected."

Among the unexpected trends he found, east Texas and the southern Midwest are becoming increasingly important for this kind of agriculture. Appalachia, which has historically been a hub, essentially disappeared from the map.

In collaboration with Matthew Abel, an anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Flachs built a model that counts how many traits associated with new American agrarianism appear in each county. With data from the USDA agricultural censuses from 1997 to 2012, they considered factors such as average sales per farm, number of certified organic farms, owners under age 34, number of farms selling directly to individuals, proximity to farmers markets and more.

The findings show that newer farmers appear to thrive on the outskirts of cities that provide high demand and purchasing power, a large population and healthy number of farmers markets.

The price of real estate is another important factor in determining where these markets can flourish. Rural developers have steadily increased farm real estate over the last few decades, which could deter newer farmers from settling down there. Concentrations of urban wealth drive up real estate costs in the city while simultaneously creating new niche markets, making space for younger farmers to exist between urban and rural landscapes.

Identifying where new and small farmers live and work will pave the way for further research on what's motivating this budding sector of the agricultural economy. New American farmers occupy an important intersection of niche marketing strategies, environmental politics and rural demographic change that could have a significant impact on food production and social life in agrarian landscapes, according to the paper.

Flachs points out that many new American farmers approach agriculture with hopes to embody a nostalgic past where food and environments were healthier, but others may be simply trying to make a living as farmers amid dissatisfaction with conventional agribusiness. Although it's easy to stereotype, it's unlikely that all new American farmers fit this description.

"Sometimes when we think about these farmers, we picture young people with liberal arts degrees looking for some kind of connection to the earth or wanting to work with their hands," Flachs said. "What we found is that that's probably not the most representative view of who these people actually are. I'm glad to have my stereotype broken up by the data."

Story Source:

Materials provided by Purdue University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

1. Andrew Flachs, Matthew Abel. An Emerging Geography of the Agrarian Question: Spatial Analysis as a Tool for Identifying the New American Agrarianism. Rural Sociology, 2018; DOI: 10.1111/ruso.12250

Urban Farms are Becoming Budding Business Enterprises

Joe Jenkins, owner of Bow Tide Farms, harvests Arugula with Kate Lainhart at the farm in Richmond on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018.

By TAMMIE SMITH Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Nov 18, 2018

Urban farms cropping up all over Richmond are more than backyard gardens on steroids.

Joe Jenkins and his wife, Whitney Maier, were growing more organic vegetables in raised beds in their backyard in North Richmond than they could eat, so he started taking some to his job at a restaurant to give to co-workers.

The chef there said the arugula was better than what he was getting from vendors and that he wanted to buy it from Jenkins.

Jenkins and business partner Josh Dziegiel operate Bow Tide Farms, which grows and sells arugula, mixed greens and other produce to about half a dozen Richmond restaurants.

At Shalom Farms’ new Westwood urban farm in North Richmond, mostly volunteers work there, including those that recently helped farm manager Katharine Wilson harvest sweet potatoes — produce that went to food access initiatives such as a healthy corner store project, mobile markets and local food banks.

After the harvest, the fields became a classroom as Wilson talked to a group of elementary school kids about the farm and had them help pull up rows and rows of leftover sweet potato vines to go into a compost pile.

***

The urban farming phenomenon is creating agricultural entrepreneurs — agripreneurs — who are passionate about growing healthy, tasty food locally using methods that are sustainable and that minimize impact on the environment.

The farms are a mix of commercial enterprises and charitable operations.

“It’s similar to many small businesses. The profits don’t start rolling in when you put up your nameplate,” said Sally Schwitters, executive director of local urban farm pioneer Tricycle — Urban Ag Culture.

She has seen a shift from urban farms created as feel-good enterprises to those focused on customers and buyers.

Tricycle — Urban Ag Culture, a nonprofit that started its first urban farm more than a decade ago in Church Hill, has updated its programs accordingly.

The organization is about to graduate its second class of urban agriculture fellows who have spent a year learning crop growth and management and farm business management. The training program is offered in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Bon Secours Richmond Health System.

“We have courses on how to develop your business plan, how to get a loan, marketing and promotion of your business. We’ve seen that shift,” Schwitters said.

“A lot of this is customer demand where it has moved from this romantic notion to what consumers truly want. Our restaurants, our small grocers, our large grocers all want to be able to source more locally produced food. We as consumers are demanding that,” she said.

Some past fellows have gone on to start commercial urban farms such as Creighton Farm LLC and Hazel Witch Farm, Schwitters said. Operators of both also are working other jobs as they build their businesses, she said.

***

Jenkins and Dziegiel are just finishing their first growing season at Bow Tide Farms at the corner of Brook Road and Wilmington Avenue in North Richmond.

From the start, their plan was to sell to restaurants instead of trying to hit all the farmers markets. Both still work full-time jobs in hospitality. They are self-taught farmers, learning from other farmers, books and videos, and Dziegiel interned at a farm in Canada in summer 2017, Jenkins said.

“Our business plan was basically to go in and say both Josh and I have been in the restaurant industry. We know a lot of the chefs. We saw the product that was out there, and we felt like that we could do something better,” Jenkins said.

They took samples to local restaurants and pitched their products, including arugula and salad mixes, to chefs.

Their clients include the three Tazza Kitchen locations; Mama Zu; SB’s Lakeside Love Shack; Julep’s, where Jenkins works; and Edo’s Squid, where Dziegiel works.

“At this point, we are doing a little better than breaking even with a little less than half a growing season,” Jenkins said in an interview in October.

“We didn’t have water until after June. We didn’t have power until after mid-August,” he said.

They are leasing the land that had been used for softball. It’s been just the two of them and one other person hired to come in one day a week to help with harvests, Jenkins said.

He said they have spent about $15,000 getting the farm up and running. Having the water lines installed cost about $8,000.

They bought a piece of equipment called a paperpot transplanter, which sells for about $2,800, to speed up planting. Using the machine, they can put 264 small plants into the ground in 15 to 20 minutes, work that would take the two of them 90 minutes if done completely manually.

They raised some of the startup funds through a crowdfunding campaign. Contributors got membership in the farm’s Community Supported Agriculture organization.

They sell their arugula for about $10 a pound, Jenkins said. Heirloom tomatoes were priced higher than cherry tomatoes. During a typical week, they processed between 180 and 220 pounds of greens, he said.

“There is a number that you can go through that everyone has,” Jenkins said. “There is a kind of set price across the board in Richmond. You can say this is the average of what everyone is paying. That’s kind of where we priced our things out. We tried to look at it as one of those beds is usually worth between $400 and $500. So once it’s completed its cycle, we want to see that it’s made $400 or $500.”

On a recent morning, Dziegiel delivered an order of arugula that has been harvested, washed and dried the day before to The Big Kitchen, a new concept in Scott’s Addition in which fully prepared meals are made, kept chilled and then packaged in containers that allow for a pop into the microwave or oven once at home.

***

Shalom Farms, a nonprofit with volunteers providing most of the farm labor, limits to 10 percent the amount of its produce to be used to earn income, said executive director Dominic Barrett.

Last year, the organization’s primary farm in Powhatan County grew over 220,000 pounds of produce, food that was distributed through the organization’s food access programs.

The group’s new Westwood site began farm production on about half of the 5 acres available. It’s probably the area’s largest urban farm, though because of its size and use of tractors, Barrett said they don’t call it an urban farm.

“We just call it a farm. It’s not that it’s not an urban farm. We think people typically think of smaller scale, more attentive growing, often raised beds [as urban farms]. What we are doing there resembles more traditional rural agriculture in many ways but just placed in a city setting,” Barrett said.

***

At Virginia State University, urban agriculture expert Leonard Githinji said part of a 12-week certificate program in urban agriculture that VSU offers focuses on how to make urban farm enterprises successful.

Participants get the benefits of research-proven methods. One project underway there now is comparing growth of 14 varieties of sweet potatoes.

“You learn how to grow stuff in the most optimal way, but then you need to have a market,” said Githinji, an assistant professor and extension specialist in sustainable and urban agriculture.

He has seen some interest in indoor hydroponics systems that don’t use soil, but the higher initial investment can be a deterrent.

“With those, you can get produce fairly quickly, in a couple of months, while people who are growing in the ground it may take longer because of preparation and depending on the season,” he said.

Githinji also said the urban agriculture movement is more than a fad.

“In my opinion, it’s here to stay for a couple of reasons. There is a high demand for produce, and now there is also this movement of people wanting to consume locally grown produce. The more they understand the benefits of locally grown produce, they have the demand to buy food grown within their neighborhoods,” he said.

“There are also people out there who want to have a small business to serve other people,” Githinji said.

More than 60 people have gone through the certificate course that meets from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on consecutive Saturdays. The next session starts in May.

To finish the programs, participants have to complete 80 hours interning with community farms or co-ops in order to receive certification. So far, 23 have completed the requirements to be certified, said Cynthia Martin, education support assistant for the cooperative extension program at Virginia State.

Martin said she knows of at least four participants who have started farms. Others have talked about family land they would like to farm.

“Their dream is to go back,” Martin said. “The passion is there, but the land has been sitting there with nobody doing anything.”

***

Challenges to the growth of urban farms include land-use policies and infrastructure, said Duron Chavis, community engagement coordinator for Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Chavis for years helped drive grass-roots efforts to establish community gardens in Richmond.

“The city has a great deal of vacant property, close to 1,000 or more vacant parcels that the city owns. The Maggie Walker Community Land Trust is working to identify parcels of land that cannot be turned into affordable housing that could be turned into urban ag enterprises,” said Chavis, who is on the board of the trust. Land toxicity can be an issue, as well.

“There are a lot of harsh chemicals that pollute urban land. That has to be mitigated before you can produce food,” Chavis said. “There have been conversations about indoor farms. None of them have gotten traction here in Richmond.”

***

Initiatives such as the Real Local RVA and businesses such as Ellwood Thompson’s Local Market and Little House Green Grocery are important to the survival of urban farms, experts say.

Real Local RVA’s members are small independent grocers, restaurants, farmers markets and others, and the organization emphasizes locally produced food. This year’s annual farm tour highlighted four Richmond-area urban farms — Tricycle Urban Ag, Bow Tide Farms, Community Food Collaborative and Lakeside’s Tiny Acre.

Little House Green Grocery on Bellevue Avenue in Richmond gets in produce almost daily from local farms, said store owner Erin Wright. It carries products from over 50 local vendors, including bakery products, prepared foods and home goods.

“There are so many reasons why urban farms are important,” Wright said. “The environmental impact. When we can buy directly from farms, we can reduce the amount of packaging and the amount of food miles that the food travels, making it more nutritious and more delicious. We can reduce waste because we are simply getting it fresher.”

Connections are made between consumers and producers who know each other, she added.

“We are able to talk directly to farmers and find out what is going on with them, what they are excited about and what their challenges are, and pass that along to the consumers as a real look at the impact of their purchasing power,” Wright said.

Farming In A Box Comes To Downtown Holyoke

By PAUL TUTHILL •  2018

WAMC Northeast Report

The two shipping containers converted to hydroponic farms sit on a lot on Race Street in Holyoke next to the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute.

Francesca Mazzillio, head farm manager for Freight Farms, explains some of the container farm equipment. Freight Farms is a Massachusetts start-up company that converts old freight trailers to food production units.

The urban agriculture pilot project is funded for two years with $208.000 from MassDevelopment.

A new project in urban agriculture is launching this week in western Massachusetts.

Community farmers and college students will grow produce inside two shipping containers that have been outfitted with hydroponic farming technology and set up on a vacant lot in downtown Holyoke. It is a pilot project which, if successful, could help satisfy a demand for locally grown food year-round and create jobs.

The container farm project is a joint venture of the city of Holyoke, Holyoke Community College, and the grassroots urban agriculture organization Nuestras Raices. MassDevelopment provided $208,000 to pay for the project through the agency’s Transformative Development Initiative, which is intended to promote economic growth in the state’s Gateway Cities.

Lettuce and herbs will be grown to be sold to local stores and restaurants. Each of the 40-foot-long containers can grow as much produce in a year as an acre of farmland.

"We have local farms in Holyoke, but I think it is great to try this type of farming and bring the community into it as well," said  Alina Daveledzarova of Westfield , whohas been hired as the container farm manager.

The goal is to grow and sell enough product for the container farm to become self-supporting after two years, according to Insiyah Mohammad Bergeron, manager of the Holyoke Innovation District.

"So we are really excited, but we are treating it as a big experiment," said  Bergeron. "It is an emerging but very expensive technology, so we want accessiblity and equity to be a big part of the project."

Staffing at the container farm will be a mix of HCC students, who will receive course credits for their work, and community members who be paid as apprentices.  The staff will turn over about every three months.

Kate Maiolatesi, who heads the sustainable studies programs at HCC, said some of her students will be interns at the container farm.

"They are in a program learning about how to farm and this is an opportunity for them to see what more of an urban farm setting is," said Maiolatesi. " They also are looking for employment and there is growing interest in this kind of farming verus land farming, so we thought it would be a great program to be involved in."

For Nuestras Raices, which operates a 30-acre farm in Holyoke and a network of community gardens, the appeal of the container farm is to able to grow produce year round, says Hilda Roque, the organization’s executive director.

"This came as a blessing because we will be able to grow food during the winter time,"  said Roque.

The container farm is next to the new HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute which opened earlier this year in a converted former mill building.

Imagining The Impossible: The Futuristic Designs of Vincent Callebaut

Adam Williams

July 24th, 2018

New Atlas takes a look at Vincent Callebaut's most interesting architectural designs (Credit: Vincent Callebaut Architectures)

Sometimes outlandish, often fantastical, but always compelling, Vincent Callebaut's projects range from realizable ideas like towers covered in greenery to conceptual works depicting a near-future in which architecture, technology, and nature are blended to make cities a more pleasant – and sustainable – place to live.

The Belgian architect heads his firm Vincent Callebaut Architectures in Paris, France. Over the years he has developed a recognizable design language that draws inspiration from nature and makes liberal use of honeycomb patterns and complex geometry. He seems poised for greater prominence now though, as at least two of his projects are due to be built in the next few years.

Let's take a look at some of his most interesting designs.

5 Farming Bridges

Now that the so-called Islamic State has been expelled from Mosul, Iraq, the reconstruction of the city can begin. The 5 Farming Bridges proposal involves rebuilding a like number of bridges destroyed during the fighting and using them as residential units and urban farms. Existing rubble would be used as building material, with flying drones and spider-like robots doing the actual construction.

Manta Ray

The Manta Ray proposal envisions a manta ray-shaped ferry terminal in Seoul, South Korea. The remarkable-looking building would float in place to deal with seasonal flooding and sport a huge roof covered with a solar power array, along with a wind turbine farm. Biodegradable waste and high-tech water turbines would transform the river's kinetic energy into power too – all of which would allow the ferry terminal to power itself and send a surplus to Seoul.

2050 Paris Smart City

Created for a competition seeking ideas to turn the City of Light into a City of Green in the coming decades, 2050 Paris Smart City calls for 15 new sustainable towers to be built on the rooftops of existing buildings on the city's famous Rue De Rivoli. The towers would feature residential units and sport dragonfly-shaped solar panels on their facade, providing all required electricity for the project.

Nautilus Eco-Resort

The Nautilus Eco-Resort is a paradise imagined for the Philippines that would allow well-heeled tourists to vacation without polluting the planet (excepting on the flight there, presumably). The whole thing would be arranged into a shape inspired by the Fibonacci sequence and include a dozen spiral hotel towers that rotate to follow the sun. Nearby, a like number of sea snail-shaped buildings would include exhibition spaces and hotels, while at its center would be a large timber building covered with vegetable gardens and orchards.

Tour & Taxis

Callebaut's Tour & Taxis sees the Belgian architect propose a return to his home country to transform a former industrial area in Brussels into a vibrant sustainable community. The area would comprise three ski jump-shaped high-rises that would be topped by solar panels and covered in greenery. Other notable elements include wind turbines, rainwater harvesting, and the production of fruit and vegetables.

Hyperions

Hyperions consists of a cluster of connected timber towers in New Delhi, India, that are named after, and take design cues from, the world's tallest living tree. It will boast extensive greenery and enable occupants to grow their own vegetables on balconies, as well as the facades, the rooftops, and in specialized greenhouses. The interior is taken up by apartments, student housing, and office space, and it will all be powered by solar panels. According to Callebaut, this one is going to be built and is due to be completed by 2022.

Agora Garden Tower

It can be difficult to imagine how exactly all these renders would translate into brick and mortar buildings, but Taipei's Agora Garden Tower shows the way. Sporting a twisting form inspired by DNA's double helix shape, the building twists 4.5 degrees each floor, turning a total of 90 degrees in all. Once completed, it'll feature 23,000 trees, as well as a rainwater capture system and solar power.

Way To Grow: Urban Farms Are An Amenity At Many Developments

2018 Margaret Jackson, Bisnow Denver

As people increasingly demand to know where their food comes from, more developers are jumping on board to integrate urban farms into their projects.

Courtesy of Tracy Weil

RiNo Art District Creative Director Tracy Weil grows heirloom tomatoes at Farm 39 in RiNo

Take S*Park. Named for its heritage as Sustainability Park, the 99-unit residential project in Denver’s Curtis Park neighborhood includes a 7,200 SF greenhouse with 340 aeroponic towers that will grow leafy greens.

The greenhouse will be operated by Altius Farms, which will offer residents a vegetable subscription program, greenhouse tours and classes and community dinners with Denver celebrity chefs. Altius also will provide neighborhood restaurants with produce from the greenhouse.

Courtesy of Altius Farms

Altius Farms will grow leafy greens on towers like these at Scissortail Farms in Tulsa, Okla.

Altius Farms founder and CEO Sally Herbert said the tower system at S*Park will produce 75,000 pounds of leafy greens a year — the equivalent of 1.5 acres of conventional farming each month. The towers use 10% of the water of a traditional farm and produce 10 times the yield, and the produce is much fresher than what consumers find in grocery stores, she said. Colorado imports 97% of its produce, and after it spends seven to 14 days in transport, between 20% and 40% of it is discarded.

“When restaurateurs receive produce that’s come in from Arizona or California, it’s been harvested early and gets wilty or bruised,” she said. “You have to throw away the crappy stuff.”

NAVA Real Estate Development is taking a different approach at Lakehouse, its 12-story, 196-unit condominium project at Sloan’s Lake. The produce from its second-floor garden will be available only for residents of the 12-story building.

“We are growing a certain amount of vegetables and herbs on-site that will be professionally managed and harvested,” NAVA co-founder and CEO Brian Levittsaid. “We’ll have a harvest room where people can be part of a harvest. There will be opportunities where people can reach over and pick something and put it in their salad. There will be a juicing center and sauna where people can sit and enjoy the juice.”

Bisnow/Margaret Jackson

The greenhouse at S*Park will provide produce to residents and nearby restaurants.

The garden is just one component of NAVA’s efforts to ensure a healthy environment for residents of Lakehouse, which is seeking Well Building certification. It also must meet standards for air and water quality and fitness, among other things.

Urban Ventures has launched a wellness program that includes food production at Aria Denver development. Aria Denver has partnered with Regis University to launch the Cultivate Health program at its development in northwest Denver. Food production, in both gardens and greenhouses in the neighborhood, is just one component of the program, which is designed to support the health and wellness of residents living in the multi-generational, mixed-income community. Its food production partners are UrbiCulture Farms and Groundwork Denver.

Courtesy of Tracy Weil

Farm 39 in RiNo sells about 8,000 tomato plants a year.

Urban farming is a growing trend both in new developments and city neighborhoods.

Artist Tracy Weil, creative director of the RiNo Art District, co-founded Heirloom Tomato Farms with Carolyn Jansen in 2004 when they weren’t able to find the produce they wanted. They started with 175 plants, which they sold and gave to friends. Weil was on the board of The GrowHaus, a nonprofit indoor farm, marketplace and educational center in Denver’s Elyria-Swansea neighborhood. The GrowHaus, based in a historic 20K SF greenhouse, agreed to give him enough space to expand to 1,200 plants.

But then aphids from the herbs in The GrowHaus infested Weil's tomato plants, so he built his own greenhouse — Farm 39 — on an eighth of an acre at 3611 Chestnut Place in RiNo. Jansen started The Sparrow in Capital Hill. The combined farms are known as Heirloom Tomato Farms. Now, people line up every spring to purchase some of the 8,000 plants the two farms grow before they sell out.

“It’s been kind of a nice supplemental income,” he said. “As an artist, I wanted to diversify my income stream.

Stories From Around the Food System

How to go from City Living to Urban Farming in Six Months [Northeastern]

Do you know where your leafy greens come from? If you’re dining at a restaurant in Boston, there’s a good chance the salad greens you’re eating have been grown by two friends inside a small apartment in the city’s South End neighborhood.

Urban Farmers Forced Off Land Find New Ground to Grow [Chicago Tribune]

The wind-whipped rooftop of a converted warehouse in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor might be the last place you'd expect to find fertile farmland, unless you're Jen Rosenthal, founder and owner of Planted Chicago.

Urban Agriculture Could Transform Food Security [SciDev.net]

Using science, technology and innovation (STI) could help promote the use of urban agriculture to sustain food and nutrition security in African cities, experts say.

Helping the Homeless Through Farm-to-Table Training [Great Big Story]

There’s a San Francisco garden growing more than just produce. In a city plagued by homelessness, the Farming Hope Initiative offers urban farming and cooking training to those without a place to live.

The Water Wars of Arizona [New York Times]

Attracted by lax regulations, industrial agriculture has descended on a remote valley, depleting its aquifer — leaving many residents with no water at all.

Weird New Fruits Could Hit Aisles Soon Thanks to Gene Editing [Guardian]

Smooth or hairy, pungent or tasteless, deep-hued or bright: new versions of old fruits could be hitting the produce aisles as plant experts embrace cutting-edge technology, scientists say.

Giant Indoor Vertical Farm Launches Just East of Las Vegas [CNBC]

An indoor vertical farm that uses 90 percent less water than conventional growers is about to launch in Las Vegas and will be able to supply nearly 9,500 servings of leafy green salads per day to casinos and local restaurant chains.

Meriden Aquaponics Scores $500K for New Haven Expansion [Hartford Business]

Meriden-based Trifecta Ecosystems, an aquaponics technology company and indoor farm, has received a $500,000 investment to grow its aquatic systems in the New Haven region.

Dubai Will Be Home To the World’s Biggest Vertical Farm [Smithsonian]

An indoor megafarm might be the best way for the United Arab Emirates—a country that imports an estimated 85 percent of its food—to attempt to feed itself

Vacant But Not Empty: New Hope Lingers As Abandoned Buildings Go Green In US Cities

Vacant But Not Empty: New Hope Lingers As Abandoned Buildings Go Green In US Cities

The idea is simple and inexpensive and with a little bit of creativity, these ghost towns can be turned into pushy green recreational areas.

By: Ambili S

Jun 9, 2018

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US FlagReuters

• Empty houses and buildings abandoned across the US cities are not new, especially in legacy cities like Detroit and Cleveland, where the clusters of vacant buildings have reached "epidemic levels."

In a survey conducted by US Census Bureau, the number of vacant properties grew from 3.7 million in 2005 to 5.8 million in 2016. In addition, cities like Gary, Detroit, and Flint tops the list.

So why are these properties empty? Though it is difficult to jolt down one particular problem as the cause, an array of issues—right from property taxes to speculative real estate market to changing land policies to diminishing industrial growth—have contributed to this scenario.

A slew of other surveys in the past few years have further made the shocking revelation on this issue. According to City Survey, Gary, Indiana's Parcel Survey found more than 25,000 vacant homes that comprise more than 40 percent of the city's parcels. While in Philadelphia, the numbers rose to 40,000 empty lots. In another study by the local NGO, Detroit Future City, the city had more than 120,000 vacant buildings in 2017.

While the growing vacant buildings are definitely an eyesore for the citizens, other public safety hazards like crime management activities are also a cause for concern. UW–Madison Geography Department graduate student Elsa Noterman has conducted an in-depth analysis of the conflicts, causes, and histories of these deserted properties.

The research strongly affirms that the banks, which sell or allow the ownership of the vacant lots, have failed to hear different voices while confirming the land titling process. It has also raised different viewpoints of the urban community development process and urges officials to consider going beyond the market value to explore the real usage of abandoned spaces.

Setting such views apart, a small neighborhood in Philadelphia has gone in a different direction and tasted success. The local community has converted one of these neglected properties into a community garden for its residents. However, the site was lost against a developer recently, who purchased the land before the urban farmers could obtain the title. Similarly, midwestern steel town Gary, Indiana is also making a slow comeback with various community-based redevelopment activities.

Many cities and local nonprofits are turning to greener ideas to make the maximum use of these buildings—urban farms, pocket parks, and community gardens top the list. With a little support from the local authorities, these forgotten towns can be converted into community green spots, suggests the research report.

It may succeed elsewhere as the idea is simple and inexpensive. With a little bit of creativity, these ghost towns can soon be turned into pushy green recreational areas.

Is it Really Safe To Eat Food Grown In Urban Gardens?

Is It Really Safe To Eat Food Grown In Urban Gardens?

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© Gunmanphoto/Shutterstock

I wanted to start a vegetable garden in my backyard. But my yard is in Brooklyn, a land of street garbage, truck exhaust, and stray cats. So I decided to figure it out: Was it really safe to grow food there? I had no idea that the rabbit hole I burrowed in urban gardens would lead to dead cows in Georgia, a global contamination meeting in Sweden, and the strange price we pay to make sure kids don’t catch on fire.

I started by calling Murray McBride, a professor at Cornell University who researches contamination, to find out if city gardens are really safe. According to McBride, I should be worried about one main thing:

“We found lead to be the biggest problem,” he told me. “There can be high concentrations of lead even in the garden beds.”

Making things with this toxic metal is a bit passé, but lead doesn’t go away. The lead painted in houses and used in gasoline and industry is still floating around in dust and landing in backgrounds. But there’s a twist: plants don’t generally take this lead up through their roots.

“It’s not in the lettuce. It’s in the dirt that may stick to the lettuce,” another scientist named Sally Brown would tell me later. So I should use compost and wash my plants before eating them, McBride explained. I had my answer. Or so I thought.

“So I should just buy compost at the gardening store?” I asked.

“Well … a lot of soil in those stores isn’t well regulated,” McBride told me. “Don't trust topsoil. And make sure you’re not buying sewer sludge.”

“… What?”

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© Devan King/The Nature Conservancy

McBride told me that sanitation plants take sewage sludge, clean it up a bit, and sell it as fertilizer. One popular brand of fertilizer, for instance, is sewer sludge from Milwaukee that’s sold around the country. These “biosolids,” as they’re called, can have pharmaceuticals, lead, toxic metals, and fire retardants in them. Safe amounts … maybe.

Hundreds of people who live near places where farmers dump biosolids have complained that the biosolids made them sick. Andy McElmurray, a dairy farmer in Georgia, fertilized his fields with biosolids. He grew hay in the fields and fed it to his cattle. Hundreds of cows got sick and died. McElmurray said the biosolids must have been tainted with industrial waste from nearby factories, poisoning the cows. He argued his case in court … and won.

“The administrative record contains evidence that senior EPA officials took extraordinary steps to quash scientific dissent, and any questioning of the EPA's biosolids program,” the court ruled.

I officially wanted to know more. Are these biosolids really that dangerous?

“You should talk to Robert Hale about it,” McBride told me. “He’s one of the world experts on a lot of these chemicals.”

So I called Hale, an environmental chemistry professor at the College of William & Mary who researches pollution.

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USDA/Public Domain

Hale told me that he’s analyzed biosolids and found all kinds of contaminants.

“They found flame retardants in this stuff in 2000,” he said. “And they’re still in there.” These chemicals are used to make stuff not catch on fire, and a lot of people are worried about their health and environmental effects. The EPA says they may cause learning disorders, thyroid disorders, and cancer.

And this stuff isn’t just in gardens. Most biosolids are spread over farmland. In fact, about half the sewage sludge in the country is applied to farmland (though generally farmland used to grown stuff like soybeans for fuel and animal chow rather than human food). Hale has even found flame retardants in Antarctica.

“Is that … a problem?” I asked. “Are biosolids safe?”

“That’s kind of the six million dollar question,” he answered. Nobody’s done enough research to know for sure how these chemicals affect people, or how many chemicals is too many. It wasn't really the answer I was hoping for.

“Should I be worried?” I asked. “Should the government step in?”

“The government is part of this,” Hale answered.

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© From water to trees to bees, there are a lot of natural elements that go into making our food that aren't listed on nutrition labels. PHOTO: Chris Helzer/TNC

The governnment actually makes a lot of these biosolids; they sell them and give them to farmers. “We’ve got this viewpoint in this country that things are safe until proven dangerous,” he added.

Hale says that other countries are more concerned. He once gave a talk in Sweden where experts from around the world met to discuss contamination. They were banning a particular flame retardant.

“They were congratulating themselves on how they solved the problem on a global basis,” Hale said. “I stood up and said, “Uh guys? All you have to do is look at the production statistics. We use 95 percent of it in North America, and we’re still using it.” A few jaws in the audience dropped.

I wasn’t concerned about urban gardens anymore. Instead, I was feeling the weight of yet another massive global problem settling onto my shoulders. Did I really have to live in a contaminated world now?

Still, something itched. This all seemed so extreme and, I don’t know, oddly cinematic. Was the situation really so dire? Was there something oddly familiar about this storyline? And would it make for a good Mr. Robot meets Farmville style show?

I wanted to talk to another expert before I made up my mind. So I called up Sally Brown, a University of Washington professor who, you guessed it, also researches this stuff.

We chatted about urban gardens as I wondered how I’d bring up biosolids. Fortunately, she started telling me about a great urban gardening program in Washington and mentioned that it used biosolids.

“Yeah,” I said, trying not to sound too excited. “I heard biosolids are dangerous.”

“They’re not,” she said flatly. “People always think they are, but they’re not.”

I wasn’t convinced.

“I talked to Robert Hale,” I said.

“He’s made a lot of his fame and fortune by telling people they’re going to die if they eat biosolids,” she said. “You can make a name for yourself screaming the sky is falling.”

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© K Martinko

Brown didn’t exactly disagree with Hale’s research. She told me that, yes, there are flame retardants and other chemicals in sewage sludge, but the levels are kept low (Hale isn't so sure about that), they aren’t going into the plants, and nobody really knows if they can make people sick. Besides, the chemicals in sewage come mostly … from our houses.

“They’re in our TVs, they’re in our furniture, they’re in our laptops,” she said. “They used to be in kids’ pajamas. The concentration of this stuff in dust in your home is much higher than in biosolids.”

Brown pointed out that if your kid chews on his flame retardant pajamas, he’s getting exposed to “several million times” more of the stuff than is in biosolids. Hale actually told me something similar: a couple decades ago, a study found that flame retardants in Swedish women’s breast milk have been increasing exponentially over a ten year period. Then someone tested American women.

“The levels were ten times higher,” Hale said. The flame retardants probably came from indoor dust. Hale agrees that there are generally more of these contaminates inside than in biosolids; he's just worried about them everywhere.

I was not feeling particularly reassured.

“Wait, so should I be worried about all these chemicals in my house?” I asked Brown.

“It’s really, really hard to say,” she answered. “Just because chemicals are there doesn’t mean they can hurt you.” Besides, even if these chemicals are questionable, they might be worth the risk.

“It’s much better to have a kid exposed to flame retardants than for the kid to catch on fire,” Brown said.

So there you have it: We’re putting sewage with flame retardants, toxic metals, and other surprise stuff in it over our gardens and farmland. But that’s largely because sewage comes from the buildings we live and work in, which have even more of these chemicals in them. And the jury’s still out on whether these chemicals in these amounts are dangerous contaminates or harmless specks of dust. Or somewhere in between. But hey, at least we don’t paint our walls with lead anymore.

On the bright side, the scientists all seemed to agree on one thing: As long as I use compost and wash my vegetables, I can totally start an urban garden.

Successful Crowdfunding For Plantagon’s City Farm

Successful Crowdfunding For Plantagon’s City Farm

2nd March 2018

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Plantagon's Urban Greenhouse

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Plantagon launches its first City Farm in the Swedish capital Stockholm following a successful crowdfunding campaign. It will be the first of ten city farm units to be built by 2020.

Under the iconic Dagens Nyheter Tower building (DN-Skrapan), up to 30 metric tonnes of high quality food will be produced yearly – from a location previously being used as a newspaper archive.

The City Farm project – underground farming in cities – kicked off in January 2018 with a crowdfunding campaign at FundedByMe, and we succeeded beyond our target by raising SEK 4.4m (~€435,000) from 559 investors, reaching 119% of our financing goal.

The first facility is now in operation and will be followed by ten more before 2020.

“The reason for the crowdfunding campaign was that we believe people who care about the future of cities, food production and the health of our planet should be given the opportunity to be a part of the solution,” says Owe Pettersson, CEO of Plantagon International.

“To us, it is important to create and expand together, showing that we are a movement for healthy sustainable food. Together, we can make a difference and we are very happy that the campaign succeeded and for the great response!”

70% of the crop produced in the City Farm will be herbs and spices and 30% will be especially nutritious vegetables, like different cabbage and salad varieties. The harvest will be sold to local grocery stores, restaurants and through our own shop in the same building as our City Farm. Our produce will be distributed and sold within 900 meters of the farm, thus minimizing transportation.

Creating a sustainable business

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CEO Owe Pettersson

We aim to start up two new City Farms during 2018, with more to follow in 2019-2020. Our first City Farm is placed under a large office building, DN-Skrapan. By capturing the heat from the LED lights that helps the plants grow – heat that normally would have to be vented out and require air conditioning to keep ideal conditions for the plants – we can send it into the heat system for the building to keep it warm through the winter, making a “win-win” situation where we supply heat instead of paying rent.

Plants need carbon dioxide to grow and where traditional greenhouses burns fuels to provide it, we use the carbon dioxide from human exhalation in the offices that we send to the farm, and fresh oxygen from the plants is sent back to office workers.

Large-scale underground urban cultivation means that real estate companies will be able to charge more for premises that otherwise would not generate particularly high income, and could add a ‘green’ profile to their property portfolio.

The Plantagon City Farm saves 99% of water consumption compared with traditional agriculture, and carbon dioxide emissions are reduced to almost zero, while 70% of the energy used is reused. By saving and reusing resources, production costs are reduced so that the price of food becomes affordable.

A response to the needs of the future

According to UN estimates, about 70-80% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050. Already 80% of the world’s agricultural land is in use. As more and more people move to ever-expanding cities, production will be driven by what we need to eat, but move further and further away from us. The result will be longer transport times, increased dependence on fossil-based fertilizers and more high-intensity farming on the limited farmland that remains.

Plantagon® City Farm Stockholm is a response to the need for new solutions for sustainable food production that can provide a growing urban population with food while maximizing the use of the existing spaces. Cultivation takes place in a controlled environment, without pesticides and herbicides. The farms are run by Plantagon Production Sweden AB, a subsidiary of Plantagon International AB.

City Farm: vertical farming combined with office space

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Sustainability strategist Sepehr Mousavi

A new type of greenhouse for vertical farming; an international Centre of Excellence for Urban Agriculture; a demo-plant for Swedish clean-tech and a climate-smart way to use excess heating and CO2 from industries. That is what we are working on in the city of Linköping, Sweden: a 17-story office building combined with a greenhouse.

Two-thirds of the building will be office space that can be rented, and, as in the City Farm, heat from the greenhouse will warm up the building during winter. The plan is to open it in 2020 or 2021. Plantagon is also planning a similar solution for Singapore, where the lack of land for farming means that most of the food is imported from other countries. Plantagon has, since its very first day, been working from a global perspective, where the construction of our intangible assets such as patents, industrial designs, and trademarks is very important. On the other hand, we are building our future business model on the license revenues from the technology that we are now developing.

Plantagon aims to be the world’s best developer of smart food systems for the city. R&D and the resulting technological innovations are the principal factors for Plantagon International’s business success.

Plantagon International’s innovation strategy involves benefiting from technological innovations by using the full range of intellectual property rights in the development of urban agriculture globally.

Special Report Author Details

Author: Owe Pettersson, Sepehr Mousavi
Organisation: Plantagon International
Telephone: +46(0)8-410 165 60
Email: owe.pettersson@plantagon.com
Email: Sepehr.mousavi@plantagon.com
Website: Visit Website
Website: Visit Website

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