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Local Urban Farmer Educates Community On How To Grow Produce Without Breaking The Bank
File photo. (Ben Smith/The Daily Iowan)
Jun 26, 2017 DI Editor
Local Urban Farmer Educates Community On How To Grow Produce Without Breaking The Bank
Iowa City community members learn about the business of urban farming.
By Autumn Diesburg | autumn-diesburg@uiowa.edu
With urban farming continuing to take hold in communities, would-be urban farmers are considering the logistics of owning and profiting from what seems to some to be an unorthodox business.
At a Practical Farmers of Iowa Field Day on June 24, members of the Iowa City community gathered to learn more about the business of urban farming. Hosted by urban farmer Jon Yagla and the Women Food and Agriculture Network program coordinator Wren Almitra, the program discussed the various facets of urban farming, including Yagla’s business plan and financing.
“Sometimes, it makes sense to grow greens and sell to restaurants,” Yagla said. “The [community-supported agriculture] worked for me.”
Yagla said his business plan relied on growing food as an extension of homesteading for community-supported agriculture, which Almitra said is a “member-based farm business.”
Members purchase either a full share for $750 or a half share for $375 in a farm, Yagla said. The program has a 30-week season lasting from the first week of May to the last week of November. Most members pay an upfront deposit in late winter or early spring, usually beginning in February or March. This allows farmers to pay for seeds and equipment in a time when, otherwise, they are producing no income, Yagla said. In return, full-share members receive a box of produce every week, and half-share members receive a box every other week.
Currently, Yagla said he has 30 members in his group, which is mostly a word-of-mouth endeavor. Potential members contact Yagla or other local community-agriculture groups, though the group does have social-media and Internet sites for outreach and promotion.
RELATED: ‘New age’ farmers grow local produce year-round
Yagla said in regards to financial planning, he recommends keeping both living and business expenses low, knowing and being a part of available markets, and having some experience with farming or homesteading. He also recommends scaling the size of community agriculture to the size of the budget.
Careful financial planning is key for Yagla, who said his only source of income is what he earns from his urban farm. In 2016, he grossed $15,000 with a net of $12,000.
“The [community-agriculture] size was based on what I thought my living expenses and my needs are and how much land I could manage,” he said. “I’m about as frugal as I can be.”
For those such as Debra Boekholder, a Practical Farmers of Iowa member and events assistant, the gains of urban farming are a good local food source.
“It is a solution to struggles with access to healthy foods,” she said. “You can grow food in town and provide it to your neighbors. You don’t have to go miles and miles.”
Still, others such as Abbie Shain, a graduate student in social work in St. Paul, Minnesota, have yet to be persuaded on the practicality of urban farms. Shain said after working on urban farms in St. Paul and Minneapolis, she would not consider starting one.
“It was not successful,” she said. “It was successful at growing vegetables but not sustaining farmers.”
Yagla, however, said owning an urban farm is profitable and a worthwhile community cause.
“The gain is that it’s meaningful work that reduces exploitation,” he said. “It’s a way for people to get food locally and honestly. I want to produce [a] local economy where goods are produced and shared among neighbors and friends.”
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7 Ways Chicago Is Becoming the New Beacon of The Sustainable Food Movement
Chicago is undergoing a foodie revolution. From passing the nation’s largest soda tax to exploring new and intriguing options for local food, the Windy City is making leaps and bounds to become a beacon of sustainability.
7 Ways Chicago Is Becoming The New Beacon of The Sustainable Food Movement
JULY 5, 2017 by EMILY MONACO
Chicago is undergoing a foodie revolution. From passing the nation’s largest soda tax to exploring new and intriguing options for local food, the Windy City is making leaps and bounds to become a beacon of sustainability.
Don’t believe us? Here are seven fantastic initiatives the Windy City has undertaken to further the transition to great, sustainable food.
1. MightyVine Restores Damaged Farmland with Tomatoes
Just west of Chicago in the prairie town of Rochelle, IL, indoor tomato grower MightyVine has restored acres of farmland that had been damaged by a developer. The growers use Dutch technology comprising a special diffused glass and radiated heat to grow tomatoes 365 days a year. The super-local tomatoes are delivered to stores just a few hours away in Chicago as soon as they’ve been picked.
Sustainability is particularly important to MightyVine farmers, who have managed to provide a 90 percent water savings over field-grown tomatoes, not to mention reduced pesticide use as compared to most conventional growers.
2. Homestead on the Roof Gets Its Organic Produce Ultra-Locally
You can’t get more local than the organic produce grown on the 3,500-square-foot organic rooftop garden at Homestead on the Roof. Executive Chef Scott Shulman has his pick of herbs, chilies, tomatoes, peas, and more to concoct his versatile, seasonal menu, which is served on the 85-seat patio that sits right next to the rooftop garden, which also features two vertical hanging gardens, and dozens of planter boxes.
3. Daisies Keeps Local Produce in the Family
When Daisies opened last month, Chef Joe Frillman realized his dream of combining his passion for handmade pasta and locally sourced crops, almost all of which come from Frillman’s brother’s farm in nearby Prairie View, IL. But Frillman is taking the old trope of locally sourced ingredients to the next level, with the goal of rolling out an in-house fermentation program, too.
Daisies is also making strides in recycling cooking oil: used cooking oil is donated to be recycled for biodiesel, and the resulting profits are donated to charity.
4. Slow Food Chicago Highlights the Importance of Community Gardening
Member-supported non-profit Slow Food Chicago is one of the largest chapters of Slow Food USA, with more than 500 members. Its myriad projects include the preSERVE Garden, a project created in 2010 in cooperation with the North Lawndale Greening Committee, the Chicago Honey Co-Op, and NeighborSpace.
In 2013, the city lot harvested more than 430 pounds of food from 31 different crops, and the garden continues to grow today.
5. The Urban Canopy Attacks the Problem of Nutrition in Schools on the Local Level
Founded in 2011, the Urban Canopy comprises an indoor growing space and a two-acre community farm in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. But more than mere growers, the Canopy members see themselves as “educators and advocates for the urban food movement.”
Founder Alex Poltorak’s vision began while working with Chicago Public Schools as an Education Pioneer Fellow. After exploring how nutrition affects children in school, he was inspired to create the project to utilize idle urban spaces to attack this problem at the community level. Through volunteer availabilities, a Compost Club, and a CSA, the group endeavors to “make farming as easy as possible on as many unused spaces as possible.”
6. Chicago O’Hare Brings Gardening to the Gate
An unused mezzanine space of Chicago O’Hare Airport’s G terminal has been transformed into the world’s first “aeroponic” garden by Future Growing LLC. The garden, made up of a series of vertical PVC towers where herbs, greens, and tomatoes are grown, uses a mere five percent of the water normally used for farming.
The produce grown in the airport is used by local chefs, including Wolfgang Puck, who runs a restaurant in the airport.
7. Marty Travis Transforms Nutrient-Sapped Soil into Sustainable Farmland
Marty Travis is a seventh-generation Illinois farmer. As his farming community fell victim to Big Ag, Travis decided to do something about it. He created Spence Farm, a 160-acre beacon of biodiversity where he grows a variety of ancient grains and heirloom fruits and vegetables and raises heritage breed livestock, nearly all of which is sold locally to chefs in Chicago. His story of preserving the history and practice of small sustainable family farming in is told in the film Sustainable Food.
Vine to Cart: Grocery Stores Use New Tech To Create In Store Farms
Vine to Cart: Grocery Stores Use New Tech To Create In Store Farms
July 13, 2017
While the demand for organic and sustainable agriculture is growing across the globe, the future of fresher produce might be picking it right at the supermarket.
A startup out of Berlin called Infarm is currently working on an “indoor vertical farming” system with the capacity to grow any kind of fruit, vegetable or herb. Multiple sensors monitor the plants’ health and connected data lets the system know when to irrigate and feed the crops, creating individual ecosystems. In addition to creating idyllic growing environments for each plant, the system is smart, providing the opportunity for experts to analyze and collect data to optimize growth and flavor and potentially predict problems in the future.
“We are able to develop growing recipes that tailor the light spectrums, temperature, pH, and nutrients to ensure the maximum natural expression of each plant in terms of flavor, colour, and nutritional quality,” Osnat Michaeli, co-founder of Infarm, explained in an interview with TechCrunch.
Although vertical farming is already a familiar concept to agriculture, what makes Infarm so unique is their ability to do small-scale vertical farming in customer-facing situations. The company has already found major success after placing systems in Metro Group locations, one of the biggest wholesalers in Europe, and are now being approached by other grocers that want to do the same. Instead of growing produce outside on traditional farms and dealing with the supply chain to deliver it to each store, grocers could invest in InFarm and allow customers to harvest food right from the vine. In an era where grocery stores are trying to remain more relevant to consumers who often shop online for dry goods, InFarm helps grocers turn into a next gen farmers market with fresh from the plant produce.
Investors have also noticed the potential within Infarm as the company recently closed a €4 million funding round which included Berlin’s Cherry Ventures, Impact investor Quadia, London’s LocalGlobe, Atlantic Food Labs, design consultant Ideo, Demand Analytics and others.
Philips Lighting Develops a New Growth Recipe to Reach Seven Times The Average "Vitamin C" Content in Arugula
Philips Lighting (Euronext Amsterdam ticker: LIGHT), a global leader in lighting, today announced that its GrowWise Research Center has produced a vitamin C-rich arugula with seven times higher vitamin C[1] content than the published USDA value of 15 mg/100 gr.
Philips Lighting Develops a New Growth Recipe to Reach Seven Times The Average "Vitamin C" Content in Arugula
July 10, 2017
Eindhoven, The Netherlands – Philips Lighting (Euronext Amsterdam ticker: LIGHT), a global leader in lighting, today announced that its GrowWise Research Center has produced a vitamin C-rich arugula with seven times higher vitamin C[1] content than the published USDA value of 15 mg/100 gr. The vitamin C-rich arugula was grown in a trial in collaboration with the Dutch Wageningen University and Research, and Maastricht University, using a new growth recipe under Philips LED lighting in a vertical farming environment with no daylight.
The results of this trial prove that it is possible to add functional ingredients to a food like arugula in a natural way by simply growing it differently. Retailers and growers can apply specific Philips growth recipes using LED technologies to meet the growing demand for functional foods from health-conscious consumers. Since vitamin C is one of the markers of shelf life, the higher vitamin C levels in the arugula at harvest may also help retailers extend the green’s shelf life. In addition to vitamin C, other healthy compounds are shown to be influenced by the growth recipe.
“The results of this trial reveal that not only can we boost the yield of a crop, but we can also influence the taste and growth characteristics of a crop by changing the growth recipe. A Philips growth recipe provides parameters for growing a crop that include the light level, spectrum, intensity, required uniformity, position and time, as well as climate conditions like temperature, humidity, CO2 levels and nutrition,” said Udo van Slooten, business leader for Philips Lighting’s horticultural lighting business. “This achievement confirms the tangible benefits that our research at Philips GrowWise Center is delivering for growers and retailers as they look to meet specific consumer needs like optimized smell, taste and flavor to differentiate themselves in their markets.”
Light Influences Nitrate Level
The arugula grown under the LED lighting with the new Philips growth recipe showed a very low nitrate level while having a high yield. Lower nitrate levels also have higher sugar levels and a milder taste. The leaves grown under the LED lighting scored between five and eight on the Brix index, which correlates with a higher perception of sweetness in sensory tastes. The low nitrate levels achieved in this trial are considerably lower than those set by the European Union, which range from 7000 mg/kg to 6000 mg/kg). This low-nitrate arugula would help retailers in Poland, Russia and Finland, specifically, meet the growing demand for low-nitrate foods from consumers in these countries. By using another growth recipe, it is also possible to grow a high vitamin C arugula with a high nitrate content for consumers willing to use high rich nitrate content as a health benefit without affecting the production of other nutritious compounds.
The trial was carried out at the Philips GrowWise Center in Eindhoven, the largest vertical farming research facility of its kind, in cooperation with Wageningen University and Research for plant science and shelf life, and Maastricht University on Health Food innovation, both in the Netherlands. The arugula crop was tested in four different lighting situations with three different LED lighting combinations and one artificial light source that mimicked the sun and/or HPS lighting. The effects of high blue and high far red wavelengths were also studied to determine their impact on shelf life and nutrient content of the harvested greens.
For a comprehensive guide on how to grow arugula, at home, click here:
For further information, please contact:
Philips Lighting, Horticultural LED Lighting, Nederland
Daniela Damoiseaux
Tel: +31 6 31 65 29 69
E-mail: daniela.damoiseaux@philips.com
www.philips.com/horti
This Food Forest On A Barge In New York Floats The Idea of Fresh Food for Cities
This Food Forest On A Barge In New York Floats The Idea of Fresh Food for Cities
Swale brings free foraging to the concrete jungle
by Alessandra Potenza@ale_potenza Jul 12, 2017, 8:00am EDT
Photography by Amelia Holowaty Krales
Last week, I found myself on a 5,000-square-foot barge stuck in shallow water in the middle of the Bronx River. As a tugboat attempted to pull us out, its motor dredged up black sludge, trash, and God knows what else. The air stank of rotten eggs. As Cindy Adams always says, “Only in New York, kids!”
This wasn’t your typical barge, either. It’s an art project called Swale, which was created last year by artist Mary Mattingly as a way to grow produce in a public space. So it was a kind of floating garden filled with edible plants, including apple trees planted atop a 6-foot hill. Anyone can board the barge and pick fresh food for free. Being a barge, it can move, and so I tagged along on a trip from Brooklyn Bridge Park, where it was docked for two months, to Concrete Plant Park in the Bronx.
The idea behind Mattingly’s project is to bring foraging to the concrete jungle, where very little fresh produce is grown locally. Mostly, fresh fruits and vegetables are imported and thus expensive. There’s definitely a market for local food: New York City alone is estimated to have over $600 million worth of unmet annual demand for local food. Swale produces about 400 pounds of food per season, Mattingly says — not enough to satisfy even one person’s fruit and veggie intake in one year. So floating barges are unlikely to meet the local food demands on their own — you’d need an armada — but that’s not Swale’s goal. “We don’t see this as a solution,” says Lindsey Grothkopp, who handles external affairs for Swale. “As an art project, it’s here to just propose new models and new ideas.”
Swale is completely powered by solar panels, and it recycles its own water thanks to a system of pumps and sand filters. It also collects rainwater, and it can desalinate and purify the brackish river water if need be. The barge adds arable land in a dense urban area where land is scarce, and it can float from neighborhood to neighborhood — serving different communities from month to month. Last year, Swale was docked in the Bronx, on Governor’s Island, and then Brooklyn from May to October. (In the winter, it was stored upstate.)
The floating garden is also more accessible than community gardens and rooftop gardens, Mattingly says. On Swale, anyone can board the barge and pick whatever they want, from strawberries and blackberries to kale, lettuce, and chamomile. Most of the city dwellers who visit the floating food forest have never foraged before, says Brittany Gallahan, a college student at the University of Virginia, and Swale’s intern for the summer. They don’t even know where to start. “They’re a little starstruck,” says Gallahan. Whoever is volunteering on board shows them around the garden and gives them some herbs to try in a tea. “They come back with bags and forage,” Gallahan says.
There’s a reason people don’t know how to forage, though: New York City has about 30,000 acres of public parks, but foraging is strictly prohibited by the Parks Department. So most public land in the city can’t be used to grow food. Mattingly launched Swale as a “provocation,” she says: since the barge is floating on water, foraging is allowed there. And it might be working. She’s now partnering with the Parks Department to open the first ever edible garden in a public park in the Bronx, a few feet from where Swale is currently docked. She hopes that the Parks Department will also eventually take over Swale, and keep it docked in the Bronx permanently. That way, she could launch a second barge, doubling the city’s floating farmable area.
For that to happen, though, Mattingly needs money. Like any art project, the barge requires patrons, since it costs $5,000 a month to rent, plus $2,000 a month for insurance. Swale is docking for free, but the overall monthly budget, including rent, insurance, and paying the volunteers who give tours and classes, is about $10,000 a month, Mattingly says. Towing it from place to place costs extra. This year, the barge has been kept afloat mostly thanks to the Parks Department, which helps with rent and pays towing costs. Heineken USA's Strongbow Apple Ciders, which sponsors Swale, also helps with costs, but it’s unclear whether the sponsorship will continue next year — and where the money will come from. “We’re still figuring that out,” Grothkopp says.
For now, Swale is just an art project that is hoping to swing policymakers into growing more food in public spaces. It’s working here in New York City, and when I ask Mattingly if she thinks it could work in other cities in the US, she says yes. Barges could be tweaked to meet the demands of the city hosting them: New York has brackish water, so the garden needs a desalination system. In colder climates, the barge could host a greenhouse. But Boston, Detroit, or Chicago could host a barge only if a rich benefactor could be located to pay for it.
The water has drawbacks, too. After flawlessly floating up the East River — passing by housing projects, high rises, and iconic landmarks like the UN’s headquarters — the barge got stuck in the shallow, stinky waters of the Bronx River. I thought it was going to take hours before we could reach the pier, which was just about 70 feet away. The tugboat — square, skinny, and so tall it looked like a small wave could topple it — dragged the barge backward for a few minutes. Then, dredging up more black sludge, plastic bottles, and cans from the riverbed, it pushed the barge forward again, finally freeing it from the river’s bottom.
When we docked at Concrete Plant Park, the sun was beating down hard. But compared to the concrete pier, Swale’s blueberry bushes, sage, and apple trees provided an island of green. I tried a blackberry from the garden, as well as a bright orange daylily that Gallahan promised me was edible. (There was a little bug inside it, and I ate that, too.) The produce tasted fresh and sweet — if only it didn’t cost so much to grow.
Chicago Synagogue’s Urban Farm Thrives, Feeding Thousands
Chicago Synagogue’s Urban Farm Thrives, Feeding Thousands
July 11, 2017 CHICAGO Aimee Levitt
The farm at KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago is very much an urban farm, with a bus line running past the side entrance, and tourists passing by to see Barack Obama’s former home across the street; so, the volunteer farmers do not feel obligated to wake up at the crack of dawn. Still, they prefer to work in the cool of a summer morning, so by 9:30 a.m. on a recent Sunday — farm day — the weekly harvest was well underway.
Half a dozen farmers crouched between the long rows of crops that run parallel to Hyde Park Boulevard, plucking large leaves of collards, kale and mustard, and small black raspberries and red serviceberries. In the synagogue vestibule, pungent with the smell of wild onions, another volunteer sorted the leafy greens and berries into boxes. The day’s yield would total about 50 pounds; later on in the season, when tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and eggplants are ripe, the volunteers anticipate a harvest five or six times that.
Robert Nevel stood on the front steps of the synagogue, directing traffic and assigning tasks. He wore a big straw hat and a soil thermometer around his neck, which appeared to be some sort of mark of authority: He started the project nine years ago and has led it ever since.
Aimee Levitt | Some of the fruits and vegetables harvested from the KAMII farm.
“What I still find surprising is to see this” — he pointed to the farm — “next to this”; with that he pointed to the synagogue building. “It surprises and pleases me.”
The KAMII farm now comprises two 50-yard-long plots of cultivated crops and two mostly self-sustaining “food forests” — fruit and nut trees, berry bushes and other perennials that can grow without anyone around to tend them — plus two more garden plots at a nearby church and elementary school. In the past nine years, it has produced 22,000 pounds of food, most of which it has donated to shelters and public housing projects in the neighborhood.
Nevel acknowledged that it’s not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it’s 22,000 pounds of fresh produce that would have otherwise had to have been transported hundreds of miles, costing extra time and money and incalculable damage to the environment. KAMII has a broad definition of the term “food justice”: here, it means not just providing healthy food for everyone in the community, but also helping to maintain environmental stability. KAMII farm manager Owen Needham, who previously worked at a not-for-profit urban farm in Columbus, Ohio, explained that although there are other houses of worship that run urban farms, none — at least that he’s aware of — have as large a program, which is why KAMII serves as model for other synagogues and churches across the country.
The project began in the winter of 2009, around the same time that Michelle Obama, inspired by a 1991 New York Times op-ed by Michael Pollan, announced her plan to revive the White House vegetable garden. The two events were not directly related, but Nevel had also read the Pollan article, and it fit in with ideas about buildings and environmentalism he’d been thinking about since architecture school. He joined in a committee meeting to discuss how to make the synagogue greener.
“Everyone was thinking that the inside of the house of worship was sacred while the outside was profane,” he recalled. “There were so many leftover spaces outside. I wanted everyone to think of those as significant and sacred also.”
At the time, those “leftover spaces” were covered with lawn. Nevel considered the lawn more environmentally friendly than asphalt, but less useful and energy efficient than a food-producing garden. With $700 in seed money from the synagogue’s social justice committee, he and a team of volunteers planted a modest plot in the shape of a Star of David. (“This is a very tidy neighborhood,” said Nevel, “and it was very figural.”) The first crop was rhubarb. Now there are 30 crops, and the project is funded entirely by grants and gifts. This includes operating costs, plus salaries for two staff members: the farm manager and a director of the farm school program that runs for six weeks every summer.
Aimee Levitt | The original Star of David-shaped plot at the KAMII garden.
The farm runs almost all year round, with the bulk of the work happening on Sundays. Seeds arrive every February from a supplier in Winslow, Maine, and the first planting is March 1. Until the weather gets warm, the plants incubate in a makeshift greenhouse that was once the rabbi’s study. The volunteers spend the spring preparing the beds, building trellises, turning over the soil, and installing the drip irrigation system. The first harvest usually comes in June, and the growing season continues until late October. It takes most of the month of November to dismantle the garden. Then it’s time to start planning the annual Food Justice and Sustainability Weekend, which takes place every Martin Luther King Day. And then the cycle begins again.
There are 28 core volunteers, though not all show up every Sunday. About half are KAMII congregants, while the rest come from the community. Being Jewish is not a requirement, but at least one of the volunteers, Aaron Levine, finds it a particular source of pride. “This is what we’re supposed to be doing,” he said, “feeding the community. To me, this is as Jewish as you can get.”
As soon as it began harvesting, the farm began the donation program, which it decided to limit to institutions within a mile radius of the synagogue. The circle contains portions of the Kenwood, Hyde Park, Woodlawn and Washington Park neighborhoods and pockets of both extreme wealth and extreme poverty. In eight years, said Nevel, they’ve never missed a week. “There’s an expectation from the recipients that every week they’ll be receiving fresh food on Sunday,” he explained. “If we don’t deliver, we’re reneging on an established relationship.”
On this particular Sunday, the volunteers prepared donations for the Kenneth Campbell Apartments, a public housing complex for senior citizens, and Door of Hope, a men’s shelter. Each institution would receive three large boxes of greens and six or eight small boxes of berries. Nevel was apologetic about making the deliveries by car; the two institutions were in completely different directions and it was just too difficult to carry 50 pounds of greens on foot. Plus, everything tastes better if you eat it within 90 minutes of harvesting.
Though the recipients are pleased to take whatever food KAMII is willing to provide, they have definite preferences, said Becky Callcott, the volunteer who was responsible for filling the boxes for delivery. “People like collards a lot,” she reported, “but it took a while to get them used to kale.”
At Door of Hope, Nevel spent some time in the kitchen chatting with Matthew Clock, the cook. They couldn’t remember how long they’d known each other, but guessed it was around seven or eight years. Clock grew up in a small town in Mississippi and lamented how many city people are unaware of where their food comes from. He was planning to cook up the kale for that night’s dinner; the collards were hardier and could last a few more days.
Once Nevel returned from making deliveries, he and the other volunteers ate a communal lunch inside the synagogue. Then they planned to work on the other satellite plots, at Reavis Elementary School and the Kenwood United Church of Christ. Later in the afternoon, they would visit a few of the community gardens in the neighborhood and glean the produce that hadn’t been harvested (the community gardeners signal that they’re okay with this by leaving a small white stone in a corner of their plot); they collect about 500 pounds of extra produce every year.
Though Nevel has been doing this every Sunday since the project began, and plans to continue for the foreseeable future, he still marvels over the process. “We start with a 10-pound box of seeds,” he said, “and ten months later, we have four or five thousand pounds of food. It’s a huge leap from soil, sun and water. At the end of the year, it’s really kind of amazing.”
Aimee Levitt reports regularly on Chicagoland for the Forward. Contact her at feedback@forward.com. Follow her on Twitter, @aimeelevitt.
Read more: http://forward.com/news/national/376753/chicago-synagogues-urban-farm-thrives-feeding-thousands/
Hydroponic Paradox: Saving Water With Water
Hydroponic Paradox: Saving Water With Water
June 6, 2017
by Mary Allen
The local food movement has deep roots in urban centers, but the juxtaposition of urbanites’ locavore enthusiasm with the shortage of arable land in cities raises the question: how local is local enough? In terms of geography, there is no consensus or regulation around what “local food” should be. Depending on your definition (or marketing strategy), the term could refer to anything from food produced in your own backyard to food produced 100 miles away or simply within the state.
Community gardens and urban farming are obvious—if partial—answers to this paradox. And while urban farming is nothing new, there’s no denying that in recent years, rooftops gardens, vertical farms, and the like have become increasingly seductive to enterprising young farmers. Consumers, the media, and even investors are climbing on board with new urban farming initiatives as 21st century innovation pushes the limits of how and where food is grown.
This hydroponically grown basil has never touched soil or seen sunlight. | Image Source: @plantnasty
Hydroponic farming, a system in which plants are grown without soil and are nourished instead by a mineral solution, has enjoyed a groundswell of entrepreneurial energy in particular. As hydroponics are well suited to indoor spaces and environments that would otherwise be unfit for plant life, city centers are primed for the proliferation these wunderkind farms.
From the sweeping Alexander Ranch greenhouse in California and Bowery’s warehouse farm in New Jersey, to the intimate indoor Farm.One nestled at the heart of the Manhattan’s Institute of Culinary Education and the shipping container farms of Square Roots in a parking lot in Brooklyn, hydroponic farms of all shapes and sizes are cropping up across the country. The hyperlocality they offer to city-dwellers means not only that the food travels fewer miles, thus reducing the transportation footprint, but that the produce can be harvested and delivered on the same day.
Baby kale and butterhead lettuce from the behemoths Gotham Greens and Bowery can be found in grocery stores. Square Roots farmers hand-deliver their greens to offices around New York City. Farm.One, which is a specialty grower of microgreens and garnishes, serves high-end chefs and restaurants from just a subway ride away. With greens being among the most perishable of produce, this rapid delivery is especially attractive from a food waste reduction standpoint. Hydroponics becomes a compelling alternative to soil-based urban farming practices in light of its unique sustainability solutions.
Namely, it is remarkably water efficient. Seventy percent of humans’ water usage is allocated to farming and animal agriculture. Nitrate-ladened fertilizer runoff from traditional agriculture is also one of the main causes of water pollution, catalyzing algae blooms that ultimately create dead zones in our rivers, lakes, and oceans. In hydroponics, water is continuously recycled, making these systems anywhere from 90 to 98 percent more water efficient than traditional farming while eliminating fertilizer runoff. Needless to say, this drastic improvement in water efficiency makes hydroponic farming especially interesting in places like California where water is in short supply.
Hydroponic farming can be tremendously space efficient, too. In an interview with the Natural Gourmet Institute, Gotham Greens’ Nicole Baum enthusiastically notes, “Our half acre rooftop farm on top of Whole Foods Market in Brooklyn actually produces that of a 10 acre soil based farm!” Even more impressively, Bowery asserts that it produces over one hundred times more food than a traditional farm on the same footprint of land.
Part of the reason that hydroponic farms are able to grow so much more is that the plants have continuous ideal growing conditions—just the right temperature, just the right light, with no hungry animal intruders and no winter. The clean, climate controlled environments also eliminate the need for pesticides and insecticides. For the odd pest that does wander in, farmers enlist beneficial insects, such as ladybugs, to keep the peace. Being pesticide-free is a point of pride for Farm.One, Square Roots, Gotham Greens, and Bowery alike, something Bowery refers to as “post-organic.”
Rock wool is made from spun fibers of molten rock. This is one medium that hydroponic farmers use in lieu of soil to germinate seeds. | Image Source: @plantnasty
And here we encounter the discomfort hydroponic farming engenders among the soil-loyalists in the good food movement. A central tenant of organic farming is to “feed the soil, not the plant.” With hydroponics, of course, there is no soil, just plants—and manufactured mineral solution. The long term viability of an entirely human-fabricated growing environment is a big question mark for many. So while the notion of “post-organic” produce may thrill the food tech enthusiasts, strong advocates of pre-agroindustrial sustainable farming practices balk at the idea of food grown in plastic containers with artificial light.
Despite its water-saving potential, indoor hydroponic farming poses its own sustainability risks. These operations rely on LEDs, which stay on approximately 18 hours per day. Does drastically reducing water usage and water pollution justify the carbon footprint of all that electricity? It’s a question that hydroponic farmers are already taking into consideration. Farm.One, for instance, purchases carbon offsets to help mitigate this environmental cost.
But then there’s the actual cost. For all its efficiencies, hydroponics is a capital intensive process in a highly competitive market. A small bag of greens from Square Roots is $5. As Square Roots Cofounder and CEO Tobias Peggs explained at the monthly open house, the heavier a plant is—the more biomass it has—the more costly it is to grow. At this point in the game, hydroponic growers are focusing on greens. Fruits, vegetables, and tuber roots are not quite financially viable. But as the technology continues to improve, the price points continue to drop.
According to Rob Laing, CEO and founder of Farm.One, the price of LEDs is roughly halving every four years. Farm.One keeps their profit margins viable by selling high-end microgreens and garnishes, but Laing is hopeful that, “in five years time people can use the techniques that we’re using and similar equipment to grow lettuce and kale underneath a bodega.” Peggs is even more sanguine: “We think, two years from now, we’ll be able to economically grow strawberries, tomatoes, and blueberries as well.”
Technology is not the only thing setting hydroponics on the fast track to improvement; robust data collection is supercharging production capacity. Modern hydroponic farms are outfitted with sensors to monitor the plants, water, air, and light, and the farmers are growing not just crops but databases of information about how different factors influence flavor and plant health.
Farm.One's Red Rubin Basil, Saltwort, Red Veined Sorrel & Stems | Image Source: @farm.one
With different light recipes and nutrients, farmers can adjust certain variables to bring out different flavors. Some farms are even using machine learning to integrate and deploy these learnings. It’s a prospect that is remarkable to some and off-putting to others. As Dan Barber said in a conversation with co-founder of Square Roots Kimbal Musk at the Food for Tomorrow conference, “When Kimbal says you can dial in the flavor and colors you want, I don’t know that I want that kind of power,” Barber said. “I’d rather have a region or environment express color and flavor.” Agree to disagree perhaps. New Yorkers might not be as enthused about the taste of the subway expressing itself in their salad greens.
So what role will hydroponics play in the future of food? “People on both sides of the issue tend to overstate how big hydroponic farming is going to be,” Laing told Food Future Co. “It’s part of the solution.” He reminds us that hydroponics works well for greens but not at all for crops like wheat or corn. It can’t replace pig farms (leave that to Memphis Meats). It can’t replace olive groves. What hydroponics can do, however, is expand the possibilities for local food in urban spaces. It has many promising implications for sustainable food production. It may even serve as a more viable on-ramp for the next generation of farmers. Who knows? At the rate technology and data are changing the world, we really may be able to buy a locally grown, freshly harvested strawberry in the dead of winter from the corner bodega.
On Cleveland’s Largest Urban Farm, Refugees Gain Language and Job Skills
On Cleveland’s Largest Urban Farm, Refugees Gain Language and Job Skills
The Refugee Empowerment Agricultural Program expects to harvest 22,000 pounds of produce this year, while helping refugees find a community.
BY CHRIS HARDMAN | Faces & Visions, Urban Agriculture | 07.05.17
Across the Cuyahoga River from downtown Cleveland, men and women dressed in brightly colored clothing harvest vegetables from tidy rows of plantings. Multilingual conversations take place in Hindi, Nepali, Somali and English. With the Cleveland skyline as their backdrop, these refugee farmers nurture their connection to the land and to their new home.
In 2010, the Cleveland nonprofit The Refugee Response created The Refugee Empowerment Agricultural Program (REAP) to support resettled refugees in the Cleveland area through farming. During the year-long program, men and women from Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Burundi, Myanmar, and Somalia learn language and job skills as they work the six-acre Ohio City Farm—one of the largest urban farms in the nation.
This year, REAP expects to harvest 22,000 pounds of produce from the farm’s hoop houses and fields. The Refugee Response leases nearly five acres of the Ohio City Farm from the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority.
Since Donald Trump took office in January, the United States has become a less friendly place for people born in other countries. But various community groups across the U.S. have long supported refugees—often through efforts focused on agriculture.
In addition to REAP in Cleveland, projects such as Plant It Forward in Houston, New Roots in San Diego, and the Refugee Urban Agriculture Initiative in Philadelphia have found that refugees and urban farming are a good fit, and despite the hostility at the federal level, they remain committed to their work.
“We did a survey, and 80 percent of people who were coming as refugees have some sort of agricultural background,” said Refugee Response Director of Agricultural Empowerment Margaret Fitzpatrick.
That makes a farm an ideal entry into the American work force. In addition, Fitzpatrick explained, people are coming from all kinds of backgrounds, often with a history of violence and trauma. Refugees find farm work comforting and therapeutic.
Lar Doe
REAP graduate Lar Doe has been working for REAP since 2012. Although he was born in Myanmar, Doe grew up in a refugee camp on the border of Myanmar and Thailand. After spending nearly 15 years there, he was granted permission to move to the U.S. in 2010. His first jobs were in Kentucky and Iowa, but then he accepted an invitation from the Refugee Response to relocate to Cleveland. He was one of REAP’s first refugee employees.
“It is a diverse city. You can find many different people from different countries,” he said. “I feel like the local people here understand about the world.”
Language and Work Skills
Cleveland has a long history of welcoming refugees; since 1983, 17,000 displaced peoplehave settled in the city. To better serve Cleveland’s increasing population of refugees, 16 organizations pooled their resources to form the Refugee Services Collaborative of Greater Cleveland in 2011. Collaborative members come from county refugee-resettlement agencies, area school systems, healthcare providers, and community and faith-based organizations.
REAP’s current cohort includes 10 refugees from Congo, South Sudan, and Myanmar.
As part of the program, trainees spend 28 hours each week on the farm and 12 hours in the classroom learning English as a Second Language. Farm work includes planting, seeding, harvesting, packing and delivery. For their farm and classroom time, they earn $9 an hour.
“The farm provides a step into employment in an area where people are comfortable (farming) with a skill set that people already have (farming),” Fitzpatrick said. Graduates of the program have gone on to work in the food service industry or been hired to work for REAP itself.
REAP also teaches participants about U.S. workplace culture. “The idea of being to work on time, calling a manager if you are sick, time sheet—those are things we take for granted being U.S. citizens, but these are skills that are not necessarily taught before they arrive,” Fitzpatrick said.
Doe talks about the differences in workplace culture: “[At home,] if you work and you get tired, you can rest, and if you feel OK, you can go back to work,” he said. “I always suggest to new refugees that they have to be patient, because the way that they work in their home country might be totally different than here.”
Integrating into the Community
Located on the west side of the city, next to public housing and across the street from the city’s oldest farmers’ market, the farm is ideally positioned to help integrate refugees into the diverse fabric of American life.
“I’m very fortunate to have this job here, because this is an opportunity that I can get involved to the community and also learn more about the people and culture,” Doe said.
Refugees have the opportunity to practice English with visitors touring the farm, with Americans volunteering on the farm, with REAP staff, with members of REAP’s 60-person CSA, and with customers at the weekly farm stand.
Before coming to Cleveland, Doe worked at a meat packing plant. “The job I used to work before, it was hard to get involved in the country,” he said. “You only go to work and come back. You may never feel like it is your home.”
The community aspect of the program also appeals to Lachuman Nopeney, a 52-year-old refugee from Bhutan who spent 20 years in a refugee camp in Nepal and came to the U.S. in 2009 with no work experience and few English skills.
He worked at a restaurant in Milwaukee, where talking wasn’t encouraged. After going through REAP in 2016, however, he was hired by The Refugee Response to work on the farm.
“I’m happy,” he said with a broad smile. With the help of Refugee Response staff and other refugees, he is learning English. He likes his job of “working, joking, talking.”
“It’s more than a job,” said Refugee Response Executive Director Patrick Kearns. “The people in the program become like family to each other.”
According to Fitzpatrick, Cleveland is a diverse city that celebrates different cultures. As a result, The Refugee Response has formed solid partnerships with area restaurants including Great Lakes Brewing Company, Urban Farmer, and The Flying Fig. In addition to buying produce, these and other local restaurants hold fundraising events, host dinners on the farm, and even employ REAP graduates. As one of the founders of the Ohio City Farm, the Great Lakes Brewing has a special interest in REAP and currently pays REAP to grow vegetables, herbs, and hops on the restaurant’s one-acre parcel of the Ohio City Farm.
“We’re very fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of local food restaurants here in Cleveland,” Fitzpatrick said.
Lar Doe says he is proud of his job. “I want to do something for the community,” he explains. As a refugee and a relatively newcomer to the country, his options to help build community may be limited. “English is the big issue for me. This [farm] is about the only thing we can do to make the city proud.”
Photos courtesy of The Refugee Response.
Farmers Grow A New Stream of Revenue Through Vertical Farming
Farmers Grow A New Stream of Revenue Through Vertical Farming
Combining hydroponic techniques with new timer control innovations
In January, the open fields of Harvard, IL, a far northwestern suburb of Chicago, are biting and bone-chilling. Inside Kirk Cashmore’s barn, it is a fair 72 degrees F, the perfect temperature for producing leafy heads of lettuce through vertical hydroponics, the practice of water-based gardening with vertically stacked shelving in a controlled environment.
Since 2011, Kirk Cashmore has been the only for-profit vertical hydroponic farmer in Northern Illinois. His pesticide- and chemical-free lettuce is served at a popular, Green-certified restaurant, Duke’s Alehouse and Kitchen, in nearby Crystal Lake, IL, and sold at biweekly basket drops along the North Shore and in the Madison, WI metro area.
“Working for my grandfather as a big acre farmer for many years taught me how things worked. I always knew I wanted to be a farmer, but wanted to take a different approach to it. I didn't have the capital or the money to buy big acres to start a traditional farm, so I went around the Midwest and looked at farms that were growing hydroponically and figured out how to start my own,” said Cashmore.
A Growing Industry
According to a recent market research report, the vertical farming market is estimated to be valued at 5.8B U.S. dollars by 2022, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 24.8% between 2016 and 2022. Factors driving growth of the vertical farming market include generating high quality food without the use of pesticides, less dependency on the weather for production, a growing urban population, an increase in the year around production of crops, and reduced impact on the environment.
“The beauty of hydroponic farming is there really is no downtime… I have assets throughout the whole winter and am the only game in town when it comes to winter production of lettuce, Swiss chard, kale, and all the small greens that can be harvested hydroponically,” he remarked. None of his yield is ever wasted. Unsold, yet still edible, greens are donated to a local food pantry and wilted or damaged heads are sent to the compost bin.
Inside Cashmore’s 3,500 square foot building, three vertically stacked shelves, built from recycled materials, provide room for up to 4,000 heads of lettuce. Each shelf grows approximately 1,200 heads, or about five heads per square foot, which Cashmore reports is the number to beat in the world of vertical hydroponics. With room in his barn to still expand out- and upwards, Cashmore has the potential to harvest nearly 8,000 heads.
Plants are seeded in rockwool, a lava-like medium that allows for more oxygen than does soil or water, and an ebb and flow pumping system supplies water to the roots. Cashmore checks pH levels daily.
Winter in the Midwest means long periods of grey, cloudy skies. An electronic timer ensures lights remain on based on the amount of sun, typically 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. Relying on the timer to turn lights on and off as needed gives Cashmore – a one-man show – the freedom to tend to other business without worrying. “Timers are very important for turning lights and fans on and off,” stated Cashmore. “Having an electronic timer makes this an automated sport, so I can have more time with my family and friends. It gives me more time to not have to work.”
He also believes that ensuring a good supply of oxygen is absolutely vital to growing success. Floating rafts of lettuce -- or any system where roots are permanently soaked in water -- offer little available oxygen since the solubility of oxygen in water is remarkable low. Cashmore monitors how much oxygen his roots have and uses an ozone system to kill bacteria, control oxygenation, and keep the water sanitized. This has eliminated the need to use chemicals such as chlorine or hydrogen peroxide.
“I find that if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right. As a father of three little girls, I have no tolerance for chemicals going home and into my kids’ mouths. I want to make the best produce that I can for my family, my clients and my friends,” he explained.
Organically Grown Produce That’s Bug-Chemical-and Pesticide-Free
One of the biggest benefits of hydroponic farming is the superb quality of the produce. Plants don’t spend any time outside in the wind, dirt or the rain; they grow in a controlled environment that is bug-, chemical- and pesticide free. This creates greens with an unmatched body and texture. As more and more people buy organic and seek out locally grown produce, demand is certain to grow. Cashmore envisions remaining profitable and productive by adding more capacity to double or triple lettuce headcount and growing a variety of other vegetables in the winter.
“From school field trips to other farmers and private citizens, there’s an increasingly large interest in my hydroponics facility. I hope to see more vertical hydroponic farms popping up in the area over the next decade.”
Do you have a budding interest in vertical hydroponic farming? Learn more with an in-depth look at Kirk Cashmore’s farm.
Hydroponic Farm Puts Down Roots In Springfield's Gasoline Alley
The indoor farm, located in a section of the city known as Gasoline Alley because of the huge fuel storage tanks that dot the landscape, is one of several businesses operating out of a quirky set of buildings owned and managed by entrepreneur Joseph Sibilia.
Hydroponic Farm Puts Down Roots In Springfield's Gasoline Alley
Updated on July 5, 2017 at 7:34 AMPosted on July 5, 2017 at 7:33 AM
Gallery: Urban Artisan Farm
BY CAROLYN ROBBINS | crobbins163@gmail.com
Special to The Republican | SPRINGFIELD
Call it an island in a food desert.
That's how former chef Tony Renzulli and business partner Jack Wysocki think of their new business, Urban Artisan Farm, which uses hydroponic technology to produce 100 heads of lettuce a week in a greenhouse complex at 250 Albany St.
The indoor farm, located in a section of the city known as Gasoline Alley because of the huge fuel storage tanks that dot the landscape, is one of several businesses operating out of a quirky set of buildings owned and managed by entrepreneur Joseph Sibilia.
It may seem an unlikely spot for a hydroponic farm. But for Renzulli, whose vision is to bring fresh produce to low-income neighborhoods year-round, it's perfect. There aren't many places in the Armory-Liberty Street neighborhood where residents have easy access to fresh vegetables, he said.
Eventually, Renzulli hopes to expand the hydroponic concept to abandoned structures throughout the city with the goal of providing fresh produce and jobs to residents of low-income neighborhoods.
Wellspring Harvest breaks ground for greenhouse
The 2-acre facility means that the old Chapman Valve site in Indian Orchard is being reused.
For now, Renzulli and Wysocki are content to bring the farm's weekly yield of fresh greens to local farmer's markets, including a downtown location. They offer red and green Bibb lettuce and microgreens, which are immature but edible leaves.
They are currently building new structures at Gasoline Alley to expandtheir growing capacity. They also plan to add the cultivation of cucumbers and tomatoes to their year-round operation.
Vertical Farming – The Latest Trend For Producing Food !
Vertical Farming – The Latest Trend For Producing Food !
Nowadays, agriculture and food production are under great risk. The major factors for this are as follows
- The land under food cultivation is dwindling so as to give way for real estate activities owing to increase in urban population and their standards of living.
- Climate change is making our food systems vulnerable. Weather has become unpredictable and as a result farmers, especially small and marginal ones suffer from huge crop losses. At some places there are droughts due to delayed or scanty monsoon. At others there are more cyclones and untimely rains flooding the farms.
- The traditional agricultural techniques and practices are getting lost. Aspiring for more profits, farmers are doing mono-cropping and using chemicals in the form of fertilizers and pesticides extensively. This has taken a toll on our soils and has rendered it infertile. Moreover the crop thus raised is harmful for consumption.
Health conscious urban dwellers are switching to organic crops. Few others have gone to the next level of growing their own veggies in their rooftop or kitchen gardens. Demand for healthy and organic food is growing. To cope up with the limitation of land resources and the unpredictability of the weather conditions, scientists and entrepreneurs are developing modern agricultural techniques and technologies. One such innovation is Vertical Farming which is a type of precision farming. The goal of precision farming is to optimize returns on inputs while preserving resources. Vertical farms can produce more crops in less space with minimal environmental damage.
The Characteristics of Vertical Farming Are
- It involves producing crops in vertical stacks of plant beds one above another. This reduces the need for more land and eliminates the need for tilling.
- It is done indoors and environmental conditions are controlled, thus effectively isolating it from the outdoor weather conditions.
- This soil less farming is achieved either by hydroponics or aeroponics. Hydroponics uses water as medium for conveying nutrients to the roots. Mineral nutrients are dissolved in water, pumped and fed directly to a plant’s root system without any involvement of soil. In aeroponics, the roots are exposed to nutrient rich mist. The benefits associated with these technologies are quicker growth, faster harvest, higher yield and low nutrient and water wastage.
- Here, sunlight is replaced by light from LEDs. When plants photosynthesize they convert light of certain wavelength into chemical energy which is not necessary to come from sun. LEDs which are having high acceptance in replacing traditional lights, have been evolved to provide optimum electromagnetic spectrum for photosynthesis, consume less energy and have minimal heat signatures which keeps the energy requirement for temperature maintenance at a minimum.
Crops generally grown in this method are green leafy vegetables. The vertical farming market is estimated to reach USD 3.88 billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 30.7% between 2015 and 2020.
In some developed countries, vertical farms are on the verge of starting the next green revolution. The first ever commercial vertical farm was setup in Singapore in 2012. The world’s largest vertical farm is coming up in Newark, New Jersey by a company called Aerofarms which aims to produce about two million pounds of leafy greens a year using aeroponics techniques.
In Japan vertical farm technology gained traction after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown exposed the susceptibility of arable land getting contaminated. Closer home, start-ups such as Futurefarms based in Chennai has setup such farms and has begun promoting it.
Vertical farms can be setup in abandoned factories or warehouses. It promises to create more jobs and attracts public-private investment. The vegetables can be locally grown and thus the cost and emissions due to their transportation can be significantly cut down. These farms also give us the option of year-round harvest. And of course, huge swathes of land can be returned to their natural state by reforestation.
Nevertheless, some scientists are sceptical about this technology. They consider it to be a factory rather than a farm almost like a broiler producing plant. Further, the whole system is vulnerable due to human error and technological malfunction. Considering that these systems use huge number of LED lights, motors and sensors the demand for power increases substantially which can make it unsustainable. Detailed research work has to be done before it gets commercialised in India.
Wellspring Harvest Breaks Ground For Greenhouse In Springfield
By fall, between five and nine currently unemployed people will be working in a new hydroponic greenhouse growing salad greens for major local institutions like Baystate Medical Center, the public schools and Big Y supermarket.
Wellspring Harvest Breaks Ground For Greenhouse In Springfield
Updated on June 8, 2017 at 4:33 PMPosted on June 8, 2017 at 4:20 PM
Gallery: Wellspring Cooperative Corporation to build commercial greenhouse in Springfield
BY JIM KINNEY | jkinney@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD -- By fall, between five and nine currently unemployed people will be working in a new hydroponic greenhouse growing salad greens for major local institutions like Baystate Medical Center, the public schools and Big Y supermarket.
That's the plan from Wellspring Harvest, which broke ground Thursday at the former Chapman Valve site at 121 Pinevale St. in Indian Orchard.
"This will be a great place to go grow food. This will be a great place to grow people," said greenhouse manager and grower Stephen Hilyard.
Wellspring Harvest plans to grow at Indian Orchard greenhouse in Springfield by fall
The 2-acre project continues the process of putting the old factory property back to productive use, said Kevin Kennedy, city chief development officer.
Once one of the country's largest manufacturers of valves and fire hydrants, Chapman Valve had nearly 3,500 employees in the 1940s. The company supplied valves to the Manhattan Project, which built the first atomic bomb, and later machined uranium rods into slugs for reactor fuel at Brookhaven National Laboratory. In 1949, Chapman may have also conducted rolling operations on uranium metal.
Chapman Valve closed in 1986 when there were fewer than 100 employees.
An April 2005 federal study revealed that "significant" radioactive contamination remained at the plant at Pineville and Goodwin streets in Indian Orchard through the early 1990s.
Wellspring buying part of Chapman site for greenhouse
Wellspring is raising $900,000 for the project and has an event planned for investors Sept. 7.
Parts of the factory site, once 54 acres in size, were contaminated with radioactive waste that has since been cleaned up. Another part of the campus on Goodwin Street is the site of a 12-acre, 2.3-megawatt solar facility constructed by Western Massachusetts Electric Co., featuring 8,200 solar panels.
"I think it's amazing that we have been able to redevelop this site with 'green' uses," Kennedy said.
NatureFresh™ Farms Mobile Greenhouse Impacting Purchasing Decisions
NatureFresh™ Farms Mobile Greenhouse Impacting Purchasing Decisions
Leamington, ON (July 5th, 2017) – The heat of the summer is settling in across the Midwest though this has not deterred NatureFresh™ Farms’ mobile greenhouse tour from missing a beat. Already nearly 50 events completed since mid-April, consumers continue to flock to #GreenInTheCity events to learn more about how greenhouse vegetables are grown.
“The mobile greenhouse has not only been a conversation starter but a difference maker in how we connect with our customers”, said Ray Wowryk, Director of Business Development.
The mobile Greenhouse Education Center (GEC) is a 38’ custom-built unit that is an exact snapshot of how NatureFresh™ Farms grows its vegetables in state of the art high tech greenhouses in Leamington, ON & Delta, OH. Equipped with fruit bearing plants and complimented by a live Bumblebee Eco-System, the GEC serves as an education resource to inform consumers about how greenhouse vegetables are grown.
“We care about the future of fresh and all that it entails; we need to collectively increase fresh produce consumption. NatureFresh™ can help do that with the GEC and by getting front and center with consumers, we share our story to help inform them of the value of greenhouse vegetables. Knowing who grows what you buy is important, understanding how its grown is just as important if not more”, commented Wowryk.
Supporting the GEC this summer are 5 college students who serve as NatureFresh™ Brand Ambassadors at each event. The team is responsible for event day operations and interacting with retail partners to ensure their customers have the best possible experience. With varied backgrounds ranging from agri-business to environmental science to marketing to biology, the team provides unique perspectives of the value of greenhouse grown vegetables.
“We are able to immediately impact consumers purchasing decisions at store level with the knowledge we share about how we grow greenhouse vegetables”, said Cole Burkholder, GEC Team Member & 3rd year Environmental Science Major from Ohio State University. Agriculture is nothing new to Burkholder whose family operates a farming operation of more than 500 acres of row crops in central Ohio. “The look on people’s faces when we explain the greenhouse growing process and they see the live plants with real fruit, it’s priceless, you kind of see that ‘a-ha’ moment in their eyes. We’ve even had customers show us their shopping carts when leaving to show us the tomatoes or bell peppers they have purchased because of our conversation. It’s a pretty good feeling!” commented Burkholder.
Now in it’s 3rd year, the #GreenInTheCity Tour has completed more than 200 events to date across eastern North America connecting with consumers at retail stores, summer camps, schools, and community fairs. The 2017 tour will continue on through early November wrapping up at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, ON November 12th.
To learn more about NatureFresh™ Farms and the #GreenInTheCity Tour, visit naturefresh.ca/GEC.
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About NatureFresh Farms™ -
NatureFresh Farms™ has grown to become one of the largest independent, vertically integrated greenhouse vegetable growers in North America. Growing in Leamington, ON and Delta, OH, NatureFresh™ Farms prides itself on exceptional flavor & quality. Family owned NatureFresh Farms™ ships Non-GMO greenhouse grown produce year-round to key retailers throughout North America.
SOURCE: Chris Veillon | chris@naturefresh.ca
Director of Marketing | NatureFresh™ Farms
A Tabletop Hydroponics System For Your Kitchen
A Tabletop Hydroponics System For Your Kitchen
By Shawn Greyling
A couple of local boys and girls are wowing the tech/hydroponics and home appliance industry all in one fowl swoop. Here’s what you need to know about Homefarm.
An Auckland Park-based startup is developing a home appliance that will automatically grow greens in your kitchen. Homefarm’s mission is to inspire and enable urban dwellers across the globe to start growing and consuming their own fresh and healthy produce, to be enjoyed daily and all year round. Currently, they are running a crowdfunding campaign through IndieGoGo. If successful, this will enable Homefarm to start achieving their mission en-route to the total and complete commercialisation of their product.
At the time of writing, Homefarm is 92% in completing their crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo (the campaign has been extended to 07 July 2017) and aims to raise R510 000. There are a range of backer tiers that start from as little as R120. According to the guys behind the project, Homefarm will cost an average of R60 in electricity to run when looking at electricity tariffs for the first half of 2017.
This revolutionary piece of technology is hoped to become as common a household item as the microwave or toaster, and means an immediate supply from harvest to table. This eliminates the regular energy costs like transportation, refrigeration and packaging associated with store-bought herbs and greens. Not only is it a sustainable way of growing your own legumes, herbs and other greens, but you know that the produce has not been treated with harmful pesticides and growth hormones. This product can be used all year round, giving you the upper hand on that old fruit and veg shop.
Have you heard of Homefarm before? What are your thoughts on the interesting product? It’s good to see local guys and girls take on the world like this. Sharing is caring so show this to a buddy on social media.
Urban Farming: The Challenge of Producing Food in a City | Urban Roots Farm
Urban Farming: The Challenge of Producing Food in a City | Urban Roots Farm
by Pablo Fuentes | Last Updated July 5, 2017
There are a ton of benefits to urban farming.
Local food, farm to table, 100 mile diet, all of this is possible with urban agriculture. Further, urban gardens are often built over abandoned spaces in cities, converting them into green space, helping increase the beauty and value of the neighborhood.
However, there are also many challenges with urban farming. There's potential contaminants from city water runoff, zoning laws that must be overcome, laws about owning chickens, bees, and other farm animals, as well as major space constraints.
We get into all this and more on the latest episode of Small Business War Stories featuring Mel Millsap of Urban Roots Farm.
Listen to the podcast:
Does Vertical Farming Make Sense?
Does Vertical Farming Make Sense?
With increased urbanization, vertical farms are often advertised as the food production method of the future. But can we feed the world with fancy lettuce? This, and many other topics provided food for thought at yesterday's Vertical Farming Conference in the Netherlands. A broad audience with architects, horticultural suppliers, growers, retailers and breeders came together at the Brightlands Campus to discuss the next generation farmer.
Vertical farming has become a much discussed topic at horticultural events and summits. While plenty of both commercial, research and institutional vertical and indoor farms are being opened (and closed) at a rapid pace lately, the new industry is struggling to find its place in the market. A good reason for the organizers of the Innovative Food-Agri Event to incorporate a special program dedicated to this pioneering industry.
The Vertical Farming Conference was organized in conjunction with the 3D Food Printing Conference. Both of these new industries advocate that they will provide us the food of the future. In order to highlight the opportunities and underline these potentials, the conference brought in several interesting speakers who shared their success stories, but who also did not shy away to deliver critical side notes.
Lisa J. Newman, AeroFarms, currently wrapping up funding to expand their farm concept worldwide
The day was kicked off by Lisa J. Newman, the COO of AeroFarms who explained how her group ventured one of the largest commercial vertical indoor farms in North America. The 76,000 square foot aeroponic plantfactory of AeroFarms in Newark, NJ, produces a variety of leafy greens, year round. Employing about 120, the company daily harvests and ships its 'Dream Greens' branded produce to major food services like The Compass Group, ShopRite, WholeFoods and FreshDirect.
Newman explained that making profit by growing commercially is not easy, complex and takes a multi disciplined approach. Their vertical farming concepts allow them to be and ag tech centric company that greatly depend on sensors and data to make informed decisions, but they also have invested a lot of time in things like a HACCP food safety plan and other policies and procedures. "We conduct a lot of R&D to adapt new technology and improve our grow cycles. There is a lot more we would like to do within the imaging space, for example by using machine vision to understand the in and outside of plants."
AeroFarms is a good example how a combination of extensive knowledge and dedication towards technology and marketing can be translated into, according to Newman, a profitable business model.
LEDs Deliver Opportunities
If you talk indoor farming, you're talking LEDs. Because growing indoors requires supplemental light and traditional lamps like HPS and HID generate too much heat and electricity related problems when growing indoors. Therefore Celine Nicole of Philips and Stiina Kotiranta ofValoya provided some insights in using LEDs to improve more than just plant growth. They explained how vertical indoor farming allows for more control of the growing environment and enables LED technology and their extensive spectra to have full control of the crop's nutritional compounds, shelf life or taste. "It's a revolution that provides opportunities for human health".
Challenges
Okay, enough about the positive side of vertical farming. Now let's talk about the real challenge; how can a vertical farm solve the world food issue? Can we feed the world with just leafy greens and culinary herbs? An interactive room discussion gave some insight into the public opinion. Participants shared for example an opinion that a wider variety of crops need to be grown in order to make vertical farming a game changer.
And what about the high electricity cost and operational costs of a vertical farm? Does that really make them as sustainable and profitable as often advertised?
According to Jan Westra of Priva, it is very important to determine a certain goal to have a business case. "What do you want to achieve? Do you want to start an urban farm from a social point of view or to deploy a real state strategy and give a new impulse to an existing building? Or do you want to grow food in an impossible location like the south pole? Vertical farming does allow you to grow practically anywhere, but there are a huge amount of factors that will determine whether you have a profitable business case or not. From local utility costs towards marketing situations."
Furthermore, Westra stressed that the new vertical and indoor farming industry is a blue ocean which could learn a lot from the existing greenhouse industry and vice versa. "It is two different industries with a lot of overlap, they should cooperate more often to avoid pitfalls."
Martin Veenstra, Certhon, spoke about the gray area between a greenhouse and an indoor farm.
Pinkhouse
This was also affirmed by the presentation of Martin Veenstra of Certhon. He showed a picture of Jardin de Rabelais, a French greenhouse grower with an LED-lit semi closed greenhouse. When this tomato grower has its screens and vents closed, he is basically growing in a completely controlled environment. "In fact, this is a big indoor farm. So what is the exact definition of an indoor or vertical farm. There is a gray area in between both."
Also Veenstra stressed that vertical farming creates a lot of possibilities. But what about the feasibility? With the right technology and knowledge, basically anything is possible. Growing bell peppers without daylight?Possible. Growing lettuce in a shipping container? Possible. The options are limitless. But does it make sense? Does it make any sense (and more important: money) when your competitor is growing them next door in a traditional greenhouse with daylight at 50% of the cost? "The purpose of the type of cultivation should be determined. When vertical farming allows you to grow a fresher, local product that you can market with a premium it makes sense, go for it. The goal is then to grow local and a vertical farm allows you to achieve this goal. Growing in a vertical farm simply because it is vertical may never be the goal."
Publication date: 6/30/2017
Author: Bryan Spalinger
Copyright: www.freshplaza.com
Urban Settings Proving To Be Fruitful For Farming
Canadian Demand Exceeds Supply
Urban Settings Proving To Be Fruitful For Farming
When you consider the amount of land given to properties in cities, most would think it only enough for a patio, some furniture and maybe a pool if space (and finances) permit. On the other hand, there are a handful of individuals starting their own urban farms right in their back yards.
3,000 sq ft. of Property
They’re spread few and far between across the province of Ontario; there are maybe three in the city of Hamilton. One such farm, open officially for business as of this past February, is FieldMouse Farms. Owner, Rebecca Zeleney is working with just over 3,000 square feet of property and the biggest piece of equipment she uses is a walk-behind tractor. “Right now we’re in the process of opening one quarter acre of new land,” she said. Not included in the total square footage are the microgreens, which are grown indoors in a nursery attached to the house. Their biggest producer is salad greens (including beet greens, red Russian kale, arugula and spinach). That’s the priority of what I’m growing,” she said. Second to that would be her baby root vegetables (carrots, radishes, salad turnips, beets.)
Massive Demand
Zeleney’s produce is sold locally to restaurants and independent grocery stores. “I also try to price my product so it’s accessible,” she explains, although once produce gets to the grocery stores she has no control over their markup. “Demand in Hamilton is massive for these kinds of products,” she said, adding that she’s nowhere close to meeting it. However with the 120 units of product per week that she moves she feels the farm is doing very well for the land they have. “Off 250 square feet I can harvest about 10 lbs. a week.” While the farm isn’t certified organic, and being in an urban setting it would likely never be, they do grow to organic standards, using non-GMO seeds. “We sell absolutely everything we grow every week,” she said. There aren’t any plans for a brick and mortar storefront or online orders; she doesn’t think selling online would make sense – and maybe that’s just too far down the road.
Surprisingly – and thankfully for the future of the industry - Zeleney says she always wanted to farm but for a long time she thought the barriers were insurmountable. “A lot of people think land ownership is a barrier to farming, or not having the knowledge. I’m lucky in the sense that I grew up around farming.” She had also done many apprenticeships related to farming in the past. “There’s always more to know,” she admits. “I never felt knowledge was my barrier – just land.”
The home they purchased in Hamilton had a backyard, so they decided to go for it. “I didn’t want to sit around and wait until we had money to purchase a parcel of land.” Urban farming has a somewhat altruistic notion about providing food to a certain demographic, according to Zeleney, or being able to provide food within a tighter radius. “I think the majority of people are getting into it because they like to farm but don’t have access to large land. People are having to make due with what they have and actually realizing that it works.”
For More Information:
Rebecca Zeleney
FieldMouse Farms
South African Urban Agri Summit To Showcase Vertical Farming
South African Urban Agri Summit To Showcase Vertical Farming
International experts, regional authorities, investors and stakeholders from the agriculture sector will gather on September 7-8 in Johannesburg, South Africa for the inaugural Urban Agri Summit 2017. The two-day event will serve as a springboard to support the successful launch of Vertical Farming, Greenhouse and Control Environment Agriculture across Africa's urban landscape to help address the needs of the continent's rapidly growing populations.
Dr Esther Ndumi Ngumbi, Food Security Fellow with New Voices, The Aspen Institute and previously Mentor for Agriculture at the Clinton Global University Initiative (CGI U), said, "I believe it is about time Africa has the conversations about vertical farming and other innovative urban agriculture practices. With the urban population expected to rise for most of the African cities, there will be the need for innovative approaches to feed the urban population. I do believe that Africa’s farms have to start going vertical."
Various initiatives have already been undertaken by South Africa to spur innovation in its agriculture sector. Together with other Sub-Saharan African cities in Nigeria and Kenya, South African metropolises are following in the footsteps of many global cities to introduce sustainable urban indoor farming. Africa has unique opportunities for vertical farms and Controlled Environment Agriculture. Vertical farming (including its variations) is one of the most innovative approaches that can be tapped as part of an effort to grow fresh, healthy, nutritious and pesticide-free food for consumers.
Jana Jordaan, Sustainable Agriculture Analyst at GreenCape said: “We are very excited that the Urban Agri Summit will be taking place in Johannesburg this year. Our 2017 Agriculture Market Intelligence Report has shown that there are significant opportunities for farmers, investors and businesses in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) in the region. The Urban Agri Summit is a great platform where international experiences and ideas are shared, influencing opportunities and overcoming barriers to the growth of the CEA market. We believe the summit is a great opportunity to not only support the growth of the CEA market in South Africa, but also support South Africa’s transition to a more resilient green economy."
Highlights of the Summit include insightful presentations and engaging panel discussions by international organisations and experts from Europe, the Middle East, Australia and the USA, combined with a technology showcase.
This industry event is supported by the Association for Vertical Farming (AVF) and by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).
The AVF's Stephane Razzon said, "The event presents an opportunity for the African continent to be introduced with the most cutting-edge technologies in agriculture. Controlled Environment Agriculture, Vertical Farming and advanced greenhouse methods are bound to completely transform food systems in developing countries and developed countries alike. We at the AVF believe the global Vertical Farming market is now ready to make a notable impact on the agricultural sector in Africa. It will require from us all to be in the right place and in the right time, which is clearly at the Urban Agri Summit 2017.
For more information:
Jose Carpio
Tel: +65 6846 2366
www.magentaglobalevents.com
Publication |date:7/3/2017
These Kale Farming Robots In Pittsburgh Don't Need Soil Or Even Much Water
These Kale Farming Robots In Pittsburgh Don't Need Soil Or Even Much Water
AARON AUPPERLEE | Monday, July 3, 2017, 12:09 a.m.
Brac Webb, CIO, Danny Seim, COO, Austin Webb, CEO, Austin Lawrence CTO, of RoBotany, an indoor, robotic, vertical farming company started at CMU sells their products at Whole Foods in Upper Saint Clair,
Friday, June 30, 2017.ANDREW RUSSELL | TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Robots could grow your next salad inside an old steel mill on Pittsburgh's South Side.
And the four co-founders of the robotic, indoor, vertical farming startup RoBotany could next tackle growing the potatoes for the french fries to top it.
“We're techies, but we have green thumbs,” said Austin Webb, one of the startup's co-founders.
It's hard to imagine a farm inside the former Republic Steel and later Follansbee Steel Corp. building on Bingham Street. During World War II, the plant produced steel for artillery guns and other military needs. The blueprints were still locked in a safe in a closet in the building when RoBotany moved in.
Graffiti from raves and DJ parties once held in the space still decorate the walls. There's so much space, the RoBotany team can park their cars indoors.
But in this space, Webb and the rest of the RoBotany team — his brother Brac Webb; Austin Lawrence, who grew up on a blueberry farm in Southwest Michigan; and Daniel Seim, who has pictures of his family's farm stand in Minnesota, taped to the wall above his computer — see a 20,000-square-foot farm with robots scaling racks up to 25 feet high. This farm could produce 2,000 pounds of food a day and could be replicated in warehouses across the country, putting fresh produce closer to the urban populations that need it and do it while reducing the environmental strain traditional farming puts on water and soil resources.
“It's the first step in solving a lot of these issues that are already past the breaking point,” Austin Webb said.
RoBotany is a robotics, software and analytics company aiming to bundle its expertise to make indoor, vertical farming more efficient and economical.
Webb left a job as an investment banker in Washington to attend Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business in hopes of founding a startup around food security issues. While in D.C., Webb volunteered at the Capital Area Food Bank and donated to food security causes.
At Tepper, he met Daniel Seim, an electrical and computer engineer pursuing his MBA. Seim connected with Webb on his mission. The pair teamed up with Lawrence, who left a prestigious Ph.D. program at Cornell to found RoBotany, and brought in Webb's brother, a self-described nerd who taught himself to code at age 12 and turned into a software and high tech engineering whiz.
The team speaks the same language when it comes to why they formed RoBotany. The population is growing. Traditional farming degrades soil and pollutes water. Current vertical farming takes a lot work and doesn't use labor and space efficiently.
Austin Webb said RoBotany seeks to solve all of those problems. His brother, Brac, said it must.
“This is probably one of the first problems humanity needs to solve,” Brac Webb said.
The company started in June 2016 with its first farm in a conference room at Carnegie Mellon University's Project Olympus startup accelerator in Oakland.
The first version of the farm was 50 square feet and produced about a pound of micro leafy greens or herbs a day. Once the farm was up and running, RoBotany supplied arugula and cilantro to the Whole Foods in the South Hills under the brand Pure Sky Farms. The team delivered its latest produce Friday.
“The company aligns well with our mission of providing high quality, locally grown produce and we are excited about the success of their vertical growing method for urban environments,” said Rachel Dean Wilson, a spokeswoman for Whole Foods.
In February, the company expanded, big time. The team leased 40,000 square feet of warehouse and office space from the M. Berger Land Co. on Bingham Street. Version two of the farm is taking shape in one corner of the warehouse. It will be 2,000 square feet and produce 40 pounds of food per day. Version three is in the works. The team hopes it will be 20,000 square feet and produce 2,000 pounds of food today.
“It does speak to a different form of agriculture,” Lawrence said.
In a RoBotany farm, robots move up and down high racks moving long, skinny trays of plants into different growing environments. The amount and color of LED lights can be controlled. So can the amount and make-up of the nutrient-rich mist sprayed directly onto the roots of the plants.
The plants — micro versions of leafy greens like kale, spinach and arugula and herbs like cilantro and basil — grow in a synthetic mesh rather than soil. The roots hang freely from the bottom of the trays.
Plants grow two to three times faster than outdoors, Austin Webb said. They use 95 percent less water. And they have the nutritional value and taste to rival any traditionally grown produce, he said.
The company has raised $750,000 to date and hopes to raise $10 million when it closes its first round of financing this summer to begin construction of the big farm. The team hopes to have it up and running by the winter.
Austin Webb anticipates hiring seven to 10 people to work the farm when the full version is running. Another four to 10 people will be needed to run the business end of the company and maintain the robots and software. The robots will do the dangerous work, moving around trays high in the air.
Eventually, RoBotany will expand its crops to include other fruits and vegetables.
“You can't just feed the world on lettuce,” Austin Webb said.
Aaron Aupperlee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at aaupperlee@tribweb.com, 412-336-8448 or via Twitter @tinynotebook.