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US: NEW YORK - What If Central Park Were Home To A Massive Urban Farm?
A corner of Central Park was once home to a thriving Black community. Amber Tamm wants to honor the legacy of that neighborhood with a farm to feed New York’s neediest
08-04-20
A corner of Central Park was once home to a thriving Black community. Amber Tamm wants to honor the legacy of that neighborhood with a farm to feed New York’s neediest.
In 1825, downtown New York City was growing crowded. Then, as now, racism made New York an uncomfortable place for Black Americans, so Andrew Williams, a Black shoeshiner, took an opportunity to move north, away from the hubub of lower Manhattan. For $125 he bought three parcels of land between what is now West 85th Street and 86th Street and where once there was just farmland. Shortly thereafter, a church bought up a plot with plans to create a cemetery for African Americans. Other Black Americans soon followed.
That was the beginning of a neighborhood called Seneca Village. Residents there, like Williams, were largely laborers. But land ownership provided an opportunity for upward mobility and Black landowners with property worth $250 or more could vote in elections. By 1850, there was a school, three churches, gardens, livestock, some 50 homes, and roughly 225 residents, the majority of whom were Black.
But the New York Williams had tried to escape was growing too: The city doubled in population between 1845 and 1855, and citizens began clamoring for green space to be set aside for recreation. Though several sites were up for consideration, including a tract of private land along the East River, the city decided on a large swath at the center of the island. Though the media of the time painted the region as a largely empty save for some poor squatters, Seneca Village fell right inside its bounds.
The 1868 plan for Central Park. [Image: Wiki Commons]
The city acquired the land through eminent domain, paying owners “just compensation,” (though letters from the time reveal that Seneca Village residents did not always feel the compensation was actually fair). Seneca Village was razed and subsumed into what is now Central Park. Amber Tamm, a farmer for a nearly six-acre New York rooftop farm called Brooklyn Grange, wants to give part of the park back to that history, by taking 14 acres of the 55-acre Great Lawn and turning it into a community farm that would feed under-resourced Manhattanites, many of whom are Black. It would also serve as an educational resource for teaching New Yorkers about urban farming. Tamm wants to call it Seneca Village Farm. “I think calling out Central Park is powerful because it’s the biggest park in New York City and it has the most flatland,” she says.
Tamm is hoping to reclaim Central Park’s narrative and make it a more inclusive one. Her vision is that one person would farm an acre each and people would apply for one of the 14 spots. Tamm envisions running a training program where she and a small team would teach people how to farm their acre with room for creative innovation. If there is someone interested in herbalism, Tamm says she would find a mentor to teach her how to grow herbs. “But also what does it look like for her to exercise creativity? Does she want to grow in rows? Does she want to grow in circles and spirals? Let her flesh out what her vision is and let her work through what it’s like to revitalize soil while also supporting community through what she yields,” says Tamm. Another example she gives: What would it look like to grow rice in New York City?
Tamm’s introduction to the existence of Seneca Village started young and was driven by her mother’s persistent interest in the village. In 1993, a book about Central Park, The Park and the People: A History of Central Park, spurred archeologists Nan Rothschild and Diana diZerega Wall, a professor at City College, to consider Seneca Village’s old plot as the site of an archeological dig. Seventeen years later, the city approved it. The excavation yielded a small glimpse into a place that captivated certain New Yorkers.
[Photo: Jermaine Ee/Unsplash]
“There would be these excavations where they were finding bones of our ancestors and my mother would always be moved to tears and be investigating how she can go see it, how she can go experience it on her own,” says Amber Tamm, a farmer for Brooklyn Grange, who grew up in East New York. She says her family has lived in Brooklyn for four generations. “Once Seneca Village became a thing and once they started to find the walls and the teapots, she was deeply invested in talking about it.“
The Seneca Village Farm idea was born out of COVID-19. In the early days, food was constrained. Tamm remembers going to the farmers’ market and seeing a bleak array of produce stalls. She and a friend who works on the rooftop garden at Cooper Union began a conversation about what it would look like for New York City to have food sovereignty or sustainable access to healthy, culturally appropriate food grown locally. What kind of food a person can access in New York City depends largely on where they live: Some neighborhoods have big grocery stores with expensive produce trucked in from all over the country. Others have corner stores with selections of packaged goods and small produce sections.
The unequal food distribution in New York has led some food activists to start urban farms that cater to individual communities. East New York Farms, for example, operates a plot and sells to local residents in the Brooklyn neighborhood. The group has also helped others to start their own community-led farms, like the one at the Louis Heaton Pink Houses, a New York City Housing Authority project in Brooklyn.
During the pandemic, food access, at least initially, was even more constrained for those who already have difficulty accessing fresh food. Soup kitchens and groups like Harlem Grown, which uses abandon lots to set up urban farms, stepped in to fill the food void with fresh vegetables and prepared meals. Tamm wonders what such efforts would be like with a bigger piece of land.
The pandemic also provided Tamm with a precedent for converting Central Park to more essential uses: Within the first three weeks of the pandemic, after New York City shut down normal operations, field tents with 68 hospital beds went up in Central Park to support Mt. Sinai hospital as it treated COVID-19 patients. Tamm says, if New York City is willing to set aside land for treating sick New Yorkers, why would it not set aside that same land for ensuring that city residents have access to good nutrition.
“Farmers and doctors are deemed, essential workers. So why couldn’t we have the juxtaposition of on one side of the park they have the COVID hospital and on the other side they have farms, because that would be tackling both sides of health,” she says.
Sam Biederman, systems commissioner for community outreach and partnership development at New York City Parks, works closely with the Central Park Conservancy and also with New York City’s Green Thumb community gardens. He says that given the size of New York City’s population there is physically not enough available land in New York City to grow enough food to feed all its residents. However, he does think community gardens contribute more quality food to certain neighborhoods. Unfortunately, he says, the Central Park Conservancy, in partnership with the city, manages the park with strict rules that may make such a project difficult to undertake.
The Central Park Conservancy is a nonprofit that was founded in 1980 after the park had suffered years of decline, to rejuvenate and manage the park. The city pays about a tenth of the conservancy’s annual $85 million budget, and conservancy raises the rest through private sources. The organization works in tandem with the parks department.
“The undergirding philosophical approach is as much land should be available to all people,” says Biederman. He says that using Central Park as anything other than purely recreational space requires event permitting. The Great Lawn in particular has a lot of limits, he says, because any time an event takes over that space, it is taking it offline for recreational use. The longest a person can get a permit for the Great Lawn is two days and there are only seven permits given out a year. “Turning a significant amount of that space over to agriculture that’s a significantly different use—it’s a tall order.”
However, he also notes that the Central Park Conservancy is very aware of Seneca Village’s history and is trying to honor its legacy in various ways. Last year, the organization put up a temporary installation that highlights the work archeologists have done and their learnings about Seneca Village in the time they’ve been investigating it. It also released a series of materials that help guide teachers who want to use the exhibit to teach students about Seneca Village. Biederman says NYC Parks is also looking into renaming other parks to honor New York’s Black history. “Negotiating what it means to live on and operate and be the custodian of land that once belonged to someone else is a moral responsibility that you have to tend to in perpetuity,” says Biederman. “The way people interact with public spaces evolves from generation to generation—that’s clear.”
Tamm, who has separately recently raised more than $100,000 to start her own farm, is meeting with a member of New York City Parks to discuss the project further and has high hopes for the conversation, she says. “It would be there to pay homage to the ancestors of Seneca Village—that’s the number-one goal.”
Correction: This article has been updated to clarify the Conservancy’s role in managing Central Park.
Lead Photo: [Photo: johnandersonphoto/iStock]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ruth Reader is a writer for Fast Company. She covers the intersection of health and technology.
Calculating Optimal Equipment And a Settings, Before The Greenhouse is Built
“Our software calculates the best configuration of a closed greenhouse for any crop all over the world,” says Vincent Stauffer, director of Hortinergy, a French technology company
“Our software calculates the best configuration of a closed greenhouse for any crop all over the world,” says Vincent Stauffer, director of Hortinergy, a French technology company. It’s mostly used before the construction of a closed greenhouse to select and size the equipment. It helps to make sure that the right choices for energy-efficient equipment are made to reach the optimal climate with the lowest energy expenditures.
The greenhouse simulation software calculates energy consumption and expenditures (cooling, dehumidification, heating, and lighting). It models the inner climate like a virtual greenhouse, with specific parameters, and allows users to compare different technical solutions. Growers, consultants, and greenhouse designers use the software to know what the best settings and equipment are.
Orange Climate
Orange Climate, a Dutch supplier of climate technique, uses Hortinergy software to calculate the demands for the installation. Jeroen Verhagen, Business Unit Manager at the company talks about how the product works for them. “We have to know how many kiloWatts of heating and cooling we need, to have the requested greenhouse conditions, and we can calculate that with Hortinergy.”
When the company first started using the software, there were some issues and questions. “Vincent really cooperated with us on this, we discussed via Teams. He is very involved in the process.” Sustainable climate solutions for greenhouses and special concepts can be a big save in energy. “With Hortinergy, we can calculate what can be saved.”
For more information:
Hortinergy
contact@hortinergy.com
www.hortinergy.com
Publication date: Fri 3 Jul 2020
Author: Marlies Guiljam
© HortiDaily.com
VIDEO: The Future of Farming & Investing in Land - w/ Cubic Farms CEO Dave Dinesen
CubicFarms has developed and patented some of the most advanced automated growing machines for Fresh Vegetables and Nutritious Animal Feed that enable commercial-scale indoor farming, anywhere on earth
May 28, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed fragility in supply chains, such as labour shortages, disruptions in the packing and transportation sectors, and increasing uncertainty in the domestic and international markets. CubicFarms’ automated growing systems have emerged as a key solution to overcoming these challenges by allowing growers to localize food production and provide their markets with fresh produce and nutritious livestock feed reliably and consistently. What does this do to opportunities for land investment?
Speaker Bio:
Dave is the CEO of CubicFarms, one of the world’s leading Ag Tech companies that develops “Technology to Feed a Changing World”. CubicFarms has developed and patented some of the most advanced automated growing machines for Fresh Vegetables and Nutritious Animal Feed that enable commercial-scale indoor farming, anywhere on earth. Dave leads growth at CubicFarms and since inception, has raised over $23MM in capital.
Dave is the former CEO and founder of BackCheck, which became one of the world’s top ten largest background screening companies, where he advanced the company from a start-up to an industry-leading company operating on three continents with over 500 employees.
Recorded: Thursday, May 28, 2020,
**The information provided in this webinar and accompanying material is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered financial or professional advice.
You should consult with a professional to determine what may be best for your individual needs. http://addyinvest.com/
Urban Farms Are Thriving Amid The Pandemic
"More people are thinking about where their food comes from, how easily it can be disrupted, and how to reduce disruptions," Kotchakorn Voraakhom, the architect who designed Asia's largest urban rooftop farm in Bangkok, tells Reuters
April 13, 2020
With much of the world locked down to prevent the spread of coronavirus, most of us are looking for any good news we can get.
Global air pollution has plummeted. Even wildlife seems to be bouncing back.
But let's face it, these developments likely won't last long once humans venture outside again.
We may, however, be able to take lasting comfort from one trend emerging from these viral times: The number of people growing their own food at home or forging a direct relationship with local farmers has surged in recent weeks.
"More people are thinking about where their food comes from, how easily it can be disrupted, and how to reduce disruptions," Kotchakorn Voraakhom, the architect who designed Asia's largest urban rooftop farm in Bangkok, tells Reuters.
"People, planners, and governments should all be rethinking how land is used in cities. Urban farming can improve food security and nutrition, reduce climate change impacts, and lower stress."
To be clear, the coronavirus isn't likely to have an impact on grocery shelves. Lockdowns in both Canada and the U.S. don't include food transportation. And while there may be concerns about some harvests falling short due to a lack of labor, there's still plenty to go around. If store shelves appear empty at a given moment, don't blame the supply chain. Blame the guy who loaded up three carts of produce because he figured the world was about to end. Indeed, in times like these, panic buyers are the real threat to food security.
The rise of urban farming
Urban farming is pretty much what it sounds like: a farm in an urban setting. That setting could be as modest as a window sill or even a rooftop. Some urban farmers even sell their wares to people in their community.
And backyards aren't off-limits either. Why waste all that sunlight on grass when you can have gourds and green peppers and golden potatoes?
In healthier times, community farms — urban spaces shared and tilled by neighbors — would also fit the bill. There's also an even bigger kind of urban farm that has long been building momentum. Community Supported Agriculture operations, known simply as CSAs, are flourishing amid the pandemic, Civil Eats reports.
The definition of a CSA can be broad, but essentially it's a network that connects a community more closely with farmers. That more direct relationship often results in boxes of in-season produce being delivered directly to your doorstep.
As Davida Lederle, a blogger and podcaster for the Healthy Maven describes it, "Each CSA looks a little bit different. Some don't deliver right to your door but you have to pick them up. Others feed 2 people, while some are built to feed a full family. Some pick all of the fruits and veggies for you, while others allow you to pick and choose options."
It should come as little surprise that the number of people relying on CSAs has tripled in parts of America in recent days, as The New York Times reports. After all, who wants to compete with the panic-shopping thongs, risking not-so-sanitary shopping carts and humans in the check-out line? Urban farms all but eliminate fear and loathing at the grocery store.
Even a few tomato-bearing plants can offset what you need to purchase at the store. (Photo: ChiccoDodiFC/Shutterstock)
The thing about urban farming, whether you grow your own food or have a local farmer on speed dial, is that it's always a good thing — even when we're not living in pandemic times.
"Having some extra food coming in this summer sounds like a pretty good idea, rather than having to worry about paying for our next meal," an urban farmer in Ontario, Canada tells Maclean's magazine.
It's the same steady refrain heard across this quarantined continent.
"I decided that I would grow a garden because we're finding in my work-related job that there's going to be some food shortages, so I wanted to prepare for my family," Michelle Casias of Fargo, North Dakota tells KVRR News.
Of course, this wouldn't be the first time a nation has turned to hyper-local farming in times of crisis. During the lean years of World War II, so-called "victory gardens" emerged in yards across the U.S. By the end of the war, America boasted nearly 20 million victory gardens, generating enough fruit and vegetables to feed 40 percent of the population.
If we had built on that homegrown momentum — rather than letting large-scale rural operations almost entirely take over food production — fewer neighborhoods would have become food deserts.
This victory garden was grown in a London bomb crater close to Westminster Cathedral during WWII. (Photo: Office of War Information [public domain]/U.S. Library of Congress)
Urban farms won't feed entire cities. Large-scale operations still do a pretty good job of that. Nor are they necessarily better for the environment. Urban growers probably don't use pesticides and fertilizer as carefully or as efficiently as their big-scale brethren.
In an essay for Gastronomica, Jason Mark sums up the real value of the urban farm:
"Spend a few months taking broccoli from seed to harvest, and you'll soon have a much deeper appreciation for the natural systems on which we depend. Our connection to the earth becomes gobsmackingly obvious when you watch the crops grow (or fail). The garden produces a harvest of teachable moments about what it means to live in an environment."
Lead Photo: Spanning about an acre, New York City's Battery Urban Farm gardening project is the largest educational farm in Manhattan. (Photo: littlenySTOCK/Shutterstock.com)
The Scalability of Urban Farming
Harvester City: Interview with David Proenza, Founder of Urban Farms Global. David is the founder of Urban Farms Global a company dedicated to developing indoor farms around the world. He is also the president of the “Foundation for the Development of Controlled Environment Agriculture.”
Harvester City: Interview with David Proenza, Founder of Urban Farms Global.
When I first got into Urban Farming, I dreamt of meeting people like David Proenza. David is the founder of Urban Farms Global a company dedicated to developing indoor farms around the world. He is also the president of the “Foundation for the Development of Controlled Environment Agriculture.” A non-profit dedicated to promoting knowledge of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) based on science and research. David has spent over 35 years in the food industry; he is indeed someone who has embraced the future of food while still understanding the importance of a human-centered approach. Technology has continued to redefine all aspects of our everyday life. I wonder what does the role of technology mean for the future of food? Will traditional farmers be a thing of the past? I had the pleasure of asking David all these questions and more in our interview below.
What sparked your interest in the food space?
“I got into this industry by accident; it wasn’t planned. I’ve been in the food business now for over 33 years. It started when a friend of mine asked for some help with a new company that he started that involved marketing for the food business. The job then began to take a life of its own, and it ended up becoming a full-time thing. At the time I was also working at AT&T.
In 3 decades, I have done pretty much everything in food. I have a packaging company and a processing company and a production company. I always wanted to have a restaurant, but I haven’t gotten there just yet.
Around five years ago my company started to experience a lot of different issues due to climate change.
We started having water problems, labor issues and this need to add more pesticides to our food continually. We weren’t happy about this, and it didn’t feel right. Over time the problem just kept getting worse.
I read an article by Dr.Toyoki Kozai in the newspaper. towoki kozi is one of the founding fathers of urban farming. After reading this article, a few of us jumped onto a plane and visited Chiba University to gather some ideas and knowledge. The first thing we did when we got back was to establish our research center and buy some LED lights. We were like little kids in a candy shop when we saw the first batch of lettuce growing.
Urban Farms Global — Growing Facility
We had spent years in the business growing food the traditional way and were amazed that food could grow just from LED lights alone.
We were very systematic from there on and started going step by step. We grew strawberries, watermelons, cucumbers you name it.
We started testing different nutrition and LED lights and other elements. We then thought how are we going to package this food and distribute it, so we started getting involved in those processes. We then thought about how we could compete with traditional farms and greenhouse farms. We didn’t need to worry about competing with urban farms since there were so few. So then we started developing our business model, and all of this came out of research and development. Now we have a pipeline of 10 different food products that we are trying out. Not all of them will be available for the market, but we are getting them ready for a few years down the road.”
What are your views on climate change and sustainability?
“When I grew up food, and social consciousness wasn’t there. That has been introduced through my kids. They were doing projects at school, and this green movement started. So I realized yes I do need to improve on this and we do need to change. Even my 9-year-old and most people here in Panama are becoming super conscious about recycling and saving the planet.
We need to make sure that young people have a healthy world to live on.
The thing about being in farming is that we live through all kinds of change. We see all the chemical runoff that is going into the lakes. It is so much more than just talking points for us. As farmers, we live through all these changes, and we have to be more conscious. I think people do not give enough credit to farmers. However, I ask the question about what happens if we don’t farm? The answer is that nobody eats. Most farmers try to do the best they can.
Soon we will start packaging our food in a material that is made from cassava. So going forward we will be a lot more sustainable. Our packaging will be biodegradable, and therefore it will be a bit more expensive. We will fit this into the production cost and will not raise the price for consumers.
If we are going to develop a better food system, we need to do it in every aspect.
If you are producing healthy produce why would you want to then put it in plastic that harms the planet?”
You don’t see a lot of traditional farmers getting into urban farming. How did you make the switch successfully?
“At that point in the first year, we did nothing in hydroponics. We needed to train people and send them off to be trained over at The University of Arizona. We needed to send people off to learn about controlled environment agriculture. We sent our people out to all different parts of the world to get trained.
We had to go through a learning curve ourselves despite having had this vast experience in the food business.
Growing food indoors and using this type of technology is very different. There are a couple of other things that differentiate us from other indoor farms. One we don’t go public. The second would focus on our work and not the work of others.
There is this quote that I love by Chris Higgens — “When a farmer buys a new tractor he doesn’t go out and post it on social media.”
This can be good or bad because we are not as well known as other indoor farms. However, it is also the attitude we have when we look at indoor farming. Some people think its all about technology. We on the other hand focus on being a food company that uses technology to produce food. You have to grow food, you have to know how to grow food, and you have to have that first-hand experience. If you set a culture in the company, you need to decide what that culture will look like if we are focused on producing high-quality food that is where the focus is.
The other thing is that we are continually training our people because there is always something new to learn.
Four years ago we worked out an agreement between The University of Panama and The University of Chiba and The Technology University of Panama. We negotiated to send three students and one professor from each of the two Panamanian university to train at Chiba University for 30 days or more. Then Chiba sends a group of 8 –10 of their students to Panama. The Japanese students spend some time at our R&D and get to visit several other farms in Panama. While the Panamanian students that return from Chiba continue their development with us at our R&D.
Urban Farms Global — Growing Facility
We need to start training more people in this field because the number of people who are knowledgable in this industry is very few.
We are now negotiating with other universities in The United States and Europe to do the same with us. These initiatives help us to grow a larger pool of people to come and work as we expand the industry. It may be a lot of costs, but it is well worth it.”
What role do you think technology should play in the future of food?
“I believe it should always be a bit human-centric. Many people today think that the algorithms and devices will be the solution to tell you how much nutrients a plant needs. I cannot entirely agree with this; a person needs to be able to understand plants as living things. The plants can tell you more than any algorithm. It is essential to know how to grow food. I believe that human reaction is so important when it comes to growing food. Even if a sensor tells you this is wrong, you have to understand how to correct it.
Although we apply a lot of technology, we will always need a farmer.
It is going back to this statement of companies worrying about indoor farms taking over. A few years ago this was going around peoples minds. This idea is impossible the demands for food are so significant. Indoor farms will not be able to grow apples, mangos, avocados and more. It is just not economically feasible.
One day I was doing a talk, and someone said to me “you are going to be putting farmers out of business.” I said “no way” this is a compliment to traditional farming just like how greenhouses compliment traditional farming. It is not going to take over. Our population is going to grow to over 10 billion in the next few years, and there is no more land to grow food. Wouldnt it be better if we have another system like indoor farming that would be a lot more healthier to help? I think people are begining to wiser up and realize that some farms are going out of business. However, when I hear of new indoor farms, I wish them complete and utter success. Because when an indoor farm goes out of business, it gives all of us a black eye.”
Urban Farms Global — Growing Facility
What would you say to those who doubt the profitability of indoor farming?
“We believe indoor farming is profitable if you do it right. A lot of the doubt has to come from problems with management and the fact that you have to look long term at these business models. Everything for us is about our consumers and intending to create consumer loyalty. It is no different from any other business.
You see a lot of indoor farming companies generating millions of dollars in funds. I know what it cost to start an urban/indoor farm. I know what the cost is and what they are not. I then have to ask “Where exactly are these companies putting these funds?”
What are the three things you advise an urban farming business to watch out for?
“You need to keep your cost low.
You have to keep your yields high.
It would be best if you remembered this is not a dollar business; it’s a penny business.”
What is your favorite food at the moment?
“I am eating a lot of salad, but then again I am eating my product, so that helps.”
Call to Action?
“The world is enormous, and the food industry is massive. I encourage young people to look into the food industry seriously.
Someone very wise once said “you may need a doctor once a year and an attorney once a year, but you need a farmer three times a day”
I encourage all young people to get in and learn.”
If you or someone you know would be interested in connecting, collaborating or supporting David and his mission, please share this article or reach out using the information below:
david@urban.farm
If you enjoyed this piece, you might also like…”The Truth About Packaging When It Comes to Sustainability.”
For more information on Harvester City click here.
WRITTEN BY Alex Welch
Startup Enthusiast: Passionate about all things Plants + Tech + Social Impact related 🌱www.harvestercity.com
"With Our Concept, Everyone Can Be A City Farmer"
As Sweden is not on a lock-down yet, the virus is nevertheless having a great impact on jobs and the country’s economy
As Sweden is not on a lock-down yet, the virus is nevertheless having a great impact on jobs and the country’s economy. Crisis packages for jobs and transition are now being presented by the government. So far SweGreen has not noticed a great impact on business despite the COVID-19, rather the opposite. The absolute major part of SweGreen produce, based in Stockholm, is the distribution of their ‘Stadsbondens’ branded leafy greens and herbs to supermarkets. A particular increase in sales is visible, even though the company doesn’t do anything extra in-store to meet customers, besides deliveries.
Free greens
“We have some restaurants on our client list, and we see that they are suffering a lot now. We are actually delivering to them according to the agreement, but for free. We have chosen to not charge our restaurant partners anything during this crisis, just to show our compassion and goodwill,” Andreas Dahlin, CEO of SweGreen says.
The SweGreen salad mix
Stadsbondens
Stadsbondens, which means ‘The City Farmers’ in Swedish, is the leafy greens brand, that SweGreen uses for marketing their produce to supermarkets. As for now, the produce is sold at around ten supermarkets, located in Stockholm. SweGreen has recently set up service together with an online distributor which enables them to sell their fresh produce online and home-delivery of the greens. Dahlin notes: “It gives us the possibility to reach more people. Next to that customers don’t have to get out of the house, and our brand lovers can order the fresh produce no matter where they are located in Stockholm.”
Farming as a Service
SweGreen has developed its own farming service, which is a closed environment and automated in-store solution that gives customers within grocery and restaurants the possibility to be their own providers of fresh, nutritional, locally-produced greens harvested directly off the shelf.
A vertical basil wall
“Farming as a Service, as we like to call it, is the service we offer. We provide a whole system, containing both software and hardware, such as monitoring and steering. So basically with our concept, everyone can be a City Farmer as it automates the whole growing process”, Andreas Dahlin says. In Stockholm, the SweGreen city farm has been fully developed for automation. “We control everything that goes in and comes out. With a fully closed system, we also can digitally control every unit or crop that we provide to our client. One of the most important keys for Urban Farming is absolutely being able to get valid data from growing processes and having the ability to convert the data to value-shaping intelligence. We focus a lot on this now. In this way, we can improve the systems constantly together with our clients.”
A vertical fresh produce wall
Future aspect“
Our objective now is to further develop the Farming Service. Our customers really appreciate this service model and I think the circumstances right now prove the importance of factors such as sustainability, resilience and hyper-local production for the food industry."
Andreas Dahlin, CEO at SweGreen
"We have just closed our second seeding round with investors and we are planning on expanding internationally. Not only with the focus on supermarkets, because we also get a lot of interest from restaurants too. Restaurants and chefs are early adopters when it comes to the sustainable production of food”, Dahlin adds.
For more information:
SweGreenAndreas Dahlin, CEO, and partner
andreas.dahlin@swegreen.se
www.swegreen.com
Publication date: Fri 3 Apr 2020
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© HortiDaily.com
Armela Brings Fresh Perspective To Farming In UAE
Armela Farms, an expert in hydroponic farming and the largest producer of water-grown lettuce in the UAE, now has a production capacity of 1.6 million lettuce heads – the equivalent of 330 tonnes per year
March 15, 2020
ABU DHABI
Armela Farms, an expert in hydroponic farming and the largest producer of water-grown lettuce in the UAE, now has a production capacity of 1.6 million lettuce heads – the equivalent of 330 tonnes per year.
As an innovator in the large-scale commercial production, packing and distribution of lettuce and kale, Armela Farms utilizes cutting-edge hydroponic growing technology, on-site storage, packing, and local distribution methods to redefine local food supply, the company said.
By producing natural, eco-friendly, locally grown, farm-fresh, 100% pesticide-free products, Armela Farms continuously reaffirms its commitment to feeding people in cities in a way that is positive for the environment.
The UAE is globally renowned for blending the core values of its agricultural history with the latest innovations and technologies. The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment has prioritized increasing the use of hydroponic farms, cooling and climate control technologies to overcome the historical problems of scarcity of water resources and arable land, soil salinity, difficult environmental conditions, and typically high production costs. Consequently, Armela Farms is striving to perfect the process and become the industry standard in UAE, it said.
After launching the company in August 2016, the Armela team has spent more than two years in Research and Development regarding the best techniques, varieties of produce and optimum climate conditions, before celebrating its first harvest in August 2018. Since then, the team has advanced its process to achieve over 250% of an increase in production and is currently finalizing the opening of a new facility for Q1 2021, which will boast over 3 hectares of fully automated advanced lettuce farm, making the largest commercial hydroponic project in the UAE.
At Armela Farms, produce is delivered immediately upon harvesting, with no or minimum storage or shipping time, to provide customers with produce that is fresher, tastier and more nutritious, while lasting longer. As the topic of food security becomes more prevalent across the GCC, these fantastic new technologies are going to make access to affordable and nutritious food easier for everyone.
Avir Shah, CEO and co-founder of Armela Farms, states: “Our mission is to sell hydroponic produce that is of high quality and high nutritional value, to maximize consumer benefits towards healthy living in the United Arab Emirates.”
Rachana Shah, director and co-founder at Armela Farms, adds: “Most people maybe don’t realize is that locally produced harvest, and, in particular, commercial hydroponics farming, provide not only better quality products, but also a cheaper price tag to benefit the customer, be it, retailers or consumers.” -
TradeArabia News Service
High-Tech Urban Farming In Paris
Paris is opening the largest cultivation company in the world. With its Parisculteurs project, France, along with other cities, is strongly committed to urban agriculture
Paris is opening the largest cultivation company in the world. With its Parisculteurs project, France, along with other cities, is strongly committed to urban agriculture. This creates an opportunity for Dutch businesses.
The Parisculteurs project aims to green another 100 hectares in Paris this year. A third of this is earmarked for urban farming. There is much interest among Parisians for locally-grown products. There is also a need for green areas in this large French city.
There is, therefore, great enthusiasm for a project such as this. However, in many cases, it is a challenge to realize such a project. Space in the city is limited and expensive. The use of pesticides will be met with great resistance too.
Innovative techniques are, therefore, often used for urban agriculture. These include vertical farming and mixed cultivation. But digital aids also play a significant role in urban agriculture. For example, water-monitoring sensors are used in hydroponic systems.
No fossil fuels
The French startup, Neofarm, has taken its first high-tech greenhouse into use. It is located just west of Paris. Just a few kilometers from Paris lies the small town of Saint-Nom-la-Breteche. There, on a 1,000m2 plot, Neofarm is growing carrots, lettuce, and beans.
By planting different kinds of vegetables together, pesticide use is kept to a minimum. The startup is also busy developing a weeding robot. It uses online decision-making tools to optimize the process. In this way, Neofarm wants to develop a model for micro-farms.
They want to make it possible to cultivate high-quality organic products. That on little land, close to the city. With this model, the startup also wants to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. For example, their farm uses no fossil fuels. The healthy soil can store CO2 too.
Another French startup, Agricool, grows strawberries in containers. And since recently, herbs too. For this, this company uses an entirely closed system. Various sensors monitor it. According to Agricool, this closed system uses 90% less water than conventional farming.
Innovation
The importance Parisians attach to locally-produced products, therefore, ensures innovation in the chain. In France, there is a trend toward more organic, locally produced goods. Taking this into account, these developments will, more than likely, continue in the next few years.
This trend is also the case in other European countries. That offers opportunities for Dutch businesses. They can respond to these developments. They can, for example, supply materials that can be used at these types of urban farms.
Source: Agroberichten Buitenland / Renske Buisman
Publication date: Tue 11 Feb 2020
Zimbabwe: A Backyard Hydroponic Farm Beats Drought To Grow Vegetables
Hydroponically grown plants require no pesticides because there are no soil-borne diseases
Hydroponically grown plants require no pesticides because there are no soil-borne diseases.
BY: BY MACDONALD DZIRUTWE
21 JAN 2020
Innovation ... Venensia Mukarati, whose day job is an accountant, always had a passion for farming, but no land on which to plant (REUTERS / Philimon Bulawayo)
In a backyard in Zimbabwe’s capital, a 50-year-old mother of two is using hydroponics to grow vegetables for some of Harare’s top restaurants, defying drought and an economic crisis that have left millions needing food aid.
Venensia Mukarati, whose day job is an accountant, always had a passion for farming, but no land on which to plant.
Just over two years ago she did a web search on how to grow vegetables on the deck of her Harare house, importing a small hydroponics system from Cape Town for US$900 that enables plants to draw soluble nutrients from water.“
The good thing about hydroponics is that it saves water by 90 percent,” Mukarati said in a 46 square-meter greenhouse where water flowed in a maze of pipes decked with plants.“
I buy water because I don’t have a borehole so I cannot do conventional farming,” she told Reuters.
Her immediate desire was for fresh vegetables for the family as the country’s economic fortunes deteriorated and grocery store prices spiraled. But she quickly realized her pastime could be a profitable venture. It now makes US$1,100 a month – in a country where some government workers get just US$76.In hydroponic farming, water is conserved because it is reused multiple times. Hydroponically grown plants also require no pesticides because there are no soil-borne diseases.
Much of southern Africa is in its worst drought in more than a century, with crops failing and some 45 million people in need of food aid. The region’s temperatures are rising at twice the global average, says the International Panel on Climate Change, spurring the need for innovative ideas to get food on tables.
Harare also faces chronic water shortages due to aging pipes and a shortage of dollars to import treatment chemicals.
It takes six weeks for Mukarati to harvest vegetables such as lettuce compared to 10 weeks if the crop is grown in the soil.
She initially grew 140 plants per cycle – now she produces 2,600, including lettuce, cucumbers, spinach, and herbs in two greenhouses fed by a makeshift system using gutter pipes from the roof.
Lesley Lang, a restaurant owner who buys Mukarati’s produce twice a week, said she had “the best lettuce I have ever had the pleasure of buying in Zimbabwe”.
Mukarati hopes to quadruple production from June by constructing bigger greenhouses on 2,600 square meters of land on the outskirts of Harare.
Last year, she began training others to do the same, designing a hydroponic “starter pack” which she sells for US$200. – Reuters
Lead Photo: New ways … A worker tends to plants at Venensia Mukarati’s hydroponic garden in Harare (REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo)
Texas A&M Undergraduate Initiates Urban Farm On Campus
Urban farming comes in many forms, and now one of those, vertical farming, is helping feed students at Texas A&M University
Vertical farm project helps provide fresh vegetables to students while advancing agriculture
JANUARY 1, 2020
Urban farming comes in many forms, and now one of those, vertical farming, is helping feed students at Texas A&M University.
The project is part of an experiential learning initiative, which is a required part of the curriculum for undergraduates in Texas A&M’s Department of Soil and Crop Sciences.
The department offers internships and study abroad opportunities to help students meet this requirement. Broch Saxton, one of the department’s December graduates, created his own internship as a student leader and greenhouse project director with Texas A&M’s Urban Farm United, or TUFU.
Seedlings are planted in the towers where they will remain until they reach maturity and are harvested. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Beth Ann Luedeker)
Campus farming
Seedlings are planted in the towers where they will remain until they reach maturity and are harvested. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Beth Ann Luedeker)
TUFU is an urban farm that utilizes tower gardens or vertical towers that produce high-value/specialty crops in a space-conscious technique via hydroponic growing methods.
The project, started by Saxton, is in a greenhouse on the Texas A&M campus. It currently includes 24 towers in which a variety of produce is grown, with plenty of room to expand.
The urban farm project began as a collaboration between Saxton and Lisette Templin, an instructional assistant professor from Texas A&M’s Department of Health and Kinesiology.
“I have dreamed of running greenhouses in this form,” Saxton said. “Using the knowledge obtained from my degree, I want to help people have better access to greater food, all while ingraining hydroponic farming into the university. My experience in this process has been completely driven by networking and passion. This is what I want a career in.”
Saxton earned his bachelor’s degree in plant and environmental soil science Dec. 13.
“Hydroponics has huge potential to benefit many people,” he said. “When I approached the Texas A&M Office of Sustainability with my idea of a vertical farm project, they suggested I partner with Ms. Templin, who had approached them with a similar idea.”
Templin has a tower garden on her patio, which feeds her family of four.
Feeding students
Templin and Saxton envisioned a project that could potentially feed Aggie students and staff on campus. They submitted an abstract to the Aggie Green Fund. In January 2019 received a $60,000 grant and permission to use space in a greenhouse owned by the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology.
Using grant funds, they purchased towers and a closed-loop watering system that provides nutrition to the plants. They also bought 800 seedlings from an urban farm in Austin to use for their initial crop. They will be self-sufficient and seed their own plants for future endeavors.
Seedlings are planted in the towers where they will remain until they reach maturity and are harvested. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Beth Ann Luedeker)
Seedlings are planted in the towers where they will remain until they reach maturity and are harvested. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Beth Ann Luedeker)
The first crop included four different types of lettuce, kale, snap peas, snow peas, herbs, chard, bok choy, tatsoi, and celery. They plan to expand the project to include peppers in the next round.
The team manages each tower individually to ensure the pH of the water is appropriate for the stage of growth and nutritional requirements are met.
Educational aspect
Since it is an internship and Saxton received college credit for his time with TUFU, he needed an adviser in the department. He reached out to Jacqueline Aitkenhead-Peterson, Ph.D., associate professor of urban nutrient and water management.
“I had taken courses under Dr. Peterson and was impressed by her value as a teacher and her approach to education,” Saxton said. “She has the mentality of mentorship and guidance that I was looking for.”
Aitkenhead-Peterson said she was happy to serve as Saxton’s adviser for the project.
“The fact that this project was not research-based was very unusual to me,” she said. “However, this project is about feeding people and educating them on the possibilities of feeding themselves, which I deem to be a very important exercise.”
Providing food
The produce harvest by TUFU was distributed by the 12th Can Food Pantry, a student-run program on the Texas A&M campus, which serves all students, faculty, and staff in need of assistance.
TUFU looks forward to continuing to support the 12th Can and hopes to expand to support student dining.
-30-
SOUTH KOREA: Urban Farming Bonds Communities In Seoul
Tucked away in a dark, damp corner of an underground parking lot in Nowon-gu, northeastern Seoul, mushrooms mature under fluorescent lights. The vertical farm is tended by residents who live right above it, in Sanggye Hyundai Apartment Complex.
Residents at Nowon Energy Zero housing complex in Nowon-gu, northeastern Seoul, tend small box gardens earlier this year. / Courtesy of Nowon-gu Office
By Lee Suh-yoon
Tucked away in a dark, damp corner of an underground parking lot in Nowon-gu, northeastern Seoul, mushrooms mature under fluorescent lights.
The vertical farm is tended by residents who live right above it, in Sanggye Hyundai Apartment Complex.
Together, the residents grow, share and sell the mushrooms, donating the profits to local charities and welfare centers.
A community mushroom farm is located under Sanggye Hyundai Apartment Complex in Nowon-gu, northeastern Seoul. / Courtesy of Nowon-gu Office
About five kilometers south, residents of Nowon Energy Zero housing complex, known for its energy-efficient apartment and villa designs, come together to tend small box gardens.
"People who live in the same apartment complexes don't really talk to each other these days," Park Geun-gu, an official from Nowon-gu Office, told The Korea Times recently. "Apart from providing safe locally grown produce, these urban farms help residents get to know each other better, strengthening community bonds."
To create an urban farm in their leftover spaces, usually snuggled between close-knit buildings or on a roof, residents can easily apply for financial and professional support from their local government offices. The city government and district offices fund 80 percent to 100 percent of the initial installation fees of accepted projects.
Seoul is now home to a thriving network of community gardens. The number of urban farms increased six-fold in the last seven years, bringing the total area of such green spaces in Seoul to 170 hectares ― about the size of 238 football fields.
Most are located in patches between apartments or on the roofs of schools and government buildings.
"We refer to these participating groups as urban farming communities," said Lee Byung-hun, a city official in charge of the urban farm projects.
"The main focus of these projects is not supplying food; it's about the social experience the urban farms can bring to residents. We're also providing hands-on gardening experience and environmental education to children at urban farms set up next to kindergartens."
Last year, the city government started allocating a 5 million won ($4,400) annual budget to each district to solicit help from professionals who can give lectures and offer personalized gardening solutions ― ranging from raising soil productivity to using safe pesticides ― to urban farming communities.
Called "farm clinics," these classes are currently held at 4,000 urban farm sites across 19 districts in Seoul. Last month, the city government announced plans to extend the classes to 7,000 sites.
Districts that lie along the green belt, like Gangdong-gu and Gwangjin-gu, can spare more green space for these community farms.
The land, usually located at the foot of a mountain or riverside, is divided up among residents in an open lottery system at the beginning of each spring.
"The competition for a plot of land at these community farms is very high: we get 10 to 15 times more applicants than the number of plots available, depending on the location," a Gwangjin-gu official said. "Residents usually grow lettuce or peppers, and some of the produce is donated to local welfare centers."
A community farm near the Han River in Gangdong-gu, eastern Seoul / Courtesy of Gangdong-gu Office
A rooftop community garden in Seodaemun-gu, northwestern Seoul. / Courtesy of Seodaemun-gu Office
Residents listen to a gardening instructor at an urban farm in Gwangjin-gu, eastern Seoul. / Courtesy of Gwangjin-gu Office
Nature Fresh Farms Focused On Giving Back In 2019 Holiday Season
Nature Fresh Farms continues to give back to their community through their various initiatives providing some much-needed joy for families in need
Nature Fresh Farms continues to give back to their community through their various initiatives providing some much-needed joy for families in need.
On December 21st and 22nd, as part of their Holiday Giveaway initiative, Nature Fresh Farms and South Essex Fabricating visited a total of 45 families; 34 in Windsor/Essex and 11 families in Fulton County Ohio, providing each of them with $200 in groceries and a $500 gift card. This has been the third consecutive year the companies have carried out their Holiday Giveaway. The companies initially set out to sponsor 30 families, however, employees of the companies came together to sponsor an additional 15 families – bringing the total number to 45 families.
In addition to their Giveaway, the cross-company food drive took place over a two-week period where South Essex Fabricating and Nature Fresh Farms employee donations led to a total of 5,128 dry goods collected. The companies brought the non-perishable food items to the local Salvation Army in Leamington, Ontario & The Open Door in Delta, Ohio.
Both initiatives were extremely successful in providing families with some much-needed cheer this season.
“The amount of donations raised for our Holiday Giveaway and cross-company food drive really shows the incredible generosity and kindness of our team members at Nature Fresh Farms and South Essex Fabricating,” said Founder and Owner, Peter Quiring. “It was very humbling to see how everyone was inspired to give back to people in need in our communities in such a meaningful way.”
On December 17th Nature Fresh Farms also presented a $2000 donation to the local organization, The Bridge, where Allocation Manager at Nature Fresh Farms, Justin Guenther, brought the donation on behalf of the participants of their 15-kilometer fundraiser. Beginning in August, participants would walk or run a total of 15 km per week for 12 weeks. Any participant that did not reach the 15 km had to donate $5 for each kilometer they were under. The goal of the fundraiser was to promote a healthy lifestyle while raising funds for the local organization.
“As a team, we always want to challenge ourselves to lead healthy lifestyles,” shared Justin Guenther. “A fundraiser like this encourages that while raising money for an organization that our company already supports heavily. This has been a win-win for our team.”
Nature Fresh Farms constantly seeks to engage with their communities in their ongoing fundraising efforts. Helping support local organizations and providing deserving families with some much-needed cheer is one way they are able to show their appreciation to the community and their commitment to those needing some extra assistance.
For more information:
Kara Badder
Nature Fresh Farms
Tel: +1 (519) 326-1111
Email: kara@naturefresh.ca
www.naturefresh.ca
Publication date: Fri 3 Jan 2020
UAE Farm Calls On Residents To Buy Local Produce
Madar Farms head of operations Kyle Wagner has implored UAE residents to buy more locally grown produce
Madar Farms head of operations Kyle Wagner said it will help support sustainability
Dec 23, 2019
Madar Farms head of operations Kyle Wagner
Madar Farms head of operations Kyle Wagner has implored UAE residents to buy more locally grown produce.
Speaking during a panel discussion at New York University Abu Dhabi, Wagner said that doing so can help support sustainability and contribute towards solving food and water security.
A UAE-based company, Madar Farms uses hydroponic vertical farming that allows it to grow fresh produce in the country’s arid conditions while using 95% less water than traditional farming.
The company is currently working with the wider industry and education authorities to support the UAE government’s National Food Security Strategy 2051 that aims to solve the region’s food problems and provide enough nutritious food all-year-round.
At the Cooking the Nation: Global perspectives and local insights on culinary nationalism and diplomacy panel discussion Wagner, said: “At Madar Farms, education is already a big part of what we’re doing. Whether that is attending conferences or launching a school sustainability program, creating awareness of what we do and helping people understand what we want to achieve is important for us.
“We are living in a diverse country where the supermarkets are full of different ingredients and products from many different countries. Sometimes, we do not look at which country vegetables come from but if we can help adults to think carefully and choose a UAE-grown produce instead of one from another country, then we are going in the right direction.
“At schools, we launched a sustainability program ‘Sustainable Futures’ where students are getting hands-on learning experiences. This has been a great success so far as it gives them an opportunity to learn more about pressing environmental topics. And by engaging with the younger generation, we can create that change that can have a long-term effect.”
US: Little Leaf Farms Doubling Hydroponic, Greenhouse-Growing Operations in MA In 2020
In 2016, Little Leaf Farms opened its doors in Devens, Massachusetts and sent its first truck of fresh baby greens off to grocery stores in New England, and they haven’t stopped since
For many business owners, Paul Sellew has a good problem to solve. The founder and chief executive officer of Little Leaf Farms is producing one million boxes of fresh greenhouse-grown baby green lettuce a month, delivered to every major supermarket chain in New England usually within 24 hours, year-round, and demand cannot keep up with supply.
In 2016, Little Leaf Farms opened its doors in Devens, Massachusetts and sent its first truck of fresh baby greens off to grocery stores in New England, and they haven’t stopped since. New Englanders can’t get enough of the sustainably grown, pesticide free, crispy baby lettuce.
Demand has increased so much that Little Leaf Farms will double its growing capacity in May 2020 to 10 acres in Devens and will expand distribution to New York and New Jersey’s major supermarket chains. Little Leaf Farms also plans to break ground in the Eastern Pennsylvania region on a 20-acre greenhouse to supply stores locally, followed by another 20-acre greenhouse located in Western North Carolina to extend distribution of its signature locally-grown lettuce that has a devoted – some would say cult-like -- following among consumers in New England. Each acre of greenhouse will yield 25 times that of lettuce grown on an outdoor farm. To support this expansion, Bank of America has stepped in with over $18 million of financing today, to be followed by another $20 million to help finance the company’s growth.
“We are changing the way food is grown in New England and changing consumer expectations for fresh produce in this part of the world. And after becoming the number one lettuce brand in New England in just two years, we know there is tremendous opportunity to expand to new geographies and feed families, a fresher, cleaner, more nutritious lettuce than what they can buy today,” Sellew said. Little Leaf Farms is a great business success story.
Little Leaf Farms grows lettuce hydroponically with great efficiency. The company uses 100 percent captured rainwater and utilizes advanced fertilization and irrigation systems that use 90 percent less water than field-grown greens so there is no depletion of groundwater reserves. With the nation’s dual problem of farming issues that are a result of climate change and growing population demands, Little Leaf Farms has a model growing method that brings year-round sustainable farming to New England and the East Coast with a smaller carbon footprint. “California is a state without a lot of water, yet that’s where most of our nation’s lettuce is being grown,” Sellew says. “That’s unsustainable.”
Growing locally and shipping within 24 hours to local stores adds to their efficiency. No human hands ever touch the lettuce as its grown safely, with less risk of contamination. As Little Leaf Farms expands, Sellew said they are also looking at growing new varieties of lettuce.
“We’ve been in an over-demand situation for 18 months,” said Little Leaf Farms’ co-founder Tim Cunniff. “Customers tell us all the time that this is the best lettuce out there. It’s the freshest. It’s the tastiest. It’s the safest. It’s grown the most sustainably. It will last the longest in your refrigerator, and it’s a good price value.”
For more information:
Little Leaf Farms
P.O. Box 2069
Devens, MA 01434
844-LIL-LEAF (844-545-5323)
info@LittleLeafFarms.com
www.littleleaffarms.com
Publication date: Mon 23 Dec 2019
Have You Ever Considered Turning A Shipping Container Into A Greenhouse?
Here Lucchini custom-made a BoxXLand container with Senmatic’s LED-fixtures, fertilizer mixer, and climate control to fit the specific needs at HAMK University
That is what happened at HAMK University in Finland. The entire project started when our partner and greenhouse-supplier Lucchini was contacted by HAMK University in Lepaa, Finland. They asked Lucchini to assist in building and supplying box container system with the aim of R&D of indoor farming.
Here Lucchini custom-made a BoxXLand container with Senmatic’s LED-fixtures, fertilizer mixer, and climate control to fit the specific needs at HAMK University.
At the university, they are doing trials on lettuce and herbs of all kinds – and so far, they have been very happy with the results from the first production cycle. The box container greenhouse brings several benefits such as being able to grow vegetables in locations, where the climate normally makes it impossible.
Read the full article here
Greenhouse Might Be Key Ingredient In Safer Salads
Consumers should only eat romaine if it is from a harvest region other than Salinas, Calif., or if it was grown indoors, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said
Greenhouse Might Be Key Ingredient In Safer Salads
By Kristen Leigh Painter Star Tribune
DECEMBER 9, 2019
Jay Johnson, Revol Greens president and partner, with greens at the company's Medford, Minn., indoor growing facility. DAVID JOLES – STAR TRIBUNE
Another outbreak of E. coli in romaine lettuce has sickened more than 100 people nationwide and left others wondering if raw salad is safe.
As food-safety investigators clear the vegetable aisle of contaminated lettuce, authorities provided more guidance on how to shop for a safer product.
Consumers should only eat romaine if it is from a harvest region other than Salinas, Calif., or if it was grown indoors, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said. If it's not labeled with a harvest region or growing method, don't eat it.
By singling out indoor-grown lettuce as a potentially safer alternative to field-grown lettuce, food-safety regulators are boosting demand for product grown by Medford-based Revol Greens and its greenhouse-growing peers around the country.
"That [government advice] is definitely helping us out this time," said Brendon Krieg, a partner and sales manager at Revol Greens. "We are seeing an uptick in demand from retailers and restaurants because it has such a major impact on their business when they suddenly can't serve salads."
E. coli contamination in produce nearly always comes from irrigation water used on fields, said Kirk Smith, director of the Minnesota Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence, one of six centers around the U.S. designated by the CDC to strengthen the safety of the nation's food system.
Revol Greens is a new competitor to the California greens market and is growing five varieties of lettuce in greenhouses only an hour's drive south of Minneapolis at a fraction of the transportation costs. Here, a worker inside the sprawling greenhouse at Revol Greens Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, in Medford, MN.
DAVID JOLES, STAR TRIBUNE
A lettuce field could be contaminated by dust, pests or wild animals carrying E. coli from elsewhere, but it is usually through the irrigation water source "in some way, shape or form," he said.
A major risk with outdoor-grown lettuce is sharing a water source with a nearby animal farm. It's especially risky near cattle, which are widely considered the largest reservoir of E. coli, Smith said.
Some food-safety experts theorize that during California's dry season — which lasts into the fall — the water table drops and the surface water from a cattle operation gets sucked down into the groundwater that is then used to irrigate lettuce crops.
That's why the CDC and FDA are telling consumers to consider buying leafy greens from greenhouse-grown facilities that use alternative water sources.
Revol Greens captures rainwater and snow melt from its greenhouse roof that it then stores in a covered, on-site holding pond. The company tests its water daily and runs it through a chemical-free UV sterilization process to make sure there's no festering bacteria before spraying its indoor lettuce. "Most, if not all, indoor growers of a certain size will have some sort of sterilization for their water," Krieg said.
Symptoms of E. coli usually surface within a few days to a week after ingesting the bacteria and include stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting.
Cases in the current outbreak span 23 states, with 31 in Wisconsin — the most of any state. Three cases have been reported in Minnesota. For now, it appears the rate of illness is slowing, with symptoms of the last reported cases beginning Nov. 18. Still, the CDC and FDA recommend consumers avoid purchasing Salinas-grown lettuce for the remainder of this growing season.
A year ago, an E. coli outbreak sickened 88 people in the U.S. and Canada and led regulators to issue a blanket don't-eat-romaine-lettuce warning. Retailers and restaurants pulled all romaine lettuce from shelves and menus before investigators zeroed in on north and central California as the likely source of contamination. But, by then, all romaine growers suffered the consequences.
In response, Revol and five other greenhouse lettuce growers formed a coalition to increase consumer and regulator education, and to encourage the controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) community to adopt stricter standards than already established.
"The coalition was established to develop credible, strong, and appropriate food safety standards, educate consumers and regulators on controlled environment growing, and communicate the value of controlled environment agriculture," said Marni Karlin, executive director of the group, called the CEA Food Safety Coalition.
This year, authorities took a more tailored approach to their warnings, identifying Salinas as the likely growing region in the first public health notice last month. Karlin said the companies she represents were pleased that the CDC and FDA's most recent update called out the relative safety of indoor-grown lettuce.
While most E. coli bacteria are harmless, these investigations track the dangerous types, such as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, that can be life threatening. Such pathogenic outbreaks have been identified since the mid-1990s with at least one leafy-green outbreak occurring every year since Smith said.
But what's disconcerting, he said, is how little progress has been made in preventing these outbreaks since the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the FDA gave the industry more serious directives in addressing the problem in the early to mid-2000s.
"This has been a known problem for a long time now, but there are a couple of remarkable things that have happened recently," Smith said. First, spring 2018 was marked by the largest leafy green outbreak of E. coli ever, specifically in romaine, with 219 reported illnesses. The other noteworthy trend, Smith said, is that "we now have recurring outbreaks of the same strain and region."
The reason it keeps happening, he said, is that investigators are rarely able to trace the contamination all the way back to the exact farm.
Lettuce farmers often send their produce to a central processing facility where it is washed and packed. "You could get a bag of lettuce that includes stuff from many different sources," Smith said.
Indoor agriculture is generally much smaller in scale and therefore more easily protected from weather, pests and animals, he said.
Kristen Leigh Painter covers the food industry for the Star Tribune. She previously covered growth and development for the paper. Prior to that, Painter was a business reporter at the Denver Post, covering airlines and aerospace. She frequently writes about sustainable food production, consumer food trends and airlines.
A Better Use For Sprawling, Big-Box Store Parking Lots? Urban Farms
A typical parking lot at a big-box store, sprawling over several acres, is empty most of the time. With a new design called Car Parks 2.0, the French design firm Studio NAB shows how that space could be reimagined as an urban farm, with a little room left at the side for charging electric cars from onsite solar panels
11.11.19
This Conceptual Design Reimagines The
Parking Lot As Something More Productive
1/12 [Image: Studio NAB]
A typical parking lot at a big-box store, sprawling over several acres, is empty most of the time. With a new design called Car Parks 2.0, the French design firm Studio NAB shows how that space could be reimagined as an urban farm, with a little room left at the side for charging electric cars from onsite solar panels.
“To tackle the problems facing humanity, we must attack the symbols that made us presently in this situation,” says Studio NAB founder and creative director Nicolas Abdelkader. “The parking lot, and especially [supercenter] parking, is one of these symbols, with all that that entails: automotive activity, overconsumption, irrational urbanism.”
[Image: Studio NAB] - To View Video, Please Click Here
The design strips away asphalt to bring life back to the soil trapped underneath it. In one section, greenhouses and fruit trees grow produce that can be supplied directly to the neighboring store—a little like the model used by the urban farming company Gotham Greens, which grows produce in a greenhouse on a Whole Foods rooftop at one of its locations.
Abdelkader also envisions produce being delivered to nearby homes by cargo bike. In another section, former parking spaces are converted into shared garden plots for people living in the area. In the final section, some parking spaces remain—but even here, the asphalt has been replaced by green space that can help sequester CO2 and absorb rainwater. An algae-filled awning over the cars sequesters more carbon and generates electricity for car chargers.
The idea might be appealing to retailers—losing business to Amazon and other online retailers—that want to give customers more reasons to visit. In the U.S., some big-box retailers are realizing that their parking lots are oversized and are starting to carve out room on some of the sprawl for “town hall” developments. People who might otherwise avoid Walmart or Target might be drawn to the gardens.
For cities, it’s clearly a better use of space for multiple reasons, from the mental health benefits of green space and the health benefit of freshly grown food to the potential for gardens like this to help mitigate problems like flooding and the urban “heat island” effect, where vast stretches of concrete make hot days in cities even hotter. While it’s a concept now, Abdelkader hopes to partner with cities and stores that want “to change sterile spaces into ‘living’ and productive spaces,” he says.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adele Peters is a staff writer at Fast Company who focuses on solutions to some of the world's largest problems, from climate change to homelessness. Previously, she worked with GOOD, BioLite, and the Sustainable Products and Solutions program at UC Berkeley, and contributed to the second edition of the bestselling book "Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century." More
Chinese Farmers Pursue Dream of Gobi Farming
Despite the harsh environment, farming in the Gobi desert has its advantages: The extended amount of sunlight provides adequate energy for crops, a significant temperature difference between day and night helps crops accumulate nutrients and the Gobi's hot and dry air means fewer pests and crop disease
Source: Xinhua| 2019-11-02 Editor: huaxia
A Gobi farming program has proved to be both productive and eco-friendly in the face of environmental adversity in northwest China.
LANZHOU, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Fan Lide, 42, used to be a taxi driver. He is now the owner of 36 greenhouses producing organic vegetables in the barren Gobi desert in northwest China's Gansu Province, and his business has been expanding over the past 10 years.
"Being a taxi driver, you have to work long hours every day. In the end, you have to pay a bulk of the revenue for renting the car. Now I'm even busier, but I work for myself and am much better off," Fan said.
Fan is one of the beneficiaries of the Gobi Farming Program of the Gansu Province that is building rows of greenhouses in the desert to help transform local farming and alleviate poverty.
Grain production in Gansu, which has more than 6.7 million hectares of Gobi desert and 12 million hectares of sandy land, is greatly affected by the climate and the output is unstable.
Agricultural production there relies heavily on rivers, oases and groundwater irrigation. If traditional extensive agricultural production continued, it could gradually narrow the living space.
Fan Lide examines the growth status of cucumbers in the greenhouse at Jiuquan city, northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 22, 2019.(Xinhua/Ma Ning)
In 1995, Song Younian, an entrepreneur of the city of Zhangye in central Gansu, ventured to use Israeli technologies to build greenhouses for vegetables growing in the desert.
Such individual pilot projects encouraged the Gansu government to launch a provincial-level Gobi farming program in 2017 with a target to build up controlled-environment agriculture of about 20,000 hectares by 2022. Some cities in the province, such as Zhangye and Jiuquan, where Fan's village is located, have already been experimenting with Gobi farming for several years.
Despite the harsh environment, farming in the Gobi desert has its advantages: The extended amount of sunlight provides adequate energy for crops, a significant temperature difference between day and night helps crops accumulate nutrients and the Gobi's hot and dry air means fewer pests and crop diseases.
The Gobi greenhouses popping up in Gansu use drip and spray irrigation, which can cut water consumption by almost 50 percent compared to a normal farm, according to Yan Shengjun, an agricultural adviser who serves as a consultant for local farmers such as Fan.
The greenhouses are also eco-friendly, as they use substrates for soilless cultivation recycled from rotten leaves, straw and cow and sheep feces.
A staffer checks the status of vegetables in the greenhouse at Jiuquan city, northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 22, 2019.(Xinhua/Ma Ning)
"Each hectare of the greenhouses can recycle around 600 cubic meters of agricultural waste," Yan said, "The waste serves as organic fertilizer, helping improve the quality of the vegetables."
With the greenhouses, Fan earns around 70,000 yuan (9,950 U.S. dollars) annually.
"Vegetables produced in the greenhouses are harvested twice or three times a year. As organic food gets more popular in the market, our income also increases," Fan said.
Data from Suzhou District of Jiuquan showed the greenhouse program has helped bring an average revenue of about 72,300 U.S. dollars per hectare to local farmers.
Large-scale greenhouse farming is an investment-intensive project and cannot be sustained only by government financial support. Therefore, the local government has been encouraging villagers such as Fan to take the lead to rent greenhouses or build their own, supported by financing packages provided by financial institutions.
It is not an easy task, and many villagers still want to wait and see. However, more and more are starting to join in, either to run their own greenhouses or work as hired workers for greenhouse owners.
Starting from managing four greenhouses in 2009, Fan now is also a partner of a greenhouse farming cooperative running 120 greenhouses.
Aerial photo taken on Oct. 22, 2019 shows greenhouses at the foot of Qialian Mountain, Jiuquan city, northwest China's Gansu Province.(Xinhua/Ma Ning)
The relatively low cost of large-scale land use in the Gobi desert, as well as government financial support, have also encouraged large firms to start their Gobi farming pilot projects in Gansu, forming a promising partnership of government, enterprises, cooperatives, and local villagers.
Local officials said if the Gobi farming proves successful, it could provide experiences for countries in Central Asia linked with Gansu both by the Ancient Silk Road as well as its modern version of the Belt and Road Initiative. ■
The Importance of Using Organic Fertilizers For Plant Nutrition In Contemporary Agriculture And Gardening
Currently, many people are using containers such as pots, flower boxes, raised garden beds, window boxes, and others to grow fruit-bearing plants, salad, and root vegetables and herbs, both in agriculture and urban gardening
October 24, 2019
António Rodrigues
CEO at Minigarden, Join the Urban Green Revolution
Currently, many people are using containers such as pots, flower boxes, raised garden beds, window boxes, and others to grow fruit-bearing plants, salad, and root vegetables and herbs, both in agriculture and urban gardening.
Nowadays there are many plant-growing solutions for spaces where there is no soil, such as balconies, terraces, and roofs, indoors in homes and offices, or in areas where soils are contaminated.
It is good to see that the growing of plants in such spaces is increasingly becoming a reality worldwide; this is the “Urban Green Revolution” in motion.
As an alternative to traditional soil, potting soil is now making an appearance as a medium in which to grow plants. It is available on the market in increasingly specialized formats in terms of its physical, chemical and organic qualities. This means that, unlike normal soil, we can choose the most appropriate growing medium for the roots of the plants we want to grow, directly influencing their growth, health and even their taste.
However, both potting soil and normal soil need care to remain productive. One of the most important steps is fertilizing the soil since this ensures plant nutrition. This is where I would like to talk about our latest product, the Minigarden Grow Up Pure Organic 1 L.
It is a high-quality concentrated liquid universal plant fertilizer, certified for use in organic farming. Produced from organic farm manure by vermicomposting using red Californian earthworms, this new fertilizer provides a response to the growing demand for 100% natural products.
It can be used in a wide range of circumstances and is just as suitable as a soil fertilizer for professional organic farmers as it is for home gardeners growing plants in an ordinary pot on a balcony.
In any case, whether you are using Minigarden Grow Up Pure Organic 1 L in normal soil or potting soil, the recommended dilution ratio is 5 ml of concentrate for each litre of water for watering.
This ensures that the nutrients consumed by the plant in the meantime are replenished in the form of a natural blend of nitrogen (N), phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5) and potassium oxide (K2O). However, nutrients are of little use if there is no replenishment of organic matter and this is precisely where this fertiliser makes all the difference. The Minigarden Grow Up Pure Organic 1 L contains organic matter in the form of humic substances (10g / litre). By replenishing organic matter, whether in normal soil or potting soil, we are directly or indirectly promoting the absorption of nutrients by the plant, thereby fostering its growth and development.
Humic substances in both normal soil and potting soil bring many other benefits too, such as increasing water retention capacity and reducing the tendency for compaction, to name just two examples.
Remember, as well as watering, quality nourishment is also essential for plants to grow strong and healthy. Try Minigarden Grow Up Pure Organic 1L now! Available from Minigarden’s official online shop or from Amazon.
Published by
António Rodrigues CEO at Minigarden,
Organic Fertiliser hashtag#organic hashtag#fertiliser hashtag#organicgrowth hashtag#organicfarming hashtag#soil hashtag#minigarden hashtag#urbangreenning
Nick Greens Explains The Importance of Food Safety While Growing Microgreens Indoors
CCEA 2019, is the place to commit, learn and apply the bases of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) for owners and operators of greenhouses and vertical farms, and was held in Panama City from November 06 to 08, 2019