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"We See An Ever-Increasing Interest In Hydroponic Growing"
Quentin has noticed that this movement is already going on in Mexico. “Little by little, farmers and growers are changing their ways
Quentin Gomis, Biogrow Substrates,
On The Mexican Market
"Ever since I was a little boy, my dad took me to the greenhouses where he worked. From a very young age I knew everything about growing tomatoes: the planting, the seedlings, taking care of the growth, and picking them," says Quentin Gomis. He has just been hired as the new commercial manager for Biogrow Substrates in Mexico and, together with their local partner Toyo Kasei, will help this market grow. “I have always believed the future of agriculture should be sustainable, and now it’s the turn of my generation to help move the industry even more in that direction,” he says.
Responsible products
Quentin has noticed that this movement is already going on in Mexico. “Little by little, farmers and growers are changing their ways. The world is changing and consumers are becoming more and more demanding with regard to ecologically responsible products. It’s a big challenge for growers to change their ways of working and the transition to becoming sustainable can also be a synonym of “big investment."
However, growing in a more sustainable way also presents the growers with many advantages. “We see an ever-increasing interest in hydroponic growing, which is in large part due to growers noticing that they can produce up to three times more when using coco peat substrate compared to growing the conventional way.”
Growing demand, growing supply
A growing demand for substrate also means a growing supply, Quentin has noticed. “About 5 years ago, there were only a few coco peat substrate brands, now there must be around 20. So, we could say it is a crowded market and competition is tough, nonetheless, there are always gaps to fill as agricultural techniques are constantly evolving.” New techniques and equipment are what growers are looking for and that is where Biogrow comes in. Quentin will strengthen the service and technical support the company offers to their Mexican customers. “Growers from all over the world are now looking for solutions to help them respond to this growing demand for planet-friendly food. At Biogrow we produce substrates that come from a sustainable resource and respect the environment. At the same time, we accompany our customers all the way through the process from technical support to the delivery at the doors of the greenhouse. This includes a dedicated technical support and logistics team, on-time deliveries and of course maintaining the same substrate quality and efficiency year on year.”
Cooperative base
Quentin is well aware of the challenges and opportunities that growers face. “We give around-the-clock technical support to our customers and we know from first-hand experience what is required to optimize yield and productivity. At Biogrow, we are not only selling coco-based substrates, we are also growers working for growers,” he says, referring to the cooperative that forms the base of the company. “In France, where our head office is located, our primary activity for decades has been growing fruit and vegetables. It’s thanks to this long-established growing experience that we’ve been able to develop our substrate range over the last 25 years."
“Ultimately, we want to build on the solid base we already have here in Mexico, strengthen the link to our customers and accompany them over the years to come, so that they can grow better and more sustainably. A win/win situation for everyone involved,” he concludes. “It really is an exciting time to be part of this industry and see all the positive changes that are happening, especially regarding the industry-wide drive towards sustainability.”
For more information:
Bio-Grow
Quentin Gomis
q.gomis@bio-grow.com
www.bio-grow.com
Toyo Kasei
www.toyokasei.com.mx
Publication date: Tue 6 Apr 2021
Author: Arlette Sijmonsma
© HortiDaily.com
How Is Fintech Helping Digital Entrepreneurs In Developing Countries?
Fintech is playing an important role in helping digital entrepreneurs tap into growth opportunities in Indonesia's developing communities, shows UNSW Business School research
06 APRIL 2021
VICTORIA TICHA
Fintech is playing an important role in helping digital entrepreneurs tap into growth opportunities in Indonesia's developing communities, shows UNSW Business School research.
FinTech is connecting underemployed Indonesian farmers with under-utilized land to produce high-quality organic food and sustainable incomes. Photo: Shutterstock
Small business owners in developing countries are often restricted by ineffective business practices. Here, innovation in financial technology (FinTech) can play a key role in economic development, but with positive societal benefits.
For example, in a developing country like Indonesia, digital entrepreneurship can have immense societal implications, says Dr. Carmen Leong, Senior Lecturer at UNSW Business School.
Dr Leong examines the positive impact of FinTechs across several different sectors in Indonesia in a recent study: The emancipatory potential of digital entrepreneurship: A study of financial technology-driven inclusive growth, alongside Dr. Felix Tan, Senior Lecturer at UNSW Business School. Dr. Leong and Dr. Tan have been working on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals-related research for several years and say they are passionate about how technology can empower marginalized communities.
In the paper, the authors present a process model of "emancipatory digital entrepreneurship". Their research comprised two rounds of visits to Jakarta, in which they interviewed digital entrepreneurs, empowered merchants/individuals, and government representatives and associations. They examine several case studies, including iGrow, an Indonesian online crowdfunding platform for agricultural entrepreneurs, farmers, and landowners, and Xendit, a leading payment gateway for Indonesia.
The authors illustrate how entrepreneurs' constraints may be removed or mitigated through the 'emancipatory endeavors' of three types of digital enablers: the digital provider, the digital aggregator, and the digital facilitator.
iGrow creates a complete farming supply chain
In many developing countries, the demand for high-quality agricultural food increases every day. Research by the United Nations has shown that crop yields need to double within 40 years to keep up with world population growth. At the same time, the global impact of farming on the environment is a significant concern. With a rapidly growing global population and the increasingly apparent environmental effects of agriculture, it is evident that new ways are needed to create scalable and efficient farming industries.
Enter iGrow – an Indonesian P2P lending marketplace that connects farmers, landowners, investors and crop buyers to create a complete farming supply chain. The aim of iGrow is simple: to improve the three factors involved in human stability, including food, energy and water.
"To me, the iGrow case is interesting. It applies the innovative crowdfunding model in a traditional industry in an agrarian economy. By linking the agrarian entrepreneurs, farmers, landowners, and investors with an online platform, we have seen how long-standing issues, including the farmers' unstable income source and the deserted lands of owners, can be resolved efficiently," explained Dr. Leong.
In the paper, the authors explain how iGrow has become an emancipatory endeavor by allowing farmers to "break free of the societal norms that cast them as unreliable debtors, by transforming the perception of farmers from subsistence laborers to business owners who subsequently can acquire capital".
Additionally, iGrow has allowed farmers to bring back organic farming techniques to their communities by breaking up the existing farming practices and sharing and disseminating knowledge and expertise with landowners and other farmers on sustainable farming. "In iGrow's case, the farmers are provided with training on farming best practices. In other tech start-ups, the founder would develop the skills (including digital skills) of the staff and community leaders," said Dr Leong.
Xendit provides inclusive and flexible financial transactions
In the paper, the authors note that entrepreneurs in Indonesia who run microbusinesses (particularly women who do not have a credit history or any property ownership) face inherent challenges in accessing institutionalized banking, networks, and financial services. In response to the limitations of conventional means of transacting with financial institutions, founder and CEO of Xendit, Moses Lo, a graduate from UNSW Business School, established the P2P payment platform based on the WhatsApp instant messenger in 2014.
Through automation and its integration with an already widely adopted instant messaging platform like WhatsApp, Xendit has allowed small business owners and entrepreneurs to "break free" from ineffective business practices restricting their ability to conduct business and access financial services. In addition, Xendit has also enabled microbusinesses to break up the existing rules of the transaction by creating and encouraging more affordable and more flexible services for receiving and sending money.
Wider implications
The findings show that emancipation can be achieved through the facilitation of microbusinesses in developing countries, which tend to be confronted by institutionalized constraints in the form of restrictive societal norms, business practices, and industry rules.
The paper also points out that while achieving social and commercial purposes is crucial for many new start-ups today, it is hard to survive on good purpose alone. To sustain this, Dr Leong said entrepreneurs must ensure they are economically sustainable. While innovation in the fintech sector has been studied before, very rarely has it been applied to businesses and growth opportunities in developing communities such as those examined in the paper, she said.
"At a high level, our study reminds us that knowing the local contexts and constraints of your future customers are the key. It is also important for us in the Australian education sector to realize the importance of introducing social entrepreneurship to our students," she said.
But there are potential unintended consequences of tech-facilitated developments. The study underscores the need for policymakers to be contextually sensitive so that IT-based development initiatives and policies can be better designed in developing countries.
"Though in this specific case, we celebrate as we see how technology can help to empower (emancipate) the marginalized, but at the same time, we raise the questions of whether that means real freedom or development for the community if they are dependent on someone external to assist them. We like to see these communities being able to develop skills/knowledge overtime to go beyond those dependencies," concluded Dr Leong.
Vertical Farming Startup Oishii Raises $50m In Series A Funding
“We aim to be the largest strawberry producer in the world, and this capital allows us to bring the best-tasting, healthiest berry to everyone.”
By Sian Yates
03/11/2021
Oishii, a vertical farming startup based in New Jersey, has raised $50 million during a Series A funding round led by Sparx Group’s Mirai Creation Fund II.
The funds will enable Oishii to open vertical strawberry farms in new markets, expand its flagship farm outside of Manhattan, and accelerate its investment in R&D.
“Our mission is to change the way we grow food. We set out to deliver exceptionally delicious and sustainable produce,” said Oishii CEO Hiroki Koga. “We started with the strawberry – a fruit that routinely tops the dirty dozen of most pesticide-riddled crops – as it has long been considered the ‘holy grail’ of vertical farming.”
“We aim to be the largest strawberry producer in the world, and this capital allows us to bring the best-tasting, healthiest berry to everyone. From there, we’ll quickly expand into new fruits and produce,” he added.
Oishii is already known for its innovative farming techniques that have enabled the company to “perfect the strawberry,” while its proprietary and first-of-its-kind pollination method is conducted naturally with bees.
The company’s vertical farms feature zero pesticides and produce ripe fruit all year round, using less water and land than traditional agricultural methods.
“Oishii is the farm of the future,” said Sparx Group president and Group CEO Shuhei Abe. “The cultivation and pollination techniques the company has developed set them well apart from the industry, positioning Oishii to quickly revolutionise agriculture as we know it.”
The company has raised a total of $55 million since its founding in 2016.
Bowery Farming Lettuce Now In 275 Acme, Safeway Stores
The company now serves almost 800 grocery stores and major e-commerce platforms after this partnership with Albertsons Cos. Inc.
By AMY SOWDER
03/23/2021
New York City-based vertical grower Bowery Farming has placed its products in 275 Safeway and Acme stores in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
The company now serves almost 800 grocery stores and major e-commerce platforms after this partnership with Albertsons Cos. Inc., which oversees the Acme and Safeway banners, according to a news release.
“Whether our customers shop with us in store or through our websites and apps, they expect to find fresh and sustainable produce for delicious meals at home,” Ricardo Dimarzio, produce sales manager of Albertsons’ Mid-Atlantic division, said in the release. “We’re proud to offer Bowery Farming’s innovative and sustainable produce to help meet customer demand for high-quality local indoor-grown greens and herbs.”
*700% growth is only for brick-and-mortar store sales
Bowery builds high-tech indoor farms close to the cities it serves. BoweryOS, its proprietary operating system, uses sensors, vision systems, machine learning and automation to monitor and control the variables in crop growth.
Every new farm the company builds benefits from the collective knowledge of the operating system, improving the entire network of farms.
Bowery’s greens and herbs grow in completely controlled environments year-round, independent of weather and seasonality.
“We’re proud to partner with Albertsons Cos. to bring millions of shoppers our local, wildly delicious protected produce and meet unprecedented demand for our growing category, which we believe is the next frontier of agriculture,” Katie Seawell, Bowery’s chief commercial officer, said in the release.
Five of Bowery’s most popular stock-keeping units are now available in 164 Acme stores (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland) and 111 Safeway stores (Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.).
The initial five products are baby butter lettuce, crispy leaf, spring blend, kale blend and basil.
Bowery has seen nearly 700% growth in sales since January 2020 with brick-and-mortar grocery retailers, and more than quadrupled its sales with e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, according to the release.
To sustain this growth and meet demand for its produce, Bowery is building its largest and most technologically advanced farm yet in Bethlehem, Pa., which will further automate the growing process from seed to store and expand its reach throughout the East Coast.
The company also has two commercial farms in Kearny, N.J., and Nottingham, Md.
VIDEO: What Makes Organic Food "Organic"?
Organic food is no longer a niche market. Sales of organic food products in the European Union have more than doubled over the last decade - from €16.3 billion in 2008 to €37.4 billion in 2018 - and demand continues to grow
The EU is the second-largest consumer of organic food in the world. - Copyright nsplaUsh
Organic food is no longer a niche market.
Sales of organic food products in the European Union have more than doubled over the last decade - from €16.3 billion in 2008 to €37.4 billion in 2018 - and demand continues to grow.
However, many Europeans are still unsure of what "organic" really means. Is it natural? Free of pesticides? Locally grown?
Well not exactly. Here are some of the conditions food products must meet in order to be considered organic in the EU:
No synthetic fertilizers
Natural fertilizers, such as compost and seaweed derivatives, are essential to maintaining fertile and healthy soil. So organic food must be grown with these products, rather than synthetic fertilizers that are used in conventional farming, and which tend to be made of harsher chemical ingredients including nitrogen compounds, phosphorus, and potassium.
"Organic farming improves soil structures and quality and enhances biodiversity. Studies have shown that organic farming present 30% more of biodiversity in the fields", explains Elena Panichi, Head of Unit at DG Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI).
No synthetic pesticides
Farmers need to fight weeds and pests. Organic farmers are only allowed to use naturally-derived pesticides, made from plants, animals, microorganisms, or minerals.
"These chemicals are of a natural origin. For instance, essential oils, plant extracts, that are listed in the relevant regulation, and are authorized, following a process that implies a scientific committee to assess the effect on the environment", says Panichi.
Organic farms also have techniques such as crop rotation or planting different crops on the same plot of land, to help to prevent soil-borne diseases.
Natural predators, such as ladybugs, can also be an effective method of pest control.
However, it is important to remember that just because something is “natural”, it doesn’t automatically make it harmless to either people or the environment.
No GMOs
To be certified as “organic”, food cannot contain products made from genetically modified crops.
This rule is the same for organic meat and other livestock products. Besides, the animals are to be raised on 100% organic feed.
Antibiotics as a last resort
The animals we eat, or whose products we consume, need to be kept disease-free. Many conventional farmers routinely use antibiotics for disease prevention. These can end up making their way into the food chain.
Excessive antibiotics are not good for people or animals because they can help create superbugs. Antimicrobial resistance is a global concern. Every year, around 33, 000 people die in the EU, due to infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
On organic farms, the use of antibiotics is severely restricted. Farmers control disease by limiting the number of animals they raise and using methods such as a healthy diet for their livestock. They are only allowed to use antibiotics when absolutely necessary for an animal's health, in order to avoid suffering, and when natural remedies such as phytotherapeutic and homeopathic medicines are not effective.
"If in conventional [farming], sometimes antibiotics are given as preventive tools, inorganics, antibiotics can be given as a last resort if there are no other methods to intervene. Normally, the higher animal welfare standards applied in organics already keep animals in a healthier status that prevent the use of antibiotics", explains Panichi.
However, studies have shown that antibiotic use on farms is on the decline. Sales of animal antibiotics in the EU have fallen by more than 34% between 2011 and 2018.
Better animal welfare
Organic farmers must provide the environmental conditions necessary for animals to express their natural behavior, such as adequate outdoor space. This is not compulsory in conventional farming.
There are additional rules such as the prohibition on caging or mutilation unless absolutely necessary for health reasons.
What "organic" doesn't mean
Locally grown
Europeans are the second largest consumers of organic in the world. Local supply can’t meet demand yet, so a large number of organic products are imported.
China, Ukraine, Dominican Republic and Ecuador are the main EU trade partners for organic food imports.
"Green" packaging
Words like “natural”, “green” or “eco” on labels and packaging do not necessarily mean a product is organic.
Healthy
There's a wide range of organic product on supermarket shelves, from burgers to pizzas, from cheese to wine. The health implications of consuming excess fats, salt, or sugar don't disappear just because a food product is organic. Too much fat, salt, and sugar are still bad for you, whether it is organic or not.
How can you be sure that the “organic” food you’re buying is actually organic?
EU organic logo European Commission
The most reliable way to know if a product is organic is if it has this official EU logo.
The white leaf on a green background means that EU rules on production, processing, handling, and distribution, have been followed and that the product contains at least 95% organic ingredients. This logo can only be used on products that have been certified by an authorized control agency or body.
Some countries have also created their own organic logos. They are optional and complementary to the EU's leaf. This is the French one, for instance.
French organic logo Agence Bio
New rules coming in 2022
EU rules on organic production will change soon. In 2022, Europe will have legislation with stricter controls.
Panichi believes it will bring a "substantial improvement" to the organic sector.
"We have to bear in mind that the new organic legislation is not a revolution, but it's an evolution of the organic legislation that started in the past years and has been kept evolving together with the sector".
The new legislation will harmonize rules for non-EU and EU producers. It will also simplify procedures for small farms in order to attract new producers, thanks to a new system of group validation.
The list of organic foods is expected to grow, with the addition of products such as salt and cork. The possibility of certifying insects as organic is also expected in the rules.
What is the future of organics?
"Surfaces in Europe are increasing or as well as all over the world, and they are increasing at a fast pace," says Panichi.
As part of its Farm To Fork strategy, the EU has committed to increasing organic production, with the goal of 25% of all agricultural land being used for organic farming by 2030. In 2019, it was only around 8%.
By 2030, Europe also aims to reduce the use of harmful chemicals and hazardous pesticides by 50%.
Buying organic food is still too expensive for many. One of Farm To Fork's main goals is to make healthy, sustainable food more accessible and affordable to all Europeans. A French family 2019 shows that a basket of eight organic fruits and eight organic vegetables is, on average, twice as expensive as a basket of non-organic products.
Note: The requirements listed in this article are just some of the conditions necessary for a product to be considered organic. If you want to know more about what is needed to obtain the green logo, please check the EU regulation.
Lead photo: EU organic logo European Commission
Three Way To Maximize A Vertical Farm's Potential
Population growth and urbanization are forcing global food production to a crossroads
17 March 2021
By Abhay Thosar, Ph.D., director of horticulture services for Fluence by OSRAM
Previously published in the February 2021 issue of Inside Grower.
Population growth and urbanization are forcing global food production to a crossroads. Overall, migration to high-density areas increases access to health care, higher-paying jobs, education, and other socio-economic opportunities. But it also places more strain on existing infrastructure and demand for resources, leading to greater water scarcity, energy consumption, waste, and, perhaps most importantly, threats to the food supply, prices, and quality.
The economically disadvantaged will be the first to pay the price of increased urbanization. As prices increase and access to quality food sources decreases, the nutritional health of poor populations will decline. Over the next several years, the responsibility of bridging the gap between projected food supply and demand in urban areas will largely fall on vertical farms, an industry that is expected to nearly quadruple by 2025 to about $16 billion. The COVID-19 pandemic could accelerate that growth rate even further.
The vertical farming industry still has challenges to overcome. Production costs remain relatively high and, as a young market, knowledge gaps in operational best practices in critical areas like facility design and environmental conditions threaten long-term sustainability and profitability. The evolving economic dynamic with supermarkets is forcing vertical farms to scale quickly as they attempt to grow and supply a wider variety of crops while maintaining the buyer’s standards around produce size, quality, and nutritional value.
And, as we look to the future, new innovations in lighting strategies, facility design, cultivation best practices, and automation mean that vertical farming operations have to be constantly adapting and seeking new operational advantages. This is just as true for new market entrants and relatively established players alike, and each will be critical to not only maintaining profitability, but ensuring that food production in urban areas can increase with demand.
With that in mind, here are three critical factors vertical farmers need to consider to meet market expectations, improve efficiency and ultimately grow, cultivate and distribute larger quantities of quality food to more people in a smaller area.
Facility design as a function of market demand
The history and growth of the vertical farming market are largely driven by two trends at the consumer and buyer levels. A decade ago, consumers asking questions about how, where, and when their food was grown was practically unheard of. Things are different today. People want to know the provenance behind the food they buy and ensure it is chemical-free and safe to eat. Every product has become more than a label, it’s become a story that consumers want to hear, and one that has an equally significant impact in where they shop and what they buy.
Supermarkets have taken notice. Beyond that, though, vertical farming operations have given supermarkets one more option in addition to the existing supply chains on which they’ve relied for food production and distribution. Vertical farms play an even more important role during large-scale disruption events like the COVID-19 pandemic or massive recalls. As a result, supermarkets—which value the consistent supply of produce above all—are turning to their local vertical farming operations and, in some cases, even investing in them directly. The increased attention, however, comes at a cost (literally and metaphorically). Supermarkets are demanding that the vertical farms supplying them grow a wider variety of crops—lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy greens, microgreens, herbs—more consistently while also meeting unique specifications around weight, aesthetic, nutritional value and a variety of other factors that are ultimately dictated by the vertical farm’s environment and the grower’s expertise.
Vertical farmers are quickly realizing they need to expand their portfolio from potentially a handful of crops to a few dozen or more, raising a range of questions on how to design or retrofit their facilities and adjust environmental conditions that favor any given crop.
The first decision many vertical farmers face is the growing technique that will be most scalable and viable for their operation. Hydroponics, aeroponics and aquaponics have all emerged as viable options with varying degrees of success, but they’re far from interchangeable.
In the end, there is no universal solution for every vertical farm. Cultivators should closely consider their buyers’ expectations, and how those expectations might change over time. Then, cultivators must assess the full range of their crops’ needs and how each might respond differently to various environmental factors and lighting strategies.
Strike a balance between environmental factors
The next set of factors governing facility design, investment and day-to-day operations should always be the environmental conditions themselves.
How air flows into and across each rack of a vertical farm is one of the most unique and important challenges vertical farms have to solve. Ignoring or failing to closely monitor airflow is often a death blow to entire sections of crops and to profitability, yield, and consistency as a result. Air movement helps to maintain temperature, humidity, and transpiration at each rack, and lack of it creates wide temperature swings or large gaps between crops at the bottom and crops at the top. It’s an incredibly fragile balance to strike. Everything from the number of access points into a warehouse—there should only be one access point—to HVAC and circulation systems affect air movement.
As a best practice, the maximum difference between the temperature at the top-most rack and the bottom-most rack should be no more than two degrees Fahrenheit. In practical scenarios, cultivators facing large temperature fluctuations can also consider placing crops that prefer relatively warmer temperatures—such as basil, oregano, chives, sage or thyme—at the top and simply let the laws of thermodynamics do the rest.
Carbon dioxide enrichment is a slightly easier condition to manage but no less important and changes based on temperature and lighting strategy. CO2 enrichment, too, can fluctuate based on the number of access points into a warehouse (again, there should only be one). Enriching a cultivation environment with carbon dioxide stimulates photosynthesis and plant growth, the rate of which is critically dependent on the difference between CO2 concentrations in the air and in the leaf cells.
The law of diminishing returns puts a cap on the amount of carbon dioxide cultivators should be introducing. CO2 is by no means the only factor governing plant growth, but vertical farms have the advantage of being able to closely monitor and control CO2 levels. To do so properly, however, they shouldn’t shy away from significant investments in both handheld devices—which allow cultivators to measure carbon dioxide levels at each rack, each plant, and each leaf—but also large-scale control systems that can measure and track CO2 throughout the entire warehouse.
Humidity levels govern a plant’s transpiration rate and the aperture sizes of its stomata, ultimately affecting how much water it moves from its root zone to release back into the warehouse. When a plant’s stomata open, they release water while also collecting carbon dioxide, making the balance of humidity, temperature, and carbon dioxide all the more crucial. Different plant types in different growth stages have different transpiration rates, adding even more complexity to how a vertical farm is designed and managed. The most common way to express humidity is relative humidity, the percentage of water vapor in the air at a given temperature compared to the total amount of water the air can hold at that temperature. In vertical farming, however, vapor pressure deficit (VPD) is the more accurate way to gauge humidity’s effect on plant growth. VPD remains an interesting discussion among researchers as the industry seeks to understand the differences between VPDs for air and leaves as well as exact VPD calculations.
Every environmental factor in a vertical farm affects the others to some degree. Nearly everything can be controlled; it’s both the advantage and the challenge native to the market. No factor, however, is more important to photosynthesis than its primary driver: light. Each factor—CO2, temperature, airflow, humidity, fertilizer, irrigation, VPD—need to be fine-tuned with changes to light quantity and quality to optimize plant performance and response.
Designing an effective lighting strategy
The design and implementation of an effective lighting strategy is and always will be the primary driver of your vertical farm’s success. In environments as complex as vertical farms, identifying the correct light intensity, spectra, photoperiod, and configuration will determine how other environmental factors work together to optimize a facility for plant yield and quality.
The first of these, the fixtures themselves, carry more implications for vertical farms than other cultivation spaces; in a vertical farm, plants receive no other source of light. The sun isn’t the safety blanket that it is for greenhouses. This simple and obvious fact means that vertical farmers have to find efficiencies in ways others don’t, which can manifest across a variety of operational metrics. Light efficacy, for instance, becomes more important. Most vertical farms are located in urban areas and are likely paying a premium for electricity. Maximizing micromoles per watt and reducing energy waste becomes more than a sustainability initiative, it’s critical to overall profitability.
Similarly, vertical farms operating warehouses measuring in the tens of thousands of square feet need fixtures with a good form factor without sacrificing light intensity. The right configuration means vertical farms can squeeze more racks into their facilities while also putting the lights closer to the plants for better results.
Beyond the hardware specifications, lighting design and strategy consist of several key factors: light intensity, light quality (or spectra), and light bar configuration. Each should be rooted in a facility’s overarching goals—typically defined by the consumer or buyer. Lighting strategies can be customized by crop, yielding specific plant chemistries or changes in biomass. Differences in spectra and light intensity can affect a crop’s coloration, shelf life, taste, and smell. Desired crop characteristics should be determined upfront in conjunction with the prospective buyer, therefore guiding a lighting designer to identify the optimal strategy to accomplish a facility’s goals.
Light quantity is the first and foremost aspect when it comes to optimizing the productivity of the crop. It is important to target the correct mols/day for each crop. Light quality (or spectra) is defined by measuring light’s wavelength in nanometers (nm). Wavelengths of light that drive photosynthesis are primarily found within 400 to 700nm—a range identified as photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). In a vertical farming environment, broad, white light has proven effective for tissue culture, propagation, and vegetative growth—while also serving the more practical function of making it easier for human eyes to diagnose and observe crops day in and day out. As the body of research into LED applications has expanded, it’s become clear that lighting strategies need to shift based on the growth stage. The days of bombarding plants with the same intensity and spectra are quickly fading. More and more research is showing that different cultivars respond to different lighting strategies at different stages of their maturation. More nuanced, customized lighting strategies are increasingly leading to tangible business outcomes for cultivators: longer shelf life, improved aesthetic, enhanced nutritional value, faster cycle times, and higher yields.
LED improvements will continue to drive costs down, while more in-depth research will discover and confirm a new set of lighting strategies and operational best practices to help vertical farmers meet future market demand for increased food production while also improving profitability. Overall, the future for vertical farms is bright and ripe for even broader innovation. Automation—the final frontier of food production—will mean even greater control of agricultural environments. That future is on the horizon. For now, though, vertical farms just need to stick to what they can control, which is pretty much everything else.
About Abhay
Abhay Thosar is the director of horticulture services at Fluence by OSRAM, where he is responsible for managing a team of horticulture specialists that enhances how cultivators grow their crops, optimize their lighting strategies and increase profitability in their operations. He holds a Ph.D. in plant physiology from Gujarat Agricultural University and spent more than a decade at leading greenhouses and nurseries throughout the U.S.
AUSTRALIA: VIDEO - Shipping Container Farms: Check Out This Craze In Modified Containers
Greenhouses, hydroponics, and mushroom farms – converted shipping containers can produce protein and vegetables for all your needs
Greenhouses, hydroponics, and mushroom farms – converted shipping containers can produce protein and vegetables for all your needs. Even if you’re not an environmentalist, there are business opportunities to be had in delivering extremely fresh food to people in urban environments like Brisbane. Given the changing climate and topsoil loss we are facing, shipping container farms could well be an answer to these issues.
Over the years in the Gateway Gazette, we have published a number of stories that look at producing food in converted shipping containers. Reflecting on what we have published and looking at the detail of what can be done, let’s consider the possibilities that come with shipping container farms.
Open Top Container Greenhouse
One of the most cost-effective ways of using a shipping container as a food-producing unit is by attaching a glass top to an open-top shipping container.
In this video, Urban Farm Units looked at the concept of a greenhouse-container. An open-top 20-foot container would have a greenhouse attached to the top with shelving units directly under the glass. This allows photosynthesis to take place in the normal way.
Seedlings can be started in the lower part of the unit, which is warmed by the light and heat from the outside.
One step down from slapping a greenhouse on top of an open-top container would be to use a flat rack container and to have the greenhouse on the base (Gateway Containers can supply both open-top and flat rack containers).
The concept is an improvement on the one in the video, as long as you keep the greenhouse within the dimensions of a 20ft standard or high-cube container, it would be possible to lift and move the container farm from place to place.
This might be useful where you have an agreement with property developers or a council to use vacant plots of land in a city for agriculture. When the site is ready to be developed you can stick it all on a truck and move it to the next plot.
The concept of a shipping container greenhouse is:
Cheap to buy
Mobile
And often won’t need planning permission for a permanent site
Could this be something you’d consider? Contact us at Gateway Containers to discuss your needs!
Mushie Container Farm!
Image source: King Oyster Mushrooms Facebook
In 2019 we reported how Belgrave, Vic-based John Ford has developed a shipping container mushroom farm. This could produce protein for people as an alternative to meat or for anyone who loves the taste of freshly cut shrooms.
Mushrooms of any kind don’t store well and are best eaten as soon as possible after cutting. This is why having a mushroom farm close to restaurants could be a money-spinner.
This requires no modification from a basic shipping container, you could even install the racking inside the container yourself.
In their lifecycle, mushroom mycelium live out of sight of the world until they are stressed and get the impression that they are facing death. When stressed they flower to produce spores – those flowers are the mushrooms that many of us love to eat.
A shipping container is perfect to take advantage of such a lifecycle. Logs or other media are infected with the mycelium and left to rot for a certain time. By altering the environmental conditions, so you deliberately stress the fungi and they flower.
In our article, we reported how John Ford is producing mushroom species that are famed for their delicate taste but don’t travel well at all – shiitake and oyster mushrooms. As a sideline to his main income as a marine biologist restoring seagrass habitats near Belgrave, he produces freshly cut shrooms for local people and restaurants.
For you as an entrepreneur, mushroom growing would require buying a used shipping container and setting it up as a mushroom farm. If you are planning an urban mushroom container farm, you can take advantage of the fact that you can treat the container as a mobile unit and not as a permanent base. Shipping containers are also pretty inexpensive to buy and convert.
Hydroponics – The Rolls Royce of Shipping Container Farms
Image source: ABC
The hydroponics concept is highly developed for the use of fresh food and can be set up for high density vegetable farming in shipping containers. This requires a fair bit more modification than the two systems we describe above.
Unlike the Urban Farm Units company, several companies have managed to survive over the years selling their hydroponic container farm businesses to entrepreneurs and restaurants around the world.
Modular Farms is a company we featured in our blog originally based in Canada, but who recently set up shop over here in Australia. According to their website, they “design and manufacture container farm systems that can be used to grow food in most locations on earth.”
These systems strive to get around some of the issues we face here. Cities like Brisbane get far too much water sometimes and then face droughts for years on end. The Australian Food Services News reported, “With a focus on sustainability, Modular Farms’s hydroponic, closed-loop system uses 95% less water than a typical outdoor farm.”
Topsoil erosion is a problem, especially in prolonged droughts when it gets blown away as dust. Hydroponics use media like rock wool and even used mattresses to house the plants’ root systems and feed them nutrients via a watering system.
With our ever more extreme climate, food often has to be imported into cities from hundreds or thousands of miles away. A hydroponic container farm can enable you to grow many vegs very close to markets and restaurants.
This has been observed by global homewares retail giant IKEA, which in 2019 announced it was piloting growing vegetables in its stores for use at its restaurants. We reported, “While selling hydroponic indoor growing equipment to customers, IKEA is feeding its staff with lettuce and other vegetables grown in a container outside its Malmö and Helsingborg stores.”
Image source: ABC
There are a few downsides to hydroponics. Firstly, while some types of plants are happy enough growing in hydroponics – the simpler ones producing leaves and flowers (like broccoli!) – others aren’t so happy, such as cassava, wheat, and potatoes.
The next big issue is that for a high-intensity farm, not unlike factory farming chickens, you need to be ultra-clean in your production as the arrival of a destructive disease or fungus could wipe you out very quickly.
Container Fish Farm Too?
In theory, it is possible to run a fish farm connected to the hydroponics container farm, with you largely feeding the fish and collecting their feces and other waste to feed the plants. The plants would clean the fishes’ water and make it habitable for them as reed beds do in nature. This a concept that is in development but hasn’t caught on commercially yet.
How Can Gateway Containers Help?
We can provide and convert an insulated container for you to get started with and advise you how to best make further additions without compromising the overall structure.
If any or all of these ideas have caught your interest – or you just know about these concepts and need a shipping container to make it possible – then get in touch with us today to discuss your needs!
Posted on February 22, 2021
By Mark FinneganOtherShipping ContainerModified Shipping ContainersLeave a comment
USA: CALIFORNIA - Futuristic Vertical Farm Aims To Bring Fresh Produce And Jobs To Compton
The vertical farm will contain rows upon rows of crops with the capacity to produce 365 harvests of high quality leafy greens per year
The vertical farm will contain rows upon rows of crops with the capacity to produce 365 harvests of high-quality leafy greens per year. "From day one it's perfectly controlled...We don't use pesticides, there's nothing to wash off, it's usually not touched by human hands ever, and so we have a safe clean product that is ready to eat right out of the package", the owner says.
When we talk about farming, we don't often think of Compton. But the future of farming could soon be coming to life there. A company is building a massive vertical farm that would save water, land, and eliminate the need for pesticides.
It is still under construction, but when this unassuming 95,000-square-foot warehouse is up and running, the inside will look like something out of the future-- rows of vertical crops with LED lights replacing the sun.
"From day one, it's perfectly controlled. We don't spray any pesticides. There's no birds flying over our field pooping on the produce. There's nothing to wash off. It's usually not touched by human hands ever. And so we have a safe, clean product that is ready to eat right out of the package" says the owner.
Read the complete article and watch the video at www.news.yahoo.com.
22 Mar 2021
CANADA: Bringing Fresh Greens To Albertans And Making Hydroponics More Accessible
While the vertical farming industry typically prides itself on high levels of automation, Vertical Roots is taking a different approach that doesn’t rely on technology and automation
Mike and Becky Newhook first took an interest in local agriculture nearly 20 years ago, during a visit to the Philippines where most of the people they met were farmers. When they visited the region 18 years later, those same people were still farming.
One thing led to another, and the couple began working with the locals over Skype to set up two aquaponic farms and begin producing 20,000 heads of lettuce, which isn’t otherwise produced in the region. While those aquaponic farms are locally owned and operated, Mike and Becky continued in their pursuit of local food systems back home in Tofield, Alberta. That is how, at the beginning of the pandemic, Vertical Roots Canada was established.
Vertical Roots is a hydroponic farm founded in 2020 by Mike and Becky Newhook as well as their partners Brent and Evelyn Harley. While the farm began in the Newhook’s garage, it has expanded to Brent and Evelyn’s property in Beaver County, Alberta. It currently runs out of a 600 sq-ft building, although only 386 sq-ft is currently used for production. At this point, the major challenges to production are limited amperage and the limited access to potable water, requiring that water be trucked in. Vertical Roots hopes to expand to 1,500-2,000 sq-ft with all operations occurring under the same roof, from plant propagation to growing, testing, and harvesting.
While the vertical farming industry typically prides itself on high levels of automation, Vertical Roots is taking a different approach that doesn’t rely on technology and automation. The farm focuses on hands-on growing and relatively small-scale production. But according to Mike, that hasn’t hurt their business in the slightest as the company is expanding within a year of its establishment.
“We’re not about producing in warehouses and supplying major companies. People seemed to say that if you aren’t producing 20,000 heads of lettuce, then you’ll be left behind. But that hasn’t been the case at all,” says Mike. Vertical Roots sells its greens through subscriptions, to the Mayfair Royal Golf Club, and to local restaurants. The interest in local food has never been higher, according to the Newhooks, as consumers have flocked to the farm and maxed out the supply.
“When people are ordering from larger suppliers, the quality is lower. They are paying the same price or lower for a product that they can only use half of. We’ve learned that people are willing to pay more for a head of lettuce if it means that they can use all of it rather than only a portion of it,” says Becky.
Throughout the Newhooks experience, they’ve found the hydroponics community to occasionally be difficult to collaborate with, as the industry tends to keep its cards close and not share its experiences. They also struggled with having consultants make technical recommendations that didn’t ultimately make sense for their business. According to Mike, this lackluster knowledge sharing in vertical farming is part of why many vertical farms have failed.
As such, Vertical Roots is committed to being a transparent company that welcomes people and questions. The company has also developed a prototype system which it plans to commercialize by autumn 2021, which will be complemented by educational resources and consulting also provided by the farm. Vertical Roots already has 3-4 growers pursuing them to build a farm once the systems are available for sale.
“Our product is where we want it to be; we just need to keep repeating it. We want to master all four seasons before beginning to sell. While you are growing indoors, the season does impact climate control inside the farm,” explains Mike. In the future, Vertical Roots hopes to explore opportunities in northern Canada, as the rates of food insecurity and food prices are exorbitant throughout the region.
For more information:
Vertical Roots Canada
info@verticalroots.ca
www.verticalroots.ca
Publication date: Fri 19 Mar 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© VerticalFarmDaily.com
US: NORTH CAROLINA: CraftGrown Farms Offers Fresh Microgreens, Lettuce And Herbs
All of the growing is done inside, allowing CraftGrown Farms to produce year-round and the ability to expand its growing capacity
BY JESSICA MAURER
March 10, 2021
CraftGrown Farms involves a hydroponic farm on Castle Street. (Photo courtesy of CraftGrown Farms)
Randall Rhyne’s career has included teaching high school biology and earth science as well as serving in the Army Reserve, with deployments to Iraq and Syria.
After visiting Wilmington last year, he fell in love with the city and decided to relocate from Virginia.
While serving overseas, Rhyne and his unit often had little to no access to fresh food, relying on MREs or snacks like Pop-Tarts. He often longed for fresh produce.
One spring when he was in the Syrian desert, he saw trucks hauling locally grown produce and found himself thinking that if the locals were able to grow their own food in the middle of a civil war, in a desert, there was no reason why he couldn’t do this at home. As soon as he returned to Virginia, Rhyne got to work.
Now, having secured a Castle Street storefront and growing space across from Luna Café on Castle Street last fall, Rhyne has created CraftGrown Farms, an indoor, hydroponic farm selling nutrient-dense microgreens, hydroponic lettuce, and herbs to local restaurants and the public.
All of the growing is done inside, allowing CraftGrown Farms to produce year-round and the ability to expand its growing capacity.
Rhyne said the response so far has been remarkable; in fact, he’s already outgrown his initial vertical grow system.
“It’s a great problem to have,” Rhyne said.
He said new customers are usually so excited about what they’ve tried that they want to take home more than they need.
“I’m an old school believer in the quality of the sale and even though these items have a good shelf life, I try to discourage people from buying too much at once,” Rhyne said.
CraftGrown Farms only harvests what it sells, so the produce is picked right in front of the customer, providing maximum flavor and freshness.
There are currently about a dozen microgreen blends available, as well as leafy greens such as kale, arugula, and tatsoi. The microgreens will keep in a vegetable crisper for two weeks, and all of the lettuce is sold with the root ball intact to preserve flavor and freshness.
“These are not your everyday lettuces,” Rhyne said.
CraftGrown Farms is located at 603 Castle St. and is open from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Have a tip for Restaurant Roundup? Email us at: restaurant@wilmingtonbiz.com.
PlantLab Opens The First Indoor Grow Site In The United States
As a Dutch pioneer in indoor farming (vertical farming), PlantLab has opened a new production site in the US city of Indianapolis, the capital of Indiana
As a Dutch pioneer in indoor farming (vertical farming), PlantLab has opened a new production site in the US city of Indianapolis, the capital of Indiana.
The first overseas ‘Plant Paradise’ grows vegetables for the locals in a place where it was previously unthinkable: in a former battery factory near the center of town.
The first herbs and lettuce heads have now been harvested from the 2,000 square meter grow site and delivered to local supermarkets and foodservice companies. PlantLab will grow different types of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and herbs in Indianapolis. The new location will ultimately be good for a total of 420,000 kilograms of fresh vegetables and provides employment for around seventy people.
Healthy and delicious
PlantLab has made a breakthrough over the past ten years with its efficient, worldwide patented technology for innovative urban agriculture, which is now in use in a commercial production site in Amsterdam and now also in Indianapolis.
This makes it possible to grow fresh, healthy, and tasty vegetables on a large scale close to the consumer without the use of chemical pesticides. In an area of only two football fields, it is possible to produce enough to supply a city of 100,000 people with 200 grams of vegetables every day.
Sustainable urban corridors
PlantLab has partnered in Indianapolis with Englewood Community Development Corporation, which works on the sustainable development of urban corridors. The products are marketed under the brand name “Uplift, good food for purpose”.
“The collaboration gives us the opportunity to mean more to Indianapolis society,” says Michiel Peters, CEO of PlantLab. “It fits exactly with our mission. We are not only increasing the supply of sustainable and responsible fresh food for local customers, but we are also creating jobs in a sector that is totally new to this region. ”
Need less water
This summer, PlantLab raised € 20 million in growth funds from De Hoge Dennen Capital as part of an investment round. Scaling wants to use that money to open theatrical production sites in the Netherlands, the United States, and the Bahamas, among others. PlantLab production sites can be located anywhere in the world, even on sterile soil or in the middle of urban areas.
Crops reach their full potential by regulating temperature, humidity, and light, while 95% less water is needed. The light comes from specially developed LED lights that provide the specific color of light that the plant needs for photosynthesis.
Fruitbox 56 - Daniel Kats, InFarm
Despite its name, InFarm’s roots are very much in the market. In February 2021, the Berlin-based urban farming startup announced the creation of new growing centres to supply fresh produce to the likes of Edeka, Lidl and Kaufland
5th March 2021
The Urban Farming Startup's Head of Sales
Tells Fruitnet About The Next Stage of its Impressive Expansion
Despite its name, InFarm’s roots are very much in the market. In February 2021, the Berlin-based urban farming startup announced the creation of new growing centres to supply fresh produce to the likes of Edeka, Lidl, and Kaufland.
Starting in Germany and extending very soon to the UK, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, US, and Canada, the move represents a step-change in its operations, scaling up a business model that until now has focused on smaller, plug-and-grow units within retail stores themselves.
Now, as demand for locally grown produce continues to rise, the company is preparing go beyond the 1,500 in-store farms already installed and ramp up production wherever the market demands it.
And with total venture capital funding of more than US$400m to date, it’s certainly shaping up to be one of the world’s most hotly tipped vertical growing startups.
“We are not building farms,” explains InFarm’s vice-president of corporate sales Daniel Kats, speaking on the latest episode of Fruitbox. “We’re taking facilities and deploying models inside. Those automated towers can then grow by demand. If the retailer has more demand, we just add one or two or ten more towers.”
Why now? “The population is growing, the demand keeps growing, and a lot of food production is needed in many large cities,” says Kats. “Therefore we are pushing the button now and starting to grow.”
Now operating in ten countries, and set to launch in Japan this year, the company is also venturing into new products. As a result, it’s ready to become a major supplier in its own right, rather than simply enabling retailers to grow a limited number of items in stores.
“We are growing much more variety and assortment,” Kats adds. “We started with a lot of leafy greens, herbs, lettuces, mixed salads, microgreens, and now we’re doing the first steps into tomatoes, mushrooms, chillies, strawberries in the future, which require naturally much bigger spaces to grow centrally and distribute to the supermarkets.”
Hosted by Chris White in London, Fruitbox now attracts a big audience across the global fruit and vegetable business that tunes in every week to hear exclusive interviews and expert analysis. Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.
All previous episodes of Fruitbox can be found on any of the following podcast services:
Apple · Spotify · Anchor · Google · Overcast · Soundcloud · Stitcher · Pocket Casts
Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.
To find out how you can tell your story on Fruitbox, email: chris@fruitnet.com
To learn about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, email: advertising@fruitnet.com
Enjoyed this free article from Eurofruit Magazine and its team of editors? Don't miss out on even more in-depth analysis, plus all the latest news from the fresh produce business. Subscribe now to Eurofruit Magazine.
US-VIRGINIA: Arlington’s Only Commercial Farm To Expand, Double Production
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced this afternoon that Fresh Impact Farms will be getting a $30,000 grant — half from the state, half from the county — that will help it double production and create six jobs.
Believe it or not, Arlington County has a working commercial farm.
The farm, which is located in a commercial building along Lee Highway, uses hydroponic technology to grow a variety of edible plants indoors. And it’s about to expand.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced this afternoon that Fresh Impact Farms will be getting a $30,000 grant — half from the state, half from the county — that will help it double production and create six jobs.
Fresh Impact, Arlington County’s only commercial farm, is banking on its restaurant customers ramping up purchases as vaccinated customers flock back to the indoor dining. It also launched a direct-to-consumer Community Supported Agriculture program last year.
County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti hailed the business and its expansion.
“Governor Northam’s award to Fresh Impact Farms, Arlington’s only commercial farm, is an innovative way to celebrate unique uses of technology to help a small business pivot during the pandemic,” de Ferranti said in a statement. “I am thrilled that Fresh Impact Farms is growing and looking to the future of a sustainable food supply.”
More on the company’s expansion, below, from a press release issued by the governor’s office.
Governor Ralph Northam today announced that Fresh Impact Farms will invest $137,500, create six new jobs, and more than double production at its Arlington County indoor facility. Operating since 2018 as Arlington’s only commercial farm, Fresh Impact Farms uses proprietary hydroponic technology to grow a variety of specialty herbs, leafy greens, and edible flowers for sale to customers in the Greater Washington, D.C. metro area.
Like many companies, Fresh Impact Farms has pivoted its business model amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Seizing the opportunity created by more people cooking at home, the company initiated a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program targeting area residents. The CSA program, which focuses on leafy greens and home kitchen-friendly herbs, has grown steadily since its establishment in April 2020 and now includes smaller wholesale clients. Now, with vaccinations underway and the restaurant industry poised to rebound, Fresh Impact Farms is expanding, which will allow the company to resume supplying their restaurant customers, while also meeting new demand through their CSA program.
“Agriculture continues to be a key driver of our economic recovery in both rural and urban areas of our Commonwealth,” said Governor Northam. “Innovative, dynamic businesses like Fresh Impact Farms are demonstrating how exciting new opportunities can grow out of pandemic-related challenges. I congratulate the company on their success and am thrilled to award the first-ever AFID grant to Arlington County to support this expansion.”
This expansion by Fresh Impact Farms will include a second grow room, larger production facility, and an educational hub where, post-pandemic, customers will be able to see how their food is harvested. Over the next three years, the company expects to grow an additional 10,500 pounds of Virginia-grown leafy greens, herbs, and edible flowers for restaurant and CSA customers.
“Agriculture is Virginia’s largest private sector industry and the Commonwealth continues to be on the forefront of emerging agriculture technologies,” said Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Bettina Ring. “I am inspired by Fresh Impact Farms’ commitment to not only bringing fresh, local produce to Virginians, but also for its commitment to educate our community about how local food is grown.”
“2020 was undoubtedly one of the hardest years in recent memory for many people and businesses, but I’m heartened by the strength and flexibility the entire Fresh Impact Farms team has shown in our deep pivot to consumers and a CSA model to help us get to the point where we are ready to expand our business,” said Fresh Impact Farms Founder Ryan Pierce. “The support and generosity from the Commonwealth and Arlington County will be valuable as we expand our production and move towards a hybrid model of serving both the needs of restaurants and consumers. As the owner of a local food business, nothing gets me more excited than seeing the community come together in support of local food. The future is bright for urban agriculture and this grant will help us make an even greater impact in our community.”
The Commonwealth is partnering with Arlington County and the Arlington County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) on this project through the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund, which is administered by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS). Governor Northam approved a $15,000 grant from the AFID Fund to secure the project for Virginia, which Arlington County will match with local funds.
“The Arlington County IDA’s match of the Governor’s AFID grant to Fresh Impact Farms represents an important investment in urban agriculture, sustainability, and technology,” said Arlington County IDA Chair Edwin Fountain. “This project will advance the County’s innovative and forward-thinking approach to developing new sectors of economic activity in Arlington.” […]
“Congratulations to Fresh Impact Farms,” said Senator Janet Howell. “This expansion not only supports our local economy, but also has a significant impact promoting healthy families and vibrant communities as a whole.”
“I am delighted Governor Northam has approved a grant from the AFID Fund to deliver this project for the Commonwealth and Arlington County,” said Delegate Richard Sullivan. “Fresh Impact Farms has been a pivotal resource for providing fresh food to the community. This expansion shows a commitment not only to homegrown produce, but to a healthier community and local economy in Arlington.”
Jersey City Housing Authority To Host Vertical Farms
The partnership aims to provide more access to healthy food
Partnership Aims To Provide
More Access To Healthy Food
February 25, 2021
AeroFarms will construct and maintain 10 farming sites, the first of which will be built at the Curries Woods Community Resource Center as part of a new agreement between the city, AeroFarms, and the Jersey City Housing Authority.
Vertical farms will provide free nutritious food to residents in need now that the Jersey City Council has adopted a resolution approving an agreement between AeroFarms, the city, and the Housing Authority.
The new agreement means that vertical farms will be opened at Curries Woods and Marion Gardens.
The public housing farms, which will be funded by the city, will increase healthy food access where needed most and encourage residents to live healthier lifestyles.
The Jersey City Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), AeroFarms, and Jersey City Housing Authority will collaborate with the Boys & Girls Club and Head Start Early Childhood Learning programs to support produce distribution and healthy eating education.
“We’ve worked hard to keep the Vertical Farming Program a priority despite the impacts from this pandemic, which have disproportionately affected the more economically challenged areas and exacerbated societal issues such as healthy food access,” said Mayor Steven Fulop.
“We’re taking an innovative approach to a systemic issue that has plagued urban areas for far too long by taking matters into our own hands to provide thousands of pounds of locally-grown, nutritious foods that will help close the hunger gap and will have an immeasurable impact on the overall health of our community for years to come.”
City farming
AeroFarms will construct and maintain the farming sites. The first will be built at the Curries Woods Community Resource Center. The Boys & Girls Club and Head Start will integrate the vertical farm as a learning tool for youth within their educational programming.
Head Start, operated by Greater Bergen Community Action, plans to integrate greens into its early childhood meals.
AeroFarms indoor vertical farming technology uses up to 95 percent less water and no pesticides versus traditional field farming.
According to the city, the JCHA-Aerofarms Advisory Committee will be formed to provide strategic oversight and guidance throughout the program.
The steering committee will include Jersey City residents and stakeholders from the Boys & Girls Club and Head Start.
The city’s Vertical Farming Program will consist of eight additional vertical farms throughout Jersey City in senior centers, schools, public housing complexes, and municipal buildings.
The 10 sites will grow 19,000 pounds of vegetables annually using water mist and minimal electricity, according to the city.
The food is free to residents if they participate in five healthy eating workshops, and they will have the option of participating in a quarterly health screening.
“As a Certified B Corporation, we applaud Mayor Fulop’s leadership and advocacy to bring healthier food options closer to the community, and we are excited to launch together the nation’s first municipal vertical farming program that will have a far-lasting positive impact for multiple generations to come,” said Co-Founder and CEO of AeroFarms David Rosenberg.
The city’s Health and Human Service Department will run the program with a health-monitoring component to track participants’ progress under a greener diet, monitoring their blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity.
Crops will be integrated with other Healthy Food Access initiatives, including senior meal programs, according to the city.
“Access to healthy food and proper nutrition is directly linked to a person’s mental and physical health, and can decrease risks of chronic diseases while increasing life expectancy,” said Stacey Flanagan, director of Health and Human Service for Jersey City. “This past year has shed light on the health disparities that exist in urban areas nationwide, which is why we’ve remained focused on closing gaps where healthy food access is most needed, specifically for our low-income, youth, and senior populations.”
Healthy food initiatives
The Vertical Farming Program is part of the broader initiative from the World Economic Forum (WEF) toward partnerships with cities.
Jersey City is the first in the world to be selected by WEF to launch the Healthy City 2030 initiative, which aims to catalyze new ecosystems that will enable socially vibrant and health-centric cities and communities.
The vertical farming initiative is the latest and broadest effort Jersey City has launched around food access, including more than 5,000 food market tours for seniors to educate them on healthy eating, and the “Healthy Corner Store” initiative.
According to a 2018 city report, much of Jersey City could be described as a “food desert.”
The USDA defines a food desert as “a low-income census tract where either a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store.”
This means at least 500 people or 33 percent of the population live more than a mile from a supermarket or large grocery store.
According to the city, these deserts have led to an increased rate of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other diet-related illnesses in the more marginalized communities of Jersey City.
“We are thrilled that the vertical farms that will be installed at JCHA sites to enable some of our most vulnerable residents, including low-income households, children, and seniors, to have access to fresh, green produce that is nutritious, delicious, and easy to prepare,” said Vivian Brady-Phillips, director of the JCHA.
For updates on this and other stories check www.hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Marilyn Baer can be reached at Marilynb@hudsonreporter.com.
Little Leaf Farms Raises $90M to Grow Its Greenhouse Network
Massachusetts-based Little Leaf Farms has raised $90 million in a debt and equity financing round to expand its network of hydroponic greenhouses on the East Coast. The round was led by Equilibrium Capital as well as founding investors Bill Helman and Pilot House Associates. Bank of America also participated.
by Jennifer Marston
Image from: Little Leaf Farms
Massachusetts-based Little Leaf Farms has raised $90 million in a debt and equity financing round to expand its network of hydroponic greenhouses on the East Coast. The round was led by Equilibrium Capital as well as founding investors Bill Helman and Pilot House Associates. Bank of America also participated.
Little Leaf Farms says the capital is “earmarked” to build new greenhouse sites along the East Coast, where its lettuce is currently available in about 2,500 stores.
The company already operates one 10-acre greenhouse in Devins, Massachusetts. Its facility grows leafy greens using hydroponics and a mixture of sunlight supplemented by LED-powered grow lights. Rainwater captured from the facility’s roof provides most of the water used on the farm.
According to a press release, Little Leaf Farms has doubled its retail sales to $38 million since 2019. And last year, the company bought180 acres of land in Pennsylvania on which to build an additional facility. Still another greenhouse, slated for North Carolina, will serve the Southeast region of the U.S.
Little Leaf Farms joins the likes of Revol Greens, Gotham Greens, AppHarvest, and others in bringing local(ish) greens to a greater percentage of the population. These facilities generally pack and ship their greens on the day of or day after harvesting, and only supply retailers within a certain radius. Little Leaf Farms, for example, currently servers only parts of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.
The list of regions the company serves will no doubt lengthen as the company builds up its greenhouse network in the coming months.
Agritech: Precision Farming With AI, IoT and 5G
For a company that grows and delivers vegetables, Boomgrow Productions Sdn Bhd’s office is nothing like a farm, or even a vertical farm. Where farms are bedecked with wheelbarrows, spades and hoes, Boomgrow’s floor plan is akin to a co-working space with a communal island table, several cubicles, comfortable armchairs, a cosy hanging rattan chair and a glass-walled conference room in the middle
Image from: Photo by Mohd Izwan Mohd Nazam/The Edge
For a company that grows and delivers vegetables, Boomgrow Productions Sdn Bhd’s office is nothing like a farm, or even a vertical farm.
Where farms are bedecked with wheelbarrows, spades and hoes, Boomgrow’s floor plan is akin to a co-working space with a communal island table, several cubicles, comfortable armchairs, a cosy hanging rattan chair and a glass-walled conference room in the middle.
At a corner, propped up along a walkway leading to a rectangular chamber fitted with grow lights, are rows of support stilts with hydroponic planters developed in-house and an agricultural technologist perched on a chair, perusing data. “This is where some of the R&D work happens,” says Jay Dasen, co-founder of the agritech start-up.
But there is a larger farm where most of the work behind this high-tech initiative is executed. Located a stone’s throw from the city centre in Ampang is a 40ft repurposed shipping container outfitted with perception technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that mimic the ideal environment to produce more than 50,000kg of vegetables a year.
Stacked in vertical layers, Boomgrow’s vegetables are grown under artificial lights with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to detect everything from leaf discolouration to nitrate composition. This is coupled with AI and machine learning algorithms.
Boomgrow is the country’s first 5G-connected vertical farm. With the low latency and larger bandwidth technology, the start-up is able to monitor production in real time as well as maintain key parameters, such as temperature and humidity, to ensure optimal growth conditions.
When Jay and her co-founders, K Muralidesan and Shan Palani, embarked on this initiative six years ago, Boomgrow was nowhere near what it is today.
The three founders got together hoping to do their part in building a more sustainable future. “I’ve spent years advising small and large companies on sustainability, environmental and social governance disclosures. I even embarked on a doctorate in sustainability disclosure and governance,” says Jay.
“But I felt a deep sense of disconnect because while I saw companies evolving in terms of policies, processes and procedures towards sustainability, the people in those organisations were not transforming. Sustainability is almost like this white noise in the background. We know it’s important and we know it needs to be done, but we don’t really know how to integrate it into our lives.
“That disconnect really troubled me. When we started Boomgrow, it wasn’t a linear journey. Boomgrow is something that came out of meaningful conversations and many years of research.”
Shan, on the other hand, was an architect who developed a taste for sustainable designs when he was designing modular structures with minimal impact on their surroundings between regular projects. “It was great doing that kind of work. But I was getting very dissatisfied because the projects were customer-driven, which meant I would end up having debates about trivial stuff such as the colour of wall tiles,” he says.
As for Murali, the impetus to start Boomgrow came from having lived overseas — while working in capital markets and financial services — where quality and nutritious produce was easily available.
Ultimately, they concluded that the best way to work towards their shared sustainability goals was to address the imminent problem of food shortage.
“By 2050, the world’s population is expected to grow to 9.7 billion people, two-thirds of whom will be in Asia-Pacific. Feeding all those people will definitely be a huge challenge,” says Jay.
“The current agricultural practice is not built for resilience, but efficiency. So, when you think of farming, you think of vast tracts of land located far away from where you live or shop.
“The only way we could reimagine or rethink that was to make sure the food is located closer to consumers, with a hyperlocal strategy that is traceable and transparent, and also free of pesticides.”
Having little experience in growing anything, it took them a while to figure out the best mechanism to achieve their goal. “After we started working on prototypes, we realised that the tropics are not designed for certain types of farming,” says Jay.
“And then, there is the problem of harmful chemicals and pesticides everywhere, which has become a necessity for farmers to protect their crops because of the unpredictable climate. We went through many iterations … when we started, we used to farm in little boxes, but that didn’t quite work out.”
They explored different methodologies, from hydroponics to aquaponics, and even started growing outdoors. But they lost a lot of crops when a heat wave struck.
That was when they started exploring more effective ways to farm. “How can we protect the farm from terrible torrential rains, plant 365 days a year and keep prices affordable? It took us five years to answer these questions,” says Jay.
Even though farmers all over the world currently produce more than enough food to feed everyone, 820 million people — roughly 11% of the global population — did not have enough to eat in 2018, according to the World Health Organization. Concurrently, food safety and quality concerns are rising, with more consumers opting for organically produced food as well as safe foods, out of fear of harmful synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.
According to ResearchAndMarkets.com, consumer demand for global organic fruit and vegetables was valued at US$19.16 billion in 2019 and is anticipated to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% by 2026.
Meanwhile, the precision farming market was estimated to be US$7 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach US$12.8 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 12.7% between 2020 and 2025, states MarketsandMarkets Research Pte Ltd.
Malaysia currently imports RM1 billion worth of leafy vegetables from countries such as Australia, China and Japan. Sourcing good and safe food from local suppliers not only benefits the country from a food security standpoint but also improves Malaysia’s competitive advantage, says Jay.
Unlike organic farming — which is still a soil-based method — tech-enabled precision farming has the advantage of catering for increasing demand and optimum crop production with the limited resources available. Moreover, changing weather patterns due to global warming encourage the adoption of advanced farming technologies to enhance farm productivity and crop yield.
Boomgrow’s model does not require the acres of land that traditional farms need, Jay emphasises. With indoor farms, the company promises a year-round harvest, undisturbed by climate and which uses 95% less water, land and fuel to operate.
Traditional farming is back-breaking labour. But with precision technology, farmers can spend less time on the farm and more on doing other things to develop their business, she says.
Boomgrow has secured more than RM300,000 in funding via technology and innovation grants from SME Corporation Malaysia, PlaTCOM Ventures and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, and is on track to build the country’s largest indoor farms.
Image from: Boomgrow
The company got its chance to showcase the strength of its smart technology when Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) approached it to be a part of the telco’s Smart Agriculture cluster in Langkawi last October.
“5G makes it faster for us to process the multiple data streams that we need because we collect data for machine learning, and then AI helps us to make decisions faster,” Jay explains.
“We manage the farm using machines to study inputs like water and electricity and even measure humidity. All the farm’s produce is lab-tested and we can keep our promise that there are no pesticides, herbicides or any preserving chemicals. We follow the food safety standards set by the EU, where nitrate accumulation in plant tissues is a big issue.”
With TM’s 5G technology and Boomgrow’s patent-pending technology, the latter is able to grow vegetables like the staple Asian greens and highland crops such as butterhead and romaine lettuce as well as kale and mint. While the company is able to grow more than 30 varieties of leafy greens, it has decided to stick to a selection of crops that is most in demand to reduce waste, says Jay.
As it stands, shipping containers are the best fit for the company’s current endeavour as containerised modular farms are the simplest means of bringing better food to local communities. However, it is also developing a blueprint to house farms in buildings, she says.
Since the showcase, Boomgrow has started to supply its crops to various hotels in Langkawi. It rolled out its e-commerce platform last year after the Movement Control Order was imposed.
“On our website, we promise to deliver the greens within six hours of harvest. But actually, you could get them way earlier. We harvest the morning after the orders come in and the vegetables are delivered on the same day,” says Jay.
Being mindful of Boomgrow’s carbon footprint, orders are organised and scheduled according to consumers’ localities, she points out. “We don’t want our delivery partners zipping everywhere, so we stagger the orders based on where consumers live.
“For example, all deliveries to Petaling Jaya happen on Thursdays, but the vegetables are harvested that morning. They are not harvested a week before, three days before or the night before. This is what it means to be hyperlocal. We want to deliver produce at its freshest and most nutritious state.”
Plans to expand regionally are also underway, once Boomgrow’s fundraising exercise is complete, says Jay. “Most probably, this will only happen when the Covid-19 pandemic ends.”
To gain the knowledge they have today, the team had to “unlearn” everything they knew and take up new skills to figure what would work best for their business, says Jay. “All this wouldn’t have been possible if we had not experimented with smart cameras to monitor the condition of our produce,” she laughs.
These Buildings Combine Affordable Housing And Vertical Farming
Inside each building, the ground level will offer community access, while the greenhouse fills the second, third, and fourth floors, covering 70,000 square feet and growing around a million pounds of produce a year
A Million Pounds of Produce A Year, Along With Housing And Jobs.
[Image: Harriman/Gyde/courtesy Vertical Harvest]
02-18-21
Some vertical farms grow greens in old warehouses, former steel mills, or other sites set apart from the heart of cities. But a new series of projects will build multistory greenhouses directly inside affordable housing developments.
“Bringing the farm back to the city center can have a lot of benefits,” says Nona Yehia, CEO of Vertical Harvest, a company that will soon break ground on a new building in Westbrook, Maine, that combines a vertical farm with affordable housing. Similar developments will follow in Chicago and in Philadelphia, where a farm-plus-housing will be built in the Tioga District, an opportunity zone.
[Image: Harriman/Gyde/courtesy Vertical Harvest]
“I think what we’ve truly understood in the past year and a half—although we’ve been rooted in it all along—is that we have in this country converging economic, climate, and health crises that are rooted in people’s access to healthy food, resilient, nourishing jobs, and fair housing,” Yehia says. “And we saw this as an urban redevelopment tool that has the potential to address all three.”
Nona Yehia [Image: Harriman/Gyde/courtesy Vertical Harvest]
The company launched in 2015 on a vacant lot in Jackson, Wyoming, aiming in part to create jobs for people with physical and developmental disabilities in the area. In 2019, it got a contract from Fannie Mae to explore how its greenhouses could help with the challenge of food security and nutrition, studying how a farm could be integrated into an existing affordable housing development in Chicago as a model for new projects.
Now, as it moves forward with the Chicago project and expands to other cities, it will also create new jobs for people who might have otherwise had difficulty finding work, working with local stakeholders to identify underserved populations. “Part of this is providing healthy, nutritious food,” Yehia says, “but also jobs at livable wages. We’re positioning all of our firms to address the new minimum wage level of $15 an hour with a path towards career development.”
[Image: Harriman/Gyde/courtesy Vertical Harvest]
Inside each building, the ground level will offer community access, while the greenhouse fills the second, third, and fourth floors, covering 70,000 square feet and growing around a million pounds of produce a year. (The amount of housing varies by site; in Maine, the plan includes 50 unites of housing, and the project will also create 50 new jobs.) In Chicago, there may be a community kitchen on the first level. In each location, residents will be able to buy fresh produce on-site; Vertical Harvest also plans to let others in the neighborhood buy greens directly from the farm. While it will sell to supermarkets, restaurants, hospitals, and other large customers, it also plans to subsidize 10-15% of its harvest for local food pantries and other community organizations. “By creating a large-scale farm in a food desert we are creating a large source of healthy, locally grown food 365 days a year,” she says.
Correction: We’ve updated this article to note that the project in Maine has 50 units of housing, not 15, and the company received a contract—not a grant—from Fannie Mae.
ADELE PETERS
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."
How This Vertical Farm Grows 80,000 Pounds of Produce per Week
To some, the pristine growing conditions and perceived mechanical interference of a vertical farm can seem unnatural, but at Bowery Farming “interference” is actually not the goal at all. “We don’t really think about how people are involved in the growing process, but how to take people out of the growing process”
Bowery Farming uses technology to prioritize accessibility and sustainability in their produce growing operations
To some, the pristine growing conditions and perceived mechanical interference of a vertical farm can seem unnatural, but at Bowery Farming “interference” is actually not the goal at all. “We don’t really think about how people are involved in the growing process, but how to take people out of the growing process” says chief science officer Henry Sztul. “Our goal is actually to have as few people walking around our plants as possible.”
Bowery Farming is a network of vertical farms working to reengineer the growing process. Using a system of light and watering technology, Bowery is able to use 95 percent less water than a traditional outdoor farm, zero pesticides and chemicals, and grow food that tastes as good as anyone else’s.
Bowery Farming uses vertical farm-specific seeds that are optimized for flavor instead of insect resistance and durability. Seeds are mechanically pressed into trays of soil, and sent out into growing positions, or racks within the building that have their own lighting and watering systems. Each tray gets its own QR code so that they can be monitored and assigned a customized plan for water and light until they’re ready to be harvested.
Irving Fain, Bowery Farming’s founder and CEO contemplates the prediction from the United Nations that 70 to 80 percent of the world’s population will be living in and around cities in the next 30 years. “Figuring out ‘how do you feed and how do you provide fresh food to urban environments both more efficiently as well as more sustainably?’ is a very important question today, and an even more important question in the years to come.”
Living Greens Farm Adds Former Senator To Advisory Board
Living Greens Farm (LGF), the largest vertical, indoor aeroponic farm in the US that provides year-round fresh salads, salad kits, microgreens, and herbs, has announced that Joe Donnelly, former Congressman and Senator from Indiana has joined their Advisory Board, effective January 2021
February 16, 2021
FARIBAULT, MN (February 2021) Living Greens Farm (LGF), the largest vertical, indoor aeroponic farm in the US that provides year-round fresh salads, salad kits, microgreens, and herbs, has announced that Joe Donnelly, former Congressman and Senator from Indiana has joined their Advisory Board, effective January 2021.
In his new position, Senator Donnelly will be providing LGF’s leadership critical insights related to their planned national rollout, which is scheduled to begin later this year. Senator Donnelly served on several committees during his tenure in Congress, including the Federal Agriculture committee, so he is an enthusiastic supporter of sustainable controlled environment agriculture.
“Living Greens Farm’s business model has a lot going for it,” says Senator Donnelly. “It is a huge step forward for the environment, great for the retailer, and provides incredibly fresh, premium quality products for the consumer. It helps bring us into the future of farming.”
LGF has been successfully serving customers in the upper Midwest for the past two years. Their growth in this area has led to expansion plans to other parts of the country.
“Adding Senator Donnelly to our Advisory Board serves our expansion plans well,” said George Pastrana, President, and CEO of Living Greens Farm. “He will serve as a key partner as LGF promotes its vision and commercial know-how through the various markets we will serve.”
For more information on why Living Greens Farm products are the cleanest, freshest, and healthiest farm salads and greens available, go to www.livinggreensfarm.com.
About Living Greens Farm
Headquartered in Minnesota, Living Greens Farm is the world’s largest vertical plane aeroponic farm. Living Greens Farm produce requires 95% less water and 99% less land to grow year-round and all products are grown without pesticides or GMOs. Living Greens Farm has a full product line that includes salads, microgreens, and herbs available throughout the Midwest. For more information, please visit Living Greens Farm
VIDEO: Is Tom Vilsack The Changed Person He Says He Is To Lead USDA Again?
For decades, USDA has misappropriated resources in supporting a factory farming system that harms communities, threatens human health, perpetuates racial inequity, and destroys natural ecosystems
For decades, USDA has misappropriated resources in supporting a factory farming system that harms communities, threatens human health, perpetuates racial inequity, and destroys natural ecosystems.
02-15-21
Gene Baur - Another View contributor
After heading up the U.S. Dairy Export Council, Tom Vilsack is in line to reprise his role as secretary of the US Department of Agriculture. Social justice, family farm, and sustainable agriculture groups have raised legitimate concerns about his longtime support of unjust and extractive practices, but at his confirmation hearing, Vilsack said that it’s a different time and he’s a different person, and that he now supports a more equitable and regenerative food system.
Let’s hope Vilsack has truly learned from past missteps and rises to the moment. He has huge opportunities to bring together diverse constituencies around common interests by reforming agriculture. We all benefit from access to wholesome food, produced in a just and compassionate way without destroying the planet or exploiting people and other animals.
For decades, USDA has misappropriated public resources in supporting a factory farming system that harms communities, threatens human health, perpetuates racial inequity, and destroys natural ecosystems. Raising and slaughtering animals by the billions demands inordinate resources, using 10 times more land in the US than plant-based farming. It is a major contributor to the climate crisis, the loss of biodiversity, and other ecological hazards, causing forests and other ecosystems to be destroyed to produce food for farm animals.
ANOTHER VIEW: Vilsack has the right stuff to move the Agriculture Department forward
Vast expanses of land are used for grazing and to produce corn, soybeans and other commodities to feed farm animals. It is far more efficient to grow crops to feed people directly, which could free up millions of acres to help sequester greenhouse gasses, create habitat for wildlife, and preserve natural ecosystems for future generations. Government programs should actively encourage this transition and remove all support, including financial instruments like carbon trading, that enable extractive practices linked to animal agriculture. Incentivizing biodigesters to turn animal excrement into energy at industrial farms, for example, is a short-sighted response to a chronic problem that allows agribusiness to further consolidate power, while greenwashing an untenable system.
Crowding animals by the thousands into factory farms increases risks for virulent pathogens and infectious diseases, including possibly future pandemics. These toxic conditions also sicken workers, disproportionately harming people of color, like the essential workers forced into slaughterhouses that were COVID-19 hotspots. Despite these and other hazards, however, most USDA funding, including COVID relief, has been used to perpetuate this unhealthy and unjust system, which concentrates wealth into the hands of fewer larger operations at the expense of family farmers, exploited workers and disenfranchised citizens.
We must shift USDA support and incentives away from industrialized animal agriculture, and toward a more resilient and equitable system that produces fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and other nourishing foods. Our government should stop underwriting excess dairy production, for example, and distributing surplus artery-clogging cheese through food assistance programs. It is in our nation’s interest for the USDA to incentivize the production and distribution of nutritious plant-based foods instead. We could save billions of dollars in health care costs every year, while lightening our ecological footprint and creating meaningful jobs and opportunities through a diversified, community-centered, plant-based food system.
Concerns about food insecurity during the pandemic spurred a gardening movement, similar to the victory gardens during World War II that provided 40% of our nation’s produce. USDA’s vast network of land grant colleges and cooperative extension offices should build on this by supporting community gardens, urban agriculture, farmers markets and similar endeavors that provide fresh and healthy food, especially in communities that need it most. In some areas, there might also be opportunities for low-income housing to be connected with farming and food enterprises. Schools, churches, and other institutions, including those that serve vulnerable populations, can be enlisted to train the next generation of farmers. USDA food assistance programs that incentivize fresh fruits and vegetables should be expanded and leveraged to support local agriculture.
Industrial animal agriculture has perpetuated racism and structural inequity, often with USDA support. Most farm owners are white, but most agricultural workers are people of color, and they are commonly subjected to dangerous conditions. Black and brown communities experience environmental racism with pollution spilling out of factory farms, and they disproportionately lack access to wholesome food, which leads to elevated rates of diabetes, obesity, and other diet-related ailments. Recognizing this, Vilsack said, “I will ensure all programming is equitable and work to root out generations of systemic racism.”
At his confirmation hearing, Vilsack quoted Robert F. Kennedy about seeing things as they are, and aspiring to dream of things that are yet to be. Let’s hope we’re at an inflection point and that our incoming USDA secretary has truly changed and will actively work to manifest those dreams and the unfulfilled promises of our nation.
Gene Baur is president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, America’s first farm animal sanctuary and advocacy organization.