FRANCE: Designs Unveiled For The World's Largest Single-Domed Greenhouse

14-05-2021 | CNN Style

Written by: Leah DolanMegan C. Hills, CNN

French architecture firm Coldefy has revealed its latest ambitious project: the largest single-domed greenhouse in the entire world. Spanning over 20,000 square meters (215,278 square feet) the gigantic energy self-sufficient structure, christened "Tropicalia," is set to be completed in 2024 in the Cote d'Opale, or Opal Coast, in France.

Designs will be on display from May 22 to November 21 at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale, where Coldefy and interdisciplinary not-for-profit Zuecca Projects will showcase architectural models, sketches and videos detailing the grand plans for the dome.

Renderings revealed ahead of the international exhibition show a sleek dome nestled into the lush, rolling plains of France's natural landscape. Described by Coldefy on its website as a "bubble of harmony," the structure -- which will house a tropical forest featuring a range of flora and fauna, from orchids and butterflies to fish and reptiles -- was built to incorporate the natural environment. As such, the 35-meter-high (115-foot) design is partially embedded in the ground and blends into the landscape with the addition of a second outer wall of greenery.

The roof will be crafted from pressurized thermal pillows set into an aluminum frame -- they are similar to the cushions used in a grouping of domed greenhouses at the Eden Project in Cornwall, England. Inside, the dome will be heated to 82.4°F, a temperature that ensures "luxuriant vegetation," according to the press statement. A technology called Terraotherm will recycle the structure's thermal energy, with surplus heat siphoned to surrounding buildings.

The "bubble of harmony" will blend into the natural landscape of the French coast. Credit: Octav Tirziu/Zuecca Project Space

Like many exhibiting at the Venice Biennale this year -- which follows the altruistic theme "How will we live together?" -- Coldefy's founding architect Thomas Coldefy designed Tropicalia with the health of the planet in mind. For Coldefy, the data surrounding climate change is too often consumed "unwillingly," he said in a press statement, and its oversaturation means the data can quickly become "a new source of anxiety." Tropicalia, however, is meant to be a place of wonder as well as education, providing an opportunity to experience the fragility of the earth's ecosystem up close.

Elsewhere in the biennale, environmental concerns are set to dominate the show. The Nordic pavilion will be transformed into an experimental co-housing project aiming to reduce energy consumption and cut carbon emissions by architects Helen & Hard. Meanwhile, the Taiwan pavilion will spotlight five existing architectural projects that explore the island's ongoing dialogue with nature and investigate how Taiwan's current population of 23 million can be sustained inside its ecologically diverse landscape.

Lead Photo: Credit: Octav Tirziu/Zuecca Project Space

Save The Date!

OptimIA Stakeholder Meeting

August 20th, 2021

10:00 AM - 3:00 PM Eastern

Plan to join our annual stakeholder meeting online to learn about our collaborative research update!

More information available on our website

OptimIA (Optimizing Indoor Agriculture) is a USDA-funded Specialty Crop Research Initiative project to support the indoor farming industry through critical research and extension activities.

Czech Startup Introduces New Container Farm To The Market

Delivering To Prague, Dubai, And Shanghai

A container farm supplied by GreeenTech will soon be parked in Prague's Smíchov district. The hydroponic container farm will grow herbs, vegetables, and small fruits. The other two containers will go to Dubai and Shanghai. 

"We bring a unique and modern approach to agriculture. With vertical hydroponics we will start food self-sufficiency not only in the Czech Republic," promises co-founder of GreeenTech Karolína Pumprová, who three years ago was at the birth of the Prague urban hydroponic farm HerbaFabrica, which supplies herbs to Prague restaurants. 

The co-founders of Greeentech

She was later joined by entrepreneur Dmitrij Lipovský, who, after a year-long working stay in China, where he focused on ecology and sustainability issues, saw a TV report about the HerbaFabrica farm, and was so intrigued by it that together with Karolína Pumprová and technology director Milan Souček, they created the concept of GreeenTech, a technology, and cultivation company that was officially established last July. Dmitry Lipovsky invested six million crowns of his own money in the start-up and became CEO of the company. 

Modular solution
GreeenTech currently has three divisions, each with its own unique product and business and marketing direction. Urbanio is a modular system whereby the company builds an urban hydroponic farm according to the customer's requirements. The price in this case starts at one and a half million crowns and depends on the number of modules purchased and the environment where it will be built. The technology was to be officially launched at Expo 2020 in Dubai.

GreeenBoxes are containers coming with GreeenTech's technology. The price for the smallest size supplied, 13 x 3 x 3 meters, is in the lower units of millions of crowns. The third division is HerbaFabrica, which sells crops to distributors and end customers. The company intends to offer its franchise in the future.

These containers make it possible to grow crops practically anywhere and anytime, even in the desert. According to Lipovský, the company will produce three containers this year, the first of which will be located in Prague's Smíchov, while the others will also be presented at the EXPO in Dubai. It is to Dubai and also Shanghai that the company wants to expand in the medium term.

"The goal is to build full container farms and to continuously improve our technology. But we are a startup, so we are constantly in a turbulent process," smiles the CEO of the company over the next plans and reveals that the final investment round with external investors is also now underway.

Everything from the container design to the software solution is being developed in-house. Some of the technical equipment is supplied by Siemens CR, which is also a long-term technology partner.

GreeenTech wants its technology to contribute to a sustainable solution to a potential future crisis around food shortages. The founders of GreeenTech promise a recurring harvest of local vegetables full of vitamins and intense flavor. Since the crops do not undergo protective spraying, they are suitable for children and allergy sufferers. 

The business model for GreeenBox and Urbanio technologies work on both a sales and rental basis. "For both options, there is an 'after-sales service, where we supply seeds, substrates, fertilizers, as well as spare components for the technology and remote farm management," Lipovský explains.

He adds that GreeenTech also started offering the HerbaShare service to businesses, shops and restaurants a month ago. This is a structure with a cold box for preserving produce, where the company regularly delivers microgreens and vegetables. "Now we want to focus more on businesses as people come back to the office. We believe this is a really interesting employee benefit and a way to have a vitamin bomb right in the workplace," he concludes. 

View fullsize

Source: StartupJobs

For more information:
Greeentech
info@greeen.tech 
www.greeen.tech 

View fullsize

18 May 2021

KYOTO, JAPAN: Spread Develops Technology For Mass Production of Pesticide-Free Strawberry In Vertical Farms

View fullsize

Spread Co., Ltd. Produce 

May 18, 2021

Kyoto, Japan. — Spread Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto, Japan; CEO: Shinji Inada, hereinafter “Spread”) succeeded in developing the technology for mass production of pesticide-free, high-quality strawberries in vertical farms using artificial lighting.

This was made possible by applying Spread’s cultivation know-how to strawberry production.

The technologies include proprietary environmental control, stable indoor pollination, and pesticide-free, clean cultivation.

View fullsize

Spread is considering the deployment of strawberry vertical farms in Japan and overseas, targeting North America, Europe, and Asia.

Spread will also work on product design and a vertically farmed strawberry brand.

DEMAND AND CHALLENGES
Strawberries are globally in high demand, with both yields and production value on the rise. *1 In particular, Japanese strawberries are sought after, which is shown by the steady increase in exports. *2 However, strawberry production is known for heavy pesticide use, and significant food miles.
According to USDA’s data, on average, strawberries in USA carry the residue of 7.8 different pesticides, compared to 2.2 for other crops *3, while over 90% of all strawberries are produced in California. *4

SPREAD’S SOLUTION
Until now vertical farmers have struggled to ensure stable production, with challenges in indoor pollination and high cost.

Spread is able to achieve a year-round stable harvest of pesticide-free strawberries indoors through proprietary environmental control technologies, and stable indoor pollination.

Applying them to large-scale production and adding automation will allow for a move towards accessible prices.

SPREAD’S MISSION
Spread’s strawberries are a part of a larger “Global Food Infrastructure” concept that imagines a world where everyone has free access to fresh and nutritious produce.

CEO Shinji Inada comments “Mass production technology of delicious, pesticide-free strawberries is an important step towards a sustainable society where future generations can live with peace of mind.”

Recognizing the need to feed the Earth, Spread is widening its product range by working on grains, mushrooms, fruits, and more.

*1 FAO Database “World’s Strawberry Yield and Gross Production Value” 2019
*2 JETRO “Nihonsan Shokuzai Pikkuappu Ichigo” [Highlighted Japanese
Ingredient: Strawberry]
*3 EWG “Dirty Dozen Strawberries” 2020
*4 Samtani et al. “The Status and Future of the Strawberry Industry in the United States” American Society for Horticultural Science, 31 Jan 2019

N.Thing To Export Smart Farms To UAE After $3 Million Deal

By Kim Byung-wook

May 17, 2021

South Korean agriculture technology company N.Thing said Monday that it has recently inked a $3 million deal with Sarya Holdings in the United Arab Emirates to export smart farms.

The contract, set to proceed next month, will allow the firm to construct vertical smart farming containers in the UAE by December this year. The container can reduce the use of water up to 98 percent compared to a typical farm and cultivate crops in any environment, whether that is in Siberia, the Middle East, or Seoul.

“The UAE reached out to N.Thing as food security emerged as a key issue amid the coronavirus outbreak,” a company official said.

In February last year, Sarya Holdings conducted a proof of concept test on N.Thing’s container to verify the technology. During the test, Sarya planted four different vegetables -- batavia, kale, Boston lettuce, and oakleaf -- in eight test containers and observed their growth cycles, nutrients, quality, and more.

The test proved that N.Thing’s smart farm containers built in the UAE can produce up to 1.5 metric tons of crops per container, which was 42 percent more than initial estimates.

N.Thing received the best innovation award at the Consumer Electronics Show last year.

Lead photo: The interior of N.Thing’s smart farm container (N.Thing)

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)

Life In 2050: A Look At The Homes of The Future

Rapidly Accelerating Technology And The Need For

Sustainable Living Will Revolutionize

How People Live by 2050

By Matthew S. Williams

May 15, 2021

Stefano Boeri Architecture¨

Welcome back to the "Life in 2050" series! So far, we've looked at how ongoing developments in science, technology, and geopolitics will be reflected in terms of warfare and the economy. Today, we are shifting gears a little and looking at how the turbulence of this century will affect the way people live from day today.

As noted in the previous two installments, changes in the 21st century will be driven by two major factors. These include the disruption caused by rapidly accelerating technological progress, and the disruption caused by rising global temperatures, and the environmental impact this will have (aka. Climate Change).

These factors will be pulling the world in opposite directions, and simultaneously at that. Rising seas, hotter summers, wetter winters, increased flooding, drought, pandemics, desertification, and shrinking supplies of fresh water will likely lead to all kinds of scarcity, humanitarian crises, and increased levels of mortality.

Meanwhile, technological advances in terms of renewable energy, fusion power, materials science, blockchains, smart technology, additive manufacturing (3D printing), commercial space exploration, and biotechnology are set to lead to a new era of abundance in terms of energy, wealth, health, and new resources.

In an age where Climate Change and technological change will essentially be competing for control of our future, the challenge will be how to leverage one to address the other. All told, there are four areas where this will really come into play:

• Growth of Urban Centers

• Machine Learning and AI

• Decentralization of Everything

• Sustainable Cities

• Rising Seas and Sinking Coastlines

The growth of cities

As we addressed in the second installment, the global population is projected to grow considerably by 2050. In fact, according to the "World Population Prospects 2019" report compiled by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the global census rolls will account for about 9.74 billion people by mid-century.

Furthermore, a 2020 report by the International Institute for Environment and Development estimates that by 2050, roughly 68% of the population will live in urban centers. That works out to 6.6 billion people, or an increase of 2.2 billion from today. You might say that almost all of the population growth between now and 2050 will happen in cities.

This will result in an increased demand for housing, electricity, water, food, basic services, education, transport, and medical services in these places. The infrastructure and resources needed to meet this demand will place added stress on the surrounding environments, which are already heavily stressed as it is.

Urban expansion means that more land needs to be cleared to build infrastructure, more water needs to be diverted for utilities, more electricity needs to be generated, and more agricultural land needs to be set aside for growing food.

Luckily, there's an upside to all this growth. While more people means more in the way of need, it also means more in the way of production. And if there is one thing cities are very good at, it's fostering innovation, the creation of new industries, and cultural expression - and all through the act of bringing people together.

As a result, cities in 2050 will be built (or rebuilt) to provide for the basic needs of their populations in ways that absolutely must be sustainable. This means finding ways to do more with less, not to mention eliminating waste as much as possible. All of this will be possible through the art of...

"Smart" living

The idea of "smart homes" is one that has really taken off in the past decade. The concept builds on the idea of "smartphones" and other such devices, which are accessible anywhere there is an internet connection. In the case of smart homes, a person will have access to everything in their home (appliances, devices, utilities, etc.) through Bluetooth and wireless internet.

In the future, this will extend to the point where the "Internet of Things" (IoT) becomes a reality. This concept refers to the way in which the digital world and real world will become intertwined like never before. On the one hand, this will be driven by the trillions of devices, sensors, and geotags that connect countless points in the real world to the internet.

On the other, people's experience of the real world will be increasingly mediated throug augment tedh  reality, virtual reality (AR/VR), and the help of artificial intelligence. On top of that, the ability to connect with just about anyone and everything will revolutionize the way we live. And strangely enough, many of us have had a preview of this due to the recent pandemic.

Source: Alex Knight/Unsplash

For one thing, people in 2050 will be used to being able to have just about everything delivered to their doorstep. Door-to-door delivery services will likely become increasingly automated and involve smart cars, shuttle pods that drive around on their own tracks, and aerial drones.

Similarly, just about everything will be doable from the comfort of home, especially when it comes to working. Home offices with high-speed internet will become the norm, meetings will be virtual, and traveling for the sake of business or attending conferences will be largely unheard of.

Even education will take place in the home or within individual apartment blocks and tenements. Similar to distance education, children will log in to virtual classrooms where they are guided (with the help of a teacher or AI) through various lessons. Haptics will provide the sensation of "hands-on" education, eliminating the need to be physically in a classroom.

An explosion in the use of household robots is also projected to take place by 2050. These could take the form of mobile units or next-generation appliances that are integrated directly into a room. These robots will be able to handle everything from regular household maintenance, cleaning, preparing food, and other such tasks.

Moreover, the concept of the "smart home" will achieve literal proportions. Household AI 'managers' are sure to become a common feature of future homes, connected to all your devices, running your household robots and your appliances, and monitor your habits to ensure that you are remaining within your budget.

Distributed systems

Another interesting change is the way in which energy, money, goods and services, and even politics and administration will be distributed in the coming years. Whereas the industrial revolution brought about greater centralization of work and economics that is still in use to this day, the world of tomorrow will be almost entirely decentralized.

For example, in the previous installment, we looked at how increased reliance on renewable energy will affect the global economy. Given that the majority of demand for electricity will still be coming from urban centers, the shift will be visible in terms of how and where power is generated. In short, energy concerns of the future will be moving away from the centralized grids and become more localized.

Today, the infrastructure for providing electricity (aka. the electrical grid) consists of the following connected elements:

• power stations located away from heavily populated areas, which are connected

• electrical transmitters to carry power over long distances

• electrical substations that transform voltage from high transmission to low distribution

• distribution transformers to individual homes and buildings

The term "grid" is fitting because the electricity is generated in a central place, then routed through a gridlike network to where it is needed. In contrast, by 2050, cities will have distributed power stations that run on solar, wind, piezoelectric, geothermal, biomass, and other "green" sources of energy.

View fullsize

Source: Inhabitat

These localized centers will provide power for a specific area, and large buildings are likely to provide their own power using built-in solar arrays, turbines, and biofuel generators. However, power grids will not disappear, as the development of fusion power and Tokamak reactors will still require distribution centers and nodes.

The proliferation of wireless internet, satellite internet, and blockchain technology will also mean people can connect anywhere at any time. As a result, politics could look more like "town hall meetings" that will be virtual events that far more people will be able to participate in. In the same way that video conferencing will mean that most business is conducted virtually, local politics will also be affected.

Green megacities

Due to the ongoing loss of arable land, cities will also become greener spaces, where architecture and ecology come together for the sake of healthy living. This concept, known as "arcology," was coined in 1969 by architect Paolo Soleri, who proposed the concept as a means of addressing urban sprawl and the consequent destruction of green spaces.

In designs featuring arcology, agricultural operations and green spaces co-existed alongside residential and commercial centers, and space was to be used more creatively. Whereas most cities are two-dimensional, with individual highrises dotting the landscape (or clustered in the central business districts), arcologies are three-dimensional and built into the surrounding environment.

This thinking has become revitalized since the turn of the century, thanks to the escalating problem of climate change. Today, there are countless architectural firms and design studios that specialize in the creation of urban spaces that are reminiscent of the principles of arcology or similarly governed by the same principles of efficiency and sustainability.

Common features include urban farming, where local residents tend to community gardens, vertical farms, hydroponics, insect farms (high-protein!), and aquaponics (where plants and fish live symbiotically, and both are a source of nutrients). These operations will be helped along with the development of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and microbial engineering.

To prevent stress on the existing water supply, most of what is needed for irrigation will come from rainwater capture, grey-water recycling, and water reclamation units. It's also a safe bet that by 2050, many homes and domiciles will have a 3D food printer dedicated to manufacturing nutritious meals tailored to specific tastes and dietary requirements.

Another recent innovation is carbon capture, which city planners are incorporating into modern urban development plans for the sake of combating climate change and urban pollution. While foliage has always been a means of cleaning city air, future cities may include large numbers of artificial trees, bioreactor facilities, and carbon-absorbing structures built right into their facades.

As an added bonus, carbon dioxide that is scrubbed from the air can be easily converted into biofuels using Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECSS) technology. Buildings equipped with a carbon capture apparatus will therefore be able to create biofuel, perhaps as a backup power source, but also as a local supply of fuel for vehicles that still run on biodiesel.

Powering it all will be a number of renewable energy sources, such as the aforementioned solar arrays, vertical wind turbines, piezoelectric surfaces, and heat-exchange technology (for the sake of climate control). Each building that contains multiple dwellings is likely to be its own grow-op, power plant, and fuel station, providing the basic necessities of life locally.

Crystal Island: This arcology was proposed by Norman Foster, founder of the architecture firm Foster and Partners. True to its name, Crystal Island would be a tall, spire-like compression structure that would appear crystalline. The entire structure would be wrapped in a breathable "second skin" that would be sealed in winter to prevent heat loss and opened in summer to cool the interior.

The planned arcology was to be integrated into Nagatinskaya Poyma Park in central Moscow. Standing 1,476 ft (450 m) high and containing 27 million ft² (2.5 million m²) of floor space, it would have been the largest structure on Earth. Construction was postponed in 2009 due to the global economic crisis and has remained in limbo since.

Masdar City: Named after the design firm building it, Masdar City is a planned project for the city of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Also designed by Foster and Partners, the city will be a hub for clean energy companies as well as the location of the International Renewable Energy Agency's (IRENA) headquarters.

Based on the goal of a carbon-neutrality, Masdar is powered by a combination of solar energy, wind power, and all lighting and water are controlled by movement sensors to reduce consumption. Much of the city's water is rainwater or captured by condensers, and up to 80% of wastewater will be recycled and reused as many times as possible.

As of 2016, the city's official website reported that 2,000 people are employed in the city and that only 300 students reside there. However, expansion is expected to continue until it reaches its planned capacity of 50,000 residents, 1,500 businesses, and 60,000 workers making the daily commute.

Cities at sea

In an age of climate change, many designers have incorporated rising sea levels and the loss of coastlines into their arcological concepts. A number of designs have been proposed already, examples of which include:

Boston Arcology: Also known as BOA, this concept for a sustainable megastructure in Boston Harbor was conceived by Kevin Schopfer. Designed in the shape of a rectangle with crisscrossing structures in its interior, this city would house 15,000 people and include hotels, offices, retail spaces, museums, and a city hall.

Consistent with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, it would draw its power from a combination of solar, wind, and other renewables and would serve as an expansion of the city without adding to the environmental impact of urban sprawl.

Harvest City: The Haiti earthquake of 2010 left 250,000 people dead, 300,000 people injured, and about 1.5 million people homeless. In response, Schopfer (in collaboration with Tangram 3DS) conceived Harvest City, a floating complex made up of tethered floating modules - 2 mi (3.2 km) in diameter - off the coast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

The city would be capable of housing 30,000 residents within four communities - dedicated 2/3 to agriculture, 1/3 to light industry - all of which would be interconnected by a linear canal system. The entire city would float and be anchored to the ocean floor, reducing its vulnerability to plate tectonics and earthquakes considerably.

Lilypad City: Otherwise known as just Lilypad, this concept for a floating city was proposed by Vincent Callebaut. Essentially, Callebaut anticipated that rising sea levels and disappearing coastlines would give rise to a new phenomenon known as "climate refugees." As coastal cities sink into the ocean in this century, people will need to be relocated to new facilities.

Hence the Lilypad concept, a completely self-sufficient floating city that could accommodate up to 50,000 people. Power would be provided through a combination of solar, wind, tidal, and biomass, while the entire structure is able to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere through a titanium dioxide outer skin.

New Orleans Arcology Habitat: Located off the coast of New Orleans, where the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico, the NOAH concept was another design proposed by Kevin Schopfer (the same architect who thought up BOA). The design was largely inspired by Hurricane Katrina and the understanding that recurring storm activity in the region is only going to get more severe.

"The first challenge is to overcome both the physical and psychological damages of recurring severe weather patterns," they wrote. "Though re-population has begun, the need to provide a stabilized and safe environment is paramount to a long-term recovery and economic well-being of New Orleans."

This triangular city would be able to house as many as 50,000 New Orleans residents within its 20,000 residential units - each measuring 1100 ft² (100 m²). To ensure that it kept the tourism industry alive, it would also have up to three hotels (200 rooms each), 1500 time-share units, and three casinos.

Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid: This megastructure (aka. the TRY 2004 Pyramid) was proposed by Shimizu Corporation in 2004 as a solution to Tokyo's problem of overpopulation. Inspired by the Great Pyramid of Giza, the structure would be built in Tokyo Bay, measure 6,575 feet (over 2000 m) high, and house 1 million people.

However, the design relies entirely on the future availability of super-materials (such as carbon nanotubes). This is due to the weight of the pyramid, which would be the largest structure ever built and exceed the stress tolerances of existing building materials. While the original plan was to commence construction by 2030, Shimizu remained determined to complete it by 2110.

Summary

As the 21st century unfolds, the world will be forced to suffer through two major opposing phenomena. Technological development will continue to accelerate, with serious implications for the way we live, work, play, and even eat. At the same time, climate change will be ramping up, causing severe disruptions to the very natural systems humans are dependent on for their survival.

Luckily, there's an upside to this mess of contradictions. While rising tides and increased drought, storms, wildfires, etc., will be a humanitarian nightmare, they will also pressure us to find solutions. And while the rapid advance of technology will be a constant source of stress, it will also bring about innovation that addresses environmental problems.

It will be a strange time, where the entire world will be caught between surviving and thriving, scarcity and abundance, recession and growth. Nevertheless, the potential for positive change is there and could lead to a whole new era of better living and sustainability.

Lead photo: Stefano Boeri Architecture¨

CANADA: Salad Days Vertical Farming Company Growing Business With Microgreens Subscription Program

For Scott Hyndman and Adam Dudek, the entrepreneurial learning curve has been as steep as their vegetable farm is tall — that is to say, very.

Years ago, the friends were sitting on Dudek’s Osborne Village balcony on a sunny summer day, admiring his tomato plants and grumbling about how difficult it was to find high-quality local produce year-round. The conversation became the catalyst for 3 Guys Greens, an urban vertical farm founded by the duo in 2016.

"If we’re frustrated with it, I’m sure there’s a lot of people who are frustrated with this too," Dudek says of Manitoba’s short growing season. "So we started looking into: how can we do this? There’s gotta be a way to grow this stuff indoors year-round."

View fullsize

Adam Dudek, right, and Scott Hyndman of 3 Guys Greens, a local vertical farming company, are offering a mixed greens subscription program. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

They rented warehouse space and started experimenting with vertical gardening and aquaponic systems to grow microgreens for local restaurants. Dudek is a plumber by trade and Hyndman is a trained chef — backgrounds that made up for what they lacked in business and agricultural experience. "This sort of farming is pretty much all plumbing," Dudek says with a laugh. "We’re consistently learning and consistently growing."

Until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, 3 Guys Greens sold microgreens — young, nutrient-packed vegetable sprouts — directly to restaurants as a garnish. The public health crisis has thrown the industry into turmoil and cut off a major revenue stream for the entrepreneurs.

View fullsize

Nutrient-rich micro greens can be used on a sandwich, in salads or cooked as a side dish.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

"With the restaurants being shut down, there’s no real desire for them to have the added cost of garnish when they’re just putting it in a takeout box," Hyndman says. "That’s kind of why we wanted to go towards (selling) direct to the consumer."

This month, the company launched a salad subscription program that will see Winnipeggers getting greens and dressing delivered to their door once a week. The salads include a base of sunflower and pea shoots and a rotating blend of garnish mixes made from micro arugula, radish shoots, brassicas and mustard greens. They’ve also partnered with local catering company Loaf and Honey to create specialty salad dressings.

A monthly subscription costs $80 and each salad kit is expected to be enough greens for three to five days worth of meals, depending on how customers use the product. The microgreens can be eaten solo, added to other dishes or cooked as a side.

"The greens on wraps and sandwiches are absolutely amazing," Dudek says. "The pea shoots and sunflower I like to sauté with a little bit of lemon juice and some garlic."

Hyndman is a big proponent of the nutrient value of microgreens. One 2017 study out of Idaho State University found that broccoli sprouts had larger quantities of certain beneficial nutrients compared with their fully grown counterparts.

"You can eat your whole entire (microgreen) salad and you’ve eaten your 30 pounds of greens for the week," Hyndman says. "(Or) you can replace your normal lettuce on your burgers and in your tacos or whatever, and you still get to eat what you love, but now you’re incorporating these highly nutritious, nutrient-dense microgreens into your diet."

View fullsize

Operations manager Michelle Lecnik checks the status of the towers of basil.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

The microgreens take 10 days to mature and are grown to order.

Since 2016, 3 Guys Greens — which was named when there was in fact a third business partner — has moved three times and now operates out of 26,000-square-foot building with rows upon rows of heavy-duty growing racks and four staff members. The system uses energy-efficient LED grow lights and minimal water, which gives traditional agriculture a run for its money, according to Hyndman.

"One of our towers grows roughly 50 plants on it, so basically in one square foot of our growing space we’re able to do roughly 100 feet of row farming," he says.

The company started growing basil last year and hopes to raise different kinds of produce in the future. They’re also working to develop vertical farming systems within northern Manitoba communities.

Visit 3guysgreens.com for more information and to sign up for their salad subscription program.

Twitter: @evawasney

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Eva Wasney
Arts Reporter

Eva Wasney is a reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press.

   Read full biography

Florida Native Brick Street Farms Takes On Global Agriculture With Multi-Million Dollar Investment

The Ag Tech Innovator Scales its Local Approach to More Sustainably Feed Urban Communities

St Petersburg, FL (May 19th, 2020)- Brick Street Farms announces their new investors, Lykes Bros., a milestone championed by Florida Department of Agriculture Commissioner Nicole “Nikki” Fried, Mayor Rick Kriseman, St. Petersburg, FL, and Mayor Jane Castor, Tampa, FL. With Lykes Bros financial commitment to Brick Street Farms, the AgTech leader will scale its mission to lead the way in disrupting agriculture and reinventing possibilities to sustainably feed more people from urban locations, offer Brick Street Farm’s expertise so we can bring farm to fork in cities and contribute to healthier lives.

COVID-19 and climate change have accelerated existing strains in global food accessibility and supply chains, highlighting the need to rethink the world’s agriculture systems, particularly in dense city areas. In response to this crisis, Crunchbase News has cited that agriculture technology investments have grown 250% in the past 5 years alone. Brick Street Farms has been at the forefront of this industry because of their unique experience in both design and manufacturing of their THRIVE Containers as well as the operation of those farms for financial sustainability.

The AgTech’s ground-breaking approach is to bring to life cultivation centers, also known as Brick Street Farms hubs, which will serve as an all-inclusive onsite farming and retail shopping experience in urban cores. Brick Street Farms is reinventing urban farming with our self-contained, environmentally sustainable THRIVE Containers placed in Hubs. These hubs will grow between 16-20 acres of farmland on 1/3 acre lots. This Climate-Controlled Agriculture (CEA) maximizes output and minimizes water resources.

Brick Street Farms Founder and CEO, Shannon O’Malley observed “We could not be more honored to have Lykes Bros. as our newest investor. Brick Street Farms hubs will be the first of its kind and we can’t wait to share this innovation with the world. Our farming expertise combined with Lykes 121 years of experience in agriculture brings unparalleled leadership to feed more people ‘farm to fork’.”

“Lykes Bros. is excited to be advancing and investing in the future of agriculture. We see Brick Street Farms’ leadership and innovation in the controlled environment sector as the perfect fit for our company. They share our commitment to pioneering the future, and their hub innovation is a bold blueprint for producing healthy food locally and sustainably,” says Mallory Dimmitt, VP of Strategic Partnerships, Lykes Bros.

For more information about Brick Street Farms visit www.brickstreetfarms.com.

About Brick Street Farms

Brick Street Farms produce is grown and sold out of its St. Petersburg, Florida headquarters with a mission to ignite a sustainable farm revolution by dramatically reshaping the global population’s ability to access to clean, healthy food. Built for farming in all environments, Brick Street Farms provides healthy, fresh greens, year-round.

About Lykes Bros.:

Founded by Dr. Howell Tyson Lykes and his seven sons in 1900, Lykes Bros. Inc. is a leading Florida-based agribusiness with cattle, citrus, farming, forestry, hunting, and land and water resources operations as well as major landholdings in Florida and Texas. www.lykes.com.

More Than Simply Housing

While “Housing” is in our name, CASS isn’t just about building homes. CASS is about holistically partnering with people with developmental disabilities to create opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise exist.

Employment for people with disabilities is one of the largest hurdles that many folks will ever face. Whether it is obtaining a job, the workplace environment, or transportation to and from the workplace, the enjoyment, meaning, and income that comes from a job is not available to millions of people with disabilities across the nation.

In Summer 2020, we were introduced to a company called Freight Farms out of Boston. Freight Farms converts shipping containers into hydroponic gardens. In these 10’x40’ climate-controlled boxes, over an acre’s worth of produce can be grown year-round. Leafy greens, herbs, root vegetables, and flowers grow extremely well in these containers.

image courtesy of freightfarms.com

As we looked further into Freight Farms, we realized that not only would these container gardens create employment opportunities for our Core Members, but they would give them access and working knowledge of produce, local food, gardening, and more.

View fullsize

image courtesy of freightfarms.com

By the end of April, our first 2 containers will be delivered to our existing neighborhood on Constance Ave. (just north of Turnstone). We expect produce to be available by mid to late summer 2021.

Are you a restaurant, business, or grocery store interested in sustainable, year-round, local greens and herbs with a greater cause? Reach out to us by emailing robert@casshousing.org today.

Growing Along With The Ferns

A big part of all commercially sold ferns globally originates from Vitro Plus in Burgh-Haamstede, the Netherlands. The answer to the question 'how did they manage that?' is of course not straightforward, but if there is someone who can give us a slight insight, it is Ellen Kraaijenbrink. At the company, Ellen is not only co-responsible for sales and marketing, but she also celebrated her 20th-anniversary last month.

View fullsize

Ellen in one of the growing rooms of the company

A lot can happen in twenty years. The company was already doing well back then: they were growing ferns, selling them globally and the company was not yet in Burgh-Haamstede, but close to Renesse. "We were in Portacabins, next to a farmhouse in which the company was established back then and we grew from there. When I joined the company, all sales, apart from owner-director John Bijl, were done by one woman. By now, the sales team has expanded to eight people led by Vincent van Vuuren, and in that time the company has also grown from about 10 FTE to around 60 FTE now."

Streamlined
Soon the move to Burgh-Haamstede followed, where a hall was purchased. This is where an important part of the production took place and where 'the production line' was introduced, a more streamlined manner of working in which the whole process from Petri dish to plant tray became one fluent movement. At first, a part of the production remained in Renesse, which was not very practical due to the continuous travel back and forth of plant material. Eventually, this problem was solved by moving the entire company to the new location.

Inside and outside
Good housing is a requirement for growth, but it obviously takes more than just that. For example, the product range has grown strongly as well. Twenty years ago, the product range was much smaller and only consisted of tropical ferns. Recently they added hardy ferns, a whole different story, as propagation happens from spores instead of tissue culture. Due to both practical and hygiene considerations, both processes have since recently been completely separated.

Things can change
Now, they have more plants than customers. "Twenty years ago we had about 100 varieties," Ellen says, "now the amount tripled." This is, apart from the undoubtedly terrific sales skills of Ellen and her colleagues, due to a special reason: the market has completely changed. "We can barely keep up now, everything sells really fast, but it has not always been this way. It has been years of pulling and dragging and it usually does not happen on its own. These past four, five years, demand is increasing and boomed by the pandemic."

Ferns for mothers
So far, as the entire plant market will agree, this shopping craze remains. This is not just the case in Europe, but also in the US, where Vitro Plus has many customers. "The market in the US is less sensitive to trends, the consumer buys more traditionally. Ferns are often in hanging baskets, big and people are eager to pay for it. The fern is also, surprisingly, a popular product around Mother's Day. Recently, however, we have been noticing some shifts. Orders are becoming larger and people want to diversify. The demand for new varieties, for striking looks, for something unusual, is growing hugely, in the US as well." 

Ellen has not always worked in this industry. After the local tourist office, a job as a receptionist at an architectural company, and several years at home with the children, she eventually knocked on John's door. "For just 15 hours a week at first, which continued to become more. Flexibility was never a problem. I practically had no knowledge concerning ferns. After about seven years in the office, I attended a trade fair and that is how everything started. Now I arrange our participation in the different exhibitions, I am responsible for our marketing and I am in sales. Along the way, I discovered that I really enjoy the actual selling, as well as bringing in new clients and maintaining our network. My parents used to own a supermarket, so that might be where I got my commercial instinct from." 

View fullsize

Mobile climate cells serve as a temporary solution to produce more

Expansion
To this day, John is still the Sales Director. His previous companion, Kees Zevenbergen, has been retired for quite some time, and about twenty years ago Ard Stoutjesdijk joined the team as codirector-owner. This past year was 'the best year so far' concerning sales. They never have sold this many ferns and never have had this many orders, re-orders, and after-orders to process. This is wonderful, of course, but it does mean the production capacity has to increase. For now, this problem can be solved by using extra climate cells, which are a type of containers in which ' LED-vehicles' are driven into and in which the production can be increased by two million extra plants during peak time. Yet this is merely a temporary solution, which is why, Ellen concludes, construction will start soon. A piece of the neighbors’ land has been bought, the paperwork is being done at the moment and the construction will start next year.

View fullsize

For more information:
Vitro Plus B.V.
Ellen Kraaijenbrink
+31 (0)111 46 80 88
ellen@vitroplus.nl
www.vitroplus.nl 

View fullsize

6 May 2021

Widespread Investment In CEA Is An Important Piece of The Food Security Puzzle

View fullsize

Article Source

View fullsize

Sky Kurtz, CEO, and Co-Founder, Pure Harvest Smart Farms

There is a commonly quoted statistic estimating that by 2050, we will have nearly 10 billion people on the planet and, in turn, 10 billion hungry mouths to feed. Aside from population factors, the world’s climate is changing in ways human beings have never seen before. Across the globe, our water sources are being diminished and arable landmasses are shrinking. Food security and sustainability is becoming an ever-more pressing issue. There are a number of pioneering companies worldwide working hard to address these critical issues.

The Problem with Traditional Agriculture
It has become increasingly clear that traditional agriculture is simply not meeting the food demands of the future. Food production is heavily driven by significant freshwater consumption and can be both labour intensive and inefficient. Alongside this, changes in climate are negatively impacting yields. This is being witnessed across the board by the food production industry, investors, and governments alike.

The Power of the Consumer
Increased awareness of these issues has led to changes in consumer demands. Consumers have become more discerning about the quality of the products they buy, specifically when it comes to pesticide use, sustainability, freshness, food safety, variety, and brands. They are ever more interested in having knowledge of and creating a relationship with the foods they consume. This is evidenced by the huge organic growth rates of organics over the past 10 years. People care about quality and are voting strongly with their wallets.

Cultural and socio-economic demographics heavily influence what can and should be grown. Some crops such as premium quality leafy greens tend to target more affluent demographics and palates, whereas tomatoes, cucumbers, and a number of other greenhouse vegetables are staples of many diets and can be produced affordably in most places in the world.

The Promise of Controlled-Environment Agriculture
Controlled-Environment Agriculture (CEA) facilitates the growth of sustainable, high-quality produce but not at the expense of the consumer. CEA allows for consistent, high quality production by eliminating the environmental impacts on food production, allowing for more localized production, and reducing, or even eliminating, the use of pesticides.

Reducing Risk
Since early 2020, COVID-19 has woken the world to the risks and fragility of global fresh fruit and vegetable supply chains. Given perishability, the fruit & vegetable market is uniquely vulnerable vs. other crops e.g. the likes of corn, wheat, rice which can be stored & siloed. Controlled-environment agriculture is a solution that addresses these issues facilitating more localized production and supply, offering high output, resource-efficient production capabilities, while meeting the consumer’s changing demands.

In March, the world’s gaze turned to the Suez Canal where a container ship, the Ever Given, became lodged, blocking the canal. On a daily basis, the Suez Canal carries 12% of global trade, around one million barrels of oil and roughly 8% of liquefied natural gas. The cost of the blockage was reportedly $14m-$15m every day!

The Local Promise
The local unique selling point (USP) is now possible pretty much anywhere. Solutions like ours at Pure Harvest Smart Farms have made it possible to affordably produce year-round, even in the harshest climates in the world for example, the UAE, Kuwait, and Malaysia serving Singapore.

Large-scale solutions are necessary for the food to be economic, due to economies of scale in what is ultimately a manufacturing process. Large-scale greenhouses are particularly suitable for dense urban populations, as just 1 or 2 large production sites within 100 – 500 kilometers of the city or town can serve a large group of people affordably.

Unfortunately for more distributed, rural populations, this becomes more challenging. If you scale-down the solutions to hyper-localize, you often lose efficiency (in terms of both capital expenditure/ m2 and operational expenditure/ m2 for production. With more of the world’s population urbanizing, this is another trend that supports widespread investment in CEA as an important piece of the puzzle to serve future food demands.

The Future
The challenge of feeding nearly 10 billion people by 2050 MUST be solved on both the supply side and demand side. From the supply side, adopting technologies that augment output and resource-efficient growing methods. From the demand side, via changing what we consume, reducing waste, and environmental consciousness. Addressing these issues means we can produce more food with less and less resources.

High-tech agriculture presents a multi-decade investment opportunity to contribute to food security, water conservation, economic diversification, and a more sustainable future for all.

Join Sky at the virtual Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit on June 24 and tune into his live panel discussion on ‘Scaling at Speed: Delivering the Promises of a Mission-Led Industry’ at 16.50 EST.

For more information about Pure Harvest Smart Farms, follow them on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.

Recent Posts

Indoor AgTech Investment Landscape

Interview with Bowery Farming on Rapidly Growing the Indoor Farming Sector through Investment and CEA

Widespread Investment in CEA is an Important Piece of the Food Security Puzzle

Workshop: Food for the Next Frontier

Connecting Retailers, Buyers, and Growers Across Indoor Farming

IGS enters UAE market, signing deal with Madar Farms to enhance food security in the GCC region

Archive

2021 2020

Twitter: @IndoorAgTech
LinkedIn: Indoor AgTech
Hashtag: #IndoorAgTech

AppHarvest Hopes To Build A Garden Of Eden In America's Appalachia

May 15, 2021

AppHarvest, Inc. (APPH)

Summary

• AppHarvest is building out commercial indoor farms in Appalachia.

• APPH, which recently went public via a special purpose acquisition company, has seen its stock price collapse on the back of the flight of capital from growth to value.

• With revenue growth increasing, the company's next challenge is growing into its valuation profitably.

Photo by IP Galanternik D.U./E+ via Getty Images

AppHarvest (NASDAQ:APPH) is building large commercial greenhouses in Kentucky to primarily grow tomatoes indoors. The benefits of this approach would see the company use up to 90% less water than traditional farms, have the ability to attain harvests year-round, use no chemical pesticides, and attain at least 30x more food per acre than conventional farming methods. Essentially, indoor farms allow modern farmers to carefully control the environment to indefinitely allow for near-perfect growing conditions.

This has brought the future of farming forward, a critical need in a world still facing significant population growth rates while beset by the uncertainties of climate change.

However, while AppHarvest's ESG credentials are undoubtedly strong with the company using recycled rainwater for its circular irrigation system, there remains uncertainty over whether its business will be able to profitably grow commodity fruit and vegetable produce. This would be against a domestic market increasingly dominated by Mexico. Imports of tomatoes from Mexico to the USA grew by 125% from 1.6 billion pounds to 3.6 billion pounds between 2002 and 2017. This subsequent decline in US production of tomatoes is a trend AppHarvest hopes to reverse with its indoor farm in Kentucky. This is able to reach 70% of the US population within a day's drive.

This means produce should not only arrive at grocery stores fresher, but they would also do so with a lower carbon footprint. AppHarvest longs would consider this an important point as consumers become increasingly aware of the importance of the food chain to managing climate change and the damaging impact of pesticide use on the natural environment. For example, surface runoff from farms into lakes and rivers have potentially damaging effects on aquatic ecosystems.

AppHarvest September 2020 Investor Presentation (Source)

While AppHarvest inaugural 60-acre Morehead facility primarily grows tomatoes, the company expects to be able to produce leafy greens and cucumbers in the near future with two new facilities planned for 2022.

Strong Geographic Reach And Improved Revenue Visibility

AppHarvest expects revenue to ramp up materially over the next four fiscal years from 2021 on the back of an expansion of its indoor greenhouses. The company has guided revenue to reach $376 million in 2025, a four-year compound annual growth rate from 2021 of 97%. To achieve this, AppHarvest expects to hit 12 active facilities across Appalachia by 2025. The company also expects to attain greater diversification by expanding into growing other fruits and vegetables.

AppHarvest September 2020 Investor Presentation (Source)

Of course, the main barrier to an investment in AppHarvest would be its ability to scale revenue growth profitably. Capital expenditure in new greenhouses should very well see the company increase total acreage and annual production, but its ability to do this profitably would be challenged by the unique costs of indoor growing. From increased electricity consumption to the use of more skilled and variable labour.

Hence, AppHarvest's focus on robotic harvesting emphasised with its recent acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Root AI points to a potentially profitable scale-up.

Virgo, Root AI's Tomato Picking Robot (Source)

AppHarvest does not expect Virgo to entirely eliminate its use of labour. However, the robot can evaluate crop health, precisely predict yield and optimise overall operations by handpicking tomatoes. This will be a material factor in efficient and profitable operations especially if it can work without a high degree of human intervention.

Indeed, the company expects to reach EBITDA profitability in its fiscal 2023, generating positive free cash flow during the same year. With its shares currently trading at $11.91, AppHarvest holds a $1.12 billion valuation. This would place its forward 1-year market cap to sales at 45x. While still high for a farming company, it is down from 162x when it reached all-time highs in February. Further, this multiple drops to 19x using revenue guided for its fiscal 2022. Investors would be right to be wary about paying almost 20 times revenue for a greenhouse farming company so might be prudent to wait for any further potential pullback in shares.

Turning Appalachia Into America's Own Modern Farm

AppHarvest will not be immune to the gyrations of selling a commodity product to a domestic market that has tilted towards cheaper imports over the last decade. The company will not only have to compete adequately on price with traditional farmed fruits and vegetables, but it would also have to do so with a high-tech setup that while big on ESG credentials offers up avenues for increased costs that could eat into any potential profits.

AppHarvest is a long-term somewhat speculative play on a better more modern method of farming. Hence, just as the green revolution of the mid 20th century saw increased agricultural production worldwide. This more modern ESG-focused method of farming promises to usurp the old order.

This article was written by

Winds Research

Unleashing The Potential of Seed Optimization | Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit, June 24-25

Join AeroFarms, Unfold, Sound Agriculture, VertiVegies, ASTA, and Vineland Research

How and why are seed companies and growers investing in seed optimization for indoor environments? What is the potential impact on OPEX, and what opportunities will seed varieties tailored to indoor agriculture present for producers seeking to differentiate themselves?

Join the virtual Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit this June 24-25 to discover how international growers, seed companies and researchers are optimizing genetics for taste, texture, yield and nutritional value.

SEE FULL AGENDA

EXPERT PANEL SESSION

View fullsize

AEROFARMS VIEWPOINT
AeroFarms shares an update about its new farms in the USA and Abu Dhabi and the importance of optimizing seeds for indoor environments.

View fullsize

David Rosenberg, CEO & Co-Founder,
AEROFARMS

"The seed requirements of an indoor grower such as AeroFarms are very different from an outdoor producer. Resistance is not a trait of interest, as we scrupulously keep pests and pathogens out of production so that we can grow pesticide-free. As indoor produce is distributed to retail within a day of the harvest, shelf life is also less important. Instead, great flavor and quality are crucial."

READ ARTICLE WITH AEROFARMS

With just three weeks to go until our virtual platform goes live for pre-summit networking, book your place now for USD $395. ​​This gives you a high-value route to connect directly online with over 400 of the most influential names in the industry, via 1-1 video networking and live-streamed interactive content. Session recordings and messaging are available for one month after the summit, so you won't miss any of the action.

We look forward to seeing you online next month!

Best wishes,

Oscar Brennecke
Conference Producer
Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit
oscar.brennecke@rethinkevents.com
+44 (0)1273 789989

THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS
Platinum Partners:

View fullsize

Marketing and Media Partners:

View fullsize

HOSTED ALONGSIDE

View fullsize

Vertical Future And Crate To Plate Plot Fleet of Shipping Container Farms In London

Jessica Rawnsley

14 May 2021

View fullsize

Credit: Vertical Future

Each of The 'Container Farms' Will Be Able To produce Up To Five Tonnes of Leafy Greens And Veg Each Year With Zero Carbon Footprint, The Firms Claim

Urban farming specialists Vertical Future and Crate to Plate are together gearing up to rollout a fleet of indoor container farms in London, with each capable of producing zero carbon fresh salad and vegetables for swift delivery across the UK capital city, they announced yesterday.

Crate to Plate, an urban farming start-up, plans to use the 'container farms' designed by Vertical Future - a technology company focused on controlled-environment-agriculture (CEA) - across several new sites in London's Bermondsey and Stratford.

By using the container farms, Crate to Plate said it would be able to produce up to five tonnes of fresh produce - including lettuce, kale, and rocket - per year, and then deliver it to customers within 24 hours with a zero-carbon footprint, all without any use of pesticides or toxic chemicals. The firm counts Ollie Dabbous, chef-patron of Michelin-starred restaurant, HIDE, as well as independent grocers such as The Notting Hill Fish Shop and Artichoke in Hampstead among its customers.

Vertical Future's innovative farms, built within 40ft shipping containers, allow for highly-controlled indoor growing conditions, harnessing LED lighting, full climate control, and dual irrigation in order to create the optimal conditions for cultivating leafy salad and vegetables. 

Proponents of vertical farming argue producing crops in such circumstances can reduce the amount of countryside land used for farming, better protect crops against the impacts of increasingly volatile outdoor climate conditions, and cut down on transport and logistics typically needed to ferry food from farms to urban centres. They also require far less water and zero pesticides. 

"Our Container Labs create the optimal growth environment for growing fresh produce and can be deployed close to point of consumption, using minimal space," said Jamie Burrows, Vertical Future's CEO. "Using zero chemicals and growing crops in a controlled environment enables our partners to meet demand all-year-round, as opposed to regular food production systems which are reliant on seasonal limitations."

By shifting towards using Vertical Future's 'Container Labs', Crate to Plate's founder Sebastien Sainsbury said the firm would be able to scale up its systems across the UK while offering more efficient growing capabilities to improve both output and product quality.

"It's been incredibly encouraging and exciting to align with other dynamic, innovative, and enterprising British business, which will help us to scale up our vision and execute our exciting opportunities both nationally and internationally," Sainsbury said.

Mexico Is Experiencing One of The Most Widespread And Intense Droughts In Decades: NASA

As of April 15, 85% of the country was facing these conditions, explained the space agency.

View fullsize

Entrepreneur en Español

ENTREPRENEUR STAFF

May 11, 2021

This article was translated from our Spanish edition using AI technologies. Errors may exist due to this process.

NASA published a statement in which it explains the drought situation in Mexico and ensures that the country is experiencing one of the most widespread and intense in decades.

According to the space agency, 85% of the territory is facing these conditions, which has affected the drinking water resources for drinking, cultivating, and irrigating. "Dams throughout Mexico are at exceptionally low levels."

• You may be interested: Avocado, the 'green gold' that could harm the environment?

In this report, NASA shows images of the levels of the Villa Victoria dam, one of the main water supplies in Mexico City, one taken on March 27, 2020, and another on March 30, 2021, and exposes:

March 27, 2020. Photo via NASA.

March 30, 2021. Photo via NASA.

“The most recent images, although more cloudy, show that the water levels have continued to decrease. Villa Victoria is at approximately a third of its normal capacity ”.

Mexican dams at their lowest levels

According to what was exposed by the space agency, 60 large dams located in the north and center of the Aztec country are below 25% of their capacity. This has caused some government administrators to regulate the flow of the liquid from the reservoirs so that some inhabitants have been left without running water.

On the other hand, in the following map NASA shows the areas in which the vegetation is most stressed due to drought, through data on the Evaporative Stress Index (ESI, for its acronym in English).

Photo via NASA.

The ESI indicates how the evapotranspiration rate, water evaporates from the earth's surface and from plant leaves, is compared to normal conditions. The space agency explains that the negative values are below normal rates, which is why plants are stressed due to inadequate soil moisture.

No rain

From October 1, 2020, to April 18, 2021, the National Meteorological Service of Mexico said that the country had about 20% less rainfall than normal. He also explained that the northeast of the territory has gone from severe drought to an extreme one.

The report also adds that in the wet months of last year, little rainfall was also received due to the La Niña phenomenon, in which cold water from the Pacific Ocean inhibits the formation of rain clouds over Mexico and the southern United States.

“Mexico is approaching one of the worst widespread droughts on record. In 2011, drought conditions covered 95 percent of the country and caused famines in the state of Chihuahua. In 1996, the country experienced the worst drought on record and suffered huge crop losses, ”concludes NASA.

Lead Photo: Image credit: Depositphotos.com

'Food As Medicine Should Play A Larger Role In Society's Health'

Although Lisette Templin has long understood the benefits of healthy living, she immersed herself into local food production after a family illness highlighted the importance of micronutrients and macronutrients in fresh produce. Lisette, an instructional assistant professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology at Texas A&M, then began her research into local food production. One thing led to another, and Lisette discovered vertical aeroponic gardening and applied for Aggie Green Fund Grants to bring the concept to Texas A&M. Thus, TAMU Urban Farm United was created.

TAMU Urban Farm United (TUFU) is a small-scale farm project based at Texas A&M University (TAMU) and uses vertical aeroponic techniques to demonstrate the benefits of hyperlocal food production. TUFU is located in a 20 ft by 50 ft greenhouse that was built in the 1980’s. The greenhouse is equipped with a wet wall and shade cloth to moderate temperatures on Texas’ 100°F days, instead of keeping the greenhouse around 90°F. The greenhouse is also equipped with a heating system for cooler days.

With respect to TUFU’s vertical aeroponic system, the farm uses Juice Plus+ Tower Garden systems. According to Lisette, producing through vertical aeroponics reduces space and water requirements by 90% when compared to traditional agriculture, while also reducing labor requirements. Tower Gardens are individual aeroponic towers, which allows Lisette and her students to treat each tower as its own microcosm.

View fullsize

Lisette Templin

“Each tower is in its separate microcosm of growing; if one tower is contaminated with something, we can address the issues within that tower and know with certainty that it will not contaminate other towers,” explains Lisette.

The same is true for both pest and nutrient management, as each tower can be managed separately according to the specific crop. However, Lisette mentioned that the major challenge with TUFU’s current set-up is the distribution of light between the top and bottom of the tower. To address this, TUFU is looking to work with lighting companies to create more uniform light conditions along the tower’s length and provide lighting on cloudy days.

TUFU has many goals, all centered on demonstrating the use of sustainable food production methods to improve personal and community health.

Health impact of local food production
Lisette explains urban farming’s benefits first in respect to physical health, with hydroponic farming allowing growers to deliver highly nutritious, fresh products to the immediate local community. Moreover, Lisette believes that “food as medicine” should play a larger role in the health of children and society as a whole.

“Micronutrient- and macronutrient-dense food grown locally can effortlessly replace food that is highly inflammatory to the human body while providing the phytochemicals necessary to health. This way, indoor hydroponic farms can play a pivotal role in transitioning people off of medication from chronic diseases and in strengthening their immune systems,” says Lisette.

View fullsize

Urban farming can also benefit mental and emotional health, the domain in which Lisette specializes. According to Lisette, the food that we eat significantly affects both our physical and emotional heart, which both seem to people increasingly strained throughout society.

“The burden of sickness in the United States is leading to high suicide rates among adults, young adults, and children. I truly believe that bringing the community together to grow food while creating entrepreneurial potential can play a huge role in shifting people’s consciousness towards health and happiness with purpose,” explains Lisette. 

The same is true for both pest and nutrient management, as each tower can be managed separately according to the specific crop. However, Lisette mentioned that the major challenge with TUFU’s current set-up is the distribution of light between the top and bottom of the tower. To address this, TUFU is looking to work with lighting companies to create more uniform light conditions along the tower’s length and provide lighting on cloudy days.

TUFU has many goals, all centered on demonstrating the use of sustainable food production methods to improve personal and community health. 

Further development ahead for TUFU
Moving forward, the vision is to build a new greenhouse that is 100% off-grid and self-sustaining. Once built, the greenhouse would be two-storied with Tower Gardens on the top floor integrated with a meditation space. The first floor would include a seeding area, commercial kitchen, and community classroom. This, according to Lisette, will allow TUFU to have a greater impact both locally and on a larger scale.

Envisioning a sustainable urban farm model
Lisette’s work with TUFU is centered on her personal vision for sustainable living, which she hopes will drive urban farm models. Her vision includes having a livelihood model that she truly feels good about and that is environmentally sound. On the business side, Lisette explains that she envisions a business large enough to support a growing community and build connections within said community by providing training, creating jobs, and fostering personal growth and spiritual transformation.

For more information:
Lisette Templin, assistant professor Health and Kinesiology 
Texas A&M, Texas Urban Farm United 
lisettetemplin@tamu.edu 
www.agrilifetoday.tamu.edu 

Publication date: Thu 6 May 2021
Author: Rose Seguin
© VerticalFarmDaily.com

U.S. Secretary of Education Names May Ranch Elementary School 2021 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School

View fullsize

The U.S. Department of Education announced today that May Ranch Elementary School in Perris, California is among the 2021 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools award honorees. 

May Ranch Elementary School was nominated by The California Department of Education and exemplified achievement across the three pillars of the award. May Ranch has reduced its environmental impact and utility costs through installation of solar structures, removing significant amounts of turf, composting green waste and food scraps, and planting indigenous, water-wise plants.  Students in Transitional Kindergarten through 5th Grade participate in a sustainable agriculture program leading to cross-curricular, real-life application, and hands-on learning. The school garden extends both indoors and outdoors and consists of a 2,737 square-foot outdoor garden with multiple garden beds and fruit trees as well as indoor aeroponic towers and a Nutrient Film Technique vertical farm.  To support school-wide health and wellness, students maintain and grow lettuce in the aeroponic towers and vertical farm and provide the lettuce to the cafeteria salad bar.

“May Ranch is inspired by the students and community it serves and will continue to grow school-wide sustainability. Understanding the need to combat obesity and the City of Perris’ status as a food desert, we will relentlessly continue to expand our garden and sustainability education, hands-on learning opportunities, and outdoor experiences for our students,” states May Ranch Elementary Principal, Aimee Conwell.

Quote from other local officials or partners, as appropriate.

Across the country, 27 schools, three early learning centers, five districts, and five postsecondary institutions are being honored for their innovative efforts to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, improve health and wellness, and ensure effective sustainability education. 

The honorees were named from a pool of candidates nominated by 20 states. The selectees include 24 public schools, five charter schools, one magnet school, and three nonpublic schools. Over half of the 2021 honorees are in communities where over 40 percent of the student body are eligible for free and reduced lunch.   

The list of all selected schools, districts, colleges, and universities, as well as their nomination packages, can be found here. A report with highlights on the 40 honorees can be found here. More information on the federal recognition award can be found here. Resources for all schools to move toward the three Pillars can be found here.  

A Note on the Award Name for Communications

ED's award is called "U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools" and has "District Sustainability Award" and "Postsecondary Sustainability Award" categories, in addition to the original school award. It is abbreviated ED-GRS.  "Green Ribbon Schools" without the "U.S. Department of Education" is not ED's award, but instead is a separate program overseen by another organization. A selected school is a "2021 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School." A selected district is a "2021 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School District Sustainability Awardee." A selected postsecondary institution is a “2021 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School Postsecondary Sustainability Awardee.  There is no "National," “Award,” or "Program" in the title.  There is no apostrophe or hyphen after Education.

https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr21/yr21rel33a.asp

Meet The Extra-Terrestrial Aquaponics Pioneer

View fullsize

Go To Kickstarter

Rob Fletcher

May 8, 2021

Former salmon farmer Dr. Carl Mazur aims to design an aquaponics system that could one day be used on Mars. In the meantime, he aims to use it to produce high-value fish and flowers on Earth.

Can you tell us a bit about your aquaculture experience?

View fullsize

Dr. Carl Mazur, founder of Terra-Mars

My aquaculture experience is primarily with saltwater salmon production on the east and west coast of Vancouver Island, in Canada. I gained hands-on experience immediately after graduation from McGill University with a degree in marine biology. This was in the mid-1980s and the issues we had with fish loss due to bacterial kidney disease at the time lead me to pursue a master’s and then a Ph.D. at UBC, focused on the effects of rearing and environmental fish stressors on their immune systems and disease susceptibility.

The Terra-Mars project may be ambitious in the long run but it aims to start with more modest goals

Why did you decide to return to the sector and what inspired you to look into aquaponics specifically?

I returned to the sector after owning and operating a national licensing, sales, and distribution in Canada focused on providing human tissue regeneration products to dental and medical specialists across Canada for 15 years. I returned as I had always intended to do so and had gone to the biotech sector to support my family and to learn business lessons that I could then bring back to the aquaculture/aquaponics sector. My first love is “all things marine” and it’s great to be back in a sector where I feel at home.

The reason for migrating a short step from aquaculture to aquaponics is that I feel aquaponics is more holistic in that a well-conceived aquaponic system can essentially be near-closed and self-sustaining. Aquaponics systems today do need external input in the form of fish feed which then provides carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous (and other trace elements) for plant growth. The next step in closing the loop will be to produce fish feed from the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous delivered from the system in the form of human food, fish offal, and the inedible stem and root plant products.

From aquaponics to aquaponics on Mars, that sounds like quite a leap. What's the logic?

The simple premise behind developing an aquaponic system for use on Mars [as part of the Terra-Mars project] is that a system advanced enough to be on Mars will be able to grow food anywhere on Earth, with modifications. The ultimate goal is to have a system that can provide food security for any environment on Earth and thereby end the suffering that still occurs in some developing countries. Having the ambitious goal of developing a food production system for Mars should provide ample PR exposure which can then be leveraged to promote the project and help to carry it forward.

It must be noted that the initial systems will be produced on a small scale and will be developed to produce high-value fish for the ornamental aquarium fish sector and high-value plants for the fine dining and floral industries. The technologies developed for these high-valued products will later be used for larger projects which will produce higher volume, lower value products for middle class consumers. Eventually, we will transition to industrial-scale operations for low price, mass consumption products. This model is borrowed from the automotive industry, as demonstrated and proven by Tesla motors.

What species of fish are you thinking of growing in your system on Mars?

The three species of fish we’ve shortlisted to date for Mars are tilapia, barramundi and Arctic char. We’ll need to test many species under the simulated Earth environment that we’ll attempt to create in our simulated Martian environment.

Are you able to apply the skills that you gained in the conventional aquaculture sector for the project?

Yes, many of the skills gained in the conventional aquaculture sector (especially related to fish health and nutrition) can certainly be used with this project.

Who are your key collaborators and what do they bring to the project?

The key collaborator for this project is Dr. James Rakocy, known worldwide as the “father of aquaponics”. Dr. Rakocy has had a distinguished 30-year career at the University of the Virgin Islands and his UVI aquaponic system is known worldwide as the best researched and established system for growing tilapia and a variety of greens including lettuces and herbs. Dr. Rakocy is the author of the seminal book Aquaponic Q&A. His educational aquaponic systems are used in over 1,100 high schools across America for foundational teaching in the STEM areas of biology, chemistry, math, and food systems.

Other key collaborators are Garth Wardell, CEO / owner of Allsite IT, a digital intelligence firm currently dedicated to the advancement of intense data solutions for the hospitality and healthcare sectors. Garth is very keen about this project and has been a trusted advisor since 2018. Several other advisors in the areas of law, engineering, computer science, multimedia technologies, education, urban farming, and accounting are also on standby and eager to begin work on this project.

The other noteworthy collaborator is Dr. Christopher McKay, an astrobiologist at the NASA Ames research centre in California, who has offered assistance at the academic level and must sit as an unpaid advisor, as is mandated for all full-time NASA employees.

How have your plans been received to date?

The plans have been very well received to date, most notably by Elon Musk who was informed of the intentions several years ago and stated that “this will be very important down the road”. Mr Musk was presented the concept for informational uses only and was not approached for funding or resources, as he had intense funding and resource requirements at Tesla and SpaceX at the time.

View fullsize

How the system might one day appear

How much money are you hoping to raise for the project and what will you use this for?

The initial round of financing for this project will be for $2.6 million and will be used to:

• Develop a first aquaponic system prototype.

• Secure an IP patent portfolio of aquaponic patents.

• Build a physical model of the Space Exploration Theme park

• Develop a mixed reality (VR&AR) tour of the park

• Perform an extensive feasibility study for the project.

What are the key milestones for your project?

• Obtain the initial round of seed funding.

• Become cash-flow positive with the acquisition of existing ancillary businesses in the fish, vegetable and floral, growth, packaging, distribution, retail, media and entertainment sectors.

• Building global brand recognition for Terra-mars products and entertainment facilities.

• Acquisition of real estate (primarily distressed suburban shopping malls) where the aquaponic facilities will be installed to grow the fish and plants for local distribution to populations in North America and Europe.

• Series A financing round to raise $100 million in 2023 or 2024 at the latest.

What is the end goal for your project and do you think that this is feasible to achieve in your own lifetime?

The end goal for phase one of the project is to have four Space / Mars exploration theme parks – one in North America, one in Europe, one in MENA, and one in China. These will have the dual purpose of entertainment and providing research facilities for Mars colonization technologies, featuring the aquaponic food production system. Other technologies for Mars colonization will be in the fields of transportation, communications, housing, healthcare, and recreation.

If you don’t make it to Mars, where will you target using your aquaponics systems on the Earth?

If we don’t make it to Mars, the aquaponic system will first be used to produce high value fish and plants for Western markets and eventually be developed in for larger commercial operations to be used anywhere on earth.

What are the major challenges that you still need to overcome?

The major challenges which we need to overcome are to raise the initial round of financing and to become cashflow positive in the shortest time possible.

View fullsize

Rob Fletcher

Senior editor at The Fish Site

Rob Fletcher has been writing about aquaculture since 2007, as editor of Fish Farmer, Fish Farming Expert and The Fish Site. He has an MA in history from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc in sustainable aquaculture from the University of St Andrews. He currently lives and works in Scotland.

Square Roots Expands Premium Herbs Range With Fresh And Aromatic Cilantro, Dill, And Parsley Grown In Climate Controlled Local Farms Across The Country

Indoor farming company takes the next step in bringing local, real food to cities using modular farm technology that empowers both farmers and consumers

May 17, 2021 (New York, NY) — Square Roots, the technology leader in urban indoor farming, is expanding its herb range by introducing three premium fresh offerings - Cilantro, Dill, and Parsley - to complement its widely successful signature Basil. Co-founded by Kimbal Musk, Square Roots’ herbs are grown across the company’s network of cloud-connected and climate-controlled indoor farms in New York and Michigan and are now available in more than 200 retail stores - including Whole Foods Market, Fresh Thyme Market, SpartanNash, and FreshDirect. 

View fullsize

“COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of locally grown indoor produce”, said Raji Margolin, EVP of Sales and Marketing at Square Roots. “The habits of at-home cooking and using fresh, local produce are here to stay. Now more than ever, people care about the food they eat, and where it's grown - and our goal is to make sure that fresh and local food is available to consumers year-round. These herbs are just the beginning of our product offerings and we can’t wait to expand into additional categories.”

View fullsize

Square Roots has a strategic partnership with Gordon Food Service (GFS), one of the country’s leading food service providers, to deploy farms across the country together and provide fresh, high-quality, local food to consumers across cities, year-round.  Square Roots broke ground on its latest indoor farm in Grand Rapids, Michigan in December 2020 and began planting seeds just three months later, in March 2021. This rapid deployment capability is enabled by the company’s modular farm-tech platform. 

View fullsize

“We’re using technology a little differently at Square Roots farms”, said Tobias https://www.igrow.news/igrownews/indoor-ag-science-cafe-may-18th, Co-Founder, and CEO at Square Roots. “Food, farmers, and consumers are all connected at the center of our system. We surround our farmers with data, tools, and insights to help them grow more, better-tasting food with fewer resources. At the same time, with features like our unique Transparency Timeline, we help our consumers understand exactly where their food comes from and who grew it.”

The expanded herb range is available in both the New York City area and the Great Lakes Region.

About Square Roots

Square Roots is the technology leader in urban indoor farming. Its mission is to bring local, fresh, real food to people in cities around the world - setting new standards for transparency and responsibility while empowering the next generation of leaders in agriculture. Founded by serial entrepreneurs, Kimbal Musk and Tobias Peggs, its range of fresh produce is available in more than 200 retail locations around the country including Whole Foods Market, Fresh Thyme Market, SpartanNash, and FreshDirect. Square Roots’ strategic partnership with Gordon Food Service reinforces a larger shared ambition to build commercial scale, climate-controlled indoor farms together across the continent - enabling local food at a global scale, year-round.

For more information, please visit www.squarerootsgrow.com.

What’s A Hydroponic Farm Start Up Cost? Know What To Expect

Is a typical hydroponic farm start-up cost very steep?

Or is it something that’s affordable and easy to manage?

If you are looking into starting with hydroponic farming, you may be quite eager to know the overhead and upfront cost.

So, get to know more about the necessary cost you should include in your budget as you read along. Here are the typical expenses to take note of when starting a hydroponic farm.

View fullsize

Hydroponic Farm Start Up Cost You Should Know

When determining an average hydroponic farm start up cost, you need to also take into account having a greenhouse. you can buy or even build. The size of your greenhouse impacts the overall cost of your hydroponic farm.

Moreover, the size depends on how many crops you are planning to cultivate and grow.

If you want to build a greenhouse that’s about a few thousand square feet, you can expect to pay about $11,000 USD. But this is the standard size for commercial greenhouses.

The price significantly goes down the smaller your greenhouse gets.

Read more: Is PVC Safe for Hydroponics? Behind the Safety of These Plastics

Materials and Equipment

Next up, let’s talk about the equipment you need. These include your growing tunnels, water solvent, racks, lighting, nutrient reservoirs, UV filtration, and seeds.

For these items, we are looking at a few thousand dollars in addition to the figure we have mentioned earlier for the greenhouse price.

Recurring Expenses

Setting up a hydroponic farm is not all about the upfront cost. There are also recurring bills to think about, which are basically your electric and water expenses. Expect to pay about $500 per month since your farm would need ample light and water to sustain the growth and development of your crops.

View fullsize

Lettuce plant growing in vegetable hydroponic farm.

Indoor Hydroponic Farm Cost

There are some people who may opt to do indoor hydroponic farming. The cost is also dependent on the size of the farm and any other materials you need.

For instance, a 500 square feet hydroponic farm should cost about $110,000, which is just for the unit and the components such as 192 towers, 15 racks, 2 lighting racks, 48 lighting units, and a 330-gallon reservoir for nutrients, complete with automated nutrient management and UV filtration.

With all of these things in place, you already have a very production hydroponic vertical farm that you can place indoors – measuring 500 square feet.

Hydroponic Systems

There are different tiers for hydroponic systems, which include the low-tech or DIY, which should cost you about $50 up to $200.

But if you opt for mid-tech, you can easily purchase these at suppliers. They come with higher-end lighting technology and even water flow control in some cases. The cost can go from $300 to as much as $1000, and it all depends on the features and size.

As for the high-tech ones, there is complete system control for higher volume production. In this case, we are talking tens of thousands of dollars upfront.

Bringing The Cost Down

Is it possible to bring down the cost of a hydroponic farm?

It is possible but this all depends on the equipment you use. If you opt to create a DIY farm, then it will be cheaper but may be risky if the systems are not working well.

Thus, you should determine your goals, your budget, and what your intentions are for setting up your hydroponic farm. You can also start small, if you are uncertain if you want to go in it full time. Or, you can choose low-tech hydroponic systems at the onset and slowly invest in higher tech systems.

The choice is all up to you, so go ahead and consider these tips, run the numbers in your head, and enjoy the world of hydroponics!