USA - ALABAMA: Auburn College of Agriculture Using High-Tech Shipping Containers To Grow Produce For Campus Dining

High-tech Horticulture

Unique ‘Vertical’ Farms part of Planned 16-Acre Transformation Garden On Campus

June 10, 2021

Josh Woods | College of Agriculture

Recycled shipping containers have gained popularity in recent years, being converted into everything from houses to small stores—but the Auburn University College of Agriculture, in partnership with Campus Dining, is using them as self-contained “vertical” farms to grow produce to serve to students.

In April, the college acquired two Freight Farms shipping containers that have been converted into technologically advanced hydroponic growing stations in which plants grow vertically indoors without soil, getting their nutrition from water and light energy from powerful LEDs.

Now, the farms are producing the first crop of lettuce.

“This is state of the art,” said Desmond Layne, head of the Department of Horticulture. “We're talking growing from seed to fork in four to six weeks, depending on whether it is lettuce, arugula or another vegetable crop that can grow in there. And we can produce 15 times as much per year as we could outside in the same exact spot.”

Associate Professor of Horticulture Daniel Wells taught a vertical farming course this spring and leads operations of the vertical farms.

Wells said the containers are outfitted with a complete climate control system, which includes air conditioning and humidity control. Because they are highly insulated, the system ensures the same climate 365 days a year.

The converted containers also have an elaborate lighting system, giving all the light the plants need from two color LEDs.

“We can do any number of colors of lights,” he said. “But it turns out for photosynthesis, plants use mostly red and blue light. What’s neat about that is you can cut out a lot of the other color spectrum, creating far less heat energy. That's very efficient. It means more of the energy used is turned into light than heat.”

The containers also allow for controlled carbon dioxide levels, which accelerates plant growth.

“Ambient CO2, what you and I are exposed to every day, is about 400 ppm [parts per million],” he said. “And that’s fine, plants can grow there. But if we boost the CO2 to 1,000 ppm, they’ll grow faster. And because we’re containing the CO2, the plants can really use it. And it’s not dangerous for humans at all.”

Wells and Director of Dining and Concessions Glenn Loughridge first initiated a partnership between the College of Agriculture and Campus Dining five years ago through the Auburn Aquaponics Project, which uses hydroponics and aquaculture technologies to provide a system in which nutrient-laden wastewater from fish production is used as a food source for plant growth. Today, fish from this effort are served in dining facilities on the Auburn campus.

The new vertical farms build on that effort.

“We're in the process of finishing a $26 million dining hall in the center of campus,” Loughridge said. “It has always been foremost in my mind that we would have the opportunity to feature produce grown here on campus in that dining hall. In our biggest location, our biggest asset, we want to bring our A-game.

“This is hyper-local, on-campus sourcing,” he added. “Can you imagine being a potential student coming to tour, seeing where these products are grown, and then going to eat there? It’s incredible. We truly believe this elevates our dining experience.”

The converted shipping containers were manufactured by Freight Farms, a Boston-based company operating in 45 states and 28 countries.

“There are a few different companies out there doing this,” Layne said. “But Freight Farms is the most sophisticated. They’re the ones who have both the best product on the market and the largest production of these containers. It’s really a best-case scenario.”

Adam Lenhard, a rising senior majoring in biological agricultural technology management, said Wells’ course has been one of the most influential courses he’s taken at Auburn.

“It has been very helpful, not just in preparation for the arrival of the freights, but also in learning all about new hydroponic technologies and growing techniques,” Lenhard said. “Post-graduation, I plan to continue to work with these types of indoor, LED hydroponic systems. My primary goal after college is to normalize urban hydroponic farming, provide large, consistent yields of fresh vegetables and provide food to those in need who do not have as much access to fresh produce.”

Transformation Garden

The vertical farms are located on the College of Agriculture’s planned 16-acre Transformation Garden on the south end of the university’s campus, near the intersection of Lem Morrison Drive and Duncan Drive. The goal of the garden is to encompass every aspect of plant-based agriculture, including everything from fruits and vegetables to ornamentals to grow crops and more.

The Transformation Garden will showcase new technology and the history of agriculture, as it envelops Auburn’s Old Rotation, a single-acre research plot created in 1896. Continuously since that year, the historic landmark has been the site for testing and advancing transformative ideas that are now commonplace—ideas like crop rotation, cover crops, and low- and no-till farming.

(Written by: Kristen Bowman)

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HELP DEVELOP THE TRANSFORMATION GARDEN

To help develop the new Transformation Garden, you can give online or contact Phillip Cowart, College of Agriculture director of development, at poc0001@auburn.edu or 334-844-1198.

Auburn University is a nationally ranked land grant institution recognized for its commitment to world-class scholarship, interdisciplinary research with an elite, top-tier Carnegie R1 classification, life-changing outreach with Carnegie’s Community Engagement designation and an undergraduate education experience second to none. Auburn is home to more than 30,000 students, and its faculty and research partners collaborate to develop and deliver meaningful scholarship, science and technology-based advancements that meet pressing regional, national and global needs. Auburn’s commitment to active student engagement, professional success and public/private partnership drives a growing reputation for outreach and extension that delivers broad economic, health and societal impact.

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It's Harvest Time! Yukon's 1st Off-Grid, No-Dirt, Hydroponics Farming Unit Produces Crops

The First Harvest of Crops Comes After Only 6 Weeks of Planting The First Round of Seeds

Chris MacIntyre · CBC News · Jun 06, 2021

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'It's awesome to see what you put into the project, you get out,' said Brittany Weber, the agricultural operations coordinator at the Kluane Lake Research Station. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)

The Kluane Lake Research Station located between Haines Junction and Destruction Bay is known for its studies on climate change and the impacts it has on wildlife and the ecosystem.

Now, they're taking a look at food sustainability in the North.

It's been months of work but their off-grid hydroponic containerized farming unit is now producing leafy greens and herbs.

The first harvest of crops comes after only six weeks of planting the first round of seeds.

Brittany Weber is the agricultural operations coordinator for the research station.

And she's responsible for taking care of the crops.

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'It's kind of a bit of an optical illusion when you walk in. It's super cool,' says the station's agricultural operations coordinator, Brittany Weber. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)

"We grow plants without the use of dirt," she explained.

"Instead we use this nutrient-rich water solution. Using pumps and gravity, we wash the water over the roots of the plants and that provides them with everything they need.

Weber says because the system is containerized it is a controlled environment so pesticides and herbicides aren't used.

Inside the container

The unit is 8 by 40 feet and can hold up to 2,800 mature plants and 1,000 seedlings.

"We have six shelves going all the way from the floor to the ceiling," said Weber during the tour of the unit.

Entering into the container is described as an optical illusion.

"The trays are actually sloped so you'll stand there and see the next tray in the back row and it'll be a foot off of the first tray but really that's the gravity so the water can flow naturally down these trays," Weber said.

The plants are arranged in a "cascading of age".

The front of the container holds the big greens while the back of the unit will have the newly planted seedlings.

"You'll be able to see the different life cycles of the plants," Weber said.

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A look inside of the off-grid hydroponic containerized farming unit. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)

The entrance of the container has been made into a processing area called an Arctic entrance.

This allows the vegetables and greens to be processed in freezing temperatures, without worrying about frostbite or losing any leaves.

"We have a little bit of a processing area called an arctic entrance,"

Harvesting the crops

Approximately 350 plants will be harvested next week.

Produce include kale, lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, basil, cilantro, and dill.

Henry Penn, manager of the research station and the project lead, says the next step is to get the produce out into the community.

"The plan for the first number of harvests, they will be gathered up into a few small sample bags," Penn said.

"We'll be bringing them to locations around the Kluane region and offering them up to anyone that would like one free of charge."

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'People are more than welcome to come by the Kluane Lake Research Station and have a tour, see the facility and learn all about the project,' said manager Henry Penn. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)

The goal behind this is to let people try the product, understand how it is grown, and to provide feedback on what sort of produce is needed and wanted in the community.

Penn says now that the project is up and running, the public is invited to visit the station and see how everything works in person.

"People are more than welcome to come by the Kluane Lake Research Station and have a tour, see the facility and learn all about the project," Penn said.

Shipping Container Farm by CropBox

Lead photo: Yukon's first off-grid hydroponic containerized farming unit. This unit can hold up to 2,800 mature plants. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)

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USA - COLORADO: Sedalia-Based FarmBox Foods Sending Container Farms All Over The World

Posted by Chris Michlewicz

May 28, 2021

With increasingly unpredictable weather patterns impacting crops and a continuing global food crisis affecting millions, a Colorado company is using tech-based indoor farming to make sure no one goes without a reliable, secure source of nutrient-rich food.

FarmBox Foods, based in Sedalia, has spent the last four years developing automated farms in shipping containers to grow organic leafy greens, culinary herbs, tomatoes, and now pine tree seedlings. The company also has a first-of-its-kind gourmet mushroom farm that produces around 400 pounds of mushrooms per week.

The mission-driven company is focused on helping feed those living in food deserts while empowering local communities and providing jobs and educational opportunities. FarmBox Foods’ patented vertical hydroponic watering systems use 90% less water than traditional farms and yield the equivalent of 2 – 2.5 acres of farmland. The repurposed shipping containers that house these systems can be placed virtually anywhere in the world — from island nations to college campuses to the frozen reaches of Alaska — and produce food year-round.

The fully controlled enclosed growing environment is protected from pests and pathogens, which reduces and can eliminate entirely the need for pesticides, allowing people to harvest and eat untainted farm-fresh produce. Setting up containers in or near populated areas also reduces food waste, as the food is able to get to the table more quickly and can better retain its nutritional value.

“The real mission in this whole thing is to be able to feed the world in places that ordinarily wouldn’t be able to grow food,” said Rusty Walker, CEO of FarmBox Foods.

FarmBox Foods’ short-term goals include partnering with institutions that help provide the biggest possible impact for the most people, including food banks, schools, and hospitals.

Learn more at www.farmboxfoods.com.

Posted in Arapahoe County, Douglas County, Douglas County Business, Douglas County Front, Featured, Jefferson County, South Jeffco

Tagged agtech, climatecontrolledfarming, Colorado, coloradobusiness, containerag, containerfarms, eatorganic, farmboxfoods, farmboxfoodscolorado, farming, farmtotable, fooddeserts, foodinequality, foodinsecurity, foodsecurity, growyourownfood, indoorfarming, indoorfarms, mushroomcultivation, mushroomfarm, mushrooms, organic, sedalia, urbanfarming, verticalhydroponicfarm, verticalhydroponics

About the Author: Chris Michlewicz

USA - KENTUCKY: Elliott County High School Receives New Container Farm Through AppHarvest

By Kimberly Keagy

May. 29, 2021

SANDY HOOK, Ky. (WSAZ) - Some students at Elliott County High School will soon be able to help grow food -- not only for themselves but for the entire region.

The Elliott County High School container farm is the fourth addition to AppHarvest’s program in 2021 and the sixth educational container farm to date.

The container farm program was launched in 2018 and demonstrates AppHarvest’s ongoing commitment to cultivating interest in high-tech farming as it seeks to create America’s AgTech capital from inside Appalachia. Each retrofitted shipping container acts as a hands-on agricultural classroom for students, allowing them to grow and provide fresh leafy greens to their classmates and those in need in their communities.

AppHarvest has opened container farms in Eastern Kentucky at Madison Central High School in Richmond; Breathitt High School in Jackson; Shelby Valley High School in Pikeville; and Rowan County Senior High School and AppHarvest’s flagship farm at Rockcastle County High School in Morehead.

Elliott County High School’s container farm includes space to grow up to 2,760 seedlings and 2,960 mature plants, all at once in a nutrient film technique (NFT) system. NFT is a water-saving system in which plant roots are continuously fed all necessary water and nutrients by a shallow stream, also called “film.” Excess water drains to a holding tank and is then recirculated. This system of high-tech growing sets the Elliott County container apart from AppHarvest’s other educational containers, which have operated hydroponically and vertically.

“One of our goals at AppHarvest is to build an AgTech capital right here in Appalachia,” said Jonathan Webb, AppHarvest Founder, and CEO. “We want to see communities across the region use technology to bring farms to life. And in five years from now, it’ll be leaders from these very programs coming to us with ideas on how we continue to evolve and change agriculture.”

Makayla Rose, Elliott County High School agriculture teacher, will lead the newest container program.

The curriculum provided by AppHarvest will cover topics such as high-tech growing and an introductory course on local food systems and food resiliency.

“This is exciting. Some students who might not like to get in the dirt have a different way of growing vegetables,” said Garret Barker, president of Elliot County’s FFA chapter. “It’s different than my farm at home. It doesn’t depend on outside factors like the rain. It’s all controlled by an app.”

Lead Photo: Elliott County High School receives new container farm through AppHarvest (Kimberly Keagy/ WSAZ)

Brick Street Farms Expands Through Florida and East Coast

"We Are As Much A

Technology Company

As We Are A Farm Operator”

“We really wanted to bring food production to the point of consumption, so we’re focused on embedding our farms in urban areas,” says Shannon O’Malley, CEO, and co-founder of Florida-based container farming company, Brick Street Farms.

The company was founded by Shannon and her husband Bradley, who combined her expertise in electrical engineering with his background in software development to design their own shipping container farms.

According to Shannon, a major differentiator of Brick Streets Farms is that the company manufactures and operates its own shipping container farms.

Brick Street Farms Hubs
Brick Street Farms has recently secured a significant investment from Lykes Brothers, which is reportedly one of the largest and longest-running private agricultural companies in the United States. During the official announcement last week, the financial investment will be used to aggressively expand Brick Street Farms hubs, which are the combination of container farms with a retail front in densely populated areas. 

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Click here to Zoom the photo. (Photo courtesy of Brick Street Farms)

According to Shannon, this expansion will begin in west-central Florida then expand to the east coast. From these hubs, Brick Street Farms will also introduce home delivery and will support restaurant partners located within 50-100 miles of the hubs. Already in 272 Publix supermarkets, Brick Street Farms will continue this partnership and plans to expand into additional product categories.   

Building a resilient, multi-channel sales strategy
Brick Street Farms was first developed in 2015, and during its early years, the company predominantly sold its products to restaurants and directly to customers. However, the pandemic-induced shutdown in 2020 resulted in the loss of 70% of Brick Street Farms’ clients due to restaurant closures. As Shannon explains, Brick Street Farms was already selling its products in the GreenWise section at Publix supermarkets, which is reportedly the largest employee-owned supermarket chain in the US. This partnership allowed Brick Street Farms to quickly pivot following the mandated closure of restaurants.

“In the same month that Florida went into lockdown, grocery stores saw an incredible jump in demand so we were able to quickly pivot and provide our vegetables to grocery stores within a week. We are currently in 272 Publix stores and are working to expand into west-central Florida,” says Shannon. The state of Florida has since reopened and Brick Street Farms was able to bring back its previous accounts and sign new ones, according to Shannon.

Brick Street Farms also has its own gourmet market located at the farm that is open six days per week. Consumers can shop either on-site or online, with contactless delivery available. Shannon also explains that the company has adopted a unique twist to community-supported agriculture. By subscribing to a farm membership, consumers receive a discount and support the recently approved non-profit, Desert Farms Foundation.

“We established Desert Farms Foundation to help us bring container farms to food deserts within the United States. With a farm membership, 1% of the proceeds go to Desert Farms Foundation to really support community agriculture,” explains Shannon.

Thrive Containers
“Our containers are under the name Thrive Containers, which is wholly owned by Brick Street Farms. Our containers are the equivalent of 2-3 acres of traditional farmland. They use very little water, are energetically efficient, produce very little waste and use no chemicals. Since our products are wash-free, our customers get the benefits of long-lasting produce,” explains Shannon.

According to Shannon, Brick Street Farms is as much an agtech company as it is a farm operator. The company decided to establish Thrive Containers as its own entity within Brick Street Farms in order to differentiate between the food production and manufacturing aspect of the company. “When people see Brick Street Farms, we want them to think of butterhead lettuce, basil and our other vegetables,” notes Shannon. 

Thrive Containers does not sell its container farms to third parties, but instead continuously improves the farm design for current and future installations. As Shannon explains, the company focuses on designing intelligent systems that can adjust to indoor and outdoor environmental conditions. Thrive containers have more than 120 sensors in and around the farm to monitor and respond to ambient temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, vapor pressure deficit, etc.

Brick Street Farms and Thrive Containers work closely, with the engineers and designers having all undergone farmer training to ensure that the systems designed truly respond to the needs of Brick Street Farms’ growers.

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Why Florida?
While warm and sunny Florida may seem ideal for outdoor agriculture, Shannon explains that soil conditions make soil-based agriculture somewhat difficult. She says that Florida soils are rather degraded and sandy, lack nutrients and lack natural bacteria, meaning farmers need to spend significant time and effort on rebuilding soils. Also, water sources are highly saline because of our position at level, near the coast, and with a low water table. Finally, the lack of winter makes it difficult to regulate pest cycles.

Lead photo: Co-founders Brad Doyle and Shannon O’Malley

For more information:
Madeline McNaughton, Head of Business Development
Brick Street Farms
madeline@brickstreetfarms.com 
www.brickstreetfarms.com 

Publication date: Thu 27 May 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© VerticalFarmDaily.com

USA - FLORIDA: St. Pete’s Brick Street Farms Gets Multi-Million-Dollar Investment From Lykes Bros

May 20, 2021

By Margie Manning

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Photo credit: Brick Street Farms

Lykes Bros., one of the oldest and largest agribusinesses in Florida, is putting a big bet on the future of farming as it invests in Brick Street Farms, an urban farm and market in St. Petersburg.

Lykes is making a “significant” investment in Brick Street Farms, the two companies announced at a news conference Thursday. The amount of investment was not disclosed, but a news release described it as “multi-million dollar” investment. Lykes will take a 20 percent ownership stake in Brick Street Farms because of the deal, Mallory Dimmitt, vice president of strategic partnerships at Lykes, told the St. Pete Catalyst.

Brick Street Farms will use the investment to accelerate the expansion of Brick Street Farms hubs, an all-inclusive onsite farming and retail shopping experience in urban cores, said Shannon O’Malley, founder and CEO. The company has self-contained, environmentally sustainable THRIVE containers that will be placed in each hub. Each hub will grow between 16 to 20 acres of farmland on one-third acre lots.

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Mallory Dimmitt, vice president at Lykes Bros., announces investment in Brick Street Farms while Nikki Fried, Florida Ag Commissioner, looks on.

The first new hub will open in St. Petersburg’s Warehouse Arts District in late 2021, with an expansion to Tampa in early 2022 followed by more hubs on the east coast, O’Malley said.

“We are the future of farming, and our new investors have the perfect expertise to help us take our successful business model in sustainable farming to feed more people healthy food,” O’Malley said.

The two companies first connected in November at the Florida-Israel Agriculture Innovation Summit, hosted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said Nikki Fried, Florida Department of Agriculture Commissioner.

The collaboration meets several goals, including feeding people in urban locations, fighting urban food deserts and food insecurity, bringing farm-to-fork produce closer to people and bringing cutting edge agriculture technology to everyone.

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From left, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and Shannon O’Malley, founder and CEO, Brick Street Farms

Brick Street Farms is a hub of innovation and creativity and is the only female-founded and led company in the vertical farming industry, said St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman. He also highlighted the work of the company’s non-profit Desert Farms Foundation.

“Not only is Brick Street Farms working to make us healthier by providing us some of the best and freshest food around, but through its 501c3, Brick Street Farms is working to end food deserts through the Tampa Bay area,” Kriseman said.

Every urban environment struggles with food deserts, said Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.

“The problems that occur from those food deserts are often times for many communities insurmountable. This is a solution to so many problems,” Castor said.

She also praised the company’s business model. It is financially successful by providing produce to a number of restaurants, Castor said.

While an urban focus might seem like an unusual fit for company like Lykes, which owns hundreds of thousands of rural acres throughout the state, “We know from our experience that innovation is what moves the agriculture industry forward,” said Dimmitt, who will join the Brick Street Farms board of directors.

“In addition to innovations in sustainable production and the technology it uses, the job opportunities and related job training and skills are key to Florida’s future and to our health and wellness,” Dimmitt said. “What could be better medicine than high-quality nutrient-dense greens grown close to the consumer where they have direct access, all while creating community.”

Brick Street Farms, at 2233 3rd Ave. S. was founded in 2016 by O’Malley and her husband, Brad Doyle. Read more about O’Malley in St. Pete Catalyst‘s Hustle profile.

CubicFarm Systems Corp. Appoints Technology Industry Executive Janet Wood to the Company’s Board of Directors

VANCOUVER, B.C., May 14, 2021 – CubicFarm® Systems Corp. (TSXV:CUB) (“CubicFarms” or the “Company”), a local chain agricultural technology company, announced today that Janet Wood has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors.

Janet Wood is recognized globally as a leader in the technology sector and as a successful executive who retired from a rewarding career with several major technology companies including IBM, Crystal Decisions, Business Objects, and SAP. Her success in building global channel partnerships and alliances with leading technology companies will bring invaluable insight to CubicFarms’ Board of Directors.

“It’s clear that the automated indoor growing technologies developed by CubicFarms will empower farmers to grow produce and livestock feed locally, directly addressing critical food security issues,” said Wood. “CubicFarms’ unique patented technologies use less land, less water, and no pesticides or herbicides, using our natural resources respectfully and sustainably.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome Janet Wood, a strong Canadian technology leader, to our Board of Directors. Janet is a trailblazer in the tech industry and an influential leader within every organization fortunate enough to benefit from her vision and expertise,” said Jeff Booth, Chair, CubicFarms. “Her significant experience with large software and technology companies will help CubicFarms continue to grow, innovate, and expand internationally.”

“Janet has been instrumental in contributing to the impressive growth of several large multi-national tech giants like SAP, and her experience will be critical as we enter into the high-growth phase of our business in 2021 and beyond,” said Dave Dinesen, CEO, CubicFarms. “Janet is a proven leader and the exact type of person we need to guide our company as we scale our business globally.”

After joining SAP in 2008, Wood's executive roles included Global Human Resources leader for the Office of the CEO, Global Head of Talent and Leadership, Executive Vice President (EVP) of Global Strategic Partners, and EVP of Global Maintenance Go To Market. At Business Objects, she worked as Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships. Wood also served as Vice President of Business Development at Crystal Decisions and held various management positions during her 16-year tenure at IBM. Wood holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Alberta, graduating with distinction.

Wood has been recognized with a YWCA Women of Distinction Award and is a past recipient of the Canadian Women's Executive Network Top 100 Women Award.

An active member of the technology community and known for her leadership skills, Wood served for a year as the interim President and CEO of Science World shortly after retiring from SAP in 2019. Science World is a world-class science centre in Vancouver, B.C., that typically welcomes

over 800,000 visitors annually and connects with an additional 140,000 students throughout B.C. to advance STEAM learning for science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics.

Wood is active in her community as a partner in B.C. Social Venture Partners, a not-for-profit organization that supports children and families at risk. She is a Board member of ICBC, Pureweb Technologies, and Junior Achievement of B.C. She sits on the University of Alberta Business School Advisory Committee and is the Canadian Regional Member Engagement Officer for Young Presidents Organization – Gold.

Wood will replace John de Jonge, a founding member of the Company’s Board of Directors. He will continue providing guidance in a different capacity by joining the Company’s newly-formed HydroGreen Business Advisory Board.

“We would like to thank John for his many years of service and contributions to the Board of Directors,” said Dinesen. “The HydroGreen Business Advisory Board will benefit from his significant agriculture and dairy experience with Artex and his commitment to our automated indoor growing technologies for farmers and ranchers to produce fresh, nutritious green livestock feed for their animals.”

About CubicFarms

CubicFarms is a local chain, agricultural technology company developing and deploying technology to feed a changing world. Its proprietary ag-tech solutions enable growers to produce high quality, predictable produce and fresh livestock feed with HydroGreen Nutrition Technology, a division of CubicFarm Systems Corp. The CubicFarmsTM system contains patented technology for growing leafy greens and other crops onsite, indoors, all year round. CubicFarms provides an efficient, localized food supply solution that benefits our people, planet, and economy.

For more information, please visit www.cubicfarms.com

. On behalf of the Board of Directors
“Dave Dinesen”
Dave Dinesen, Chief Executive Officer

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain statements in this release may constitute “forward-looking statements” or “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may vary materially from those statements. General business conditions are factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from forward-looking statements.

Media Contact:

Andrea Magee
T: 236.885.7608
E: andrea.magee@cubicfarms.com

Investor Contact:

Tom Liston
T: 416.721.9531
E: tom.liston@cubicfarms.com

Squamish Nation Grows Plans For Food Security With A Hydroponic Farm

While The Outside of This 40-Foot Container Is Rather Striking,

It’s What’s On The Inside That Counts. 🌱

May 19, 2021

By: Elisia Seeber

A big bright orange container has just landed in the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) community of X̱wemelch'stn in North Vancouver.

While the outside of the 40-foot container is rather striking, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

The container is a Growcer hydroponic modular farm that will support the community's wellness by allowing them to grow a year-round supply of fresh produce, including leafy greens, herbs and traditional medicinal plants.

Creating a sustainable healthy source of produce and increasing food sovereignty has long been a goal for the Squamish Nation, and the hydroponic farm is another piece of the puzzle, said Kelley McReynolds, director of Squamish Nation’s Ayás Méńmen Child and Family Services.

“Part of the reason that we started to look at ways that we could [provide food] was working from our values as Squamish people and our values around food sharing,” she said.

“Traditionally, we as a community, and as families, would go out and hunt and we would gather out on the lands and the waters and we’d bring it back to our community and people would only take what they need, and the rest of it would be shared.”

Through the launch of a food distribution program about four years ago, McReynolds said the team began breaking down the stigmas and fears around food insecurity and shifting back to their traditional ways, to ensure everyone in the community felt comfortable receiving food.

“We didn't want to look at the food as being a form of charity, or only for those who don’t have food,” she said.

Hydroponic farm idea sprouts 

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, McReynolds said food security worries increased for some members and the team started thinking further outside of the box about how they could address future food scarcity. 

That’s when the idea for the hydroponic farm sprouted.

Squamish Nation has looked at more traditional styles of farming, and also has 19 garden boxes set up outside of their office where they grow fruit and vegetables and a traditional medicine garden.

“We plant every year and we harvest that to give to community,” McReynolds said. “We do a lot of training with our youth and our families to help them understand the plants, gardening and harvesting."

She said a thought they always had was, “think what we could do if we had farmland, we could feed so many more people.”

“But, you know, we live in a city and you don't have access to that kind of open space,” McReynolds said.

“So, when we looked at this option of the hydroponic farm and saw that it's the size of a shipping container, we thought, ‘that's pretty cool.’ It comes with all the equipment you need inside there. And, you can get it set up and within five to six weeks you are ready to make your first harvest and it yields approximately 450 heads of produce per week. That's a lot.

“We thought, ‘wow, that's amazing.’”

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To View The Video, Please Click Here

 The founders of the ingenious technology and social enterprise came up with the idea based on their firsthand experience of food insecurity in Nunavut in 2015 and wanted to create a system that allowed communities to grow fresh produce anytime, anywhere, in any climate.

The growing technology was first deployed in food insecure, remote communities, but has since expanded to partner with schools, non-profits, and non-remote communities who see value in growing food locally – like Squamish Nation.

The electronically run hydroponic farms cost around $180,000 to set up and will produce fresh food for around 30 years, according to Growcer.

How does the modular hydroponic farm work?

Hydroponics is a soil-free growing method that uses nutrient-rich water to grow plants using less space, time, and crop inputs.

“The modular farms are automated to provide full environmental control,” Growcer’s website states, adding that plant growth factors such as light, nutrients, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, and water are monitored in real-time.

Once set up, a range of 140 leafy green plants can be grown in as little as six weeks.

“It's all brand new to us,” McReynolds said, adding that Growcer would be training staff this week and continue to provide support through their hydroponic farming journey.

“We’re all really excited.”

Squamish Nation to open Food Pantry and Community Kitchen

Produce from the new farm will be shared with families serviced by Ayás Méńmen, the youth centre and the future Smeḵw'ú7ts (Food Sharing) Community Kitchen and S7ílhen (Food) Pantry, which is hoped to be up and running by the summertime.

“We will continue to do monthly food distribution, but we will also have food on our shelves and in the freezers for any of our members who are in need … whatever the situation may be,” McReynolds said.

The hope for the community kitchen is to build a healthy community by providing a safe place for members to learn and improve their food preparation and cooking skills through workshops, which may start on Zoom during the pandemic. Ayás Méńmen also plans to host a six-week program for community members to meet once a week to cook and take a meal home for their families.

“I think what excites me about that is we are such relational people,” McReynolds said. “To be able to come together and learn and share and grow and laugh and tell stories, that's so healthy and therapeutic and it brings joy to your heart just being able to be together.”

While there’s still a bit of work to be done before the hydroponic farm starts producing the goods, McReynolds has more big plans.

“I have this vision of us being able to do a Friday night or Saturday afternoon market where we can have the fresh produce, we can have music, we can maybe have food trucks and we can gather together,” she said.

“I just think it's just a great opportunity for us to celebrate who we are as farmers and come together as a community.”

Elisia Seeber is the North Shore News’ Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

Leading European Vertical Farming Company Retains Strategic Advisor to Explore Strategic Options

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Contain Inc

May 19, 2021

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Urban Crop Solutions Tech

Vertical farm & contract research co Urban Crop Solutions has retained Contain to explore strategic options to elevate its status as a tech leader in indoor ag.

We have long realised that we would need to decide between remaining independent and joining a larger organization to scale...this is the optimal time to make this move.”— Frederic Bulcaen, Chairman and founder of UCS

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Urban Crop Solutions Container Farm

RENO, NV, UNITED STATES, May 19, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Award-winning Belgian vertical farming and contract research company, Urban Crop Solutions (“UCS”) has retained Contain, Inc., to explore strategic options to elevate its status as a leading European technology player in the fast-emerging global indoor farming space.

“We are delighted to have been awarded this mandate by UCS”, says Nicola Kerslake, founder of Contain. “It is a mark of the UCS management’s professionalism and dedication that they are open to exploring options from merger or acquisition to adding strategic investors to take this industry-leading firm to the next level.”

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Urban Crop Solutions Grow System

UCS’ clients range from global billion-dollar companies to research institutions and start-ups across multiple industries in Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia. The growth of the business is attributed to a strong management and scientific team who have created best-in-class products and services made possible by application expertise and trade secrets. UCS expects to more than triple its revenues and reach breakeven profitability this year.

UCS offers two key solution and product channels:
-Plant biotechnology research: capabilities to simulate any growth environment and create growth recipe applications to address business and market opportunities in all crop verticals for use across numerous industries. UCS has developed innovative research applications such as growth performance of wheat, tobacco and cotton plants in controlled environments, growth recipe for green roof succulent plants on substrates and use of residual flows from waste to grow food.

-Vertical farming technology: indoor growing installations of hydroponic modules with growing surface areas ranging from 70 to over 5,000 square meters with an end-to-end customer support model. UCS has 4 different classes of product size that can be customized to meet the size or configuration requirements of any customer.

Maarten Vandecruys, founder and CTO of UCS, comments, “Now that we have our solutions and services in place, it is important that we pursue the best strategic options for the future of our organisation and team.”

“As a Board, we have long realised that we would need to decide between remaining independent and joining a larger organization to scale. There is such great momentum in indoor farming that this is the optimal time to make this move”, explains Frederic Bulcaen, Chairman and founder of UCS.

Contain Contact info:
Marilyn Jentzen
marilyn@contain.ag
+1.404.353.3754

About Urban Crop Solutions
Urban Crop Solutions BV is a privately held Belgian company founded in 2014. It offers end-to-end solutions for indoor hydroponic vertical farming via full-service customized and scalable solutions to multi-industry customers in two key product and service areas. Plant research products and services help customers select the right plant varieties or create new growth recipes for specific client needs or market opportunities. Indoor plant growing solutions and services range from concept design through business planning, manufacturing, installation, training, and after-sales servicing and support.
https://urbancropsolutions.com

About Contain, Inc.
Contain Inc is a US-based fintech platform dedicated to indoor agriculture, growing crops in warehouses, greenhouses and container farms. The Company serves the controlled environment agriculture industry in several capacities; it works with leading equipment vendors and with a wide pool of lenders to aid indoor growers in finding funding for their farms. It is also home to microlearning platform Rooted Global, which works with majors such as Danone and Dole to enable employees to grow a little of their own food at home. Most recently, the Company launched a used equipment trading platform, Equipped, to take the drama out of buying and selling used indoor farming equipment. The Company graduated from the 2019 Techstars Farm to Fork program, backed by Cargill and Ecolab.
https://contain.ag

Marilyn Jentzen
Contain Inc
marilyn@contain.ag
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Modular Hydroponic Growing Spaces In Freight Containers For Local Food Production

May 17, 2021

Art Petrosemolo

Southeastern Pennsylvania Correspondent

A Massachusetts company has developed a unique, hydroponic growing environment in closed 40-foot freight containers that are being used world-wide to grow produce in areas with bad soil or weather conditions not conducive to outdoor growing.

Bay State natives Jon Friedman and Brad McNamara were developing rooftop greenhouses in the early 2000s when they realized a modular, hydroponic container might be a more viable solution.

Hydroponics wasn’t something new. Historians believe this soilless gardening can be traced back to hanging gardens of Babylon in Iraq built by King Nebuchadnezzar about 600 BC. Nutrient-rich water was pumped to the gardens from the Euphrates river to sustain its plants. A water-based growing thread continued through history and in the 1930s a University of California scientist, William Gericke, coined the term from the Greek word “hydro” (water) and “ponics” (work).

Friedman and McNamara, who were building outdoor, roof-based gardens on older residential buildings, looked outside the box, and turned their focus to widely available shipping containers.

They thought they could provide the equivalent of 2 acres of growing space in traditional 40-foot-by-8-foot containers and extend growing seasons year-round everywhere — especially in areas that couldn’t support traditional outdoor agriculture or in parts of the world affected most by climate change.

They named their company Freight Farms and placed their first container less than a decade ago. Now the concept is catching on worldwide.

View Photos From Freight Farms

Freight Farms’ design was the first containerized vertical growing environment using hydroponic technology. It was initially funded by a Kickstarter campaign in 2012, where they raised the funds to build a prototype to allow local food production to be available to everyone, anywhere.

The first commercial unit was installed at Boston Latin School, the oldest public school in the U.S., to produce fresh produce for the school cafeteria as well as serving as a teaching classroom for high school students.

“The company has placed 350 units in 48 states and 32 foreign countries,” Friedman said.

The company also introduced proprietary software called “farmhand” to help automate many farm processes, and is manufacturing its 10th generation container, the Greenery S, incorporating the latest technology and automation for vertical, hydroponics growing.

Growing Strong

SOUTHERN REGION

Hydroponic Operation Supplies High-End Restaurants

• Art Petrosemolo, Southeastern Pennsylvania Correspondent

Although the Freight Farms container units are capable of growing a variety of produce, leafy greens are its specialty and the best choice for farmers looking to sell their harvests year-round.

Containers also have been embraced by educational institutions to supply fresh vegetables for cafeterias and serve as learning and teaching space.

St. Joseph College in Standish, Maine, has been operating a Freight Farms unit for years to both supply fresh vegetables to its dining facilities as well as for student employment.

The site also has been a tool for community involvement with St. Joseph students working with a town Institute for Local Food System Innovation utilizing the Freight Farms container in partnership with a large hydroponic farm and commercial processing kitchen for events and agritourism.

With a decade head start in the business, Freight Farms does not have major competition in hydroponics container gardening production, although, in recent years, it has seen significant growth in multiple indoor soil- and water-based farming formats including warehouses, greenhouses and pods that are addressing growing produce year-round.

Climate change has increased concern about food production for growing populations worldwide with extreme weather conditions and higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Friedman and McNamara have always been aware that the challenge to expansion for stand-alone, container gardening is the cost of power and each new rendition of their growing units has addressed both power consumption and automation to be more efficient.

Their latest Greenery S model uses growing lights that are 50% more efficient than previous models and the technology allows farmers to choose pre-set growing modes to maintain higher yields — 20% higher than earlier models — while prioritizing energy use.

Addressing affordable and clean power for customers, Freight Farms recently partnered with Arcadia, a Washington, D.C., energy company to offer affordable, renewable power options for customers.

Going forward, Friedman said growing container units will continue to become more efficient, allowing owners to increase their growing yield while having more control of their energy use to power the unit.

Slide Show Photos:

Lights and plant arrangements in Freight Farms new Greenery S model container.

• Photo provided by Freight Farms

Leafy greens grow in Freight Farms’ own Greenery Farm container.

• Photo provided by Freight Farms

This Freight Farms container is ready for shipment.

• Photo provided by Freight Farms

Freight Farms' containers under construction in their Vermont facility.

• Photo provided by Freight Farms

Lexy Basquette, Freight Farm’s on-site farmer, checks on some of her growing plants.

• Photo provided by Freight Farms

MAIN EDITION

Greenhouses, Vertical Farming and Urban Ag: Controlled-Environment Agriculture Has Growth Potential

• Paul Post, New York Correspondent

USA-VIRGINIA: New Moneta Farm Redefines Method of Growing Fresh Produce

Its Growing 6,000 Greens A Month In A 40-Foot Box

To View The Video, Please Click Here

MONETA, Va. – A new veteran-owned farm in Moneta is revamping traditional farming with advanced technology to serve up the freshest greens all year long.

Ditching the soil and bringing in a laptop, there’s a new hydroponic farm in Moneta.

Using selective lighting, balancing pH and nutrient levels, and releasing water through a bar of foam, Vittone Farms is growing 6,000 greens a month in a 40-foot box.

“365 days a year is what we can do,” Jeff Vittone, owner of Vittone Farms, said. “Which is also busting some paradigms. Like, ‘how do you do this and why is it ready and why is it so green?’ And it’s like well, it’s all grown here.”

The farm also uses green power by using a solar panel to produce a variety of foods stemming from lettuce to radishes to even carrots.

A lover of salads, Vittone said he got into hydroponics after noticing major food waste after E. coli scares.

After serving eight years active duty in the Air Force and a total of 12 years in the Virginia Air National Guard, Vittone turned his hobby into a business to put more fresh food on local tables.

“I believe if you ask any veteran they will say that after my duty to my country was served,” he said. “It’s like going without water. You still want to serve to some capacity.”

Now, he is calling on other veterans to get into the business.

By using only about five gallons of water a day, he encourages people to try container farming if they don’t have much land.

“If you have two, three acres of land that is just not enough to produce to make money but that’s enough for this to be there…small local communities and food deserts need this kind of technology.”

Hosting the Smith Mountain Lake Farmer’s Market, Vittone plans to highlight other local businesses from now till the week before Thanksgiving.

The farmer’s market is open on Fridays from 2 p.m to 6 p.m and Saturdays from 10 a.m to 2 p.m.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alexus Davila

Alexus joined 10 News in October 2020.

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Copyright 2021 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.

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. 

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Source: StartupJobs

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

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18 May 2021

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)

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.

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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.

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

Jessica Rawnsley

14 May 2021

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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.

USA: INDIANA - CASS Housing Is Growing, In More Ways Than One

NEWS

by: Breann Boswell

May 13, 2021

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – A local organization keeps growing, in more ways than one. CASS Housing is adding CASS Gardens, an opportunity for residents to grow produce and create jobs.

The mission of CASS Housing is to create and maintain customizable, affordable, sustainable, and safe living arrangements for individuals with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities that promote independent living skills.

These residents will now have the opportunity to work in shipping containers transformed into a garden. Each container will grow 2.5 acres of leafy greens and herbs. The idea was grown from a parent of a future resident and the partnership with Freight Farms was developed. The containers can grow produce year-round and only use 5 gallons of water a day, saving 95% over traditional farming. The LED technology grows the plants on panels inside the containers.

Currently, CASS Housing has two containers and has plans to add 15 in the future. Each container will supply two part-time jobs that residents with CASS Housing are able to walk to.

Planting begins Thursday. The produce will be harvested, processed and sold or distributed to customers individually or through wholesale.

“We believe that this employment program could change the national discussion for people with disabilities, starting here in Fort Wayne,” Executive Director David Buuck says.

This is the second Freight Farm in the state of Indiana.

To find out more or to donate, visit casshousing.org.

USA - ILLINOIS - Tasty, Fresh And Sustainable

Glenview Man's Hydroponic Farm

Uses Technology To Grow Garden Variety Produce

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5/12/2021

By Dave Oberhelman
doberhelman@dailyherald.com

This is not your grandfather's farm.

It's not Aviad Sheinfeld's grandfather's farm, either -- but Wiseacre Farm is a bridge between childhood days spent on grandparents Yechezkel and Hadassah Gluzman's farm in an Israeli moshav and Sheinfeld's modern training.

That combination has resulted in some of the best greens his customers have ever tasted, grown indoors by futuristic, sustainable methods.

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Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

"I don't know if it was a goal. I never thought about becoming a farmer. I was always good with computers, so working with computers was kind of the assumed path," said Sheinfeld, 49, of Glenview.

"I think my childhood experiences on the farm really gave me more of an ingrained appreciation for what it takes to grow food. The thing I remember most is the apple orchards and the peaches my grandparents grew, but they also grew roses and sheep, so also animals."

There are no animals, roses, or peaches at Wiseacre Farm, a rectangular, 320-square-foot container farm inside a warehouse Sheinfeld rents in an industrial area at 1975 N. Lake Terrace, Glenview.

Wiseacre's specialty, available by 10-week subscriptions through www.wiseacre.farm, is leafy greens. A recent delivery included six heads of lettuce of differing varieties. Another package will offer the lettuce plus herbs and other greens -- things like parsley, chives, Thai basil, red-veined sorrel, curly kale with chard.

Sheinfeld sometimes delivers his produce the day it's harvested. Reviews are strong.

"Most of our customers have remarked that they had no idea that lettuce, basil -- fill in the blank, whatever produce -- tastes that way," said Sheinfeld's daughter, Yael, who is finishing her last semester at Northeastern University in Boston, but also handling Wiseacre marketing and communications.

"I think it's hard to understand just how much the taste disappears with travel, with chemicals, herbicides, and pesticides, with just time, honestly, and sitting on a grocery store shelf," she said.

Growing crops indoors in Wiseacre Farm's controlled hydroponic environment eliminates the need for herbicides and pesticides. Serving customers within about a 10-mile radius also lends a neighborly appeal.

"It's not just buying your food from anonymous company X," Aviad said.

His father, Sam, also works on the farm. Yael -- and occasionally Aviad and Kari Sheinfeld's two teenage boys, Rahm and Lev -- are fourth-generation farmhands.

Finalizing financing and incorporation in 2018, in November 2019 Sheinfeld received his container farm from Freight Farms of Boston. He said there's a couple hundred of these repurposed shipping container farms worldwide. When he needs advice he reaches farmers in Alaska, Minnesota, Tennessee, even Tasmania.

The interior includes vertical panels about 10 feet tall in which the plants soak up rays of LED lights embedded into opposing panels. The plant panels can be removed and placed horizontally when the plants are ready for harvesting.

The media is not soil but water, to which nutrients are added automatically, manually controlled by computer. Hydroponic methods are 98% more water-efficient than traditional farming, Yael said. Through recycling irrigation water and capturing the water transpired by the plants, on average the farm uses less than 5 gallons of water a day. On very humid days, the farm will capture more water than it uses.

Nutrients, drip irrigation, temperature, humidity, lighting -- all are computer-controlled.

"As farming goes, it's kind of posh," Aviad Sheinfeld said.

"The thing about this farm is it's very technically advanced, so it kind of marries my initial interest in agriculture and my insatiable appetite for technological gadgets all into one big toy," he said.

He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania and added DePaul University master's degrees in network communications and information security and in computational finance.

First working as a software engineer with Motorola, he veered into stay-at-home dad mode after he and Kari, an attorney, started having children. The couple sent their kids to the Science & Arts Academy in Des Plaines, where Aviad served three years as board chairman. During that time, the academy explored hydroponics as part of the curriculum.

"That's kind of where I caught the bug, so to speak," he said.

No bugs at Wiseacre Farm. There is lots of energy consumption.

"We have lights that are powered by electricity and we use a lot of technology, so that is one resource that we use a lot of," Yael Sheinfeld said.

And still ...

"What's wonderful is, due to our partnership with Arcadia (Power, a renewable energy company out of Washington, D.C.) all of the electricity that we consume now is 100 percent offset with wind-generated, renewable energy. So it sort of allows us to keep that focus, knowing that's the main resource we still need to use, but doing that in a more sustainable way," she said.

For lettuce, from seed to harvest it takes only 8 weeks for the container farm to grow the equivalent of 2 acres of traditional farmland, Aviad said. He plans on about six annual growing cycles.

His first crop came through last March, right at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially targeting restaurants for his produce, he shifted to a farm-to-table model. Customers also can now pick up goods at the farm itself on Saturdays, though preordering is a must. All packages and purchasing options are available at www.wiseacre.farm.

In its short time, Wiseacre Farm has gained acclaim beyond consumer taste buds. It won Silver for innovation in the Glenview Natural Resources Department's 2020 Environmental Sustainability Awards, and on March 28 the farm was featured in a segment of the History channel's "Modern Marvels" series highlighting "The Future of Food."

After a year, Aviad Sheinfeld said the process has become "a little less magical," but he still gets a kick out of it. Imagine what Hadassah and Yechezkel Gluzman might think.

"You put seed in a plug, and even a few days later when it pops out, I'm amazed," Aviad said.

"I do understand it, but I still don't believe how amazing it is that a plant grows out of this little, tiny seed and a few weeks later you have a head of lettuce or arugula."

Lead Photo: Wiseacre Farm owner Aviad Sheinfeld looks over some of the plants grown at his hydroponic farm in Glenview. Brian Hill | Staff Photographer

It Is Time To Grow!

Sara Segergren

2ndProject portfolio Leader på IKEA, Ingka, Group Sustainability

The majority of IKEA visitors enjoy the IKEA food offer and today we enable millions of people to eat healthier and more sustainably by choosing our plant-based options. We are continuously exploring how we can contribute to a better, greener, and tastier future making healthier and more sustainable food accessible and affordable for many people.

In an Urban farming pilot project, we grow leafy greens in a nutritious fluid, in a container powered with 100% renewable energy outside the IKEA Malmö store in Sweden. This will not only result in delicious, fresh, locally grown greens that IKEA visitors can enjoy but what is more important this contributes to our ambition to become people and planet positive by 2030 by using fewer natural resources compared to conventional growing methods:

90% less water
No pesticides
No farmland
Less food waste

Together with Urban Crop Solutions we have installed a controlled-environment vertical farm where plants are grown in a closed system. Water and nutrients are used instead of soil and LED-light is used instead of sunlight.

We believe that every action that enables and inspires people to live more sustainably matters and perhaps we can change the world together, one plant at the time.

Urban Crop Solutions

Housing Nonprofit Cultivating Farmers Adults With Disabilities To Help Run Hydroponic Effort

ROSA SALTER RODRIGUEZ

The Journal Gazette

For a few moments early Friday morning, an 80-foot-by-40-foot shipping container the size of a semi hung high in the air, suspended by a huge crane.

Then, the green-trimmed white container was placed on specially constructed supports – to a short round of applause from about a dozen onlookers.

The construction site off Constance Avenue just north of Turnstone's adaptive sports complex is a bit different from most – the shipping container isn't for storage, a contractor's office or even housing.

It's going to become part of a farm.

CASS Housing, a Fort Wayne nonprofit that has been busily building homes with customized living arrangements for adults with developmental disabilities including autism and Down syndrome, is sprouting a new program.

The organization plans to use the containers to grow produce hydroponically – with water and nutrients but no soil.

David Buuck, CASS founder and executive director, said the idea is to provide not only food but “meaningful days” for the 15 residents of what will soon be five homes.

And the organization has even bigger aspirations – it recently applied to the Fort Wayne Plan Commission to locate another 15 trailers on a lot on Homewood Drive in Washington Township to scale up the growing.

Buuck hopes to grow enough produce to sell to members of the Fort Wayne community through a subscription service, to other nonprofit organizations and, potentially, at wholesale and retail.

Money from sales would be plowed back not only into the farm but also into building more homes for a growing list of potential residents. Buuck said that list now stands at about 200.

The organization's initials stand for Customizable, Affordable, Sustainable and Safe.

Idea planted

The farm plans started, Buuck said, with the knowledge that one of the hardest aspects of life for developmentally challenged young people is finding employment.

“Only 34% of people are employed in the traditional economy,” he said. And, when times get hard, that employment may not last.

“We saw it play out with the pandemic,” Buuck said. Only one out of six employed CASS residents kept a job throughout COVID, he said.

The pandemic got him thinking seriously about an idea from the father of a potential resident.

John Hornbostel of Fort Wayne had been reading about farming in containers as a prospective career for his 21-year-old daughter with disabilities, Rachel.

She has autism and needs someone to be with her while on the job, but she loves salads and growing things, said Hornbostel, vice president of sustainability and milling for Egg Innovations in Warsaw.

He remembers broaching the subject with Buuck, and telling him that 2 acres' worth of leafy produce could be grown in one shipping container.

Hornbostel recalls Buuck's eyes widening. “Really?” Buuck said.

Yes, really.

And not only that, one shipping container could grow 4,400 heads of buttercrunch lettuce a month or 90 pounds of herbs – using only 5 gallons of water a day, 95% less than traditional agriculture.

And the containers' food could be non-GMO and pesticide free.

Teaming up

Soon enough, Buuck got in touch with Freight Farms, a Boston-based company pioneering the idea.

Rick Vanzura, Freight Farms' chief executive officer, said the company has been developing shipping container farms for about a decade. Farms now operate in 49 states and 33 countries.

“Our business is really a global business,” he said, adding that demand comes from small farmers, especially in places with bad soils or difficult climates.

But container farms also have been sold to college and university food suppliers, agricultural education programs, nonprofit organizations feeding underserved populations, and even a grocery store chain in Sweden.

But this is the first time he's heard of an organization using container farms in an integrated program for people with disabilities, Vanzura said.

And, he said, he's thrilled.

“I'm totally on board,” Vanzura said. “I don't know any other way to say it, but it's heartwarming. That's the only way I can put it.”

Growing produce hydroponically isn't new, Vanzura said; many grocery stores sell food grown that way – typically greens including lettuces, spinach, arugula and kale.

But Freight Farms' container systems have several features that set them apart, he explained.

For one thing, they grow produce vertically, not horizontally, in what growers call troughs or benches. Growing vertically maximizes growing space. Second, the trailers use programmable LED light, saving energy costs, and some can use renewable wind or solar energy for power.

Third, the system is fully programmable on a cellphone app called FarmHand.The app provides recipes for regulating the proper amount of water, light and temperature for growing, as well as planting and maturity dates for the precise crop desired. That takes a lot of the trial and error out of growing, Vanzura said.

He said the recipes have been developed over several years in conjunction with participating farmers. The company now can grow more than 500 crops, including some varieties of flowers. Experiments with strawberries are also going on, Vanzura said.

But the best applications are greens, herbs and small root crops such as radishes, he said.

“The tremendous thing is you don't need any specialized knowledge to start. But you do need discipline and a willingness to follow through,” Vanzura said.

Getting started

Buuck said CASS has hired someone to help manage the farm, Robert Johnson, and the resident employees, three to four for each container, will be paid as they would be for any job.

The first two containers, placed Friday, were funded at a cost of $300,000 through a private donation and The James Foundation in Angola, which donates to youth programs.

CASS residents Anna Kramer, 24, and Matthew Hammitch, 26, can't wait to start.

“It's just a really cool idea,” said Kramer, who briefly held a job in retail but got frustrated dealing with a lot of people every day.

Kramer said she gardened with her family before coming to live at CASS. She said she thinks working with plants would be natural.

“I never knew this existed, but if it existed, I never thought it would come to Fort Wayne,” she said.

Hammitch's previous job was as a family dog-sitter. But the FarmHand App technology intrigues him.

“I would really like to get into FarmHand and be able to go into the app and control the temperature and things right through our phones,” he said.

“I was really excited about this. I thought I could do this and have fun,” the young man said.

And make some money?

“That part too,” he said.

Lead photo: For a few moments early Friday morning, an 80-foot-by-40-foot shipping container the size of a semi hung high in the air, suspended by a huge crane.

rsalter@jg.net

Also

CASS seeks rezoning for farm project

CASS Housing will go before the Fort Wayne Plan Commission next month to ask for approval of a rezoning and modified primary development plan for a 1.63-acre tract off Homewood Drive in Washington Township.

CASS in August had the site rezoned to planned residential to construct eight attached residential homes for its living programs. It now wants to have the southern part of that site rezoned to general industrial.

The rezoning would allow the nonprofit to place 15 specially outfitted shipping containers for the hydroponic growing of produce.

The site would extend the program now being started on CASS's Constance Avenue property in Fort Wayne.

The organization also is asking to place a building for office space, produce processing and storage as an accessory use. The placement of solar panels and a parking lot also is being considered.

CASS still plans to construct homes on the site, said David Buuck, founder and executive director. The farm is estimated to cost $2.5 million and create 45 part-time jobs for people with disabilities, he said.

The organization is beginning a fund drive to finance some of the construction, he said.

Produce from the 15 containers will be equivalent to the yield of a 40-acre farm, Buuck said.

In its application, the organization said there would be no retail sales at the site and a minimal increase in traffic, as most employees will walk from nearby homes to their jobs.

The application will have a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. June 7 in Room 30 of Citizens Square.