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Vertical Gardens Take The Hudson Valley’s Farm-to-Table Scene to New Heights

“Vertical Field offers a revolutionary way to eat the freshest greens and herbs by producing soil-based indoor vertical farms grown at the very location where food is consumed,” explains Vertical Field’s Chief Executive Officer Guy Elitzur

Sabrina Sucato

Photos by Vertical Field

Vertical Field Makes its Local Debut At a Leading Poughkeepsie Restaurant, With a Monsey Grocery Store Soon To Follow

In the Hudson Valley, farm-to-table is less of a foodie trend and more of a way of life. As an ideal, it’s woven into the threads of the community, crisscrossing its way between farms, artisans, restaurants, and the locals who support them all.

Even during the COVID-19 crisis, when so many in the region struggle to find their footing, the movement lives on through support for farm markets and restaurants, many of which are in new territory when it comes to delivery and takeout.

Yet it’s never gone quite this far. Or, ahem, this high.

Photo by Vertical Field

In a first for the Hudson Valley, farm-to-table takes a vertical turn. It’s all thanks to Vertical Field, an Israel-based agro-tech startup that crafts vertical agricultural solutions that make access to food easier and faster while reducing waste and cutting down on human handling – a major boon during a time of social distancing.

“Vertical Field offers a revolutionary way to eat the freshest greens and herbs by producing soil-based indoor vertical farms grown at the very location where food is consumed,” explains Vertical Field’s Chief Executive Officer Guy Elitzur. “Our urban farms give new meaning to the term ‘farm-to-table’ because one can virtually pick their own greens and herbs at supermarkets, restaurants, or other retail sites.”

While Vertical Field has installed gardens across the Middle East and Europe, it’s recently found a home at Poughkeepsie’s Farmers & Chefs, where chef and owner John Lekic uses it to take the hyperlocal experience at his restaurant even further.

“It’s making a full circle for a chef and restaurateur,” he says. “You get to serve the food you not only prepared or cooked, but you also grew from seed to plate.”

When Lekic first came across Vertical Field during an exhibition at the Culinary Institute of America in late 2019, he was hooked from the start. Knowing that the system would be a perfect fit for his concept, he ordered one for his Hudson River food truck-turned-eatery.

Lekic’s vertical garden arrived two days after Governor Cuomo mandated the closure of on-premise restaurant operations in New York State.

“It was a lot of anxiety and uncertainty,” Lekic recalls. For the safety of his staff, he called for a break in operations to ensure no one was sick. During that time, he dedicated himself to setting up his vertical field. “It kept us busy. We installed our farm and planted about 10 days after. We already had our first crop.”

A rapid turnaround time is one of the pros of Vertical Field gardens, which take about three to four weeks per harvest. According to Lekic, he anticipates he’ll be able to grow about 400 pounds of produce per month. Much of it will be salad greens such as buttercrunch lettuce, kale, and arugula, although he also planted herbs like rosemary, sage, and basil.

While Lekic appreciates the convenience of the garden, which resides onsite at the restaurant for customers to see, he also loves that it’s a bug-free, pesticide-free operation with less need for human contact. With fewer intermediary steps (no transportation from producer to restaurant, for example) and up to 90 percent, less water required than in a traditional garden, Vertical Field urban landscapes are just about as eco-friendly as it gets.

“You can definitely taste that,” Lekic enthuses. “There are no chemicals. That’s a great experience.”

Just as Lekic values the freshness, so too do his customers. Farmers & Chefs is open for delivery and pickup during quarantine, so consumers are able to taste the metaphoric fruits of the garden’s labor for themselves. In fact, the garden has been such a hit that Lekic is brainstorming ways to incorporate the produce into more unique offerings.

“We make housemade ice cream with brown fennel and pistachio,” he says. “We’re playing around with some product that we aspire to take to market.”

Lekic may be the first to install a Vertical Field in the Hudson Valley, but he’s already paved the way for others. In Monsey, Evergreen Supermarket will soon have a sky-high garden of its own.

“I heard about [Vertical Field] through some people from Israel who showed me how some vertical farms are being set up in supermarkets,” explains supermarket representative Menachem Lubinsky. If not for the COVID-19 outbreak, he adds, Evergreen’s vertical garden would already be in place. As it stands now, the market expects the container will be delivered soon.

“I’m very excited about it,” says Lubinsky. “The technology allows it to have constantly changing light and heat. It eliminates the transfer from farm to supermarket and guarantees supplies.”

Lubinsky expects that Evergreen’s clientele, many of whom are already interested in more natural, organic products, will take to the Vertical Field produce immediately. Since Evergreen will set the container up in its parking lot, customers will be able to watch the garden grow during every shopping trip. If all goes well, the store may even purchase a second Vertical Field for its store in Lakewood, NJ.

“Almost everything you want to grow can grow,” Lubinsky enthuses. Fingers crossed, he hopes strawberries will soon be available for Vertical Field gardens, too.

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Swedish Startup Receives Funding For AI-Run 'NeighbourFood' project

A newly established innovation cluster will develop the groundbreaking service-model for urban farming, AgTech startup SweGreen’s ‘Farming as a Service’, to contribute to a sustainable food supply chain

A newly established innovation cluster will develop the groundbreaking service-model for urban farming, AgTech startup SweGreen’s ‘Farming as a Service’, to contribute to a sustainable food supply chain. The 2MSEK-project called ‘NeighbourFood’ is granted by Vinnova as an initiative to support innovations in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. The project NeighbourFood aims to upgrade a modern Urban Farming solution to an optimized smart and digital model for system monitoring and remote-control process steering. 

Farming as a Service (FAAS)
"We have developed cutting-edge technology with high technical readiness level for food production indoors. With this project we address the last limitation factor towards a remote farming management model: A cloud-based service that enables a physical food production unit to become available as a service to our customers – as we refer to as ‘Farming-as-a-Service’," Swegreen Chief Innovation Officer Sepehr Mousavi highlights. The vision is to create a realistic alternative to the highly global, and to a certain degree fragile and resource inefficient, food production chains that currently dominate the marketplace. The innovation cluster behind the project, besides AgTech company Swegreen, includes also Research Institute of Sweden (RISE), Mälardalen University and high-profile Swedish chefs Paul Svensson and Tareq Taylor’s newly established restaurant Paul Taylor Lanthandel.

Local food
The demand for year-round urban food production has never been more relevant than now, under the crisis of Covid-19. Production of food is down at 50% in Sweden, which shows our society's exposure, Paul Svensson, top-notch chef and founder of Paul Taylor Lanthandel says. Our aim is to contribute to and increase the trust in and desire for locally produced food near our customers, Paul Svensson continues. We see us as a perfect channel for locally produced food at Paul Taylor Lanthandel we provide both a small general store and a restaurant, and thereby nurse a close relationship to producers and our local neighborhood community. The core of the innovation will take place in Swegreen’s production facility, called CifyFarm, which is an indoor vertical farm for production of nutritious leafy greens, salad and herbs, with a yield of approximately 200 times yield/area compared to traditional farming. The CityFarm uses minimal resources all year round and is isolated from the outside environment and is located on floor -3 of Dagens Nyheter tower in central Stockholm.

Digitally monitored farming units 
The Farming as a Service concept of Swegreen’s enables Urban Farming technology to integrate with e.g. supermarkets or restaurants by digitally monitored farming units at the customer’s facility, which will produce food with minimal logistics and almost zero human intervention in a plug-and-play format. This farm management system empowers any entrepreneur with little or zero farming knowledge to grow high-quality food in an optimal environment while reducing risks and elevating the decision-making process, using dedicated decision-support systems and process optimization through the use of artificial intelligence, adds SweGreen’s CEO Andreas Dahlin. The NeighbourFood was one of the few selected projects by Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova, out of 287 applications filed in response to the call ‘Innovation in the track of crisis’. 

Innovative business model
The project will also make use of the sharing economy, innovative business models, and digital twins to speed up a coping strategy towards the Covid-19 crisis and addresses the need for climate transition and secure circular and resilient food supply chains. The project is intended to be integrated into a national Shared Economy platform, Sharing Cities Sweden, financed by the Swedish Innovation Agency and the Swedish Strategic Innovation Program for smart and sustainable cities, Viable Cities. Neighbourfood is an example of the green deal and how the sharing economy in cities can trigger innovative business models for resilient food supply chains – a sharing platform for neighbours, by neighbours! mentions Dr. Charlie Gullström, a senior researcher at RISE and head of Sharing Cities Sweden, Stockholm Testbed.

Collaborations
Swegreens Sepehr Mousavi who will be the project’s coordinator and lead also adds: "We are proud of our collaboration with RISE through one of the most prominent researchers in Sweden when it comes to digitalization and use of sharing economy solutions", Dr. Charlie Gullström and the platform of Sharing Cities Sweden alongside Dr. Alex Jonsson from RISE Prototyping Societies. This service introduces FaaS to our national platform for sharing economy as a new vital function. Sepehr Mousavi continues: "Also having Dr. Baran Çürüklü from Mälardalen University, a vibrant academic center for development of AI-related technologies’ and his team of PhD students onboard adds the competence needed for us to be able to hack the query and guarantee the success of the NeighbourFood project." Dr. Baran Çürüklü adds: "Food production can suddenly be a mission-critical factor as we can see now. Orchestration of production facilities through artificial intelligence may be decisive in managing such a crisis."

For more information:
SweGreen
Andreas Dahlin
andreas.dahlin@swegreen.se
www.swegreen.se

Publication date: Mon 11 May 2020

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Shipping Container Farm, Vertical Roots Hires Displaced Restaurant Workers To Help Fill Growing Retail Demand

Since launching in 2016, Vertical Roots has expanded from a single hydroponic garden container to a current operation of more than 130, each filled with leafy greens

Vertical Roots hires displaced restaurant workers to help fill growing retail demand

 Eat Your Greens

May 13, 2020

By Parker MilnerRuta Smith

Ruta Smith

Vertical Roots grows leafy greens in hydroponic gardens inside custom-outfitted shipping containers

With the restaurant and hospitality industry under duress and thousands out of work, container farm company Vertical Roots stepped up to the plate, offering jobs to displaced employees.Since launching in 2016, Vertical Roots has expanded from a single hydroponic garden container to a current operation of more than 130, each filled with leafy greens. For co-owners Andrew Hare and Matt Daniels, their mission is two-fold: delivering a local, pesticide-free product and developing community relationships to serve those in need."I have been in the restaurant industry for most of my adult life, including eight years right here in Charleston," said Hare. "It really hits close to home for me, witnessing this incredible industry turned upside down so quickly by this pandemic."According to Hare, Vertical Roots hired about two dozen chefs, cooks, dishwashers, servers and managers since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In all, employees displaced by the outbreak made up about 25 percent of their 100-employee team split between their two locations in Charleston and Columbia when we spoke in April."We are helping these people get a paycheck and they are helping us get product out of the door," said Hare. "They have been eager, fast learners, which has made the whole process seamless."Many of the new hires have worked with the non-GMO produce in the past. Vertical Roots supplies many local kitchens with their one- or two-day old living baby Romaine, arugula, bibb and butter lettuces.After a food safety course, most new employees started in the "pack room," where Hare said "all the harvested products flow to cool down and be processed for each customer, whether it's making a spring mix of cut leaves or taking living heads of lettuce to clamshell or case."Many of Vertical Roots' newcomers will return to their kitchens as restaurants reopen, but at least one downtown chef currently working with the company said some workers may continue to work at the container farm.For Vertical Roots, the growing season never ends inside their compact, LED-lit shipping containers. The company currently supplies more than 400 stores, mostly in the Southeast. And the customer base is growing, Hare reports."We are 98 percent focused on retail right now," said Hare, who points out that the closure of restaurants in the Charleston area led to an influx of large retail orders.With a hand in every part of the supply chain, Hare knows exactly what's going on with each crop at any given time, and the farm sites' geographic positioning allows the greens to arrive at their final destination within 24 hours of harvesting. Large-scale commercial farms, on the other hand, must contend with corporate concentration, leading to less quality control in a practice where several uncertainties such as soil contamination and water runoff already exist.According to Hare, 95 percent of the leafy greens in grocery stores come from two areas, Yuma, Arizona and Salinas, California. "These products can sometimes have three weeks of travel time," Hare said. "With us, you are dealing with a young, vibrant product filled with calcium and potassium. I would definitely stress how important it is to eat something clean right now."Hare said he feels fortunate for the added business, and they were in need of some help prior to the arrival of their new crew. "What a mutually beneficial thing for us to be able to go out and hire some of our customers who are familiar with our products," Hare said. Having people on staff who know how to use the product is enabling Vertical Roots to meet the growing demand for their seven lettuce varieties," he added.

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How Sodexo, Ford, And Others Use Sustainable Farming As CSR Platforms

More than ever, it’s important for companies to show that they don’t only just care for their customers and employees, but for the health, well-being, and prosperity of their community as well

 4 Companies Championing

Social Responsibility With Sustainable Farming

More than ever, it’s important for companies to show that they don’t only just care for their customers and employees, but for the health, well-being, and prosperity of their community as well. We’ve seen many institutions use container farming as a way to provide people with access to healthy food, education, and jobs. See how four of our corporate customers–Sodexo, Everlane, SEFCU, and Ford–are using container farms in their corporate social responsibility initiatives. (Header image: Times Union).

1) Sodexo champions sustainability on campus

With over 420,000 employees at 34,000 sites in 80 countries, Sodexo is one of the largest multinational corporations. Over the past several years, Sodexo has dedicated countless resources to promoting nutrition, health, and wellness to its customers and employees.

One concrete way Sodexo works to bring sustainability and wellness to its global customer base is through the Better Tomorrow 2025 plan. The plan is Sodexo’s commitment to protecting and rehabilitating the environment, supporting local community development, promoting health and wellness, and developing their team to promote diversity. To achieve these goals, Sodexo partnered with Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Fair Trade USA, the Marine Stewardship Council, the Sustainable Food Lab, the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops, and Freight Farms.

“Our ‘Better Tomorrow Plan’ specifically focuses on individuals, our communities, and our environment…Freight Farms has given us a great opportunity to have that engagement with students on a higher level, especially with sustainability.”

— Heather Vaillete, District Manager, Sodexo Campus Services & Independent Schools

Since 2016, Sodexo has worked with multiple universities and high-school customers (Clark University and Cumberland High School to name just two) to place Freight Farms on their campuses. The presence of the farm on these campuses is a sure way to add sustainable and fresh produce to students’ everyday diets. Sodexo found that using Freight Farms container farms can continuously provide students healthy fresh food options year-round without reliance on resource-inefficient fresh food supply chains.

2) Everlane & Saitex provide employees with food-safe greens

Everlane is a relatively new company (founded in 2010) which is taking huge strides in reforming the fashion industry. With a focus on “radical transparency”, Everlane’s mission is to sell high-quality clothing with fair pricing and ethical sourcing practices from factories around the world. In doing so, they seek to forge a stronger connection between the end purchaser and the people making the luxury goods in the hopes of instilling consumers with a greater sense of community and transparency.

While Everlane commits to its values all year round, they go above and beyond for their Black Friday Fund. On a day where other retailers focus on making profits, Everlane dedicates Black Friday shopping proceeds to benefit one of their factories.

In 2016, they used the Black Friday Fund to donate motorcycle helmets to workers at the Saitex denim factory in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to protect them while commuting.

In 2017, Everlane and Saitex raised $300,000 for the Black Friday Fund and used the money to gift Saitex factory employees Freight Farms containers.

Everlane video to promote Black Friday Fund donations to benefit the workers at Saitex Denim in Vietnam.

The hydroponic farms serve an important function for the factory employees. As a result of virtually non-existent regulations, Vietnamese food supplies have been repeatedly doused with dangerous pesticides that are unsafe for consumption (see source). The hydroponic container farms are protected from pests and require no pesticides, making the fresh crops growing inside much safer to eat. With the three hydroponic container farms, Everlane will make a huge difference in the lives of hundreds of Saitex employees by providing them with two fresh and pesticide-free meals a day. You can learn more about the initiative in our joint press release!

Since 2017, Everlane has continued to champion important causes. In 2018, the company partnered with the Surfrider Foundation clean up across the U.S. In 2019, they continued on the theme by partnering with Oceania to help reduce single-use plastic.

Corporate+Social+Responsibility+_+SEFCU_+Freight+Farms+Blog.jpeg

3) SEFCU & Boys & Girls Club educate kids about farming & nutrition

SEFCU is a powerful name in the banking world. Established in 1934, it is one of the 50 largest credit unions in the United States, with more than $3 billion in assets. Not only does SEFCU have a lot of money – they also have a lot of heart. From their headquarters in Albany, NY, they are dedicated to making a positive difference in the communities they serve. They assist thousands of organizations through their 2008 Banking with a Purpose initiative and give millions of dollars towards community financial education programs.

They don’t limit themselves to just helping with financial matters but also work hard for food reform to prevent obesity and food insecurity. Over the past three years, they purchased two hydroponic container farms. One resides at the Albany office, where it grows food for the employee cafe and various non-profits in the area. The company also introduced a Produce Shuttle to transport donated fresh food from the farm, restaurants, and food pantries to those in need.

SEFCU’s second farm was donated directly to the Boys & Girls Club chapter in Troy, NY to give kids access to healthy and fresh food, teach them about farming, and–eventually–become a revenue driver for the program.

The Boys & Girls Club of the Capital Area is using their Freight Farm to teach kids about agriculture and professional development, while also providing prod...

4) Ford Motors & Cass Community Social Services provide important community access to fresh food.

In 2017, the Bill Ford Better World Challenge awarded $250,000 to the Ford Mobile Farm Project in Detroit. The project involved donating a Freight Farms container farm (named the Ford Freight Farm) and a Ford F-150 pickup to Cass Community Social Services (CCSS) with the goal of bringing fresh food access and nutrition education to at-risk Detroit residents. CCSS was founded in 2002 to fight poverty in the Detroit area. The non-profit focuses on democratizing food access, health services, housing, and jobs to Detroit residents living below the poverty line.

“The greatest feature for us is the ability to have fresh, free, organic food all year long.”

— Reverend Faith Fowler, Executive Director of CCSS

The contents of the Ford Freight Farm will be used to supply the CCSS community kitchen with a variety of fresh leafy greens to provide important nutritional benefits to the 700,000+ meals served each year. In addition to supplying the kitchens, the Ford Freight Farm will provide part-time employment to adults with developmental disabilities. Starting in 2019, CCSS has been using the farm as a revenue stream to fund other projects, selling high-quality greens to restaurants in the area.

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Create Multiple Streams of Income With Container Farming

Right now, despite COVID-19 repercussions, food remains a necessity, and there exists an opportunity to build resilience into our business models. As a result, many businesses, food-related or not, can create a viable new stream of income by growing your own produce with a container farm

CURRENT CHALLENGES

Right now, despite COVID-19 repercussions, food remains a necessity, and there exists an opportunity to build resilience into our business models. 

As a result, many businesses, food-related or not, can create a viable new stream of income by growing your own produce with a container farm.  

WHAT IS CONTAINER FARMING?

Container farming uses a hydroponic growing system to commercially grow a variety of fresh produce more sustainably and year-round. This type of growth is done in a controlled environment that is time, space, and resource-efficient. 

The real value is not only the produce grown, but the ability for a container farm to offer a community or business a local source of produce, a source of employment, and an additional stream of income. 

GROWING FOR THE LOCAL COMMUNITY

Those who work closely with our food systems know that growing your own food is not going to solve food security immediately. However, we can’t dismiss the benefit of growing food closer to the people who consume it. 

If you’re a co-op store, the container farm is behind your store and ready to fill your shelves. If you’re a nonprofit that cooks meals, sourcing produce is one logistic you can cross off your list. If your community is remote, or further from city centers, the importance of having a local source of food is not lost on you. Access to local food becomes even more critical in light of current events that have shaken our supply chains. 

Abbey Gardens purchased a Growcer to ensure that they were able to generate revenue year-round instead of seasonally.

YEAR-ROUND RELIABILITY

Abbey Gardens purchased a Growcer to ensure that they were able to generate revenue year-round: https://www.thegrowcer.ca/featured-farmers/2019/11/26/providi...

Growcer systems are plug-and-play systems built to operate year-round among all conditions. The system allows you to consistently harvest produce and benefit from this stream of income year-round.

If you rely on a seasonal bump for a boost, this consistent source of income increases the foundation you have to work with. 

The hydroponic growing system also allows multiple types of crops can be grown at once from over 140 different varieties of produce and the ability to swap what you’re growing to meet demand.

The Yellowknife Co-op has created their own produce line and branding for their Growcer greens.

PROOF OF CONCEPT 

Can a container farm really be an extra source of income? We know it can. We’ve collaborated with many diverse communities and organizations that have tailored a Growcer system to work for them.

For example, businesses like Abbey Gardens and The Yellowknife Co-op used the Growcer system to add extra revenue to their main line of business. For the Gitmaxmak’ay Nisga’a Society, they are adding the system to create an entirely new source of revenue for their non-profit.

While a container farm can be a source of extra income, it has to be feasible first. You must factor your situation, your market, and your financial options when investigating if this is a fit. 

Take the first step and plug in your specifics into our ROI calculator to evaluate the feasibility of a container farm for you.

StephanieMay 4, 2020

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US: “We Are Increasing Any Kind of Digital Experience.”

As the situation around COVID-19 worsens in the USA, Freight Farms has still been able to continue its momentum in a meaningful way

As the situation around COVID-19 worsened in the USA, Freight Farms has still been able to continue its momentum in a meaningful way. With the company’s team working remotely during this crisis, demand for Freight Farms’ Greenery has continued to grow, resulting in the team exceeding its sales goals for the first and second quarter of the year. Brad McNamara, President of Freight Farms mentions: “There are a lot of people coming to us seeing the urgency of the food supply.”

The company’s customers are also responding to the crisis in various ways. Many of Freight Farms’ small business customers have been able to quickly pivot from supplying restaurants and foodservice to consumers in their communities directly via CSA, delivery, and drive-through models. CEO Rick Vanzura says that there has been a lot of discussion on how countries' food supply chains were or weren’t prepared for COVID-19. “The situation has spotlighted urgent supply chain challenges faced around the world, and we want to help provide solutions wherever we can.”

The Freight Farms Greenery cultivation area

Business past weeks

Caroline Katsiroubas, Director of Marketing & Community Relations states, “There has been an increase in consumers researching how to grow their own food that’s highlighting a heightened interest in local sourcing and the need to shorten supply chains. People are also searching for food production technology – we’ve seen a significant increase in visits to our website, as well as in inbound inquiries.” The company receives many messages of people that are interested to create a reliable source of food for their communities. “Our small business customers sell their produce directly to consumers in their local communities, as well as to local restaurants and foodservice groups.

Those who relied heavily on restaurant and foodservice sales prior to the pandemic have been nimbly pivoting their business models to reach consumers in their local communities directly through contactless CSAs, drive-through farm stands, and delivery models. And the communities have very receptive – they want access to fresh produce without having to go to the grocery store right now, they want to support local business, and they like knowing their food has been in contact with fewer people – just them and their farmers.”

At the moment Freight Farms is scheduling live videos for social media and online webinar presentations to highlight Freight Farms’ customers. There will continue to be webinars for customers to share their experience and learn new farming and business tactics. “We are increasing digital experiences for our existing farmers and those interested in learning more about our farming technology.”

The leafy green machine, succeeded by the Greenery

The leafy green machine, succeeded by the Greenery

Freight Farms supporting farmers

 McNamara: “We are working on initiatives to support our community of farmers around the globe and domestically. We’re offering free access to our IoT platform Farmhand Connect to support their remote access to their farm operations. We’re also helping to connect farmers in our network who have extra produce to nonprofit organizations seeking donations.” Freight Farms is also supporting its customers by ensuring access to its service and technical teams. “We’ve increased our customer service and engineering support,” Vanzura mentions. We also have an online platform where our farmers share tips and tricks, and we are helping facilitate that conversation, even more, to promote best practices to respond to this crisis.” “For some of them, it’s pivoting to a more B2C model and we want to help them achieve that,” Katsiroubas notes.

Freight Farms' Greenery Farmhand

Freight Farms' Greenery Farmhand

Locals are helping out

Katsiroubas: “Some of our institutional customers, like schools which are of course now closed, are donating the produce they’ve been growing for the dining hall to food banks or nonprofit organizations that are lacking fresh produce. Our customers at Saint Joseph's College have been continued growing despite the COVID-19 to deliver their supply to the local elderly population in the community.” “Our customers have the power to grow food in minimal time and pivot supply to where it needs to be in the community. I am so proud of our community of farmers as they’re using our technology to do what they can to help others in this time of crisis,” McNamara notes. 

A St. Joseph's student farmer

Pushing forward developments

McNamara states that the company’s resources are ramped up, for the current situation and for continued product development. “Fortunately, our supply chain is in good shape, so we are in a good position not only to support the current network, but also the new farmers coming on board in the upcoming months.” Freight Farms recently hired automation and robotics specialist Jake Felser, as the new head of engineering. “Having Jake onboard has been great. We have a dream team pushing development forward, especially from an automation perspective. We are moving forward constantly and have never been better positioned.”

Freight Farms Greenery calendula

Crispr tomatoes

“We’re always pushing forward on collaborative research, and recently worked with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as they explored how seed genetics and vertical farming can work together for efficiencies in food production, especially in confined environments. Our farm was used to create optimal growing conditions to unlock unique characteristics of their gene-edited tomato seeds,” McNamara states. The launch of the Greenery last year has proven to be more powerful with 70% more linear growing room in the same 320 sq. footprint as its flagship farm. “The interior flexibility of the Greenery supports efficient growth of more than 500 varieties of crops, and farmers are able to increase yield overall. With our integrated IoT platform farmhand, these farms will only continue to be more efficient.”

Freight Farms Greenery stacked crane lot

Investment

In February the company raised $15 million in their series B funding led by Ospraie Ag Science. McNamara says, “Ospraie Ag Science is a great investor and focused on agricultural and environmental sciences. It’s important for us to have our mission in line with whomever we work with on the investment side. We are using the funding to push ongoing technology development for our growing customer community.” “The partnership with Sodexo was a milestone moment for the company. By being a key player in their foodservice program, integration of our Greenery farms onto more campuses across the country will accelerate.” “It’s an important time to invest in agtech and to empower food production on a local level everywhere.”

For more information:
Freight Farms
www.freightfarms.com 

Publication date: Wed 29 Apr 2020
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© 
HortiDaily.com

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Vertical Field's New Portable Farms Are Making The World More Sustainable - And Better Fed

Vertical Field’s Urban Crops offers an ideal alternative to traditional agriculture, especially in urban settings where space is scarce. The soil-based platform can grow hundreds of types of crops – pesticide-free, indoors or outdoors – and requires no training to operate

REVIVING URBAN LIFE – AN INNOVATIVE SOIL-BASED INDOOR

VERTICAL FARM THAT BRINGS THE PRODUCTION OF FOOD

TO THE PLACE IT IS CONSUMED  

• Consistent Supply

• Reduces Inventory Waste

• Less Human Handling

• More Sterile Environment

APRIL 28, 2020, New York/Rana’na, Israel

Urban areas contain more than half the world’s population and contribute to some 70% of the planet’s energy emissions. Cities guzzle the bulk of Earth’s resources and produce more waste. Many residents live in “urban food deserts.” And buildings are literally making their occupants sick.

Our planet is home to some 7.7 billion people. In many places, hunger is a reality. Unpredictable climate patterns are threatening the availability and stability of fresh produce. Yet the global population is rising. How will we feed the world by the mid-21stcentury, when an expected 10 billion of us need food? And now in-light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the food supply chain is in jeopardy more than ever before -- the need to bring food easier and faster directly to consumers is more important than ever.

One revolutionary agro-tech company, Vertical Field (www.verticalfield.com), is harnessing the power of geoponic technology, agricultural expertise, and smart design to tackle all of these issues and more. The Israeli startup – cited by Silicon Review as a “50 Innovative Companies to Watch in 2019” and named by World Smart City in 2019 as “Best Startup” – produces vertical agricultural solutions that help the environment, improve human health conditions, cut down on human handling, reduce waste, and make fresh, delicious and more produce available 365 days a year locally and directly to consumers and other end users.

“Vertical Fields offers a revolutionary way to eat the freshest greens and herbs, by producing soil-based indoor vertical farms grown at the very location where food is consumed,” said Vertical Field’s Chief Executive Officer, Guy Elitzur of Ra’anana, Israel who is hoping to place his ‘vertical farms’ in retail chains and restaurants establishments in cities throughout the US.

Vertical Field’s Urban Crops offers an ideal alternative to traditional agriculture. The soil-based platform can grow hundreds of types of crops – pesticide-free, indoors or outdoors – and requires no training to operate.

“Not only do our products facilitate and promote sustainable life and make a positive impact on the environment, we offer an easy to use real alternative to traditional agriculture. Our Urban farms give new meaning to the term ‘farm-to-table,’ because one can virtually pick their own greens and herbs at supermarkets, restaurants or other retail sites,” he adds.

Vertical Field’s Urban Crops offers an ideal alternative to traditional agriculture, especially in urban settings where space is scarce. The soil-based platform can grow hundreds of types of crops – pesticide-free, indoors or outdoors – and requires no training to operate. 

From Wall to Fork

Vertical farming in cities is an energy-efficient, space-saving, farming alternative to traditional crops grown in acres and fields. Thanks to Vertical Field, everyone from city planners and architects to restaurants, supermarkets, hotels are using vertical farming to create lush, green edible spaces in congested areas around the world. 

Portable Urban Farm

An alternative to the living wall is Vertical Field’s unique Vertical Farm®, which can be placed in either a 20-ft or 40-ft. container equipped with advanced sensors that provide a controlled environment. This technology constantly monitors, irrigates, and fertilizes crops throughout every growth stage. Healthy, high-quality fruits and vegetables flourish in soil beds that contain a proprietary mix of minerals and nutrients.

Vertical Urban Crops by Vertical Field

Advantages of Vertical Field’s Vertical Farm:

● Bug-free and pesticide-free – healthy, fresh, and clean produce

● Less waste – uses 90% less water

● Shorter growing cycles, longer shelf life

● Plants are “in season” 365 days/year - grow whatever you want, no matter the weather or climate conditions of the geography

● Consistent quality

● Modular, expandable, and moveable farm

● Automated crop management

● More Sterile Environment

● Less Human Contact

Creating a more sustainable way of life in cities across the globe has never been more urgent. Vertical Field is responding to the challenge today. Green cities will enrich life in urban areas, provide healthier and better food, and shorten the distance between consumers and their food. 

About Vertical Field: 

Vertical Field is a leading agro-tech provider of vertical farming and living green wall solutions for urban environments and smart cities. The company is operated by professionals, agronomists, researchers, and a multi-disciplinary team, enabling the development of smart walls that combine the best of design and manufacturing, smart computerized monitoring, soil-based technology, water and lighting technology and more. Vertical Field delivers next-generation vertical farming systems for a global clientele, including Facebook, Intel, Apple, Isrotel, Microsoft, and many more.

For more information:
Vertical Field
www.verticalfield.com

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Podcast Agency FullCast Launches Vertical Farming Podcast with David Farquar of Intelligent Growth Solutions

The vertical farming industry must 'take a hard look at itself' before it fulfills its promise of reliable, quality food, produced affordably and sustainably, says one of its leading figures

NEWS PROVIDED BY

FullCast 

May 06, 2020

MINNEAPOLIS, May 6, 2020, /PRNewswire/ -- In the inaugural interview of the Vertical Farming Podcast, David Farquhar, CEO of Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS), says Covid-19 has prompted a spike in interest in vertical farming, as retailers and governments scramble to improve supply chain resilience and lower their reliance on imported food.

The vertical farming industry must 'take a hard look at itself' before it fulfills its promise of reliable, quality food, produced affordably and sustainably, says one of its leading figures.

Vertical Farming Podcast produced by FullCast

"But it will be fascinating to see what changes last on the back of this pandemic," he says. "To what degree are we willing to invest to prepare ourselves to survive another one? We're working with a lot of governments to think about how this might happen."

"Yes, there are huge opportunities, but let's be realistic. Vertical farming and indoor agriculture are young; making them work is a marathon task. Anyone who says otherwise is lying."

"In three decades in the tech sector, I've never seen anything that's attracted so much interest nor created so much misinformation."

"A lot of people are telling a lot of lies. The industry must grow up. Many commentators and participants within the industry feel the same."

A former British Army officer, Farquhar announced on the podcast that he's committing the company to openly publish all its data – energy consumption, water usage, and nutrient utilization – from its 'in a box' vertical farming systems, in a bid to demonstrate the industry-wide honesty and transparency that he believes is so sorely needed.

Headquartered in Scotland, IGS is currently working with commercial and government groups across Australasia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and North America. Farquhar was interviewed for the first episode of Vertical Farming Podcast, a new show produced by FullCast and hosted by Harry Duran. Harry has launched VFP to engage with the leaders, founders, and visionaries of the evolving vertical farming industry, to bring their insights and knowledge to a wider audience.

Farquhar kicks off a line-up of guests that includes Agritecture's Henry Gordon-Smith, Freight Farms founder John Friedman, and AgTech journalist Louisa Burwood-Taylor of AgFunderNews.

Listeners are invited to subscribe today at: https://verticalfarmingpodcast.com

Contact Information

Company: FullCast
Contact Name: Harry Duran
Email: harry@verticalfarmingpodcast.com
Phone: +1-323-813-6570
Address: 340 S Lemon Ave #5557 Walnut, CA 91789
Website: https://verticalfarmingpodcast.com

SOURCE FullCast

Related Links

http://fullcast.co

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Vertical Farms: The Height of Sustainability In A Post-COVID World

Vertical farms are innovative soil-based indoor farms that bring production of food to the location where it is consumed: supermarkets, local distribution sites, and restaurants

Among the many indelible images of the COVID-19 crisis have been the photos of mountains of surplus produce rotting in fields while millions of Americans go hungry. Urban areas are especially hard hit as supply chains are disrupted due to coronavirus fallout.

Vertical farms are innovative soil-based indoor farms that bring production of food to the location where it is consumed: supermarkets, local distribution sites, and restaurants.

Vertical Field, an Israeli start-up, has a container up and running at a Poughkeepsie, New York, restaurant and arriving soon at Evergreen supermarket in Monsey, N.Y. Its global clientele for its next-gen vertical farming systems includes Facebook, Intel, Apple, Isrotel, Microsoft, and many more.

Benefits include: 

  • Consistent Supply

  • Reduced Inventory Waste

  • Less Human Handling

  • More Sterile Environment

  •  Modular, expandable, and moveable farm

  •  Bug-free and pesticide-free – healthy, fresh, and clean produce

  •  Uses 90% less water

  • For more information:

    Vertical Field
    www.verticalfield.com

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May 6th, 2020 16:00 CEST Webinar Series 'Eat This' by World Horti Center

World Horti Center and NethWork collaborate in giving a follow up to the exhibition ‘Countryside – The Future’ initiated by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, that was opened on February 20 in the Guggenheim Museum in New York

World Horti Center and NethWork collaborate in giving a follow up to the exhibition ‘Countryside – The Future’ initiated by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, that was opened on February 20 in the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The exhibition among others features the current and future developments in food production, especially what is happening in greenhouses.

Webinar sessions
The exhibition is currently closed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the production of cherry tomatoes in a closed, high tech production unit, situated in front of the museum on Fifth Avenue, continues. Right in the center of the world and the epicenter of the pandemic. The unit, therefore, is a great metaphor and catalyst in the discussion on the consumption of healthy food, produced in a sustainable and affordable way. Therefore, World Horti Center (WHC) took the initiative to facilitate, in cooperation with foundation NethWork, a new series of online events.

Thought leaders
During weekly webinar sessions, thought leaders in the field of food will share their vision on (the future of) healthy food. The kick-off takes place on Wednesday 6 May, 16.00 hrs CEST and features architect Rem Koolhaas, initiator of the exhibition ‘Countryside – The Future’. He will be assisted by Clemens Driessen, a philosopher at Wageningen UR. Both gentlemen will share their vision on current developments and the future of horticulture in the Netherlands and beyond. You can register for the first webinar here

Eat This
This webinar series, named ‘Eat This’ is a close collaboration between NethWork and World Horti Center. Both organizations want to connect the horticultural sector with the world beyond horticulture. Renee Snijders and Ed Smit of NethWork will present these weekly webinar sessions. After the inaugural session with Rem Koolhaas, 9 webinars will follow. Additional details on guests and themes will follow soon.

For more information:
World Horti Center Europa 1
2672 ZX  Naaldwijk
Netherlands
+31 (0)174 385 600
info@worldhorticenter.nl
www.worldhorticenter.nl

NethWork 
www.nethwork.info

Publication date: Wed 29 Apr 202

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Top 26 Vertical Farming Companies

Carnegie Mellon University is among a number of organizations that have developed integrated systems for vertical farming. CMU’s version is called ACESys, short for Automation, Culture, Environment, and Systems Model for Vertical Farming

MAY 3, 2019

BY MAI TAO

The phrase “vertical farming” probably doesn’t need to be explained even though it’s quite new. But anyway, vertical farming refers to the practice of producing fruits and vegetables vertically, in stacked layers, perhaps on many floors inside a building, using artificial lights instead of the sun, and a whole range of relatively new technologies.

The two main reasons why it’s a much-discussed topic now is because:

  1. There are a number of startup companies emerging in the sector and attracting tens of millions of dollars in investment; and

  2. More people live in cities than do in rural areas, a global trend which seems irreversible, and this means that the demand for fresh produce will increase in urban areas, and bringing the production closer to the consumer would make sense.

The third thing we could have added is that there is a range of new technologies available now that make vertical farming in urban areas cost-effective and possibly profitable. But we already mentioned that.

Some of these technologies have been available for some time, decades even, but they were probably too expensive in the past to make vertical farming a viable business proposition.

The key technologies in vertical farming include:

  • perception technologies – cameras and other sensors which can monitor for color and other factors, such as disease;

  • artificial intelligence – which can process the data from the sensors and formulate solutions;

  • automated and even autonomous mechatronics – robots and other automated machines that pick the produce when it is ready for market, or apply cures to ailments during their growing.

The above list is a very simple breakdown of the fundamental technologies that will be required to, basically, reduce to a minimum or even eliminate the need for human involvement.

If vertical farms are run like traditional greenhouses, there would be too much human input required and it probably would not be profitable.

It’s the new automation technologies that will make it work.

Carnegie Mellon University is among a number of organizations that have developed integrated systems for vertical farming. CMU’s version is called ACESys, short for Automation, Culture, Environment, and Systems Model for Vertical Farming.

An academic paper probably worth checking out is called Advances in greenhouse automation and controlled environment agriculture: A transition to plant factories and urban agriculture.

In their introduction to the paper, the authors note: “Greenhouse cultivation has evolved from simple covered rows of open-fields crops to highly sophisticated controlled environment agriculture facilities that projected the image of plant factories for urban farming.

“The advances and improvements in CEA have promoted scientific solutions for the efficient production of plants in populated cities and multi-story buildings.”

So the interest in the field is strong and most people seem to think it’s a viable business proposition.

And to underline the positivity about the sector, Research and Markets forecasts the vertical farming market will grow to a value of $3 billion by 2024, from virtually nothing now.

However, not everyone is convinced, and some people have dismissed the whole idea as a scam. They say it won’t work, will be too expensive, and not be able to yield enough to provide adequate returns on investment.

But in some sectors, such as marijuana production, indoor farming is providing a strong foundation for healthy profits, although we are not encouraging that sort of thing – this article is more about produce such as lettuce and other healthy vegetables and fruit, usually found in greengrocers.

Anyway, whatever we or anyone else thinks of the prospects, there are a large number of companies which have entered the field and we thought it would a good idea to make a list of them.

It’s a very new business sector, so this list is not ordered on any scientific basis – just 20 companies that are notable and active.

We’re not going to include Samsung for now even though it’s been on this website recently for demonstrating a home vertical farming product. The reason is that vertical farms are currently not central to Samsung’s business by any stretch of the imagination, although the company may have a contribution to make to the sector going forward.

1. AeroFarms

This company has won many plaudits for its operation and uses its own patented “aeroponic technology… to take indoor vertical farming to a new level of precision and productivity with minimal environmental impact and virtually zero risk”.

The company has raised at least $138 million in funding since launch in 2004, according to CrunchBase. Some of its backers are quite impressive, as this article in Ag Funder News reports.

The term “aeroponic” farming refers to the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an earth-like material, which is known as “geoponics”.

Aeroponic systems enable the production of plants using 95 percent less water, which is what AeroFarms says it does.

2. Plenty

Although Plenty doesn’t make seem to mention aeroponics on its website, it’s difficult to see how it can reduce the water consumption of its vertical farms by 95 percent, as it claims to do, without the air-and-mist system as described above.

Like the other big vertical farming companies on this list, Plenty is another one that retails its produce, which include kale and other greens, as well as some exotic herbs.

Plenty is probably the biggest company in terms of the amount of money it has raised in funding – approximately $226 million, according to CrunchBase.

3. Green Spirit Farms

Green Spirit Farms started raising money as early as 2013, but has not disclosed the amounts. Area Development reported that the company was investing $27 million in a vertical farm system in Pennsylvania, which would suggest it’s well-financed.

However, given that it doesn’t seem to have a website of its own, it’s difficult to say what its current and future activities are with full confidence. Owler estimates its annual revenues to be $1.2 million.

4. Bowery Farming

You’d think any farming startup of any kind would steer clear of everything that’s genetically modified, but the fact that Bowery makes a point of saying it uses “zero pesticides and non-GMO” seeds might suggest that some vertical farming companies don’t have the same ideas.

Having raised more than $140 million in investment since inception in 2015, Bowery has carefully developed a distribution network in the US. Its leafy greens are available to buy in Whole Foods Market and Foragers. It also supplies a number of restaurants and sells online.

It doesn’t look like Bowery supplies its platform to other companies, even though some might be interested in its claims, such as 95 percent less water usage than traditional agriculture; 100 times more productive on the same amount of land, and from harvest to shelf “within a few days”.

5. BrightFarms

Another of the big-money startups, BrightFarms has so far raised more than $112 million since its establishment in 2010, according to CrunchBase.

But unlike some of the other big companies, it isn’t into aeroponics as much. It seems more interested in hydroponics, which refers to growing plants with water, or, to be more accurate, mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent.

Neither aquaponics nor hydroponics use soil. How each one compares in terms of quality, efficiency, and profitability will probably only become clear a few years from now when we see how well these companies have done. Chances are they’ll all probably use a mix of systems.

BrightFarms has a long list of impressive-sounding partners, including Giant, Walmart, and Metro Market, among others.

6. Gotham Greens

This company is one of many who have started up in the New York area. Strange to say it about such a new sector, but the market for vertical farming produce may be saturated – in that city at least.

Gotham Greens has so far raised at least $45 million since its launch in 2011. It has four production-scale facilities, in New York City and in Chicago, and plans for more in several other states.

And, like BrightFarms, it’s more of a proponent for the hydroponic method, although it may well eventually mix it all up and try different approaches in different facilities.

7. Iron Ox

This company appears to use robotics perhaps more than the others, in the picking process at least and claims to operate fully autonomous indoor farming. It too is a proponent of hydroponics and is a retail-oriented company.

Its products are similar to the others’ – leafy greens such as lettuce and kale or things like that. It’s one of the newer startups on the list so a lot might change.

Iron Ox has only recently started supplying its products to local markets in California. The company has so far raised over $6 million in funding, according to CrunchBase.

8. InFarm

Most of the above companies are US-based, but there are also numerous vertical farming startups in Europe and Asia. InFarm is based in Berlin, Germany, and has so far raised approximately $35 million in investment.

The company appears to be going into the exotic herbs market, including Thai basil, Peruvian mint and such like. But it’s also growing fairly common herbs such as dill, basil, sage and so on.

It doesn’t say on its website whether it uses hydroponic or aeroponic systems, but it does claim to use 95 percent less water, which would suggest it uses at least one of those. However, it says it uses 75 percent less fertilizer, which might suggest it mixes earth-based processes into its technology. Most likely, it uses a hydropic system.

9. AgriCool

French vertical farm startup uses an aeroponic system to grow fruit and vegetables. It appears to like strawberries more than other produce. Not a bad idea since strawberries are hugely popular in France, which has a massive traditional agriculture industry.

AgriCool says its aim is to be within 20 km of its customers and offers a program called “Cooltivator”, through which customers can learn how to use its technology and possibly become producers and distributors themselves.

So far, AgriCool has more than $41 million in funding since its launch in 2015, according to VentureBeat. The company also uses shipping containers as “Cooltainers” in which its aeroponic farms can be set up.

10. CropOne

While we couldn’t immediately find how much funding CropOne has raised, we did find that it has signed a $40 million joint venture agreement with Emirates Airlines to build what is described as “the world’s largest vertical farming facility” in Dubai, UAE.

It follows, perhaps, that it will eventually supply a lot of its produce to Emirates Airlines for its flight passengers.

CropOne, founded in 2011, claims to use just 1 percent of the amount of the water required by traditional agriculture, using a hydroponic system. It’s also big on big data, with “millions of data points collected each day” about its plants, which are mainly edible leafy greens.

11. Illumitex

Halfway through this list, and we feel the need to chill out, and what better way to relax than write about Illumitex, which supplies LED lights – light-emitting diodes – which are popular among cannabis growers.

Of course, all sort of other companies uses LED lights, but Illumitex’s biggest customers are probably in the dope sector.

LED lights are claimed to use 90 percent less energy than incandescent lighting and 60 percent less than fluorescent lighting. This energy efficiency – and, therefore, lower cost – is a critical factor in the likelihood of making profits in vertical farming being quite high.

Lights supplied by Illumitex, founded in 2005, are installed in some of the world’s largest vertical farms. 

Osram, a massive manufacturer of lighting equipment, also produces lights specifically for vertical farming applications and is certainly worth a mention in this article. 

12. PodPonics

Not much information is immediately available about this company, but according to the Angel investment website, it raised almost $5 million in 2014, which is a long ago in startup terms.

The company constructed a vertical farming facility in and is said to be doing something similar in the Middle East. However, without being able to find the company’s website, we can’t really say much more.

13. Surna

Getting even closer to the “demon weed”, this company specializes in providing water-efficient solutions for indoor cannabis cultivation and counts more than 800 grow facilities as clients and partners.

The company appears to use hydroponic systems in the main, but given its long client list, it probably installs a variety of technologies, depending on the customers’ requirements.

Surna is based in Boulder, Colorado, one of the first states to decriminalize cannabis, now at the center of a flourishing industry. However, the company says it can grow anything anywhere, including “potatoes on Mars”.

14. Freight Farms

Rather like AgriCool, Freight Farms manufactures a product called the “Greenery”. As its name suggests anyway, Freight Farms provides shipping containers modified as hydroponic indoor farms – the Greenery.

In fact, Freight Farms claims to be the world’s leading manufacturer of container farming technology and provides ready-made or “turnkey” container farms. Or plug-and-play maybe.

As you might expect, these farms can be managed through smartphones. The company has a whole range of tech solutions built around its central product.

Freight Farms has so far raised almost $15 million in funding since its founding in 2010, according to Owler.

15. Voeks Inc

Voeks Inc, a US company, appears to have no connection with a similarly named company, called Voeks, in the Netherlands, Europe – that one seems to be for former employees of Shell.

Voeks Inc provides a range of services including for vertical farms, mostly in the areas of heating and irrigation systems, as well as nutrient delivery.

Its client list includes some big names, such as Monsanto, Syngenta, and Bayer, which is in the process of taking over Monsanto.

16. SananBio

SananBio provides vertical farming solutions that mainly involve the hardware, such as the lights and the platforms.

Backed by significant scientific research and development units, the company is one of the leading suppliers of vertical farm systems in Asia and is expanding in the US.

It emphasizes hydroponic equipment on its website, but it’s likely that it customizes its solutions depending on its clients’ requirements.

Interestingly, Sanan claims to be the largest LED chip manufacturer in the world, and we’ve already mentioned how crucial LED lights are to indoor farming.

17. HelioSpectra

Talking about LED lights, which basically replace sunlight, HelioSpectra is one of the leading suppliers in the indoor farming market, with a big client base from the cannabis growing sector.

But HelioSpectra isn’t all into growing cannabis, however. The company’s lights are also used to grow a variety of lettuce types, tomatoes, and peppers, among other fresh produce.

18. Agrilution

Back to a complete vertical farming systems supplier, but with a couple of slight differences. Not only because Agrilution is European – German, to be more precise – but also because it supplies what it describes as a “personal vertical farming ecosystem”.

In other words, its “PlantCube” product can be installed into the average home, taking up a similar amount of space as a dining table or large fish tank.

Perhaps similar to the product being tested by Samsung, Agrilution’s PlantCube uses a hydroponic process.

19. Altius Farms

Specializing in aeroponic systems, Altius provides what it calls “tower gardens” among its products. Just imagine a multi-level plant pot and you’ll get the idea.

The company integrates its farms into a variety of urban spaces, from schools to urban youth centers and veterans’ homes, sometimes on rooftops, sometimes at ground level.

Altius looks more like a social venture than a private enterprise, and we couldn’t immediately find whether it has raised any equity finance.

20. Badia Farms

Vertical farms are the culmination of emerging technology in a relatively new market, so there’s bound to be many companies claiming to be the “first” or “biggest”, and of course “revolutionary”.

Badia Farms claims to be building the Middle East’s Gulf states’ first indoor vertical farm, in readiness to supply “micro-greens and herbs” to top restaurants in places such as Dubai.

The company’s multi-story greenhouse will use the hydroponic method for growing and already boasts a prestigious client base.

21. Intelligent Growth Solutions

Another vertical farming specialist, also with an eye on the Middle East, Intelligent Growth Solutions is actually a Scottish company.

Interestingly, IGS claims to be increasing LED efficiency by a further 50 percent, which would give it a big advantage since lighting is probably the single biggest cost in indoor farming systems.

The company also emphasizes automation in its solutions, saying that its towers and the overall system uses robotics and is reducing labor costs by up to 80 percent.

22. FarmOne

FarmOne’s main facility is installed in the basement of a posh restaurant in Manhattan, the two-Michelin-starred Atera. The company has used this as a platform to launch across the US and now partners with numerous fine restaurants in many states.

FarmOne uses the hydroponic method and provides smartphone apps for managing the facility, which can either be a ready-made, off-the-shelf solution or tailor-made for the individual customer.

The company has raised at least $5 million since 2017.

23. Sky Greens

This company is headquartered in Singapore, which about the size of Manhattan and yet has a huge influence in the South-east Asian economy. The city-state may have one of the busiest seaports in the world, but its residents would probably prefer to buy locally-grown leafy greens and herbs if available.

Sky Greens uses a patented system that integrates a range of hydraulics to build very tall structures – 9 meters with 38 tiers of growing troughs – which can use hydroponic or soil-based processes.

24. Spread

This Japanese company was one of the first vertical farming startups covered by Robotics and Automation News when we started three years ago, and the company’s latest projects include what is described as “the world’s largest plant factory”.

It has big-time partners as well, including telecommunications giant NTT, with which it jointly developed an internet of things platform for its facilities, which inevitably use artificial intelligence as well.

The company actually started in 2007, which makes one of the older vertical farming companies. The financing at the time amounted to just $1 million, which is small in comparison to newer startups.

25. Sasaki

More of a property developer than a vertical farming company. However, this company does at least attempt to negate the effect of taking over arable farming land by constructing buildings that provide indoor farming opportunities.

Among its projects is one called “Sunqiao Urban Agricultural District”, covering an area of approximately 100 hectares, located between Shanghai’s main airport and the city center. The development is said to designed to integrate vertical farming systems that could provide products such as spinach, kale, bok choi, watercress, and so on.

26. Urban Crop Solutions

This Belgian startup, specializing in “leafy greens”, offers ready-made solutions for indoor farming, and compares its process to “traditional” methods, in which the growth process takes 70 days, and “greenhouse”, which takes 40-50 days.

The company’s “urban” solution grows crops in just 21 days.

It also provides custom solutions to meet clients’ requirements.

The company hasn’t disclosed how much investment it has received, but ther’re certainly has been enough for it to market and sell its solutions, and its first solutions were sold in Belgium, the US, Canada, and Sweden. It also made its first sale in China last year.

The company contacted Robotics and Automation News directly and described itself as follows:

“Urban Crop Solutions develops tailor-made indoor vertical farming solutions for its clients. These systems are turnkey, robotized, and able to be integrated into existing production facilities or food processing units.”

High on life

We’re not the only ones enthusiastic about vertical farming. The US Department of Agriculture is offering grants to research initiatives in the sector.

We’ve tried to concentrate on companies that provide complete solutions in this list, rather than individual components, such as lighting or watering systems, and so on, although some of them are included.

However, it’s difficult to say how the above companies will evolve over the next year or two. Some of them may find that it’s more feasible for them to scale down and provide components rather than complete systems.

Hopefully, they won’t disappear completely because it seems like a good idea to have indoor farms in urban areas so that healthy leafy greens are within reach for city dwellers who are currently on a diet of greasy fast food.

Perhaps the availability of fresh produce will provide a platform for new types of healthier fast-food joints.

And speaking of joints, dude

Late edits: It’s been brought to our attention by the people at Future Crops that their vertical farm is “probably one of the largest 10 in the world in terms of growing and producing surface” – their words.

The Dutch company appears to use a combination of hydroponic and aeroponic systems to grow popular herbs such as dill, parsley, oregano, and others.

It has also been brought to our attention by AEssenceGrows, a vertical farming company operating in Silicon Valley, that it has been providing both fresh produce and cannabis growers with an “automated precision approach to aeroponics indoor growing”.

The company says: “Our system uses sensors and advanced software to make aeroponics, with all its inherent benefits, an attractive and viable option.” 

Another late addition is Kalera, which last year opened the first hydroponic HyCube growing center on the premises of the Orlando World Center Marriott.

Kalera is now scaling operations to include a new growing facility in Orlando, which will have the capacity to produce upwards of 5 million heads of lettuce per year.

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Vertical Farms See Surge In Demand For Greens Grown Indoors

Indoor, urban vertical farms — which grow produce in warehouses with tightly controlled climate and light conditions — are seeing a surge in demand that could signal a lasting change in how we get our fruits and vegetables

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Kim Hart

Apr 22, 2020

Indoor, urban vertical farms — which grow produce in warehouses with tightly controlled climate and light conditions — are seeing a surge in demand that could signal a lasting change in how we get our fruits and vegetables.

Why it matters: "People are more concerned about who is handling their food, where it's coming from, how many stops did it have before hitting the shelves," said Irving Fain, CEO of Bowery Farming.

  • "Those were always things people cared about, but this situation has amplified them and increased attention and focus on those variables."

The big picture: While the majority of people now live in cities, very little of our food is produced there.

  • COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in supply-chain logistics. Food packaging plants and farms have shut down due to sick workers, and trucking routes have been disrupted by lockdowns. Harvests are being left to rot in the fields.

How it works: Indoor farming generally consists of columns of vertically stacked growing trays in large warehouses.

  • Using artificial light, algorithm-controlled water and climate settings, and automated soil and nutrient monitoring, plants can be grown much faster than in outdoor farms and without pesticides.

  • The produce is harvested with fewer workers than a typical farm needs, and the growing season never ends.

  • Produce is then shipped to local stores, usually within a 200-mile radius of the farm.

Bowery has two farms in Kearny, New Jersey, near New York City. The company sells its leafy greens and herbs in stores in the tri-state area.

  • It has opened a third farm outside Baltimore that serves the Washington, D.C., metro area as well as Pennsylvania and Delaware.

  • Business has more than doubled with some online distributors and is up between 25% and 50% in stores.

The other coast: Plenty grows leafy greens mixes, arugula, and kale in an indoor vertical farm just outside San Francisco. CEO Matt Barnard said the company has more than doubled its shipments since the coronavirus outbreak began.

  • "When this crisis started, the demand immediately jumped," he said. "We've sustained a high rate of production relative to before the crisis, and we've been increasing it week over week."

  • Barnard said the surge in demand has accelerated the company's plans to open additional farms, but he declined to say when and where.

  • The company plans to start growing berries next.

Both companies say they are delivering food directly to local food pantries.

Reality check: Without a significant infusion of capital, vertical farms won't be cropping up in every city anytime soon. They're expensive both to get up and running and to operate, with high energy costs in order to power thousands of LED lights and sophisticated ventilation systems.

  • They also have to keep prices competitive, particularly after the coronavirus crisis ends and consumers are not quite so willing to fork over extra cash for quality produce.

  • The other problem: Many vertical farms have started with leafy greens, but they'll need to expand to a much wider variety of fruits and vegetables to be a viable, large-scale source of food.

  • “It’s hard to feed the world with lettuce, kale, and arugula," Erik Kobayashi-Solomon, founder of IOI Capital, told the FT last year.

Between the lines: Vertical farms aren't the only way locally grown fruits and vegetables are getting a boost in the wake of COVID-19.

  • On Yelp, community-supported agriculture operations in the U.S. have seen daily consumer actions — meaning any action taken to connect with a business, from viewing its profile to posting a photo or review — rise 579% since March 1, according to Yelp's most recent economic impact report. That's a bigger increase than any other type of business has seen over the same period.

  • Under quarantine, people have rushed to build their own backyard gardens, per HuffPost.

  • Some urban gardeners in Washington, D.C., are donating their entire harvests to a local nonprofit that helps underserved families.

    Lead Photo: Greens are grown at Bowery Farming, a vertical farm in Kearny, New Jersey. Photo: Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images.

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Meat And Veg Vending Machines Do Roaring Trade in Coronavirus Crisis

Vending machines for the Sunday roast, fish to your door and salads grown in car parks – British farmers and food producers are finding new ways to get their produce to the table during lockdown, changes that may yield benefits long after restrictions ease

Vending machines for the Sunday roast, fish to your door and salads grown in car parks – British farmers and food producers are finding new ways to get their produce to the table during lockdown, changes that may yield benefits long after restrictions ease.

Many UK farmers have been hard hit by the coronavirus crisis, despite the strong demand for fresh food. Before the lockdown, half of all food and drink was consumed outside the home, and switching from supplying big catering companies and distributors has been proving difficult.

But some farmers and food entrepreneurs are finding now is their time to shine, and the environmental benefits – and the profits – may encourage more to follow suit.

Two years ago Neil Stephen, from Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, invested in self-service vending machines dispensing everything from farmhouse cheese and shortbread (baked by his mother), to joints of meat, whole chickens and fresh fruit and vegetables.

He was inspired by his grandfather who, in the late 1970s, used to leave a wheelbarrow at the gates of the family farm filled with turnips and cabbages, and an honesty box for people to pay.

Now Stephen’s investment is paying off, as people are attracted to a hygienic system where the goods are neatly packaged in portions in a refrigerated unit, behind glass doors. They punch in the number, pay by card and the windows open for them to collect the goods.

Sales at Thorneybank Farm Shop are up fivefold, Stephen reports. “We were rushed off our feet. It’s worked phenomenally, it’s been stratospheric.”

The shop sells produce from neighboring farmers, too, with asparagus and strawberries coming from six miles away, and eggs and dairy from three miles down the road. They can make better profit margins than they would be selling to a big supermarket, without the hassle of door-to-door deliveries. The shop has a strong social media presence, and shoppers come from nearby Turriff town, while the city of Aberdeen is about 30 miles away.

Fishing is another industry hard hit by the Covid-19 crisis. In normal times, most of Britain’s catch is destined for overseas markets, from China to Spain, where the species commonly caught in UK waters appeal to consumers’ tastes. People in the UK have proved reluctant to move beyond cod, haddock and tuna, which mostly has to be imported.

The government has now announced £1m for English fishermen to set up new ways to sell their catch and find local markets. There are already schemes for distributing fresh-caught fish directly, such as SoleShare in London and Call4Fish, a service that operates from Berwickshire to Cornwall.

Food campaigners hope these services, where the fish on offer depends on what is caught by small boats, will encourage a more sustainable way of fishing, as consumers experiment with species less overfished than cod that might not previously have found a market.

One Londoner, Sebastien Sainsbury used to work in the investment banks that tower over Canary Wharf in London. Now he has a company, Plate to Crate, growing salad and other leafy greens in hydroponic towers in shipping containers, stacked up in air-conditioned units under heat lamps with conditions carefully monitored.

The containers seem more like labs than farms, with workers kitted out in protective gear, from boot shields to hairnets, to prevent pests getting in. As a result, lettuce, kale, pak choi and herbs are free from pesticides, insecticides and herbicides, and water use is 96% lower than in fields, with wastewater being used on local lawns.

The first harvest is due in May and, once all of the units are fully up and running, there could be 12 harvests a year, producing 15 to 18 tonnes from this site. Another will be producing soon in London’s Elephant and Castle, where a development of 3,000 homes will receive salad weekly from containers.

Sainsbury believes this is the future of fresh produce for fussy Londoners. “Younger people are more focused on where their food comes from, how fresh it is, what’s in it. This coronavirus crisis is an opportunity for us all to become aware of what we are eating.”

The Guardian | Fiona Harvey, Environment Correspondent | April 18, 2020

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Is Vertical Farming The Future of Agriculture?

We’ve seen the rise of numerous innovations designed to improve our world and mitigate issues that come with a rapidly expanding global population. Vertical farms are part of a rising influx of ‘urban agriculture,’ which allows food to be grown closer to large population points

We’ve seen the rise of numerous innovations designed to improve our world and mitigate issues that come with a rapidly expanding global population. Vertical farms are part of a rising influx of ‘urban agriculture,’ which allows food to be grown closer to large population points. Now more people are recognizing the value of vertical farming, although few people understand what it really is. It’s got a ton of benefits, but we still have to weigh those against other factors to really determine if vertical farming can take over the future of agriculture.

What is vertical farming?

Vertical farms can take many different shapes and sizes, but they operate the same at their cores. First of all, in vertical farm crops, they aren’t grown horizontally (which you may have gleaned from the name), but in a stacked or tower formation. In tower-style vertical farming, plants are grown upward, intertwining into the lattice or supporting structure. In the stacked method, the vertical ‘stacks’ are basically growing trays, supported by shelves on top of one another. Vertical farms are maintained in indoor areas using Controlled Environment Agriculture, or CEA, techniques, and technology. This means that the farmer can control everything from heating to humidity, to light and watering cycles.

Vertical farms don’t use soil to provide sustenance to the plants. Instead, they rely on hydroponics to deliver nutrients to the plants. In hydroponic growing, water is saturated with a nutrient solution and cycled through the growing trays that hold the plants. Some vertical farms use aeroponics to provide nutrients to the plants. Aeroponics is a form of hydroponics, but rather than using a ‘flow’ of water, the water is pushed through pressurized nozzles. This creates small droplets that are delivered directly to the plants’ roots. 

Many vertical farms are being established in homes, warehouses, multi-storied buildings, and specially designed constructions. In a lot of urban areas, vertical farms are being constructed and used as the new ‘rooftop garden’. The idea is to create a more ecological, accessible, and economical approach to mass food production.

What can be grown in a vertical farm?

Some crops, like grains, can be difficult to grow in closed, indoor systems such as a vertical farm. So for instance, wheat is not something that’s likely to thrive in a vertical farm. That being said, there are tons of plants and crops that flourish in vertical farms. The most common are leafy greens like spinach, kale, and lettuce because they grow quickly and produce large harvests without taking up much space.

Other vegetables (‘bulkier’ ones, if you will) can grow well in vertical farms if the environment is set up properly. Tomatoes have long been a favorite in vertical farms, and many vertical farms are also beginning to produce squash, peppers, and more.

Why choose vertical farming over traditional agriculture?

Vertical farming has plenty of advantages over traditional agriculture that makes it an attractive solution for food sourcing. First, and one of the biggest draws for the common populace toward vertical farming is how little space is needed in relation to the amount of crops that can be produced. By producing so much food in so little space, we’re able to free up a lot of land.

A company in Wyoming has even developed a vertical farm that produces the same amount of produce as a traditional farm while using only 1/10 of the space.

If we’re already using that land for farming, why should we convert to vertical farming?

We allow the soil to turn over more easily. Certain crops can be extremely draining on the nutrient contents of soil and have to be rotated with other crops simply to reinvigorate the soil. And depending on how quickly you see the population growing, that land just might come into high demand for housing or energy production. Just for reference, according to the UN, the population will be 9.7 billion by 2050, that’s up by 2.4 billion. And if you’re also paying attention to rising sea levels (you may have heard of certain states that will be losing some valuable coastline), arable land at higher elevations could become prime real estate.

Vertical farms also leverage more ecological techniques for farming.

Since almost all vertical farms use either hydroponics or aeroponics to sustain plants, there’s very little water usage (certainly in comparison to field agriculture). To put it into perspective, vertical farms typically use about 90% less water than soil farms. Some vertical farm innovators have even claimed that their farms use up to 98 or 99% less water.

Thanks to their inside locations, vertical farms have another advantage. They’re more or less protected against the threat of pests and contamination. That means a few things:

First, an entire crop won’t be destroyed as a result of pests and infestation. Second, pesticides and chemicals aren’t necessary since being indoors will eliminate the threat of pests. And third, since harmful chemicals aren’t being used, we’re protecting the surrounding ecosystem. Field agriculture can have a lot of negative impact on the environment around it when pesticides are used, and runoff goes into natural water sources. Vertical farms don’t have the possibility of creating this collateral damage.

Vertical farms also provide the possibility of a more centralized food production system. Right now, most food is transported across great distances to reach the stores where consumers then purchase it. That makes food more expensive, but it also means that we have to rely on fossil fuels. In turn, that means the ‘footprint’ on our food is higher since we’re producing more emissions to deliver it.

They can produce consistently, regardless of the season

Field agriculture is primarily a seasonal endeavor. There are summer crops, autumn crops, and so on, but you can’t grow it all at once. If you’re farming indoors with Controlled Environment Agriculture, as you’d do with a vertical farm, this becomes a non-issue. Farmers using CEA can consistently produce plentiful harvests year-round, without natural events disrupting their farm. Not only that, the harvests are predictable and reliable. This makes it easier to plan food production and deliver on the demand.

What does it take to make a vertical farm?

Vertical farms are different than other at-home farming and gardening systems. The way that vertical farms are being used today is mostly as large, commercial-scale food production sites. You can always implement vertical growing techniques at home, but to get a large scale facility built it takes a bit more to get it going. Some companies specialize in creating vertical farm systems, while others self-establish theirs. In either case, it can be a large (but worthy) endeavor. Plants aside, here are the main components of a vertical farm:

Space

Finding a large space to support a vertical farm is the first step in establishing one. Whether created out of a government initiative or by an entrepreneur, finding a space can be a process. While there are plenty of empty buildings around, they have to find one that can be converted with minimal cost. That means checking for structural damage, damp, proper insulation, proximity to reliable power, etc.

The equipment

Depending on the level of automation, the equipment will vary a bit. However, a vertical farm still needs plenty of supports to hold the plants, which will take up the bulk of the space alongside the plants. Then there need to be ventilation systems in place to prevent rot, fungus, and disease. In almost every instance there’s also going to be a heavy amount of artificial ‘grow’ lighting needed.

Then, hydroponic or aeroponic systems need to be set up to provide sufficient nutrients to the plants. The ways of setting the watering systems up can be very different. Some vertical gardens even use rotating racks (upon which the plants are held) that alternate plants through aeroponic cycles. Other vertical gardens use a more traditional hydroponic method, leaving the plants in place and putting them through ‘flood and drain’ cycles. 

The labor

This is by far the most neglected consideration of a vertical farm. Now, vertical farms are sustainable, efficient systems and a lot of automation contributes to their success. But no matter how advanced the automation and machine monitoring is, we can’t leave them unattended.

Vertical farms still need a set of human eyes (or several sets, ideally) keeping a lookout for plant health and potential machine errors. Workers often have to dress in protective clothing to prevent contamination to the plants, keeping that benefit of indoor agriculture. In some vertical farms the workers are responsible for more manual tasks (such as examining roots or testing samples), but all require at least some human help in their maintenance.

In fact, human labor is one of the largest components of a vertical farm. In comparison to soil agriculture, the amount of labor required still ranks as minimal. That being said, human labor is currently one of the top expenses in maintaining a vertical farm. Lighting is still number one, but the cost of human labor comes in as a close (and critically important) second.

Planned and Established Vertical Farms

Not everybody’s there yet, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t already successful vertical farms being created around the world. Just to add a little perspective, we should talk about a few really innovative ones worldwide. First, let’s talk about the next big up-and-comer, Dubai:

Dubai

Dubai is a country wherein a gross majority of its foodstuffs have to be imported (currently about 75%). In an effort to mitigate this costly but necessary process, a new vertical farm is in the works. The facility will be called Crop One, and feature 130,000 square feet (yes, that’s correct) of vertical farm space. The size is more than double any previously seen, and plans are in the works to develop solar energy programs to power it eventually.

Sunqiao, Shanghai

Sunqiao is an urban, agricultural district being planned in Shanghai, China. This project incorporates vertical gardens on a massive scale, showcasing agriculture that looks like a forested skyscraper. Plants will be grown in tall towers, floating greenhouses and gardens, green walls, and basically any other type of vertical or hydroponic growing you can imagine. These systems are becoming a popular solution to the growing demand of food production in China’s densely populated urban areas.

DakAkker, Rotterdam

This vertical farm is a rooftop system that began in 2012. The unique thing about this vertical farm is that not only does it support the urban area’s plant biodiversity, it also considers the issue of diminishing bee populations. It uses technology in an innovative solution called a ‘smart roof.’ Basically, the smart roof holds a greater water capacity than most vertical rooftop gardens, and employs a sensor to ensure plants receive an adequate water supply. Because bees are not only facing a survival crisis, but are also critical to pollination, there are six beehives also located on the roof.

What’s holding back the development of vertical farms?

The uptake on vertical farming is growing, although there are critics of the systems. Depending on the level of automation especially, vertical farms can have a fair cost with their set up. That being said, they don’t have to be expensive endeavors. A small, start-up vertical farm (we’re talking around 100 square feet or so) can cost a few thousand dollars to begin and run for a year. Even still, for the hobbyist gardener that can seem like a lot. 

While vertical farms do a good job of using only a small percentage of the water used in field agriculture, they have a lot more energy costs. Being indoor, these farms need supplemental heat, lighting (almost guaranteed to be the highest expense of a vertical farm), and plenty of regulation. Electric costs can be cut, but only if the farmer invests in solar technology to help power the vertical farm.

It’s also important to recognize that while we love innovation, as humans we’re pretty much creatures of habit. That means that outside of agriculture, infrastructure, and public works professions, a lot of people don’t see the need to construct new vertical farms. That’s especially true when we realize that no matter the source, they’re still getting their produce at the supermarket. Plus, a lot of people just plain don’t ‘get’ the point of vertical farms. As with anything else, unfamiliarity often breeds hesitancy.

What’s in the future of vertical farming?

Like anything else that uses technology, the future is likely to bring a lot of innovation and improvement. We can expect to see even greater efficiency, larger-scale farms, more technological additions, and (hopefully) a more widespread understanding of the value of vertical farms.

There are already systems in place that allow a high level of monitoring and control of these farms, even remotely. From apps to advanced computer programs that detail everything from humidity levels to expected crop production, the technology exists. What we can certainly expect is to see greater accuracy, and a greater influx of its use.

Vertical farms and hydroponic growing systems are much more common in some urban areas (such as cities in Asia) than in others (such as the United States). We can expect to see more vertical farms being established as time goes on. Some regions will adopt these farms more quickly, but worldwide they will gradually become more commonplace.

While vertical farms are already quite efficient compared to soil farming, the future of vertical farming is heavily invested inefficiency. As we innovate more with technology, efficiency naturally follows. For example, even our LED lighting (while already pretty efficient) is more advanced and efficient than only a few years ago. Our current LED lights are up to 40% more efficient than those produced in 2014. That’s a notable improvement for a few years’ time.

The next big increase in efficiency is likely to be in the overall energy consumption. Although still in the works, many companies are developing energy systems for vertical farms that either rely on solar energy or use solar energy to supplement power to the farms. 

So, can vertical farming takeover for traditional agriculture?

Well, that answer is kind of a mixed bag. In some ways, it already has. People are starting to recognize that the future of food production is changing. The future of food production is a great many things. And yes, vertical farming is one of them.

Here’s the thing:

We have a global situation where we’re faced with an inevitable ultimatum: evolve and flourish, or become obsolete. As we humans are pretty driven for survival, evolving and flourishing seems to be an attractive option. When we’re talking about the future of our agriculture, it’s far better to get ahead early rather than start too late. That means adopting new farming methods, like vertical farming, is going to be critical to our global well-being.

The Hydroponics Planet | By Oscar Stephens | March 7, 2019

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VIDEO: National Geographic - Earth Day - Jane Goodall

The sweeping documentary special highlights Dr. Goodall’s vast legacy of four decades transforming environmentalism, nonhuman animal welfare and conservation through her innovative approaches, becoming a worldwide icon.

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” —Jane Goodall

Join Jane Goodall as she travels the world, calling us all to activism on behalf of wildlife and the planet.

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Innovation Consulting Community Team Proposes Sustainable Farming Container At ISU

In just a few months, a team of motivated students put together a proposal to implement a shipping container farm on Illinois State’s campus

Evan Linden April 15, 2020 

NOTE: The photos in this story were taken before travel restrictions from coronavirus (COVID-19) were in place.

In just a few months, a team of motivated students put together a proposal to implement a shipping container farm on Illinois State’s campus.

“Self-motivation is impressive to employers,” said Marketing Professor Dr. Peter Kaufman, one of the founders of the Innovation Consulting Community (ICC)“Most students are taught one discipline in school, but world problems are interdisciplinary.” 

Kaufman and others founded the ICC in 2016 to provide students with hands-on experiences outside their classes. Each year, teams of students are matched with clients at companies and nonprofit organizations to help solve a current issue they are facing. “It’s a unique experience to tackle both profit and nonprofit projects,” said Kaufman. “This experience helps students enhance their skills all around and helps our clients find solutions.” 

This year, the ICC assigned 14 projects to 90 students representing 24 majors. One group of four students tackled an increasingly pressing issue: sustainable farming.

The students assembled in late October, mentored by Elisabeth Reed, director of the Office of Sustainability, and Dr. David Kopsell, assistant chair of and professor in the Department of Agriculture. Ryan Strange, a senior from Bloomington double majoring in business administration and small business management, led the team and collaborated with fellow students Joe Kennedy, Madison Steines, and Joe Quigley.

The project was inspired by the Boston company Freight Farms, urban agriculture innovators who create farms in shipping containers. Kopsell, who is familiar with growing systems, was brought in by Kaufman to be a horticulture mentor.

“I shared some of the ideas that I’d always wanted to investigate, and one that he really liked was the idea of writing a grant for a containerized growing system,” said Kopsell.

From there, the team focused on analyzing the benefits of a containerized growing system on campus.

“Our project was a feasibility study of the purchase of one of these units,” said Strange. “The unit itself is the technology necessary for hydroponic farming, and all of that goes inside an old freight container.”

The inside of a shipping container farm located in Champaign.

To see one of these units in action, the group visited a current model located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “The director there was a tremendous help,” said Strange. “He gave us many details about operations and risk management.” 

The team spent weeks finding the right contacts and establishing relationships in order to gather information for the project. “We built this huge network of different partnerships that helped us find out how we would finance this unit,” said Strange. 

According to Strange, the purchase of one of these units would cost $120,000, with recurring costs adding up to around $40,000 a year.

“I think the cost is within the reach of a grant program,” said Kopsell. “These containers can operate year-round and provide great teaching and learning tools.” 

Most importantly, the containers are both efficient and sustainable. Each container system can produce as much as one acre of field production —up to 13,000 plants depending on the crop. The efficient drip irrigation system uses five gallons of water per day, which is marginally less than a field. 

“This is really the forefront of innovation in terms of agricultural production,” said Strange. “It’s going to cut back on a lot of the carbon emissions from transporting the food. It’s really going to cut back on costs also because most of the costs for food come from transportation.” 

If installed on campus, the container system could be located next to the South University Street Garage.

Strange’s team presented its project at ICC’s annual symposium. In adherence with social distancing requirements, the symposium took place via Zoom on April 10.

Strange and his team noted that the ICC experience greatly benefited them as professionals. “It opens up a lot of doors and you have to teach yourself a lot,” said Strange. “Our mentors were definitely there for help, but it was mostly our group that set up all of the meetings and held ourselves to the deadlines. All of those things are fundamental skills that you’ll need when you move on to the professional workforce.”

Reed and Kopsell were impressed by the group’s work ethic and commitment.

“This student group was very well organized and stayed on task throughout the entire semester,” said Reed. “They communicated well with each other.”

“For me, this project represents the best of Illinois State University,” said Kopsell. “It allows students to find their passion and provides them an avenue to learn how to overcome challenges, solve problems, and make a difference.”

Students interested in participating in the Innovation Consulting Community for the next academic year can email innovationconsulting@IllinoisState.edu for more information.

Lead Photo: The ICC team visits a shipping container farm in Champaign. Pictured from left to right: Ryan Strange, Joe Quigley, Madison Steines, James Smith, Phoebe Naylon, Brennan Douglas, Alicia Chiakas, Aviv Zelniker, Max Snyderman, Bill Bagby with Central Illinois Produce, Dr. Eric Godoy, and Joe Kennedy

Filed Under Agriculture Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning College of Business Office of Sustainability

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Are Container Farms The Solution To The Coronavirus Food Supply Problem?

As people run to grocery stores to stock up on food and supplies during a time of quarantine, the $899 billion restaurant industry is collapsing, raising questions about the economic security of the nation’s food supply industry in the time of COVID-19

Pure Greens Arizona LLC

April 13, 2020

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As people run to grocery stores to stock up on food and supplies during a time of quarantine, the $899 billion restaurant industry is collapsing, raising questions about the economic security of the nation’s food supply industry in the time of COVID-19.

Dairy farms are already seeing the effects of nationwide school and restaurant closures in the wake of the coronavirus.

About one half of the normal demand for dairy has disappeared since the start of the United States’ social isolation period.

As a result, dairy farmers have had to throw out thousands of pounds of excess milk.

The agricultural side of the farming industry faces similar threats.

Food distributors and wholesalers are scrambling to redirect products from restaurants and other affected businesses to grocery stores.

But grocery stores desire different things than restaurants and schools, making it difficult to fully solve the problem.

Meanwhile, farm suppliers are racing to ship out fertilizers, seeds, and chemicals before the deadly virus disrupts the truck delivery industry.

Without these essential supplies, agriculture farmers won’t be able to produce enough food to meet demand in the States, especially as trade with other countries decreases.

The result could be a wide-scale food shortage.

Labor is also threatening agriculture as many field workers cannot afford to take time off, increasing potential for rapid spread throughout farms.

It’s a problem threatening to cause a significant labor shortage, lowering production and contributing to a potential food shortage.

Experts predict that our food security this fall and next year will be determined by how well these next harvests go.

With shortages in the food supply comes price gouging, leaving the world’s most vulnerable even more so.

The price of global food staples such as wheat and rice are already rising worldwide. Meanwhile, egg prices reached a record high in the US, as grocery stores reported a demand of six times the normal amount.

With more and more people facing unemployment and economic insecurity due to the effects of the global pandemic, increased food prices can make food insecurity worse.

Food security refers to the ability to obtain affordable, nutritious food.

In 2018, 5.6 million households in the US had very low food security.

Plus, as safety concerns skyrocket, consumers are becoming more conscious of how many hands have touched the food they’re about to take home and eat.

As a result, at-home solutions are seeming more appealing.

Since the beginning of March, Google searches for words related to gardening and hydroponics” have increased.

In this time of uncertainty, small-scale indoor farming, like container farms, could prove to be an emergency solution.

Container farms are small indoor farms built inside of repurposed shipping containers.

They have the potential to easily provide food to urban areas, which tend to have the highest populations of food-insecure households, as they don’t require any farmland, only electricity, water, and internet connections.

Container farms also won’t be too affected by labor problems, as they’re fairly self-sufficient, meaning it doesn’t require too many laborers to ensure a bountiful harvest.

Higher tech containers, like our Pure Greens Container Farms, use controlled environment agriculture technology that’s automated and controllable through a smartphone app.

This allows for a more hands-off approach than traditional agriculture.

It also means the growing environment simulates perfect conditions for crops, resulting in more consistent and reliable yields.

Container farms are also able to yield quite a lot while being compact in size, which could help ease some of the burden of a global food shortage.

We’ll have to wait to see how well the agriculture industry adjusts to the pandemic, but it’s worth it to be proactive by looking into possible solutions as soon as possible.

If you’re interested in learning more about starting your own container farm, visit our website or call us at 602–753–3469 to get started!

WRITTEN BY Pure Greens Arizona LLC

  • Pure Greens’ container-based grow systems offer a variety of interior layouts, sizes, and options so customers can create a farm that meets their needs.

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Clawson Greens Supplies This Snowy Tourist Town With Local Produce, Year-Round

Dave Ridill of Clawson Greens shares his farming unique experiences farming in snowy Tetonia, Idaho.

March 17, 2020

Dave Ridill of Clawson Greens shares his farming unique experiences farming in snowy Tetonia, Idaho.

Dave Ridill from Clawson Greens has made the impossible possible: in an area with a growing season that lasts less than three months (and is known for avalanches!), he has created a thriving year-round farming business that keeps surrounding restaurants flush with fresh greens even in the snowiest weather.

Download our interview with Dave to hear about his experiences!

CLAWSON GREENS WEBINAR

Or, keep reading to a re-cap of the webinar and Q&A with Dave.

Photo by Camrin Dengel, Teton Valley Magazine

Freight Farms: What’s the story behind your Freight Farms project?

Photo by Camrin Dengel, Teton Valley Magazine

Dave Ridill: Long story, short–my neighbors discovered Freight Farms while doing consulting work for Yosemite National Park. They were putting together a proposal for Yosemite to cut down on transportation costs and offer a new plan for food options inside the park. Yosemite didn’t end up going with their bid, so they approached me about starting a hydroponic farm business together. At the time, I was in the process of moving to Boston to go to paramedic school. However, after visiting Freight Farms, I decided to leave the Fire Department, where I was working at the time, and become a lettuce farmer. 

FF: Who do you sell to and how do you do it? 

DR: Our business model was focused on the restaurants in both Teton Valley and Jackson Hole, Idaho. The restaurant industry in our tourist town is booming. Despite highs and lows with seasonality, restaurants were the main focus in the inception of Clawson Greens.

We also tried a direct to consumer route (CSA) and the local natural food store. Due to time and labor increase, the CSA was not as profitable. We also have a very strong farmers market in both Teton Valley and Jackson so there was never a plan to try and compete with our local farmers. With an 85 day growing season, the local organic farmers already have a very short growing/selling season so adding another vendor to that market would just dilute an already competitive and small market. Our focus was on a market that no other local grower could tap into, year-round tourism. 

“Our focus was on a market that no other local grower could tap into, year-round tourism.”

— Dave Ridill

FF: Do you find that customers are willing to pay more for your premium product?

DR: This question reminds me of a meeting with the restaurant manager of our local pub. We sat down and looked over a year’s worth of invoices from his distributors and the price fluctuation that the seasons had. We also looked at his total costs after he factored in waste due to buying in bulk to get the best pricing. With price changes and waste, my higher-priced product that I guarantee was not much more expensive than Sysco. 

What I’m trying to say, is chefs will choose fresh local ingredients any day over large scale commercial produce. For them, it’s a selling opportunity: They market it by advertising the local farms/producers on their menus and have servers talk about the local products which are used in the specials. Consumers are willing to pay more for quality and to support local businesses.

“Chefs will choose fresh and local ingredients over large scale commercial produce any day. ”

Photo by Camrin Dengel, Teton Valley Magazine

— Dave Ridill

FF: How do you package your crops?

DR: From the start, Clawson Greens has made a point to not use single-use plastic clamshells or plastic bags. We use compostable corn-based bags for all our deliveries. On average, I put about 30 mini heads into 23-gallon compostable bags.

FF: What was the most challenging part of becoming a Freight Farmer and how were you able to overcome it?

DR: Becoming a Freight Farmer has many challenges much like starting any new business. There’s a steep learning curve but I enjoyed that process. The hardest part for me was understanding when to expand and how to grow with the business as it expanded. It was easy to transition from a full-time ski patroller to a part-time patrol/part-time farmer. However, as I added farms to grow the business, I found it hard to dive in and become a full-time farmer and business owner. 

Being thrown into the deep end of the pool overnight was the hardest and easiest way to become a business owner. When your only option is to sink or swim, you do everything you can to make it work. Failure was never an option so by taking that off the table, you’ve got one direction, forward! 

Implementing the ‘Profit First’ system is what really changed Clawson Greens. I went from a business that had money in the business account and was blindly throwing money around to pay bills, payroll and occasionally paying myself, to a business that knows exactly how much money to put towards operational expenses, taxes, owners’ compensation and most importantly, profit!

Photo by Camrin Dengel, Teton Valley Magazine

FF: What’s the best piece of advice you can give to people interested in becoming Freight Farmers?

DR: My advice is to hire the right people and acknowledge that you (the owner and operator) deserve to be paid accordingly.

“You are the one who puts in the most time, works late, lays awake at night thinking about the business.”

— Dave Ridill

This is where the profit-first system comes into play again. Being a farmer is hard, being a business owner is even harder. Being the owner and operator of a Freight Farm is very challenging and making a living at it can be a huge challenge. You can hire great employees but they will never go the extra mile that you the owner does. Over the past few years as an employer I’ve learned that you can teach people skills and procedures, but you can’t teach someone to care about your business. Only you can do that: you are the one who puts in the most time, works late, lays awake at night thinking about the business and at the end of the day, is the one who answers to whether the business is a success or failure. You need to pay yourself accordingly. Don’t start a business to make a living for someone else until you can make a living for yourself.  When you are ready to start hiring, find an employee that’s financially invested in the business. Their effort and quality of work has a direct impact on their income

Interested in learning more about Clawson Greens?

Hear how Dave created his thriving farming business in some of the harshest conditions in the U.S. when you sign up for our upcoming webinar!

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Coronavirus Is Teaching Us That Our Supply Chain Is Flawed

America’s supermarkets are the tip of an enormous iceberg that represents a complicated logistics network. On a good day, this system works

The world is unpredictable–the past few months have made this abundantly clear. Since January 2020, the global community has had to grapple with the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. The virus’s trajectory has been closely followed by drastic and disruptive measures around the world. Words like “social distancing”, “shelter in place”, and “quarantine” are new additions to our common lexicon and everyday reality. Businesses are shuttered, schools are closed, and the global economy is wobbling dangerously. 

For many, a trip to the grocery stores represents one of the last ties to normalcy–and a needed break from the cabin fever of lockdown. But even in this essential industry, long-hidden cracks are beginning to show. Panic buying has brought on the near extinction of many familiar products (toilet paper, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer) and the endangerment of several kitchen staples (chicken, baking goods, and, increasingly, fresh produce). 

As the pandemic exacerbates the issues in our global food system, we wanted to understand why the system is failing, and how we can build a more resilient one in the future.

Complete Story Here

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Is Containerized Blackberry Production-Ready For Prime Time? By e-GRO

Growing small fruit crops in containers requires additional capital and effort compared to field production, but has some potential benefits

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By urbanagnews

April 6, 2020

Ryan Dickson and Leala Machesney  
University of Arkansas

Blackberries and other small fruits are increasingly being grown in soilless substrate and containers versus field soil.

Growing small fruit crops in containers requires additional capital and effort compared to field production, but has some potential benefits.

e-gro Edible Alert: Containerized Blackberry Production

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