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Grow & Roll With Vertical Farms
Vertical farming is one of the solutions to the problem of the growing demand for food. A multilayer system uses less surface, energy and water. And production takes place all year round, resulting in a higher yield. At Bosman Van Zaal they create vertical production systems, where sustainability, convenience and a higher yield are paramount.
A multi-layer production system consists of two or more levels with cultivation containers. Bosman Van Zaal's multilayer system uses air and light to optimise conditions. Besides efficient use of space and energy and reduction of labour costs, the system can be fully linked to other installations and can be integrated within total logistical cultivation systems.
As one component of their vertical agricultural and horticultural systems they introduced the Grow & Roll. The mobile container with multilayer carts functions as a closed laboratory for the efficient cultivation of seeds, cuttings and crops.
In the container any desired climate is simulated by means of adjusting temperature, humidity, light, CO2 and irrigation. Each module has its own docking station including water connection and electrical connection for dimmable LED lamps with white supplemental light and UV for disinfection of air and water. Air circulation can be fine-tuned. Moisture and temperature problems are thus reduced to a minimum. Disinfection of the container is made easy by the movable modules. Heat exchangers enable energy recovery.
The climate is controlled by the iSii compact climate computer of partner Hoogendoorn, which measures and registers the growing conditions. This makes analyses easily available via the internet.
For more information:
Bosman van Zaal
+31 297 344 344
sales@bosmanvanzaal.com
www.bosmanvanzaal.com
The Changing Ways We Might Grow Food
Published by David Dunning
12th October 2018.
Access to safe and affordable food is something we all take for granted.
However, with more mouths to feed now than ever before, achieving this is no easy task.
To meet our increasing demands, with minimal environmental footprints, the way that we grow crops is changing.
To help drive this change, one of the Government’s four agri-tech Centres CHAP (Crop Health and Protection) has invested, with the support of Innovate UK, in two new ventures based at Stockbridge Technology Centre at Cawood, a leading applied R&D facility based in the heart of North Yorkshire.
Selby and Ainsty MP, Nigel Adams, is the guest of honour at the official opening today.
Vertical Farming Development Centre
Across the UK, hydroponic systems, along with the latest LED lighting technology, are beginning to be combined to produce certain crops in ‘urban farms’.
Operating independently of sunlight and seasons, food can be produced in these facilities 12 months a year, under conditions that have been optimised to grow safe and healthy produce in as shorter time as possible – giving a whole new meaning to the term ‘fast food’.
To operate effectively, these urban farms will need to take advantage of the very latest in modern technology, employing sensors to monitor crops and robots to manage operations such as harvesting. CHAP’s new ‘Vertical Farming Development Centre’ will mean that growers, food producers and researchers will be able to determine how these different technologies will impact the economics of LED vertical farming.
The aim is to develop technologies which will reduce production costs whilst maximising profits, potentially on a large scale.
Advanced Glasshouse Facility
CHAP’s Advanced Glasshouse Facility with a flexible design and multiple ‘bolt-ons’ that will allow new approaches to crop production and crop protection strategies to be tested and demonstrated to farmers.
The modern glasshouse recognises that the future of crop production is likely to be less reliant on synthetic inputs of chemicals and more reliant on combining different techniques, such as plant breeding and use of natural products and beneficial insects, to produce healthy and sustainable food.
These more complex crop protection strategies require more detailed and delicate testing procedures to show that they’re effective; this new facility will allow this work to take place across both field and glasshouse crops, including those now being grown in ‘hydroponic systems’, where plants are produced without soil.
About CHAP
CHAP (Crop Health and Protection) is one of the Government’s four agri-tech centres.
Their aim is to increase crop productivity for future generations through the uptake of new technologies. They work with pioneers to translate and promote these solutions for market adoption and improved crop productivity
"Producing More With Less Water And Nutrients"
Stefanie van Wienhoven, Grodan
The concept of 'Precision Growing' stipulates that optimal growing conditions can be achieved during an entire growing season. In precision cultivation the plants are supplied with the exact amount of water and fertilizers they need. Excess water and fertilizers can be collected efficiently and be reused. And while less resources are needed, the crop yield per square meter increases.
Water management
Precision cultivation literally translates into more growth with less input. In this context, Grodan focuses on water management in the root environment of the mat. By using water and nutrients more efficiently and in a more targeted manner, crop yield and fruit quality improves. This can be achieved by carefully aligning the water content (WG) of the substrate and the electrical conductivity (EC) in accordance with the current climatic conditions and generative/vegetative plant balance.
Extra attention for root environment
"By matching the needs of the plant in a smart way with the characteristics of the substrate mat, a strong and productive plant can be planted without waste of water and nutrients," says Stefanie Wienhoven of Grodan.
In greenhouse horticulture, much more efficient use is made of water than with (uncovered) open field crops. However, large amounts of water and fertilizers are lost in freely draining substrate systems. Water use efficiency can be improved by collecting the drain water and bringing it back to the crop. In this way glasshouse horticulturists can further improve their efficiency of water use and become more sustainable producers.
Careful management
Careful management of water and nutrients in combination with re-use of the drain water in the cultivation can have the following benefits according to Wienhoven:
Reducing total fertilizer use
Saving costs
Optimizing crop growth
Ensuring sufficient and clean irrigation water
Keeping a sufficiently wide range of crop protection products available
Protecting the environment
Complying with the legislation
Sustainable cultivation methods
According to the stone wool manufacturer, precision cultivation is an interesting concept for helping with current and future challenges in the area of water management. They continue to think about even better and smarter ways to grow crops in a sustainable way. They want to cooperate with growers, retailers and scientists for this.
The drought of this summer and the consequences of climate change motivate the company even more to think again about the best methods for efficient cultivation and the saving of even more water. This should be possible with newer, innovative techniques in water management.
Source: Glastuinbouw Waterproof
For more information:
Leading Agribusiness Groups Throw Their Weight Behind Australia’s Largest Ever Agricultural Innovation Trade Fair
GFIA in Focus Australia is fast becoming a much-anticipated event within the agricultural community – and with some of Australia’s leading trade bodies recently announcing their commitment to the upcoming exhibition, it’s set to be one of Australia’s most exciting business-to-end-user sector trade fairs in the 2018 calendar.
REGISTER HERE
Nine of Australia’s key agribusiness member organisations have now pledged their support for the show, a satellite edition of a series of fairs that run internationally, driving sustainable food production and innovation. Promoting it as a great opportunity for agri-food professionals to freely attend the exhibitions and adjoining conferences, the organisations include Agribusiness Australia, Queensland Farmers’ Federation, AgForce Queensland, Irrigation Australia, Growcom, Passionfruit Australia, Queensland Olive Council, Society of Precision Agriculture Australia and Northern Territories Farmers Association.
Tim Burrow, CEO at Agribusiness Australia welcomed the collaboration:
“Our mantra is to advocate, to be inclusive and to spread knowledge, with the sole aim of advancing agri-business for the national good. A stronger agri-business sector benefits not only our communities, but also our nation’s financial and cultural wealth, and this event will no doubt be invaluable in creating new business opportunities, advancing knowledge and supporting greater collaboration.”
For Travis Tobin, CEO at Queensland Farmers’ Federation, the upcoming fair aligns with QFF’s key strategies. “In representing the interests of peak state and national agriculture industry organisations, we engage in a broad range of economic, social, environmental and regional issues of strategic importance to the productivity, sustainability and growth of the agricultural sector. With our mission being to secure a strong and sustainable future for Queensland farmers, GFIA In Focus is a great opportunity to learn more about developing sustainable farming for the future.”
The Australian edition takes place at Brisbane’s Convention & Exhibition Centre from 27-28 November 2018, and organisations like these, which represent tens of thousands of corporate agri-businesses, farmers and growers across the country will now be involved – a move which it’s anticipated will greatly extend the exhibition’s reach and influence.
With the world’s population expected to increase from seven billion to almost nine billion by 2040, the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA) was born with the belief that continuous innovation in agriculture is the only way to sustainably feed us all.
To support the Australian Government’s ambition to increase our agricultural output to a $100 billion industry by 2030, the Queensland Government is committed to growing agriculture as one of the ‘four pillars’ of the state’s economy. However, as David Stradling, Sales Director of One CMG Group, the company behind GFIA In Focus Australia explained, government’s efforts alone will not achieve the target:
“Unlocking agriculture’s growth potential requires a collaborative effort from all levels of government, industry, researchers and vested interest communities. In the face of continued drought and calls to raise productivity, farmers, growers and agribusinesses will increasingly need to implement more sustainable technologies.”
“We see GFIA In Focus Australia as a prime opportunity for farmers, growers and agribusinesses across the country to learn more about the latest innovations in agriculture,” he continued. “We’re pleased to have nine of the country’s most influential agri-business member organisations on board for this unique event.”
David described the exhibition as the beginning of a progressive long-term strategy to create opportunities that strengthen and support Australia’s agricultural industry. “We anticipate this event will deliver huge business opportunities for ag-tech suppliers in markets expected to experience significant growth over the next few years,” he said.
The two-day show features two world-class showcases of leading-edge technology in precision and smart farming on one side of the Convention Centre’s Grand Hall, and on the other, an exhibition of suppliers in technology for controlled environment and protected cropping. The events are supported by their own dedicated conference and side-event programs, and visitors will have access across the entire event.
GFIA are giving away 2,000 free tickets for November’s In Focus exhibition to food producers, policy makers and investors. Visit www.gfiaaustralia.com to register your attendance, or for further information about exhibiting at GFIA In Focus Australia.
Event details:
GFIA In Focus Australia
27 November 2018: 09.00 – 18.00
28 November 2018: 09.00 – 16.00
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
About GFIA
The Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture has emerged as a global authority on sustainable food production, driving innovation through exhibitions and conferences across the globe. GFIA exhibitions have welcomed more than 25,000 visitors, and worked with over 50 international partners to showcase innovative products with a proven benefit to the agricultural industry. Their conferences offer stakeholders pioneering forums and marketplaces to foster meaningful dialogue, collaboration, recognition and action between regional food producers, buyers, innovators, policy makers and investors.
Tim Burrow, Agribusiness Australia
Peter Smith, AgForce QLD with David Stradling, One CMG Group
Travis Tobin, Queensland Farmers' Federation
Farming The Cities: An Excerpt From Nourished Planet
The following is an excerpt from Nourished Planet: Sustainability in the Global Food System, published by Island Press in June of 2018. Nourished Planet was edited by Danielle Nierenberg, president of Food Tank, and produced with support from the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition.
The following is an excerpt from Nourished Planet: Sustainability in the Global Food System, published by Island Press in June of 2018. Nourished Planet was edited by Danielle Nierenberg, president of Food Tank, and produced with support from the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition.
By 2050, 70 percent of the world’s people are expected to live in urban areas, and if we’re going to feed all those people, we’ll need to continue to make cities and towns into centers of food production as well as consumption. Worldwide, there are nearly a billion urban farmers, and many are having the greatest impact in communities where hunger and poverty are most acute.
For example, the Kibera Slum in Nairobi, Kenya, is believed to be the largest slum in sub-Saharan Africa, with somewhere between 700,000 and a million people. In Kibera, urban farmers have developed what they call vertical gardens, growing vegetables, such as kale or spinach, in tall empty rice and maize sacks, growing different crops on different levels of the bags. At harvest time they sell part of their produce to their neighbors and keep the rest for themselves.
The value of these sacks shouldn’t be underestimated. During the riots that occurred in Nairobi in 2007 and 2008, when the normal flow of food into Kibera was interrupted, these urban “sack” farmers were credited with helping to keep thousands of women, men, and children from starving.
The role urban farmers played in saving lives in Kibera is probably only a precursor of things to come. In large parts of the less developed world, as much as 80 percent of a family’s income can be spent on food. In countries where wars and instability can disrupt the food system and where the cost of food can skyrocket overnight, urban agriculture can play a fundamental role in helping prevent food riots and large-scale hunger. In that respect, promoting urban agriculture isn’t only morally right or environmentally smart, it’s necessary for regional stability.
But urban agriculture isn’t important only in sub-Saharan Africa or other parts of the developing world. In the United States, AeroFarms runs the world’s largest indoor vertical farm in Newark, New Jersey, where it grows greens and herbs without sunlight, soil, or pesticides for local communities in the New York area that have limited access to greens and herbs. Another group, the Green Bronx Machine, which is based in New York City’s South Bronx neighborhood, is an after-school program that aims to build healthy, equitable, and resilient communities by engaging students in hands-on garden education.
Across the Atlantic, in Berlin, Germany, a group called Nomadic Green grows produce in burlap sacks and other portable, reusable containers. These containers can be set up in unused space anywhere, ready to move should the space be sold, rented, or become otherwise unavailable. In Tel Aviv, Israel, Green in the City is collaborating on a project with LivinGreen, a hydroponics and aquaponics company, and the Dizengoff Center, the first shopping mall built in Israel. This collaboration provides urban farmers with space on the top of the Dizengoff Center to grow vegetables in water, without pesticides or even soil. Green in the City also provides urban farming workshops and training in the use of individual hydroponic systems.
Click HERE to purchase Nourished Planet today! Food Tank readers can enjoy a 20 percent discount with promo code: FOOD.
Building The Sustainable Cities Of The Future
By Heather Snowden - September 12, 2018
The ultimate in urban planning
Earlier this year, a report from by United Nations predicted that 2.5 billion people will be living in cities by 2050; that’s two out of every three people on the planet. While that of course means cities will become increasingly diverse, the demand on resources and services, such as food, policing, and public transport systems, will rise exponentially.
It's understandable then that governments and organizations around the globe are looking to technology to help power the cities of the future, and make them smarter, creating urban areas that use data-driven, innovate solutions to create efficient, sustainable ways to aid economic development and improve the quality of life for inhabitants.
Sustainable food solutions
Cities need feeding. While the number of cities that are taking charge of their own food destinies and looking for new, innovative ways to cut down on their carbon footprint, and making healthy options more readily available as a result, is growing, there’s still a long way to go.
Thinking about how to feed a rapildy growing population while also tackling obesity and global warming is a huge task; it’s also not the most convenient. Of course it would be easier to keep driving to the local store and pick up a packet of beef that was reared a 15-hour plane journey away, but it’s not sustainable.
AeroFarms is building a 78,000 square foot vertical farm. Credit: AeroFarms
AeroFarms in Camden, New Jersey is offering one solution: vertical farming. The company is planning a 78,000 square foot vertical farm that would grow 12 stories of leafy goods, from kale to bok choy. Thanks to tech developments, keeping plants on a steady diet isn’t as time-consuming as it once was; systems can be created that release calculated amounts of nutrients and water into the soil, powered by hydroponic and areoponic systems.
Elsewhere, Good Bank, a Berlin-based restaurant, has implemented urban-farming inside its restaurant space, with incubators growing salad lining the dining room walls.
Looking for alternatives also means opening our palettes to new horizons. Exo and Aspire Food Group are two of the companies currently incorporating crickets into their protein bars – which, by the way, are already sold at Whole Foods.
Vertical gardens
From vertical farming to vertical gardens. As more people flock to suburban areas, we’re forced to become more innovative about how we use the physical space. Green spaces do way more than just make places pretty – they’ve been found to alleviate stress levels, improve biodiversity, attracting birds and insects, help defuse heat from dense urban areas, and improve air quality.
Stefano Boeri Archietti is planning 'vertical forests' in Paris. Image credit: Stefano Boeri Architetti
Italian architecture firm Stegano Boeri Architetti is planning to create a huge Foret Blanche in Paris – a 54-meter high vertical forest that’s planted with trees, shrubs, and flowers. The same firm is also working on a 'Forest City' in China, where everything from schools, to homes, to hospitals will be covered in greenery — CNN dubbed it “the world’s first pollution-eating city”. Meanwhile in London, The Edible Bus Stop is tackling the citiy's pollution with playful ideas like creating an Edible Bus Route, which sees bus stops throughout the city surrounded by herbs and edible flowers.
Two wheels good, four wheels bad
Covering a bus stop in edible petals isn’t the only way to make public transport sustainable. Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires chopped one of the city's major 20-lane avenues in half, leaving 10 lanes for cars. The other half is used as a 'surface subway' – an express lane only for public transport, which gets passengers across the city in half the time.
Other cities are trying to ban cars completely. Madrid has already started to take action by banning non-residents from driving in the city center, and only allowing low-emission cars that belong to locals, delivery vehicles, and public transportation in downtown areas.
Copenhagen is one of the world’s most bike-friendly cities. Credit: Wikicommons
When it comes to eliminating vehicle pollution entirely, however, bicycles are the obvious solution. Improving bike lanes in urban areas is a global endeavor at present, with Copenhagen boasting one of the most highly-developed systems. According to Wired, since 2015 the Danish capital has completed a Harbour Ring bike route along the whole inner harbor, piloted a new traffic light system that prioritizes cyclists, launched digital congestion signs to improve bike traffic glow, and opened new superhighway routes. Some 62% of the city’s residents ride their bikes daily, while just 9% drive.
Policing
One important and perhaps less talked-about aspect of smart city innovation is surveillance; namely how police departments are incorporating technology into their operations. One way in which tech is advancing law enforcement is body cameras, with Smart Cities Drive stating that one-third of police departments in the US either already uses or are looking into outfitting their officers with bodycams. The devices not only help to keep police officers safe, but are used to record interviews, and take photographs.
Law enforcement agencies are increasingly looking to use drones to catch criminals. Credit: Wikicommons
Drones are also part of the move to increase public safety, used to track down stolen vehicles, and chase fleeing ones. Earlier this year the city of Louisville in Kentucky submitted an application to the Federal Aviation Administration asking if it could use drones to respond to shooting scenes – the drones would be equipped with ShotSpotter, a system that uses a series of microphones to identify the source of gunfire within seconds.
If technology can help to make our urban environments safer, as well as cleaner, greener and healthier, then the cities of the future could well be pretty idyllic places to live.
Neighbourhood Watch: Farming Grows Sense of Community At Dubai's Sustainable City
Biodomes and allotment spaces are helping to build a thriving neighbourhood, where sustainability really matters
Nick Webster
September 5, 2018
A look inside the gates of Dubai’s Sustainable City offers a glimpse into how more of us could live our lives in the future.
The growing eco-development, surrounded by desert on the outskirts of Dubai near Emirates Road, is fast becoming famous for its harnessing of the environment to power modern life.
In just two years, the 465,000 square metre mini city has grown to become a thriving community of like-minded inhabitants, all with a keen eye on energy efficiency.
And the successes of its ecological ideology are all too clear – with villa occupancy rates at around 98 per cent and a waiting list for new residents.
“Most people don’t come to the community for the social side of life here, but it’s something they very quickly discover once they arrive,” said Karim Al Jisr, executive director of the development’s innovation centre.
“The sense of community is not something that’s easy to pitch without coming here, but once people live here it becomes the number one attraction and the driver to get people to stay.
“Utility bills are low and service charges are zero, so there are lots of attractive factors.
“People have access to farming, they can grow their own food and that also attracts a certain mindset.”
Plants growing inside the urban farming area at Sustainable City. Pawan Singh / The National
Dubai’s Sustainable City sits on the southern outskirts of the rapidly expanding metropolis.
Residential areas within the complex are car-free zones and instead the community has access to a fleet of 124 shared electric buggies.
Last year, the vehicles were used to drive a total of 216,735 kilometres. A driverless shuttle system that can carry 11 passengers is also being trialled.
There is also a Dh10,000 incentive to switch to an electric vehicle for use outside of the community, with multiple charging points available in the parking zone near the city's entrance.
On Wednesday, developers said they hoped the community would become the region’s first net zero energy residential zone through its use of solar energy.
Villas generate electricity from photovoltaic panels and return the surplus to the national grid, with the excess taken off monthly household bills.
Sustainable Plaza at the Sustainable City on Alqudrah Street in Dubai, a mini city that could offer a glimpse of the future. Pawan Singh / The National
Phil Dunn, 46, a landscape architect from Canada lives in the city with his wife and two children.
“Urban farming has really connected people,” he said. “There’s no better way of growing a community than physically growing in the community.
“We are growing food and becoming friends with our neighbours and it has created a real sense of stewardship.
"It attracts a wide range of different people, from housemaids, to kids, stay at home mums and working dads at the weekend.
“We mostly grow vegetables, but also fruit trees, like lemon, lime, mango and pomegranate, and we’ve harvested nearly 60,000 tonnes of dates that the community have either shared or sold off commercially to invest back into the community."
A donkey shills at the Sustainable City animal sanctuary. Pawan Singh / The National
Mr Al Jisr said the farm uses aquaponics, an integration of aquaculture with hydroponics, to farm fish and plants together.
“The reason that aquaponics is such a unique solution is that the fish waste provides a food source for the plants, while the plants filter the water for the fish," he said.
“Residents are also offered vouchers every month where they can pick up their own herbs from the farming operation.”
Sustainable City's success could now be used as a benchmark for how to build similar communities in the future.
Read more:
UAE minister outlines new drive to create 'Silicon Valley' of food production technology
Forward-thinking plan served up to protect UAE's future food supply
Save the bees before it's too late
In July, the Sustainable City became the first gated community in the UAE to release its greenhouse gas inventory to give an indication of the emissions produced there.
During 2017, 563 villas and apartments were occupied by about 1,900 people. Results showed the average greenhouse gasses were almost half that of a conventional UAE home.
“These results confirm the Sustainable City is continually working to fight climate change and proactively reducing our carbon emissions,” said Faris Saeed, CEO of Diamond Developers, the company behind the city.
“Moving forward, we will be taking steps to further reduce our emissions through the addition of more solar energy, biodiesel for construction activities, and various awareness campaigns for residents.”
Mr Dunn added: “It’s a very diverse community in the urban farming areas. The kids have taken a big interest and we have four special gardens set aside for the children to grown what they want.
“It has been so successful we’ve extended it into summer, and we’ve been able to grow crops in the summer that is very impressive.
“We have common compost bins set up around the community to use our waste and we don’t use any pesticides. Six bee hives are in the community to help with pollination.”
Humans And Food Are Part of Our Water Cycle
Water is the basis of all life on Earth. Treating and managing water in a sustainable and integrated way helps maintain water quantity and quality for a variety of uses, including agriculture
Water is the basis of all life on Earth. Treating and managing water in a sustainable and integrated way helps maintain water quantity and quality for a variety of uses, including agriculture. This new animation is on YouTube from the CONSERVE Water for Agriculture CAP project at the University of Maryland School of Public Health and regional partners, supported by NIFA, Grant number 20166800725064.
This Toronto Skyscraper Is Covered With 450 Trees
A new tower will have greenery lining the balconies and roofs to clean up the air and provide a new environment for pollinators and humans alike.
Toronto has long been serious about its urban canopy. The Ontario city is already home to around 10 million trees, which cover around 26% of the city. The current mayor, John Tory, wants to grow that to 40%.
Brisbin Brook Beynon, a local architecture firm, is already giving the city a leg up on that goal, albeit in an unconventional way: a 27-story residential building that will be covered with around 450 trees, growing on its balconies and roofs. This “vertical forest,” as BBB terms it, takes inspiration from the Bosco Verticale–residential towers in Milan that went up in 2014 with as many as 11,000 plants lining the sides. Since then, copycat buildings have been built in cities like Nanjing and in Taiwan–designed to combat pollution and prove that green space does not need to be limited to the ground. This latest iteration could open as early as later next year.
![[Image: Brisbin Brook Beynon]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57c8695d5016e11e71be1d83/1535869663666-WOXUB9PD0TNXISVYQH4O/Image+Brisbin+Brook+Beynon-1.jpg)
[Image: Brisbin Brook Beynon]
For Brian Brisbin, principal at BBB, bringing the vertical forest concept to Toronto aligned perfectly with the mayor’s goals for increasing tree coverage. And when he began researching the concept by studying the Bosco Verticale, he realized that all of the technology that enabled the Milanese building to function originated in Canada and North America. “That felt fairly profound,” Brisbin says.
And it also, Brisbin says, made bringing the concept to Toronto feel much more feasible. “We have a lot of depth of specialty in this area in Toronto, with horticultural and agricultural universities and research facilities,” he says, “and we’ve brought a lot of together to take a very science-based approach to developing this project.”
The team behind BBB’s vertical forest includes experts like Robert Wright, the dean of the faculty of forestry at University of Toronto, researchers from the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, which researches the viability of tree species in urban areas, and Vanden Bussche Irrigation, which develops horticultural technology. Together, the team has developed a specialized system to monitor and irrigate all 450 trees. Currently, the trees are growing offsite at a nursery managed by PAO Horticultural outside of the city. Planted in their own portable woven stainless steel planters, the trees–half conifers, half deciduous–will eventually be scattered evenly across the building’s exterior terrace surfaces. A monitored system integrated into the building will connect with all of the planters to track key metrics for each of the trees–amount of water, nutrient density, and external conditions like wind strength.
![[Image: Brisbin Brook Beynon]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57c8695d5016e11e71be1d83/1535869604869-VLL0DOMYK1S75RXI4QQF/Image+Brisbin+Brook+Beynon-2.jpg)
[Image: Brisbin Brook Beynon]
“We have this saying that there’s no management without metrics,” Wright says. Part of the strategy for the building is to hire a dedicated maintenance team, who will navigate throughout the many balconies, caring for the trees. Especially as Toronto faces extreme weather variability–dipping down as low as –22 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter and up to the 90s in the summer–having a team on hand to monitor the trees’ metrics and ensure their health will be key. This, Wright says, is a crucial task across the whole city of Toronto’s urban forestry efforts, but the height of the vertical forest compounds the urgency. “It’s one thing if a branch drops 20 feet to the ground, and quite another for one to drop 200 feet off a balcony,” he says.
While covering buildings in trees will not alone help cities like Toronto achieve their urban canopy goals, projects like these certainly deliver benefits to the surrounding area (though they also have some critics), like cleaner air and more space for birds and pollinator species, which will in turn assist more mainstream green infrastructure projects. Toronto, for instance, has made strides to increase the presence of green roofs of city buildings, and projects like the vertical forest could act, Brisbin says, “as a sustainable microclimate between these horizontal green spaces on roofs and on the ground” and direct pollinator species between the two.
Because projects like this are still new, the price tag for living in the building will be steep, Brisbin says. While final prices for the units are not yet set, as the vertical forest is still in the process of gaining approval from the city, tenants and buyers will have to pay a premium to fund the maintenance team that will keep the greenery alive and thriving. “And it involves a lot of science, data, and research to develop,” Brisbin says. The team is conscious of the fact that the high cost of living in the vertical forest perpetuates an unfortunate and longstanding urban divide: Areas where poorer residents live often lack good green infrastructure, whereas wealthier residents tend to live on tree-lined streets. “But what we’re hoping is that once we develop the system and the partnership with the farms that are growing the trees, all of that will be available directly to any other project, whether it be public housing or private development,” he adds.
Aquaponics As A Way To Reduce Food Imports In The Caribbean
Tackling the Caribbean’s high food import bill and improving food security is increasingly being explored through aquaponics.
This potential was highlighted by the recent visit to the Choiseul aquaponics facility and mobile desalination plant in Laborie in Saint Lucia by both the Hon. Dean Jonas, Minister of Agriculture of Antigua and Barbuda and Mr. Jedidiah Maxime, Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Fisheries, and Barbuda Affairs.
Minister Jonas said that while the OECS faced an unacceptably high food import bill, the region also faced an unprecedented opportunity to lead the way in aquaponics which needs 90% less land and water than agriculture but has the potential to generate 3 to 4 times more food than the latter.
“While traditional farming will always remain the backbone of the OECS agricultural industry and is envisaged to expand with the support of enterprises such as the agri-shipping initiative, we must also expand investment in complementary food production techniques such as aquaponics and hydroponics where sometimes limited agriculture land tenure and space demand creative new ways of food production” said Minister Jonas.
“An aquaponics industry can facilitate the rearing of fish for high value protein concurrently with green leafy vegetables, beans, peas, radishes, onions, herbs and other produce which as an import substitution measure can help reduce dependence on these foreign imports.
“I commend the Choiseul facility for helping pioneer the important role aquaponics can not only play in driving economic activity but also in ensuring food security through the production of more eco-friendly, nutritious and high-value produce for local communities” said Minister Jonas.
OECS Director General Dr. Didacus Jules said the Choiseul aquaponics facility was a model for the rest of the OECS to replicate for the highly efficient use of existing space for more economical food production.
“Crops may be produced according to the interests of growers and local demand and notably production is generally more environmentally sustainable than traditional farming" said Dr. Jules.
“Depending on market trends, crop production can be rapidly accelerated according to local, tourism and export demand.
“There is also an opportunity for small holders and young people seeking a career in complementary agricultural technologies to enter aquaponics, both as a commercial venture and as way to produce food for local consumption.
“However, public-private investments in the right frameworks of support and infrastructure will be required beyond present capacity and to this end we will also be seeking to engage our development partners further as part of an existing coalition of support to the OECS’s agriculture industry” said Dr. Jules.
For more information:
OECS
Harvest Failures Due to Drought – Ground-Breaking Innovations In Food Production In Sight
Hürth 16 August 2018
nova-Institut GmbH (www.nova-institute.eu)
Food security is becoming an important issue even in Europe, where this year's summer drought has led to significant crop failures.
How can future food security be guaranteed in times of climate change? Are digitization, robotization, biostimulants and new possibilities of food production in cities, seas and biotech laboratories medium and long-term solutions?
The consequences of climate change require a fundamental restructuring of our food production and farmers worldwide are searching for alternatives to protect their yields from the impacts. The enduring drought in Europe draws attention to the need for comprehensive changes and alternatives.
The digitalization of agriculture, including various technologies for precision farming, artificial intelligence (AI), robots and drones, holds the promise to make modern agriculture more efficient, more sustainable and less susceptible. Comprehensive information on the climate, local weather or soils leads to profound decisions on plant selection, sowing, fertilization, crop protection and harvesting. The new technologies will not only make food and biomass production more ecological and safer but will also improve the ecological footprint of animal husbandry. Or, to put it in a nutshell: Less input, more output, and lower environmental footprint.
Additionally, organic farming and smallholder farmers will also benefit from these high-tech strategies, develop new concepts and still be able to adhere to their ideals. Drones and robots make crop protection without chemicals easier and more efficient, and biostimulants can target-specifically regenerate soil quality.
At the same time, latest plant breeding technologies enable an optimal adaptation of plants to local conditions and promise higher nutrient contents as well as an improved photosynthesis.
The multitude of, today or in the near future, market-ready technologies will be presented and discussed for the first time at the international conference “Revolution in Food and Biomass Production (REFAB)” (www.refab.info) on October 1 and 2 in Cologne, Germany. With the summer drought, the topics of the 50 speakers are more appropriate than ever in Europe.
Important changes are also expected in food production in cities, seas and biotech laboratories. Vertical agriculture in cities produces food close to the consumer and can thus deliver fresh. At the same time, the productivity per area can be up to 300 times higher compared to traditional agriculture. First commercial implementations of vertical farms show how highly automated and closed circuits can reduce water consumption by 90 percent, completely eliminate the use of pesticides, and even increase the nutrient content through the lighting of plants optimized by LEDs. Urban agriculture brings the production of high-quality vegetables to consumers in the cities, regardless of weather conditions.
New technologies can also open up new areas for food production, whether underwater – aquaculture for fish and algae – or in the desert. At the conference, scientists from Africa will for example show how surfaces in the Sahara can be successfully used for food production.
Another important question is how to reduce dependence on animal protein sources. Insects, algae and the direct use of CO2, with the help of bacteria, open up new protein sources, which considerably save resources and greenhouse gas emissions compared to classic meat production. At the REFAB conference, the “Future Protein Award” will be handed out, and already seven candidates have applied with very different concepts. Further candidates are welcome, the registration deadline is the end of August (www.refab.info/future-protein-award/).
How can these cross-pollinating sectors and actors develop solutions towards systemic change and how sustainable are these solutions in comparison to conventional agriculture? Answers to these questions will be given at the conference Revolution in Food and Biomass Production (REFAB), October 1 and 2 in Cologne (Germany). Leading global players will demonstrate how the agriculture of the future could look like by presenting their innovative technologies, existing alternatives, and visions for the future of food production. Major companies, such as BASF, Borregaard, Claas, DSM, Evonik, Lenzing, Microsoft, Osram and Tata, dozens of innovative SMEs and start-ups as well as leading research institutes and the European Commission are part of the agricultural revolution that is presented at the REFAB conference.
Already 120 participants from 20 countries are registered, and up to 500 participants are expected to join the conference and exhibition.
Dr. Bronner’s (US) and BIOCOM AG (DE) are bronze sponsors of the conference. The Fachagentur für Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V., (FNR, (DE)) supports the event as premium partner.
Responsible for the content under German press law (V.i.S.d.P.):
Dipl.-Phys. Michael Carus (Managing Director)
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Food Safety, Sustainability And Frontier Tech Leading An Evolution In Agriculture
By Paul Ausick August 13, 2018
By Gene Munster and Austin Bohlig of Loup Ventures
- Due to advancements in technology, as well as consumers’ growing appetite for locally grown leafy greens and vegetables that are both high in nutritional value and come with improved taste, an evolution is underway in the agriculture space.
- This is changing the way produce is produced, and where it is being grown.
- This new method is called Indoor Ag, commonly known as Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA).
- We see Indoor Ag as an attractive investment opportunity and believe frontier tech will play a prominent role in this flourishing market.
Why now?
According to Indoor Farm Economics, there were 15 commercial-scale Indoor Ag farms in the US in 2016. In Spring 2017, there were 56, and the number continues to grow at a healthy rate. While Indoor Agriculture is not new and has been most recently used to grow cannabis, farmers are beginning to explore these methods because of the quality and cost benefits it offers consumers, as well as consumers growing concern over food safety. In addition, technological innovations have improved profitability and are beginning to create a more sustainable method over traditional processes as the world population continues to grow. For these reasons, we see indoor ag as an attractive investment opportunity and believe frontier tech will play a prominent role in its rise.
Industry overview
Indoor agriculture is the process of growing produce using hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponic techniques in standardized form factors such as warehouses, greenhouses, and containers. Today, indoor agriculture farms primarily produce leafy greens, microgreens, herbs, and tomatoes. In addition, strawberries, nutraceutical plants, and pharmaceutical plants are under intense R&D and are now starting to come to market. The biggest advantages of moving to an Indoor Ag model, include:
- Year-round availability of any and all produce items at competitive wholesale pricing.
- Time to market is measured in hours versus days contributing to a better, more nutritious product that tastes better and minimizes transportation costs and carbon emissions.
- Superior “science” of growing can be applied using advanced LED lighting, controls, and mechanisms to guarantee a perfect crop every time regardless of outside weather or location.
- Grown without chemicals and drastically more efficient use of water plus ability to recapture/recycle.
These CEA advantages improve food safety and sustainability. However, the industry still has a long way to go until Indoor Ag becomes mainstream. The biggest challenges holding this up include:
- The lack of capital from banks and VCs that will invest in this theme.
- Gaining sufficient scale to service accounts like a Wal-Mart.
- Concerns around profitability due to the limited size of the growing building.
Key frontier tech
The emergence of Indoor Ag startups creating innovative tech has been a material catalyst to adoption and improving profitability. Specifically, technological advancements around LEDs, robotics, and genomics have helped meaningfully.
- Excessive heat can be incredibly damaging to plants. GrowFilm, a Minnesota startup (growfilm.ag), has developed light emitters that operate around 93º F, allowing them to be placed closer to plants. This also eliminates the need for multiple lamps and lighting systems, which can increase yields by 40%. Additionally, a better understanding of how photosynthesis is impacted by different light spectrums is allowing Indoor Ag locations to work with cost-effective LEDs to further “tune” their grow recipe.
- Given indoor robotics is considered a “lab” environment by the US Labor Department, personnel requirements are more stringent than the migrant workers used to pick 70%+ of the nation’s produce. In addition, rising farm wages and labor shortage have been headwinds. Advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence have lowered the cost of labor and increased productivity. This includes cameras and sensors to enhance grow cycles and provide real-time feedback. Tortuga AgTech is a startup developing robotic systems for harvesting fresh produce in controlled environments.
- Advanced indoor farmers are turning their attention to how they can create seeds that are better designed for indoor systems, producing higher yields. Some are turning to heirloom seeds because they cost less and produce more nutritious foods than hybrid seeds, which are the primary seeds used in traditional agriculture.
Indoor Ag economics
One of the arguments against indoor farms historically has been the limited size of the growing form factor, and many struggled to reach profitability. While this was a challenge, the technological improvements discussed above, new CEA farms capable of producing over one million leafy green products per month, recycling resources, and lowering transportation costs are making indoor ag economics very favorable. Another advantage of indoor ag is it is less exposed to the cyclical nature of traditional agriculture due to the ability to steadily produce the same amount all year long. Plus, given labor shortages to harvest field grows, the dynamics of CEA farming become compelling.
Venture committed to this theme growing
While receiving capital has been another challenge for indoor farmers, VC dollars increased 3-fold in 2017 to $300M year/year. This was primarily driven by Softbank’s $200M investment into Plenty, which also included an investment from Jeff Bezos. We think the opportunity in indoor agriculture is large and believe it is an attractive theme for frontier technology over the next decade.
Disclaimer: We actively write about the themes in which we invest: virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and robotics. From time to time, we will write about companies that are in our portfolio. Content on this site including opinions on specific themes in technology, market estimates, and estimates and commentary regarding publicly traded or private companies is not intended for use in making investment decisions. We hold no obligation to update any of our projections. We express no warranties about any estimates or opinions we make.
Quality, Quantity of Qatar's Fresh Produce Have 'Substantially Improved' This Summer
August 04 2018
*Company exported products to Kuwait nearly five weeks ago and is now in talks with Oman: Qatari agriculturist
Both the quality and quantity of fresh produce in Qatar have significantly improved this summer compared to the same period in previous years, prominent Qatari agriculturist Nasser Ahmed al-Khalaf has told Gulf Times.
Al-Khalaf, managing director of local Qatari agricultural development company Agrico, attributed the feat to research and development.
“We have been constantly improving the system to produce more and meet the increasing demand for fresh vegetables in the country,” he noted. “It (greenhouse) is developed by us and our research and development (in indoor farming) continues.”
Agrico, which operates a 120,000sqm (12 hectares) organic farm in Al Khor, has been at the forefront of helping the country achieve food security. It produces organic vegetables all year long, using locally made and state-of-the-art hydroponic greenhouses.
The company exported products to Kuwait by sea nearly five weeks ago and is now negotiating with Oman, according to al-Khalaf.
“Hopefully, within the next three weeks we will start our first shipment to Oman since the blockade,” he added.
Al-Khalaf also disclosed that they are currently developing a greenhouse system with solar energy, which could supply a substantial amount of electricity to his farm near Al Khor. “If we are able to generate enough power, then we can produce all types of vegetables in the greenhouse.”
He noted that such a plan, which is still in the design phase, aims to take advantage of the greenhouse structure and use new types of solar panels to generate power.
Al-Khalaf said the company is now modifying its seasonal net greenhouses, which built for the winter this year, to produce even during the summer.
The company has constructed an additional 120,000sqm of these seasonal net greenhouses to grow more fresh vegetables during the winter season, in addition to its 120,000sqm facility, which operates all year round.
“We have actually planted (in) the net greenhouse in mid-July and waiting for the production in the end of August,” he said. “If we succeed, we can guarantee a long season that can last 10 months or more of production, getting a high yield at a very low cost.
“My target today is to increase the yield per square metre in different types of greenhouses and produce new varieties such as strawberries.”
According to al-Khalaf, his farm now also produces good-quality papayas, which can be bought in the local market.
Agrico is also planning to experiment with growing bananas by the end of this year, apart from melons and watermelons.
No, Vertical Farms Won’t Feed the World
While they are well-intentioned, new indoor “farms” won’t help feed the world or reduce the environmental impacts of agriculture. We would be better to focus our efforts elsewhere.
Lettuce grown in my garden. Photograph © 2016 Jonathan Foley
August 1, 2018
While they are well-intentioned, new indoor “farms” won’t help feed the world or reduce the environmental impacts of agriculture. We would be better to focus our efforts elsewhere.
We’re beginning to see a new fad in agriculture — so-called “vertical farms” that grow food indoors with energy-intensive, artificial life support systems.
In the last few years, a number of tech companies have designed “farms” that utilize artificial lights, heaters, water pumps, and computer controls to grow crops inside. These systems glow with a fantastic magenta light — from LEDs that are specially tuned to provide optimal light for photosynthesis — often with stacked trays of plants, one on top of the other. Some of this technology is new, especially the LEDs, although pot growers have used tools like this for years.
Some of the more notable efforts to build indoor “farms” include Freight Farms in Boston. And there is a group at MIT that is trying to create new high-tech platforms for growing food inside, including “food computers”. These folks are very smart and have done a lot to perfect the technology.
At first blush, these “farms” sound great. Why not completely eliminate food miles, and grow food right next to restaurants, cafeterias, or supermarkets? And why not grow crops inside closed systems, where water can be recycled, and pests can (in theory) be managed without chemicals.
It sounds great, doesn’t it? But there are many challenges.
First, Vertical Farms Cost a Fortune
But there are costs to these farms. Huge costs.
First, these systems are really expensive to build. The shipping container systems developed by Freight Farms, for example, cost between $82,000 and $85,000 per container — an astonishing sum for a box that just grows greens and herbs. Just one container costs as much as 10 entire acres of prime American farmland — which is a far better investment, both in terms of food production and future economic value. Just remember: farmland has the benefit of generally appreciating in value over time, whereas a big metal box is likely to only decrease in value.
Second, food produced this way is very expensive. For example, the Wall Street Journal reports that mini-lettuces grown by Green Line Growers costs more than twice as much as organic lettuce available in most stores. And this is typical for other indoor growers around the country: it’s very, very expensive, even compared to organic food. Instead of making food more available, especially to poorer families on limited budgets, these indoor crops are only available to the affluent. It might be fine for gourmet lettuce, or fancy greens for expensive restaurants, but regular folks may find it out of reach.
Finally, indoor farms use a lot of energy and materials to operate. The container farms from Freight Farms, for example, use about 80 kilowatt-hours of electricity a day to power the lights and pumps. That’s nearly 2–3 times as much electricity as a typical (and still very inefficient) American home, or about 8 times the electricity used by an average San Francisco apartment. And on the average American electrical grid, this translates to emitting 44,000 pounds of CO2 per container per year, from electricity alone, not counting any additional heating costs. This is vastly more than the emissions it would take to ship the food from someplace else.
And none of it is necessary.
But, Wait, Can’t Indoor Farms Use Renewable Energy?
Proponents of indoor techno-farms often say that they can offset the enormous sums of electricity they use, by powering them with renewable energy —, especially solar panels — to make the whole thing carbon neutral.
But just stop and think about this for a second.
These indoor “farms” would use solar panels to harvest naturally occurring sunlight, and convert it into electricity so that they can power…artificial sunlight? In other words, they’re trying to use the sun to replace the sun.
But we don’t need to replace the sun. Of all of the things we should worry about in agriculture, the availability of free sunlight is not one of them. Any system that seeks to replace the sun to grow food is probably a bad idea.
Besides, “Food Miles” Aren’t a Big Climate Problem
Sometimes we hear that vertical farms help the environment by reducing “food miles” — the distance food items travel from farm to table — and thereby reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
This sounds logical, but it turns out to be a red herring.
Strange as it might seem, local food typically uses about the same amount of energy — per pound — to transport as food grown far away. Why? Short answer: volume and method of transport. A larger food operator can ship food more efficiently — even if it travels longer distances — because of the gigantic volumes they work in. Plus, ships, trains, and even large trucks driving on Interstate highways use less fuel, per pound per mile, than small trucks driving around town.
Plus it turns out that “food miles” aren’t a very big source of CO2 emissions anyway, whether they’re local or not. In fact, they pale in comparison to emissions from deforestation, methane from cattle and rice fields, and nitrous oxide from over-fertilized fields. And local food systems — especially organic farms that use fewer fertilizers, and grass-fed beef that sequesters carbon in the soil — can reduce these more critical emissions. At the end of the day, local food systems are generally better for the environment, including greenhouse gas emissions. Just don’t worry about emissions from food miles too much.
And These Vertical “Farms” Can’t Grow Much
A further problem with indoor farms is that a lot of crops could never develop properly in these artificial conditions. While LED lights provide the light needed for photosynthesis to occur, they don’t provide the proper mix of light and heat to trigger plant development stages — like those that tell plants when to put on fruit or seed. Moreover, a lot of crops need a bit of wind to develop tall, strong stalks, needed later when they are carrying heavy loads before harvest. As a result, indoor farms are severely limited and have a hard time growing things besides simple greens.
Indoor farms might be able to provide some garnish and salads to the world but forget about them as a means of growing much other food.
A Better Way?
I’m not the only critic of indoor, high-tech, energy-intensive agriculture. Other authors are starting to point out the problems with these systems too (read very good critiques here, here, here, and here).
While I appreciate the enthusiasm and innovation put into developing indoor farms, I think these efforts are, at the end of the day, counterproductive.
Instead, I think we should use the same investment of dollars, incredible technology, and amazing brains to solve other agricultural problems — like developing new methods for drip irrigation, better grazing systems that lock up soil carbon, and ways of recycling on-farm nutrients. Organic farming and high-precision agriculture are doing promising things, and need more help. We also need innovation and capital to help other parts of the food system, especially in tackling food waste and getting people to shift their diets towards more sustainable directions.
An interconnected network of good farms —real farms that provide nutritious food, with social and environmental benefits to their communities — is the kind of innovation we really need.
Dr. Jonathan Foley (@GlobalEcoGuy) is a global environmental scientist, sustainability advisor, author, and public speaker. These views are his own.
© 2018 by Jonathan Foley. All rights reserved.
NOTE: parts of this piece were adapted from an earlier blog article of mine called “Local Food is Great, But Can It Go Too Far?”
The Rise Of B Corps Highlights The Emergence Of A New Way Of Doing Business
Today’s workforce is rejecting the old Milton Friedman notion that the only social responsibility of business is to maximize profits; they think business should also be trying to make a positive difference in the world.
August 3, 2018
Michele Giddens Contributor
In my previous column, I talked about the growing demand for impact investments, driven by powerful global trends like the ongoing transfer of wealth to women and millennials.
Crucially, these same trends are also boosting the supply of impactful investment opportunities – by supporting the rise of a new generation of enterprises that are actively pursuing social and environmental impact alongside financial goals.
In the most recent Deloitte Millennials survey, almost 40% of respondents stated that the goal of business should be to ‘improve society’ (second only to ‘generate jobs’ in terms of priorities). And in an earlier study by the Intelligence Group, 64% of millennials said it was a priority for them to make the world a better place – while 88% wanted ‘work-life integration’.
Today’s workforce is rejecting the old Milton Friedman notion that the only social responsibility of business is to maximize profits; they think business should also be trying to make a positive difference in the world. And quite right too: why should we stop caring about the things that matter to us when we go to work?
In short, people increasingly want to work for, buy from and invest in companies that have mission and impact at their heart of their model. So for entrepreneurs, there’s an increasingly attractive business case for an impact-driven approach. By making it easier to attract top talent, additional customers, and new investors, it can actually serve as a source of commercial advantage.
A notable example of this changing mindset is the global rise of the B Corp movement, a group of businesses committed to pursuing better social or environmental performance alongside their financial targets. Founded in 2006 by the entrepreneurs behind AND1 (a US sportswear company that became one of the earliest ‘profit with purpose’ businesses), it now numbers almost 2,500 businesses across 50 countries – including the likes of Triodos Bank, Warby Parker, Patagonia, Natura and Ben & Jerry’s (disclosure: Bridges is also a B Corp).
To become a certified B Corp, a company must first submit to an independent assessment of its social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. If the company scores highly enough, it must then incorporate its social or environmental mission into its governance articles in order to be certified (it is subsequently reassessed every three years to make sure it is maintaining the required standard, as best practice evolves).
To take just a couple of my personal favourites: Elvis & Kresse is a UK business that began life by taking old fire-hose decommissioned by the London Fire Brigade and turning it into beautiful bags and other accessories – a perfect example of the circular economy in action (it has now averted more than 300 tonnes of waste from landfill). And AeroFarms is a US business that’s come up with an innovative way to help feed the growing population: indoor vertical farms, which have produced over 250 types of leafy green vegetables using a fraction of the land and 95% less water than standard farming.
Leafy green vegetables. Healthy meals. Shutterstock
The idea is that over time, the B Corp stamp of approval will help companies attract new customers/ employees/ PR/ investors – while also creating a community whose members can learn from each other. And the early signs are promising: the UK arm reported earlier this year that UK-certified B Corps grew on average 28 times faster than national GDP in 2017. Roughly one in three of these companies said they had reached new audiences since certification, and almost half said their B Corp status had helped them attract new staff.
Of course, becoming a B Corp is no guarantee of commercial or impact success. And it’s by no means the only way for businesses to signal their commitment to achieving social and environmental impact (there are lots of highly impactful businesses that are not B Corps).
But what’s clear from the growth of this movement (and similar initiatives around the world) is that there’s an ever-growing pool of businesses that are actively trying to pursue impact goals alongside financial goals – not only because they think it’s the right thing to do, but also because they think there’s a strong commercial rationale for it. If we can match these companies up with those investors who are looking to invest for impact, we’ll be much better equipped to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing our world.
I am a partner at Bridges Fund Management, the specialist sustainable and impact investor, which I co-founded in 2002 alongside Philip Newborough and Sir Ronald Cohen. I have over 25 years of international development and impact investing experience. I have been heavily ...MORE
New York City Council Pushes Green Infrastructure At New Developments
The New York City Council plans to introduce a bill Wednesday mandating green roofs on certain new developments. Expect push-back from the real estate industry.
July 18, 2018
Bill would mandate rooftops be outfitted with gardens, solar panels or wind turbines
By Joe Anuta
The City Council plans to introduce a bill Wednesday mandating green roofs on certain new developments. Expect push-back from the real estate industry.
The legislation, sponsored by Brooklyn Councilmen Rafael Espinal Jr. and Stephen Levin, would require 100% of the rooftops on newly built or substantially renovated commercial or industrial buildings to be outfitted with some combination of green space, solar panels and wind turbines. The aim of the legislation is to save energy because buildings are responsible for three-quarters of carbon emission in the city.
"We have to look at the infrastructure improvements we can make here to ensure we're doing our part in reducing our carbon footprint and cooling our city down," Espinal told The New York Times.
But increasing construction costs and commandeering rooftop space that is increasingly used for amenities to lure commercial tenants are sure to provoke a confrontation with the development community.
The council has considered a number of bills recently that relate to urban wind power, which is far from the most viable way to make the city greener. Reducing consumption would have a much bigger impact, and wind power is most effective when harnessed at offshore farms.
US (MO): Aquaponics Facility To Alleviate Food Desert
US (MO): Aquaponics Facility To Alleviate Food Desert
Nonprofit Nile Valley Aquaponics is raising fish in a Kansas City food desert—and they’re creating jobs, providing healthy food and promoting sustainable urban farming in the process. To help the nonprofit lead the community to greener and healthier living, American architecture and engineering firm HOK designed the Nile Valley Aquaponics Facility, which could double the annual harvest to 50,000 pounds of fish and 70,000 pounds of vegetables.
The building would be constructed using sustainable building methods and feature resource-saving systems such as rainwater cisterns and a wind turbine.
Designed to cover a 0.7-acre lot, the Nile Valley Aquaponics Facility aims to expand the nonprofit’s food production capacity and introduce additional eco-friendly farming features. The urban farming effort not only gives the community greater access to fresh produce and fish but also provides low-income youth with economic and educational opportunities through jobs, lessons, field trips and mentoring.
The new facility would include two new greenhouses that could increase the output of fish from 25,000 to 50,000 pounds and the production of vegetables from 35,000 to 75,000 pounds. A third greenhouse would be used for education.
Read more at Inhabitat (Lucy Wang)
Publication date: 6/22/2018
Leading The Way In Sustainable Growing
Leading The Way In Sustainable Growing
Lauren Stockam, University Communications student writer, For the News-Leader
Published June 10, 2018
Smelling like cilantro is normal for Missouri State University seniors Rachel Veenstra and Jennifer Rice.
“I’ve been in class before and people are trying to figure out why it smells like plants,” Veenstra said. “That gives me an opportunity to tell them about what I do.”
The students, both environmental plant science majors in Darr College of Agriculture, make up the Chartwells Green Team. They grow herbs and lettuce for the dining halls on MSU’s campus.
A different system
The Green Team was created to promote sustainability at Missouri State. It started with hydroponic grow towers inside the dining halls.
After receiving a student sustainability grant, the project expanded into a grow room in the basement of Kentwood Hall. The room used to be a utility closet.
With the expansion, the Green Team took hydroponic production to the next level.
“Hydroponics is growing plants without soil,” said Veenstra, a Hartville, Missouri, native.
Hydroponics growing is more efficient than traditional in-ground, soil-based growing. It uses less water, works well in small spaces and produces plants at a much faster rate all-year round.
In the grow room, the duo uses a vertical film technique, where a nutrient solution is dripped over the roots of the plants. That solution leads to a drainage trough that recirculates back through the system.
“We control the nutrients the plants are getting and the pH levels of the water,” Veenstra said, “so working in the grow room is very management intensive.”
Plants don’t take vacations
Veenstra and Rice dedicate many hours to the project.
“We have to monitor the operation as much as possible in case anything goes wrong,” said Rice, who is from Springfield.
This means coming in early every morning and staying late every afternoon. They work in the grow room during breaks, when other students are not on campus.
“Plants don’t take vacations,” Veenstra said, “even when we want to.”
Seeing the final product of their hard work makes the long hours worth it for Veenstra and Rice. They both love harvest day.
“The people in Kentwood always know when we’re harvesting because the smell is overwhelming,” Rice said. “But it’s wonderful.”
The duo grows roughly 20 pounds of fresh produce every 20 days for the dining halls on campus.
“They are always so happy to get the fresh herbs,” Veenstra said. “We bring it to them, they wash it, then immediately start cooking with it.”
Beyond the plants
As part of Chartwells’ sustainability initiative, the Green Team educates people about growing with hydroponics.
Both students have presented the grow towers at events and conferences. Veenstra gave a presentation in San Antonio, Texas, last year titled, “Taking Sustainability to the Basement.”
“That got people intrigued,” Veenstra said. “Once they figured out what it meant, we had a lot of people ask how they can bring a hydroponics system to their own campus.”
The duo also maintains a Green Team blog to keep people informed on their progress in the grow room.
“Since we were funded by a sustainability grant, we feel it’s important for people to know what we are doing with that money,” Veenstra said.
For both Veenstra and Rice, gardening and sustainability are fierce passions. They are grateful for the experiences the Green Team has given them.
“When I’m having a rough day, I go and work with the plants,” Rice said. “It’s my getaway.”
Innovation And Design In Vertical Agriculture And Sustainable Urban Ecosystems
Innovation And Design In Vertical Agriculture And Sustainable Urban Ecosystems
A workshop sponsored by The U.S. Department of Agriculture & The U.S. Department of Energy - June 27 – 28, 2018 - Washington D.C.
“While admission is free, you must RSVP by June 17 to attend. To RSVP, please go online to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/innovation-design-vertical-agriculture-and-sustainable-urban-ecosystems-tickets-44896966034 .”
An Opportunity for Innovation
As the global population grows, so too does food demand as well as constraints on land and natural resources. By the year 2050, the world’s population will approach 10 billion people, and at least 2 out of 3 people will live in urban centers.
With this increased urbanization comes the unique opportunity to develop engineering and agricultural innovations within urban systems that sustainably stimulate growth to help meet future needs.
Vertical agriculture operations could augment production while offering lower emissions, higher-nutrient produce, and reduced water usage and runoff. And placing vertical farms in the context of a renewable urban ecosystem - where one industry’s waste is another’s raw material - could stimulate sustainable economic growth.
At this free workshop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy, representatives from the public and private sectors will identify and discuss challenges, opportunities and possibilities associated with vertical agriculture and sustainable urban ecosystems. Information on featured speakers can be found on the back page of this brochure.
The public may attend all morning programs, but your RSVP is required. For additional information or to RSVP, please contact Sarah Federman at Sarah.Federman@osec.usda.gov or David Babson at David.Babson@osec.usda.gov.
(Agenda and Federal Registration links below)
Featured Speakers Include:
Featured Speakers, left to right: Dr. Sabine O’Hara, Dr. Dickson Despommier,Dr. Raymond Wheeler, Dr. Weslynne Ashton, Nate Storey, Nick Starling.
Dr. Sabine O’Hara, Dean of the College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES) of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). As Dean of CAUSES, she is responsible for academic, research and community outreach programs, and is leading the UDC’s efforts to build a cutting-edge model for Urban Agriculture and Urban Sustainability that improves the quality of life and economic opportunity for urban populations. Sabine is a respected author, researcher and higher education executive, and is well known for her expertise in sustainable economic development, global education and executive leadership.
Dr. Dickson Despommier, microbiologist, ecologist, and Emeritus Professor of Public and Environmental Health at Columbia University. Despommier is widely considered to be the originator of the modern concept of vertical farming.
Dr. Raymond Wheeler, Plant Physiologist, NASA – As the lead for Advanced Life Support Research activities at the Kennedy Space Center, Wheeler has been studying ways to grow safe, fresh food crops efficiently off the Earth. Astronauts on the International Space Station recently harvested and ate a variety of red romane lettuce that they activated and grew in a plant growth system called “Veggie.”
Dr. Weslynne Ashton, Associate Professor of Environmental Management and Sustainability, Illinois Institute of Technology Stuart School of Business. Ashton’s research focuses on industrial ecology, optimizing resource flows in socio-ecological systems, and developing entrepreneurial solutions to social and environmental challenges. She currently leads projects examining urban food system sustainability with Plant Chicago and the Chicago Food Policy Action Council.
Nate Storey, Chief Science Officer, Plenty, Inc. - Plenty is building a global network of field-scale indoor farms to transform produce from a boring commodity to a delicious movement for all. Located near communities around the world, Plenty farms will utilize cutting-edge growing technologies and proven plant science to deliver industry-leading yields of locally-grown, backyard-fresh produce. By shaving thousands of miles and weeks off the journey from farm to table, Plenty will transition agriculture to a reliable, predictable, and resource-efficient model.
Nick Starling is the chairman of Skyscraper Farm, LLC. Nick has been researching vertical farming since 2011. During this time, he has discovered a variety of improvements needed to feed the world while dramatically reducing water usage and eliminating agricultural runoff.
Agenda
Thomas Jefferson Auditorium, USDA South Building,
1398 Independence Ave. SW, Washington DC
June 27th
8:45 a.m. – Open Session: Welcome
9:30 a.m. – Envisioning Incentivizing Sustainable Urban Ecosystems:
Sabine O’Hara, Univ. of the District of Columbia
10:00 a.m. – Envisioning Vertical Agriculture: Dickson Despommier,
Columbia University
10:30 a.m. – Vertical Agriculture in Practice: Nate Storey, Chief Science Officer, Plenty Inc.
11:00 am – 3x5s, State of the Practice: lightning talks
12:00 p.m. – Break & Lunch
12:45 p.m. – Breakout sessions (attendance by invitation only)
- Pest and Pathogen Management
- Plant Selection and Breeding
- Systems Engineering
- Sustainability and Community Services
- Sustainability and Ecosystem Services
- Economics
4:30 p.m. – Wrap Up
June 28th
8:30 a.m. – Rapporteur from 06/27 breakouts
9:30 a.m. – Open Session: Welcome
10:00 a.m. – Expanding Applications for Controlled Agriculture:
Raymond Wheeler, NASA
10:30 a.m. – Economics and Scalability of Vertical Farms: Nick Starling, Skyscraper Farm LLC
11:00 a.m. – Industrial Ecology for Sustainable Urban Ecosystems:
Weslynne Ashton, Illinois Institute of Technology
11:30 a.m. – Open Session: Closing Remarks
12:00 a.m. – Break & Lunch
12:45 p.m. – Breakout sessions (attendance by invitation only)
- Pest and Pathogen Management
- Plant Selection and Breeding
- Systems Engineering
- Sustainability and Community Services
- Sustainability and Ecosystem Services
- Economics
4:30 p.m. – Wrap Up
Register Now: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/innovation-design-vertical-agriculture-and-sustainable-urban-ecosystems-tickets-44896967037
Kids Grow Salad Greens On An Urban Concrete Schoolyard
Kids Grow Salad Greens On An Urban Concrete Schoolyard
Hydroponic hothouse program introduces disadvantaged girls to organic, sustainable veggies and herbs for eating and selling.
By Abigail Klein Leichman JUNE 19, 2018
Fresh greens are grown hydroponically at a Jerusalem girls’ school. Photo courtesy of StartUpRoots
Photos of smiling kids planting, picking and eating vegetables line the hallways of a school for girls in an impoverished Jerusalem neighborhood. The pictures were taken in the hydroponic hothouse the girls have tended for the past three years on their concrete playground.
Many of their families can’t afford veggies or haven’t been taught about their essential nutritional value, leaving children undernourished and unaware of the miraculous journey from seed to salad, says Shulamit, the teacher in charge of the project.
The nonprofit StartUpRoots provides the funds, equipment, and expertise for the hothouse, which nurtures some 1,400 greens and herbs each month. The students eat them, cook with them and even make creams and soaps from them.
“I think this is a project that belongs in every school. I love it so much,” Shulamit tells ISRAEL21c.
A student tends the leafy greens growing in the hydroponic hothouse. Photo courtesy of StartUpRoots
Lawyer, entrepreneur and former teacher Robin Katz founded StartUpRoots after investigating how Israeli produce could be grown locally without pesticides and while educating and empowering students in “poverty pockets” — including the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) population characterized by large families and small incomes.
“The kids are at a disadvantage academically when they don’t have proper nutrition. And a lot of health problems occur when you don’t know what foods to choose or just choose what is cheap,” says Katz, who moved to Ra’anana from Chicago in 2007.
She didn’t want children only to eat more veggies but to take a hand in growing them organically and sustainably. Katz found the model she was seeking when she visited a hydroponic farm in northern Israel
“They had the cleanest, best-tasting vegetables I’ve ever had, and I’ve traveled extensively,” she tells ISRAEL21c.
Katz found the opportunity to put her idea into action when she was asked to help raise money for a school lunch program at the girls’ school in the Bukharim neighborhood of Jerusalem. She proposed building a small hydroponic facility in a corner of the schoolyard for the girls to grow their own vegetables.
“I was worried about taking space from the playground but the principal said, ‘No, take the back 100 meters.’ That was enough to grow 1,400 plants a month, and we’re working on ways to increase the yield exponentially,” says Katz.
Hothouse on a concrete schoolyard. Photo courtesy of StartUpRoots
The kids grow by growing
Supported by private donors, StartUpRoots provides the equipment, the services of professional agronomists and nutritionists, and a chef who comes after the first harvest to cook with the kids.
Katz and a team of expert volunteers developed a holistic curriculum for teachers like Shulamit to get ideas for lesson plans covering topics from healthy eating to the environmental impact of food production.
“I sat down with Israeli educators to talk about the objectives and goals of the program and they said, ‘Relax, Robin, the kids will grow by growing. They’ll see the direct relationship between their effort and the outcome.’ The life lessons they learn include personal responsibility and understanding that progress is gradual.”
StartUpRoots installed another hydroponic garden at a girls’ school in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Neve Ya’akov. “They didn’t have room outside, so we built an indoor farm with LED lighting, which we are currently expanding in a former library, utilizing a state-of-the-art vertical design,” says Katz.
A StartUpRoots staffer shows schoolgirls in Neve Ya’akov how to start a hydroponic garden. Photo: courtesy
The program requires that students spend at least 20 minutes every day tending the system and the plants, starting with dropping single seeds in a growing medium and making sure that the plants in the closed water system have the right levels of acidity, nutrients, and oxygen.
“The hydroponic method uses 90 percent less water than in-ground farming because nothing is getting absorbed in the soil and the water is recycled,” Katz explains. “The roots get nutrition directly from water and therefore grow faster. There are also few insects because it’s the dirt that attracts pests.”
“It’s a lot fresher and healthier,” adds Ronny Avidan, an Israeli agronomist who joined StartUpRoots in 2015 after completing agricultural projects in Africa. “I want to help promote the ideology of urban organic, pest-free agriculture and sustainability,” he tells ISRAEL21c.
Leafy veggies growing in a schoolyard hothouse in Jerusalem. Photo courtesy of StartUpRoots
Creating a sense of value
The hothouse has become part of Shulamit’s science curriculum for grades 1-7. The girls record their activities and observations after performing their assigned tasks.
The leafy greens grow so abundantly that the school began selling them for a token amount to the girls’ families. “When you charge a bit of money, you create a sense of value,” Shulamit explains.
She says the excitement created by the project has led directly to higher enrollment as children share their enthusiasm with parents and friends.
The girls also planted a conventional garden in another corner of the schoolyard along with a compost pile. Among the produce growing, there are sunflowers, the seeds of which are a favorite Israeli snack.
“When they buy sunflower seeds in a package in the store, they think they appeared from nowhere. Now they understand that these are natural seeds that God created,” says Shulamit.
Katz says some of the aspects of StartUpRoots are found in American programs like Virginia-based Edible Education.
“But we go beyond those programs. In Israel, we don’t have water and land to waste, and we have increasing populations. And yet if we can come out of those challenges shining it should inspire others to do the same.”
The program is not meant only for disadvantaged children. Katz is working with her hometown and partners Matan and Leket (Israel’s national food bank) to transform an unused area into a hydroponic community garden that she hopes will blossom into a farmers market.
Katz is in discussions with additional schools to join StartUpRoots. The no-carbon-footprint hothouses could be put on school rooftops or basements.
“To change dietary habits you first have to change consumer demand and the best way to do that is to start with children,” she says.