Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
The Way We Eat Is Killing The Planet — Here’s How Tech Can Help
by CAMILLE CHARLUET - May 10, 2019
As someone who gets way too excited about delicious food, it really pains me to admit that our modern diets are the largest cause of climate change and biodiversity loss in existence. While it’s usually easier to be blissfully ignorant, yesterday at TNW Conference I received the wake-up call I (reluctantly) needed.
On stage was Eva Gladek, the founder and CEO of sustainability consultancy, Metabolic. Gladek made it clear that the current global food system is killing the planet — and she didn’t shy away from sharing the damage our eating habits have caused.
“25-30 percent of greenhouse gases are linked to the food system, 50 percent of the planet’s surface that can support plant life is devoted to producing food, and we’ve exploited over 90 percent of fish in our oceans,” she explained. And if that wasn’t enough to instill fear, Gladek believes with the population growing, diets changing, and wealth increasing, we’ll have to double the output of food by 2050.
Despite the grim outlook, Gladek is optimistic that we still have time to right our wrongs. “Even though we have very little time left, we still have that window where we can really turn things around and make a change,” she explained. “Technology has to be one of the pathways forward.”
Precision agriculture
The first of three tech categories Gladek believes can help us create a sustainable food future is precision agriculture. By using AI and robotics, you can now deliver exactly the right amount of chemicals to help plants grow.
Satellites and sensing technologies can also tell you exactly when and where you should plant. As Gladek explained: “In some cases, due to weather patterns, planting crops just seven days earlier can increase a crop’s yield by 50 percent.”
Using a drone to control and optimize his harvest.
Vertical farming
Another area of tech that could improve the future of food is vertical farming. Not only can it produce significantly more food per unit of area, feeding more people, but it also can save a substantial amount of precious water.
Gladek was quick to admit that not all vertical farms are good for the environment, though, due to the energy they demand. However, as seen with Singapore Sky Greens — the world’s first low carbon hydraulic commercial farming system — she’s certain of the tech’s potential if applied in the right way.
Credit: https://www.skygreens.com/
Singapore based vertical farming company, Sky Greens
Sustainable consumption and dietary shift
While changing people’s eating patterns is no easy feat, there are lots of technologies emerging to facilitate this. With meat replacements like the Impossible Burger that actually tastes like real meat, (I tried it in New York and was blown away) and lab-grown meat slowly becoming more affordable, Gladek believes it’s not long before there are sustainable solutions around that people actually enjoy.
The Beyond Meat Burger’s patty is made from plant protein-based food products and tastes very similar to meat.
It’s clear that tech will play a big part in cleaning up the mess we’ve created. But as Gladek insisted, it’s our choices that’ll have the biggest influence on our future. We need to get better at considering the long-term effects of our decisions and the technologies we create. “Without that, we’re not going to have a planet that we can share with future generations.”
How This Man Has Turned A Warehouse Into An Organic Farm
UNS farm to soon make of greens available at local super markets at affordable prices
April 05, 2019
Mustafa Moiz, MD of UNS Hydroponic Farms, explains functioning and benefits of Hydroponic farms at the UNS Farms in Al Quoz.Image Credit: Clint Egbert/Gulf News
Dubai: Sustainable urban farming has now become a reality in the UAE. Instead of picking up expensive organic vegetables that have travelled thousands of miles around the world guzzling aviation fuel and clocking high on the carbon footprint, we now have an alternative. We can actually have pesticide-free, zero carbon, indigenously grown, reasonably priced organic vegetables round the year.
Meet Mustafa Moiz, a young Indian expatriate and resident entrepreneur from Dubai. He is the Managing Director of UNS farm situated in a large warehouse of Al Quoz Industrial area. Utilising principles of vertical farming with eight vertical levels of farming, his farm utilises 30,000 square feet of space and is the largest urban farm in the city.
“There is a misconception that good quality, organic, pesticide-free vegetables have to be expensive. We are offering through UNS affordably priced vegetables for all,” said Moiz
UNS farm that began operation in September 2018, harvests anything between 1,000 to 1,500kg of vegetables every day and is currently supplying to gourmet chefs, hotels and restaurants. However, its produce will soon be available to individuals on supermarket shelves.
Hydroponic farmers work hard at growing viable and sustainable herbs, fruits and vegetables at the UNS Farms in Al Quoz.
The farm works on principles of hydroponics which rests on growing vegetables soil free in peat moss. Nutrition is supplied to plants through macro and micronutrients dissolved in water, through drip farming optimising the use of water. The indoor farm is temperature controlled so has the same yield throughout the year, even during the peak of summers. It is sustainable because it uses minimum water and the green, red and yellow ultraviolet solar colours that are used in the indoor farm come from energy saving LED lights.
The Moiz family which also runs a family hardware business, invested $10 million (Dh36.7 million) in this project as they completely believe in organic, sustainable urban farming. Moiz added: “Urban farming is the future of the world. Using the principles of drip irrigation and aerial farming and economising on congested city spaces, it is not only eco-friendly but is also financially and environmentally sustainable. Most cities can actually become self- sufficient in indigenous food production. This is the key to food security in our near future.”
The Uns farm currently produces tonnes of greens — baby spinach, kale, basil, lettuce and salad leaves. The farm plans to diversify into growing fruit such as strawberry and also cultivate mushrooms. It also is into cultivation of flowers.
The produce, minus pesticides and harmful chemicals, are imbued with great natural flavours. Moiz added: “The vegetables grown here taste incredible. Usually soils in general have chemicals and pesticides leeched into it over some years. But here we grow without soil and there is no contamination of any kind of harmful chemicals.”
Hydroponic farmers work hard at growing viable and sustainable herbs, fruits and vegetables at the UNS Farms in Al Quoz.Image Credit: Clint Egbert/Gulf News
Uns plans to get into mushroom cultivation soon. “Worldwide mushrooms are the favourite fungi for exotic cuisines but are not required to be grown in compost base which is not always very hygienic. We will be adhering to very high hygienic standards while cultivating mushrooms too. We want people to know that health and quality need not come at a premium, and at UNs were are working towards that goal,” added Moiz.
How does Hydroponic farming at UNS happen?
Each herb or green has its own cycle of growth from 7-14 days. The farm follows definite steps for cultivation:
• Seeds of the plants to be cultivated are procured and filled with nutrients.
• They are inserted in oasis sheets which is then soaked in hydrogen peroxide solution and kept for 10 minutes. This is done to avoid fungal and other bacterial growth. Again the seeds are sprayed with the nutrient solution which are bio stimulators enhancing the growth of the crop.
• These seeds are then taken to the growing trays where they are continuously supplied with nutrient filled irrigation solution supplied through three dedicated nutrient tanks. There are three ozone units installed in the farm that kills any kind of bacterial growth
• The farm temperature is maintained under 24 degree Celsius, the PH level is maintained at 5.80 and carbon dioxide is maintained is at 600 ppm. All of which is controlled and maintained by an automated control panel that checks optimum PH, temperature, nutrient target and humidity.
Hydroponic farmers work hard at growing viable and sustainable herbs, fruits and vegetables at the UNS Farms in Al Quoz.Image Credit: Clint Egbert/Gulf News
• The LED lights supply nourishment through the colours of the rays.
• The harvesting depends on the kind of crop. Some crops start germinating between the fifth and seventh day. The harvest can be done from tenth day and the same plant can is re-harvested up to 4 or 5 times from the same growing tray.
• The crop is taken to the harvest machine where it is sized uniformly and then is taken to the sterilising bubble washing machine where it sterilises the plants and increases the shelf life
• The crop is then taken to the dryer where it is dried in a manner that 10 per cent of the moisture is retained to maintain the freshness of the crop.
Hydroponics nutrition
The composition of the nutrients in hydroponic farming is essential as plants grow without soil. There are over 20 elements that are essential. These include elements such as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen that the plant absorbs from the air and water. In addition plants require essential minerals and nutrients that are dissolved in water in correct proportions and delivered to the plant through drip irrigation.
The essential minerals in solution for hydroponic farming must include”
•Nitrogen (N)
•Potassium (K)
•Phosphorus (P)
•Calcium (Ca)
•Magnesium (Mg)
•Sulphur (S)
•Iron (Fe)
•Manganese (Mn)
Hydroponic farmers work hard at growing viable and sustainable herbs, fruits and vegetables at the UNS Farms in Al Quoz.Image Credit: Clint Egbert/Gulf News
The House of The Future: Super-Sustainable With Room to Grow Your Food
The house and garden of the future is sustainable and produces its own food. Photo: supplied
MELISSA HEAGNEY SENIOR JOURNALIST
MAR 3, 2019
The phrase “house of the future” may, at first, provoke images of cartoon family The Jetsons with sky-high homes, flying cars and robot servants.
But according to the experts, the reality is much more sustainable and green. And it’s already here.
One display at the upcoming Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show will feature a range of sustainable builders’ ideas and products linked to the house and garden of the future.
Future homes are set to be highly sustainable, have minimal impact on the land and produce enough fresh food to feed several adults over a year, according to participant Brendan Condon.
Mr Condon is director of three sustainability companies including gardening outfit Biofilta, and part of an award-winning deep-green development The Cape at Cape Patterson in South Gippsland.
Homes can and will have minimal impact on the land around it. Photo: Supplied
“We’re showing people can harness design and breakthrough technology that is already being used on houses around the world,” Mr Condon said.
He said sustainability was a must for the future of big cities like Melbourne and Sydney, especially when it comes to living a healthy and comfortable life.
“Suburbia now needs to become the new nature,” he said.
“Cities have huge opportunities to combine rainwater or rooftop rainwater runoff, waste stream organics like composted food waste and surplus city spaces with clever urban farming systems to grow huge amounts of fresh produce.”
Mr Condon said a new gardening system would be launched at the show to demonstrate to people that they could grow food anywhere.
Biofilta recently partnered with a local coffee company to set up pop-up farms in two car spaces in Rocklea Drive, Port Melbourne.
The aim is to grow over 300 kilograms of fresh food in over a year using used coffee grounds and chaff. They have already produced 180 kilograms of food in four months.
Gardens can be grown anywhere – including rooftops and car parks. Photo: Supplied
Mr Condon said there were opportunities to turn urban areas and high-rise blocks into environments for not only food production but also other types of biodiversity.
That included setting up areas of wetlands which would encourage frogs and insects to find a home in urban areas. More plants offering shading would also help with the urban heat island effect.
As well as food production, the house and garden of the future will also use solar energy and solar batteries to produce more power than they need. This could power electric cars – even if not actual flying cars promised by The Jetsons.
Director of modular home group Ecoliv Building Ashley Beaumont agreed, saying sustainable home design was now at a point where heating and cooling appliances were minimally used.
Passive solar design – using the sun to heat and cool homes – meant power bills would be massively reduced.
Mr Condon said this could be by as much as $2500 every year where efficient, all-electric appliances were used.
“Climate-adapted, resilient, comfortable homes powered by renewable energy with super-low energy bills, coupled with productive urban farming, are definitely the future,” Mr Condon said.
Modern Farming, A Must To Boost Local Food Supply: UAE minister
Hydroponic farming is cost-efficient and it yields more vegetables and herbs in a shorter time.
Angel Tesorer
February 13, 2019
Combatting climate change also means embracing modern farming practices to diversify food sources and achieve sustainable development in the agricultural sector.
This was given emphasis by Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, in an interview with Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the World Government Summit in Dubai on Tuesday.
Al Zeyoudi said: "We at the ministry have developed a policy for food biodiversity where we encourage a change in the behaviour of our local farmers - towards more resilient agricultural practices - to produce the right crops."
He noted that employing modern technology and tools will bring about a two-pronged result: increased food production and lesser carbon footprint.
Al Zeyoudi cited hydroponic farming as an example of a more sustainable option as it uses around 90 per cent less water than regular farming. It also requires less space for plants and vegetables to grow, making it the best solution to the challenges presented by the UAE's limited arable land.
On the economic side, he noted that hydroponic farming is cost-efficient and it yields more vegetables and herbs in a shorter time. And more importantly, its carbon footprint is minimal as the greens are grown locally.
The UAE imports 85 per cent of its food requirement and some studies show that food importation is set to rise from $100 billion in 2014 to $400 billion in 2025.
Al Zeyoudi said they are urging small-scale farmers to move to commercial agriculture and embrace modern cultivation practices to increase their contributions to the local food supply.
"We are subsidising farm materials, including seeds that can grow in an environment with high temperature, humidity and salinity," he said.
While the technology is available, the minister cautioned farmers against utilising it on their own.
"There are many experts and engineers at the ministry who can provide them with trainings. They should not just use hydroponics or build greenhouses without first understanding them."
Last week, Al Zeyoudi visited several farms in Dubai and Abu Dhabi where he inspected various water and energy-saving technologies, including greenhouses.
"The results are amazing," he said. "Farmers are happier because the technology is tailored-fit to the conditions of the UAE."
Simple Secrets To Start A Vertical Farm
Talking to people just like you, it’s clear that the first step is always the hardest on the road to building a vertical farm. The plunge into the unknown where your own time, capital, and dreams are at risk stops a lot of entrepreneurs from fulfilling their ambition. Fortunately, Matt Farrell took that step for you and tells all in this exclusive interview on the Urban Vertical Project. Keep reading because Matt talks about:
Location, location, location (where to put your vertical farm)
The honest truth about Zip Grow Towers
How much money can you actually make when you start a vertical farm (what restaurants will pay you)
The simple secret of getting customers who pay
I know why taking that first step to start your farm is scary; it means taking a big chance with your time and money to do something that doesn’t really have a standard set of procedures.
I am right there with you. Chances are, if you’ve found this article, you’ve thought about what it takes to make one of these bad boys a reality. Maybe you’ve done some daydreaming or vision boarding, or maybe you’ve even built a small system. In the end, we’ve all probably come across or conjured within our own imaginations an idea for a vertical farm that works, but that’s a far cry from actually making it a reality.
How do you go about doing that? For me, I’m going to follow the process for starting a vertical farm I modeled off another entrepreneur in an earlier article:
Set up a proof of concept
Secure a buyer
Execute
Even knowing a structure like that one exists, transforming that to reality is a different story. But, as my favorite (and legendary, if you can believe such a thing) street performer says “It’s better to go out and do something than to stay home and plan something.”
So, I went out and did something. I helped my father buy a bunch of IKEA products and convert them into a hydroponic system for less than $100. It was a start.
Now I’m working on another prototype, and I hope to actually maintain this one. My goal with this next system is to collect and analyze a bunch of data to project future results like yields, energy costs, and calories/square foot. Maybe that will turn into an open source project that people can turn to for up-to-date information, or perhaps it will evolve into a farm in its own right. In addition to that prototype, I’ve been doing tons of research for different people that’s helped them to think about their own, personal businesses and projects.
Even so, if all of my work turns out perfectly, it still exists in a vacuum. Simply put, there isn’t enough information out there to for people to make realistic comparisons or projections for their own farm. Other websites and news articles have featured fantastic farms, ideas, and projects, but there aren’t a lot of actionable numbers. That partly comes from being in an industry that’s too scared to share (something we’ve mentioned before and that projects like MIT CityFarm is working to overcome). That’s why we work so hard to bring you these exclusive interviews and why we get down and geeky – getting the nitty gritty numbers. I want you to have a successful urban vertical farm.
All of that is to say, I’m working on my first step and outlining that process for you. But this article isn’t about just the first step; it’s about revealing the simple truths real farmers know that can help you think more realistically abut your project.
And that’s where Matt Farrell comes in. Matt has been into hydroponics for awhile, but he doesn’t come from any sort of traditionally agricultural background.
He was studying in the School of International Service at American University where he got hit with the idea to help the school build a small hydroponic system. Though the school has taken it down since, his dedication to the idea of local, high efficiency farming has persevered. Now, he’s out on his own running Stag’s Leap Produce. Their tagline:
“Always Fresh. Never From A Shelf.”
The site goes on to explain their goals a bit more: “We want to connect the community to a local source of fresh, organic produce at an affordable price. Come try the freshest, healthiest produce around.”
I’ve known Matt personally for awhile now and he was generous enough to take time out of his busiest growing season to give me some exceptionally candid answers about his experience getting his farm up and running.
Location
In this section, we’re going to take a quick look at why the location of Matt’s farm is so important and why it means you might have more flexibility than you thought in where to put your vertical farm.
Matt is the owner operator of Stag’s Leap Produce in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. Another New Jersey Farm, huh? Just like Freshwater Greens (from an earlier interview), Stag’s Leap produce illustrates a perfect lesson for aspiring vertical farmers to internalize; take advantage of local market access. In addition to supplying local restaurants and businesses (see below for a list Matt shouts out in addition to a local farmers market and customers that come to him directly), being in New Jersey means they potentially have access to the much denser populations in New York and the surrounding cities.
I talk a little bit more about the importance of these population centers combined with available space in the Rust Belt Hypothesis (you guys remember that, right? Probably not, I wouldn’t either, so here’s a link), but Stag’s Leap might demonstrate an alternative, or even start to unravel that hypothesis. Remember, the Rust Belt Hypothesis is the idea is that declining industrial cities are perfect environments for vertical farms because of the inherent socioeconomic conditions there. Those conditions include: population density, existing infrastructure (usually in the form of abandoned warehouses from the manufacturing golden age), cheap energy, local community support (jobs!), and legislative support to revitalize a struggling economy.
But check this out!
Mullica Hills New Jersey is definitely not a Rust Belt City. So, if Stag’s Leap demonstrates that a vertical farm can work in less dense populations like there, that means the demand for these products (fresh, local vegetables available year round) and the expertise required to produce them is even higher than we expected. It means that if farms like Stag’s Leap become the norm, or even just more common, vertical farms will have demonstrated that they can fill needs beyond urban centers. That opens up huge swaths of the country that would otherwise wouldn’t have been considered; well beyond what’s normally considered the Rust Belt as seen below.
And according to Matt, that fits in perfectly with their mission: “We believe you should have the ability to purchase fresh, healthy, produce straight from its source. Without harmful chemicals or pesticides, at an affordable price.”
How is Matt growing food?
But how exactly is Matt meeting this demand? “I grow lettuce, basil, kale and arugula. I have two types of growing systems, Bright Agrotech’s Zip Grow Towers and custom made shallow water floating rafts.”
Image from Bright Agrotech
Essentially, he is using two types of growing systems inside of one 3000 sq ft greenhouse. Zip Grow towers utilize a wicking medium to deliver water and nutrients to plants.
Here’s a video directly from Bright Agrotech that explains in more detail how the Zip Grows work.
The floating rafts Matt describes to me seem like a conventional deep water culture (DWC) setup, though he’s modified this idea a bit by making the reservoirs shallower. I’ll let the folks at Boswyck Farms in New York City describe what that is as they have one of the few hydroponic certifications around and are really knowledgeable growers in general.
[DEEP] WATER CULTURE
Water culture systems are the simplest form of active hydroponics. Plant roots grow directly in the water reservoir and are supplied oxygen with an air pump. Water culture systems can be built from repurposed glass mason jars, plastic buckets, or tubs as the reservoir container, with the plant suspended from the lid in a net pot, letting the roots grow through the holes into the water below.
In larger, commercial scale designs, several plants are placed in a sheet of buoyant material that floats on nutrient solution like a raft. Water is generally held in a separate, larger reservoir and pumped up to the floating grow bed and then drained back down to the reservoir in a constant cycle.
Deep Water Culture Example From Epic Gardening
The combination of the Zip Grow towers and his tables allows Matt to maximize the efficiency of all the space in his 3000 sq ft greenhouse. That efficiency comes from incorporating the principles of vertical farming we talk about in this blog.
Remember, the definition of vertical farming is growing on multiple levels. The Zip Grows achieve this by having multiple plant sites on a vertical access hanging down from supports running above the ground. Additionally, Matt stacks his DWC beds to double his production/sq ft when compared to a set up like the one in the photo above. Below is a photo of Matt’s stacked system, which, even in its simple form, doubles his production/sq foot! That’s the power of vertical farming!
I was immediately intrigued about Matt using Zip Grow Towers. Bright Agrotech seems like a great company, but I’d struggled to find an account of using their product that wasn’t tied to their marketing material. I didn’t, and don’t, have any suspicions, but I just wanted to check things out. I’d even flirted with buying a few towers myself to test them out, but Matt’s review of the Zip Grow Towers based off his experience running a real business is even more helpful.
“In the zip grow towers I can plant 6-7 heads of lettuce. But lettuce heads grow much better in raft systems than NTF systems, so we grow our heads in our raft beds now. Each bed is around 4’ by 8’ and we grow 50 lettuce heads in each bed, we also stack our beds twice.“ But, as you can see in the video below (no making fun of the flipped video), those Zip Grows are not wasted.
“Basil, kale and arugula grow well in our Zip Grow towers. We plant 7-8 basil and arugula per tower and 6 kale. In a 10′ by 10′ space we can house about 30 towers. We get around half pound of basil and arugula per tower and we count kale by the leaves so we get around 12 or more mature leaves per tower. We pick our towers continuously so that we are always harvesting from our plants and doing little replanting. With Zip Grow towers the majority of the work is in planting and hanging the towers.“
That breaks down along these lines:
Harvest/Tower (Lettuce)Harvest/Tower (Basil)Harvest/Tower (Kale)7 plants½ pound12 leaves
So Matt is growing through a combination of Zip Grow towers and vertically stacked deep water cultures. We’ve looked at a few different ways to grow produce on this site, but what it really comes down to is how much money you can make off of what you grow. Remember, the incentive to go vertical is to produce more calories/square foot at a lower cost. To quote from our introduction to LEDs:
“In vertical farming, it comes down to producing calories people want to buy (assuming your product is food of course). To make money, you need to produce those calories efficiently.”
How much money can you actually make when you start a vertical farm?
Let’s assume you are producing those calories efficiently.
I asked Matt how he set his price points for the different restaurants he sold to. “So originally we followed bright agro’s models for crop pricing. They host a number of blogs and videos talking about how to price your basil and how to sell you produce and offer very large price points for their crops.” Off the top of his head, he cites “$2.00 an oz for their herbs and I think $3/pound for vegetables.”
Bright Agrotech Farm Wall (more info here)
If you remember when I talked about actual restaurant pricing here, you’d understand that I had some doubts that these price points were attainable. Matt agreed. “They like to highlight how restaurants will be happy to pay that price in the winter but all of the restaurants I went to were really turned off by these type of high prices.”
This is the main problem I have with purchasing ready-made systems from companies like Bright Agrotech or Freight Farms. This is not to disparage the actual products; not only have I never grown with them commercially myself, all testimony and evidence points to the fact that they work as intended and are examples of superior craftsmanship. However, it is completely fair to challenge the financial information they provide. They are incentivized by increasing sales of their product to use higher-than-realistic prices when they provide which gives the impression that you can pay off the initial investment in their product faster than is actually possible.
Here’s the table from above with Matt’s harvest per tower again.
Harvest/Tower (Lettuce)Harvest/Tower (Basil)Harvest/Tower (Kale)7 plants½ pound12 leaves
Let’s compare those numbers with those that Freight Farms shares. Real quickly, Freight Farms is a buy and farm as-is shipping container modification that also uses Zip Grows. I will note that I reached out to Freight Farms some time ago when I was originally considering investing in one of these and not for the purposes of an article. They were extremely helpful, but I ultimately decided the product was not for me at a $75,000 price point.
Image from Freight Farms
Here is the nice spreadsheet that they initially sent along for help with financial and crop planning. For full sized lettuce, they are saying that you can fit slightly more than what Matt was able to fit into one tower, but that may just be attributable to variety. They are also saying you can get 35 lbs/week of basil from a single tower. That doesn’t quite seem to stack up, though it could be the difference between a continual harvest like Matt uses, and harvesting a whole tower at once.
Anyways, as I said before, the company is super helpful and if you have any concerns, I’m sure they would be happy to address them. We’re going to look a little more at their financial models in a second too, so stick around.
I’m sure that there are examples of farmers getting the price that they advertise or even higher. However, in the interest of giving you an appraisal of the actual options out there for starting your farm, it’s fair to point out that it might always be the case. I definitely do not intend to disparage these companies or their products, and I’m happy to open up a space for them to respond to anything I’ve written.
As my research shows and Matt confirms “At these prices you’re [or a restaurant is] paying $30 a pound for herbs and twice or three times the industry standard for vegetables. Most restaurants simply can’t do those kinds of numbers. For example, most restaurants will pay around $8-12 dollars a pound for basil that they get from Cisco or other big food providers and while their willing to pay a small mark up for basil, the highest I got was $20, it is hard to get business owners to dish out to much money on basil and lettuce if it is breaking the bank.“
Based on that information, you’d be able to pay of the $75,000 investment in a Freight farm in just 2 years. Not only does that seem a little too good to be true, but if we plug in Matt’s numbers, we get a very different picture. Here are the price points Matt actually advertises when he sells direct to consumers:
Of course, neither Freight Farms nor any other supplier can be expected to anticipate market variance for the entire country. However, I want this information to be out there so you can more accurately make the decision on whether or not these products are right for you to start your business with.
Getting Customers Who Pay
Remember, the three steps to starting your vertical farm are
Proof of concept
2. Secure a buyer
3. Execute
I outline them in more detail here, but I wanted to include them here again to point out getting people who will pay you happens before most of the physical farming at a commercial level begins. Matt didn’t blink when I asked him how he did that and his unflinching attitude is probably one of the reasons Stag’s Leap is still chugging along.
He kept his answer short, too. “I literally just went around to everywhere I could find with a business card and told them I was doing locally grown high value crops. Some people didn’t call me back and others did.“ I can shorten it even more. How do you get people to pay? “Elbow grease.”
Original Photo of Mirai in Japan
A google search is going to blast your screen with thousands of marketing books, articles, blog posts, and everything else that’s going to tell you about building a brand, marketing, and sales tactics. Trust me, I’ve read most of them. But what they all really boil down to is just putting in the work, it’s as simple as that.
Hydroponics versus Soil-based Produce
That work is made a lot easier when you have a quality product to back it up. I still can’t believe how closed minded people still are to hydroponic products. They insist that the best produce comes from soil because it’s natural. Honestly, I just think they have a preconceived picturesque notion of farming in their mind that they are too stubborn to get rid of.
Look, my uncles have owned a restaurant my whole life, and that’s impressive considering most restaurants close within 90% of restaurants close in their first 12 months of opening. I started working there when I was 6 years old and didn’t stop until I went to college. I’ve been cooking my own meals since then (shoutouts to the ginger scallion sauce in the Momofuku cookbook) and gardening for almost that long too. I know what good produce tastes like. I know that it even smells and feels different. And I know that you can get good produce with hydroponic crops because I eat them all the time.
Yet…just try and bring up the idea of vertical hydroponic farming with an organic or permaculture extremist. Even though the ideas are super compatible, it’s still awful.
Click for the article
And frankly, people don’t agree with them. As Matt says “I haven’t come across anyone that has said we can’t grow superior produce with hydroponics, and if I were, I would probably refer them to a number of studies that suggest hydroponics can grow healthier, more flavor produce. [I’d] also give them some of our lettuce to try.”
That’s not just regular Joe-schmoes vouching for Matt’s product either. “The chefs that we work with really like our produce and would probably pay a lot more for our produce if they ran their restaurants. We constantly get great remarks about the lettuce we produce and the quality and flavor of our basil. We have a number of repeat customers that come for our salads and lettuce heads that say we have the freshest and best tasting lettuce around. And that definitely has to do with the fact that we are growing inside and with hydroponics. It really makes the whole production a lot easier and since we are selling locally this allows us to grow lettuce for flavor instead of shipping and shelf life.”
Since Matt is focusing on local food, his produce is so much fresher than anything consumers would be able to buy in a grocery store.
Obviously I’m a fan of holistic farming and permaculture techniques. I’m also a general fan of the USDA Organic Label, even if I think it could be improved. I just think that people need to really think about the type of farming Matt is doing beyond writing him off for trying something new, even if he’s using a manufactured product or, “heaven forbid;” PLASTIC. Especially in comparison to USDA Organic, something as simple as plastic doesn’t have as bad of an environmental impact as the pesticides already in use– natural or not.
Matt and I talked about this as well: “So I think its interesting when people like to contrast holistic farming with vertical farming, or holistic farming with hydroponic farming. When I think about what does holistic mean, I think about what is healthy for the consumer and what is healthy or sustainable for the planet. I think that vertical and hydroponic farming are great in both of those ways. Vertical farming really saves on land, which, as we are having a serious land crisis in terms of farming and are losing a lot of farm land to urban sprawl, is a really sustainable and positive for the future of farming. Hydroponics also allows us to recycle about 70-80 percent of the water we use, reduce the fertilizer we use, and eliminate any runoff from fertilizer. We can also do a lot of traditional holistic methods like companion planting and natural pest control using beneficial insects.”
Those are just a few of the ways to merge ideas that both philosophies espouse.
Conclusion
We wandered through a few different areas in this post. We touched on why vertical farms, if Matt’s is any example, might not be so limited in location than I was writing earlier. We also looked at how Matt is growing his food. He is using a combination of Zip Grow Towers and a custom built, stacked water culture system that allows him to maximize his production in the space.
Then, and perhaps a little controversially, we looked at pricing produce. While Matt is able to get a premium for his product’s freshness and sustainability, he still has the feeling that he’s not hitting the marks companies set for their pre-fabricated products. Not all of the numbers we included were exactly comparable, but they still make the point that you need to do your own market research before basing any business plan on those figures.
Next, we looked briefly into how Matt got customers for his produce before wrapping up by focusing on one of my pet-peeves; the rejection of hydroponic growing techniques by soil fanatics. I think this, along with location planning, is a significant challenge to the adoption of vertical farming technology. Though by no means the most important, it would be great to start doing taste studies along those lines.
This post was jam packed, and I hope you enjoyed it. Besides the great discussion about some of the challenges in vertical farming, I think the biggest take away is the detailed look at potential pricing. “Trust, but verify” as the saying goes.
This Sustainable Apartment Complex of The Future Has Farms, Community Space, And Bike Parking Galore
In a new apartment complex that will soon rise in the Dutch city of Utrecht, instead of deliveries from an online grocer, you can get boxes of vegetables grown in an intensive greenhouse on the roof or from a smaller unit built into the facade on your own floor.
01.28.19
The 1,000-unit Mark, in the Dutch city of Utrecht, will be complete by 2023. The majority of its units will be low- and medium-income housing, or “care homes” for the elderly.
1/6 [Image: Vero Visuals]
In a new apartment complex that will soon rise in the Dutch city of Utrecht, instead of deliveries from an online grocer, you can get boxes of vegetables grown in an intensive greenhouse on the roof or from a smaller unit built into the facade on your own floor. In a courtyard downstairs, you can forage for raspberries in an urban forest. In the parking garage–which is designed to house many more bikes than cars–there’s space for aquaculture.
The new development, called the Mark, with more than 1,000 units in three towers, rethinks the sustainability of typical high-rise buildings. One part of that is the food that residents eat. “We put a lot of energy into diminishing the carbon footprint due to food production for the inhabitants there,” says Darius Reznek, a partner at the design firm Karres Brands, which worked on the project along with the firms Architekten Cie, Geurst & Schulze, and a group of developers. A team of urban farmers will manage the on-site greenhouses, which will also supply produce to a rooftop restaurant.
At the ground level, by rethinking mobility options, the designers had more space for plants. “A lot of times, when you develop high-rises, you’re stuck with a lot of parking,” says Reznek. The new apartments are next to a train station, and the city is one of the best places to bike in the world, so residents don’t really need cars most of the time, but the developer will offer an electric car-sharing service to make it even less likely to that someone feels the need to own a car. “Instead of everyone having their own car, we will have 200 car-sharing vehicles, and we provide a lot of bikes, electric bikes, and space for things like that to kind of stimulate a different kind of mobility so that not everybody is stuck to their car,” he says. The garage can fit 3,500 bicycles; the extra space will become an edible forest.
Food is also a way to bring residents together–the apartments have their own balconies, but it’s possible to visit the greenhouses or manage a plot of your own in a community garden. The buildings also nudge people to interact in other ways. “The high-rises are separated in sort of smaller neighborhoods that revolve around collective floors,” says Reznek. Along with green spaces, the buildings have shared spaces with larger kitchens, collective “living rooms” if someone needs more space for a party, shared workspaces, and other community gathering places.
To make the buildings carbon neutral, the developers partnered with nearby parking garages to use their rooftop space to produce enough solar power for all of the apartments. The buildings also use a modular design that can be adapted over time, so future construction also uses less energy.
The apartments, which will be completed in 2023, are meant for everyone: While some will be sold or rented at market rate, the majority will be low-income social housing, medium-rent housing, or “care homes” for the elderly. Older residents will live near a shared courtyard and near services like a physiotherapist’s office and a doctor, and can transition to assisted living while staying in their own apartments.
It’s a model for high-rise apartments that the architects hope becomes more common, both in terms of sustainability and in terms of social interaction that goes beyond seeing neighbors in an elevator. “We believe that in order for skyscrapers or dense urban living to become kind of relevant again, it needs to become less monofunctional,” Reznek says. “It needs to address this solitude of living isolated at the 100th floor and not knowing your neighbors.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adele Peters is a staff writer at Fast Company who focuses on solutions to some of the world's largest problems, from climate change to homelessness. Previously, she worked with GOOD, BioLite, and the Sustainable Products and Solutions program at UC Berkeley.
Westland Promofilm 2019
Pioneering solutions to meet global challenges.
Westland is a dynamic municipality. In this relatively small area of just 9 000 hectares, we come up with pioneering solutions to global challenges. We produce high quality food products, flowers and plants, sustainably and innovatively, to improve the well-being and welfare of people all over the world.
The Westland area is the world’s main greenhouse horticulture cluster. Over the last 120 years, Westland has become the international hotspot when it comes to growing indoor crops. As early as 1918, Westland growers started planting indoors to extend the growing season of their tomato crop. The development and exchange of knowledge make innovation possible.
An unparalleled cluster of greenhouse horticulture companies and related industries. Importers, exporters, packaging and repackaging companies, growers, breeders, R&D, suppliers, transporters and warehouses, and many more. A cluster like this concentrated in such a small area is found nowhere else in the world. With the opening of the World Horti Center, the region now has a campus where the business community, education and government can come together.
The international innovation hub is also the main innovation centre of the international greenhouse horticulture sector, where business, research, demonstration, teaching and education converge. It is also where local and international greenhouse companies innovate and do business. Westland’s geographical location is unique. Situated close to Schiphol and the Port of Rotterdam, our logistics hub can reach 500 million European customers within 24 hours.
Our mentality is our defining feature: we work hard and efficiently, while always looking for ways to create synergy through partnerships. Many companies have chosen to establish their business in Westland. www.westlandhortibusiness.com
UAE Leads In Vertical Agriculture In Region
The National Food Security Strategy in the UAE aims to develop a comprehensive system, which aims to achieve sustainable food production.
Sumaira FH 1 month ago Mon 10th December 2018 | 07:00 PM
ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 10th Dec, 2018) The National Food Security Strategy in the UAE aims to develop a comprehensive system, which aims to achieve sustainable food production.
The system will involve 38 short and long-term initiatives, as per the "2051 Vision" and "2021 Work Agenda."
Many specialist newspapers highlighted the UAE’s plans and projects that aim to attract major investment in vertical or horizontal agriculture, in line with related growth forecasts for the Gulf region, which amounts to US$1.21 billion by 2021, a compound annual growth rate of 26.4 percent.
The Business Standard stated that the UAE leads in this type of investment, and has launched many recent leading projects.
Mariam Hareb Almheiri, Minister of State for Food Security, announced, during the UAE government’s annual meetings in November, the "National Food Security Strategy," which includes many related objectives, such as achieving sustainable local production through the use of technology and smart applications.
The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment approved the launch of 12 vertical farms while Emirates Airline is planning to launch the largest vertical agriculture farm in the world, in partnership with Crop One Holdings.
Food import rates amounting to 90 percent and the issues associated with the scarcity of water and arable land in the region strongly support this trend.
In August, Xinhua signed an agreement with China's Chongqing University related to the use of modern technology, to utilise sand as arable soil, and relevant field tests will be conducted in cooperation with Mawared.
Almheiri raised the idea of establishing a "Food Valley" or a technology centre dedicated to developing food products and automated agriculture, to attract a new generation of farmers who can help achieve future sustainability.
The UAE hosts many specialist forums and exhibitions, which aim to promote the latest technologies and showcase them in the region’s agricultural and business markets.
Henry Gordon Smith, Founder and Managing Director of AgriDetriti, said that the middle East has the ability to reshape its vital infrastructure, which will support modern life.
It also has the potential to transform a relatively small and conventional agricultural industry into the world's most technologically advanced agriculture industry, he added.
Bob Honch, Sales Manager in Van Der Hoven Company, said that the UAE has already started this industry, revealing the completion of the largest glass houses project in the UAE (11 hectares), using advanced technologies allowing climate control and stressed that the project could produce around 3000 tonnes of tomatoes throughout the year.
How Sustainable Farming Stacks Up
A look at the initiatives undertaken across the UAE to promote sustainable agriculture.
Published: December 04, 2018 14:38 Suparna Dutt D’ Cunha, Special to GN Focus
Emirates Flight Catering’s 130,000-sq-ft facility will harvest 2,700kg of herbicide- and pesticide-free leafy greens a day at full production.Image Credit: Supplied
In a country where it’s common to find apples from South Africa, potatoes from India and carrots from Australia — all marked at a price to cover the import costs — in supermarkets, some farming initiatives in recent years are bringing to reality a new breed of green agriculture that seeks to produce more crops in less space and water, and is efficient, easier and kinder on the natural environment.
It is hard not to be dazzled by the current pace of technological change in agriculture in the country. An ambitious manifestation of agricultural technology is coming to fruition next year. Emirates Flight Catering and US-based Crop One Holdings are building what they say will be the world’s largest vertical farm, producing 2,700kg of pesticide-free leafy greens daily, in Dubai.
The greens will be manufactured using hydroponics, a technique in which crops are grown in vertical stacks of plant beds, without soil, sunlight or pesticides. Above each bed of greens will be columns of LED lights, which when plants photosynthesise will convert light of certain wavelengths into chemical energy and store it for future use.
Proponents of new-age farming tout the potential of such technology to address the country’s largely hostile desert landscapes, its reliance on the global food trade, importing more than 80 per cent of its food needs, and food shortages as the population continues to grow.
“It is encouraging to see the initiatives that are underway, including some of the larger scale projects, using highly advanced technologies,” says Nicholas Lodge, Managing Partner at Abu Dhabi-based agriculture consultancy Clarity. “Developing sustainable farming with smart use of water will not only provide improved supplies for the local market but also potentially create viable businesses for export to neighbouring countries. Furthermore, technology and an ecological approach will contribute to food diversity and security as it will enhance crop production and lower its cost.”
For Omar Al Jundi, Founder and CEO of Badia Farms, the Middle East’s first commercial vertical farm in Dubai, sustainable farming is a solution for more pressing and concrete concerns such as land — less than 5 per cent of the total land area being arable in the UAE — and water shortages, meeting the demand for locally grown greens, and climate change. Growing and selling locally means emissions associated with transportation are reduced.
“The only solution is to grow smart. Sustainable farming is the future. It is time for the country and the region to become food producers rather than just consumers, since ensuring food security will be challenging in the future due to impacts of climate change.”
Using hydroponics technology on an 800-square-metre plot of land in Dubai, Badia Farms grows gourmet leafy greens for sale 365 days of the year.
Hydroponics brings some important benefits, explains Amjad Omar, Farm Manager at Emirates Hydroponics Farms (EHF). “Because crops are grown in a controlled environment there is no need for chemicals; it allows farming without soil. Most importantly, [hydroponics] uses 90 per cent less water than traditional open-field farming, although the tech uses water as a medium to grow plants, and the yield is six times more from the same amount of land.”
Situated halfway between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, EHF has adapted modern technology to grow lettuce and other herb crops year-round as well. The produce, which it sells both online and offline, is not only cheaper than imported goods but fresher too, adds Omar.
Meanwhile, to grow tomatoes, Abu Dhabi-based Pure Harvest Smart is using a fully climate-controlled high-tech, water-efficient greenhouse, which is yielding ten times more food per metre using one-seventh the water.
As the movement continues to evolve, some are experimenting with novel ways to make local agriculture an integral part of urban life. At this year’s World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, Maha Al Muhairi displayed her innovative energy-efficient automated system, FreshFridge, which lets you grow a wide range of herbs and microgreens in your kitchen. “The FreshFridge allows users to grow more than 50 varieties of microgreens in 10-15 days. People can grow whatever they want in any season,” says Al Muhairi.
Technology is fundamental to the future of agricultural production in the region, says Lodge. “Whether in the form of vertical farm, or through the research and development work of organisations such as the the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture in Dubai. The region will not enjoy an increase in water availability in our lifetime, so we must use what we have carefully and intelligently.”
But growing crops sustainably isn’t always easy. “Steep costs of acquiring cutting-edge technologies and unavailability of raw materials locally for production are among the challenges,” says Omar.
While according to Al Jundi, the concept of vertical farming is still in its infancy in the region. “Governments and the private sector need to invest heavily to accelerate learning and development in this sector,” he says.
Although these new-age farming initiatives will not change the UAE’s reliance on food imports drastically, it certainly represents a better way of growing produce and a future of continually increasing food supplies in ever more sophisticated manipulation of agro-ecosystems.
Belgian Supermarket to Introduce In-Store Vertical Farms
The retail group sees multilayer cultivation as part of its wider aim of pursuing more sustainable products, shortened chains and innovation.
Colruyt Group is testing a system developed in-house for 'vertical farming' or multilayer cultivation in climate-controlled conditions. The retail group sees multilayer cultivation as part of its wider aim of pursuing more sustainable products, shortened chains and innovation. Colruyt Group aims to start stocking the shelves of its retail formula Bio-Planet with the first herbs from its vertical farm from the autumn of 2019, under its own label Boni Selection, which is strongly committed to a sustainable product range.
Ambition: herbs with a very small ecological footprint
Consumers are making increasing demands regarding responsible consumption. Colruyt Group wants to offer a possible solution using vertical farming. "Our multilayer cultivation creates the perfect conditions for plants", explains Stefan Goethaert, Director at Colruyt Group and responsible for product sustainability. "Air, light, water and nutrients are dosed in the ideal quantities. As a result, we only use the amount of energy and raw materials that is strictly necessary, whilst still allowing the plant to achieve optimum growth. And it's no longer necessary to use pesticides. The plants are therefore 100% natural. Moreover, they reach maturity twice as fast than when conventionally cultivated. And the quality remains high throughout the year, regardless of the weather conditions."
The first results after a year of testing confirm the story, says Stefan Goethaert. "We are already using 90% less water and 50% less nutrients than in conventional cultivation. We reuse all of the nutrients that the plant doesn't use. Moreover, we only work with filtered rainwater. Our LED lighting is twice as efficient as the current standard on the market. And the system runs on green electricity from our own wind turbines and solar panels." It is Colruyt Group's ambition to sell herbs that have a very small ecological footprint. That's why the entire lifecycle of the plants is looked at, from seed to consumer's home. The retailer is therefore also working on recyclable packaging and a long shelf life, and will minimise the number of kilometres driven by integrating the vertical farm in a distribution centre in the future.
Home-grown innovative technology
Colruyt Group is the first retailer in Belgium to test a vertical farm that was developed in-house. The technology used has been fully developed within its own R&D department. In the current test set-up, biotechnologists and engineers continue to work on optimising growing conditions.
For Colruyt Group, this project isn't a leap into the unknown: recent innovation projects around water purification, LED lighting, renewable energy, automation, eco-design and refrigeration have formed the basis. In addition, the R&D department works together with a number of knowledge institutions. "We are also in talks with potential partners", adds Stefan Goethaert. "We also want to make some of the plants available to innovative entrepreneurs who work on food trends. Together we can explore the possibilities for using our products."
First trial at Bio-planet in 2019
"We are still in the testing phase, but the goal is to sell the first herbs at Bio-planet within a year", says Jo Ghilain, business unit manager of Bio-planet. "Vertical farming fits perfectly with our brand positioning. Bio-Planet stands for healthy, natural and local products. Furthermore, our customers are early adopters and are looking for added value. They are the people demanding products with a sustainable story." The herbs are currently grown using certified organic seed and substrate. "That was a decisive argument, in addition to the sustainability score of the plants", says Jo Ghilain.
Meanwhile, Bio-Planet customers were the first to taste test basil plants in three stores: on 27 November in Uccle, on 28 November in Grimbergen and Jambes. Jo Ghilain emphasises the added value of this co-creation: "The people of Uccle, Grimbergen and Jambes will help us determine the eventual flavour of the plants. Based on their opinions, we will adjust the cultivation process and the taste. This means that our customers actually choose the end result themselves."
For more information:
Colruyt Group
www.colruytgroup.com
Publication date : 12/5/2018
IKEA and Tom Dixon Announce Urban Farming Collection
The project aims to motivate and enable a healthier and sustainable lifestyle for people in cities by making "homes the new farmland".
Gunseli Yalcinkaya | 29 November 2018 4 comments
IKEA has teamed up with British designer Tom Dixon to launch an urban farming project that encourages city-dwellers to grow food locally.
Dixon and the homeware brand are developing a series of gardening products and tools that can be used by individuals in cities to grow their own food and medicinal plants at home, available in IKEA stores globally in 2021.
Collaboration aims to encourage growing food at home
The project aims to motivate and enable a healthier and sustainable lifestyle for people in cities by making "homes the new farmland".
It also aims to build awareness of where food comes from and show the ways in which growing produce can be introduced into the home. "Food is a crucial part of everyday life, and IKEA wants to inspire and enable a healthier and more sustainable life," said IKEA.
Renders of the two planned levels at the Tom Dixon and IKEA RHS Chelsea Flower Show installation in May 2019
"If more greens were to be grown in homes, it would have a positive impact on the planet with fewer transports, lower water usage and less food waste."
Presentation at Chelsea Flower Show will demonstrate possibilities
An experimental model for growing plants in urban environments will be presented in May 2019 at the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show in Chelsea in London.
It will feature a garden that is divided into two levels. The base garden will include a "horticultural laboratory" where hydroponic technology will be used to grow "hyper-natural" plants.
The raised level – described as a "botanical oasis" – will have a canopy-like ecosystem of trees and plants chosen for their medicinal, health and environmental properties.
The installation aims to explore the difference between natural and technology-driven approaches to farming. "Gardening is unique in its universal appeal and its transformational power," said Dixon.
"Although we are not traditional garden designers, we think we can demonstrate ways that anybody could make a small difference and broadcast not only the beauty but also the functional importance of horticulture through both traditional knowledge and the latest in growing innovation," he explained.
IKEA builds on previous urban gardening products
This is not the first time IKEA has branched into urban farming products. In 2016, the Swedish brand launched an indoor gardening product, intended to bring home hydroponics to a larger market.
"For IKEA, this collaboration is about challenging the way society looks at growing in general and addressing that it’s both possible and rewarding to have a place to grow your own plants in the city," said James Futcher, creative leader at IKEA Range and Supply.
"Food is key to humanity and design can support with better solutions. Because at the end of the day we need people to feel inspired to grow and harvest their own edibles within their homes and communities."
IKEA and Tom Dixon's previous project together was a bed that launched earlier this year with a distinctive furry cover and modular elements that allowed customers to modify the product for their own needs.
Chapter 11: Urban Farming In Tokyo
Toward an urban-rural hybrid city.
Linked by Michael Levenston
By Toru Terada, Makoto Yokohari, and Mamoru Amemiya
From Green Asia: Ecocultures, Sustainable Lifestyles, and Ethical Consumption
Edited by Tania Lewis Routledge, NewYork
Excerpt:
Cities are places of both consumption and production. There is actually a city that had already realized this future vision of Japan in which agro- activities are incorporated into society. It is Tokyo’s predecessor, Edo. Edo, one of a handful of the world’s megacities that had a population of more than 1 million at the beginning of the eighteenth century, was a garden city with numerous farms integrated into the city. Fujii, Yokohari, and Watanabe (2002) reconstructed the land use in Edo in the mid-nineteenth century based on historical documents and maps.
They found that, at the time, a little more than 40 per cent of land in Edo was used for agriculture and that numerous farms were interspersed in the urban area radiating outward for a distance of 4 and 6 km from the Edo Castle. Local production and local consumption were thoroughly enforced, with vegetables produced on farms within the city being consumed within the city. Meanwhile, Edo maintained an outstanding sanitary environment that was unmatched by any other megacity in the world at the time, whereby human waste generated in the city was returned to the farms. Describing it in modern terms, Edo was a smart city with relatively little environmental burden and high-quality amenities. The coexistence of city and farms was a manifestation of Edo’s advanced environment.
See book here.
US (HI): Researchers Help Waimānalo Families Use Aquaponics, Improve Health
Three researchers at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa have won a national fellowship and will receive $350,000 funding over three years to assist Waimānalo families with backyard aquaponics to sustainably produce healthy food.
The project will connect the modern technology of aquaponics with Native Hawaiian food practices. Aquaponics taps into the power of the natural symbiotic relationship between fish and plants, and combines the raising of plants in water with raising fish in tanks to create a sustainable, contained food production system.
From left, Ilima Ho-Lastimosa, Ted Radovich and Jane Chung-Do
The fellowship was awarded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works to promote health equity in the U.S.
The research team is comprised of Jane Chung-Do, an associate professor with the UH Mānoa Office of Public Health Studies in the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work; Ilima Ho-Lastimosa, community coordinator at the Waimānalo Learning Center and an education specialist in the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Science (TPSS) in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; and Ted Radovich, a TPSS associate specialist.
They will expand their work with families in Waimānalo to develop an aquaponics program to grow fresh fruits and vegetables and raise fish that families can use to prepare meals and Hawaiian medicines. This builds on the decade-long work that Ho-Lastimosa has been promoting in her community of Waimānalo.
The researchers will recruit Native Hawaiian families in Waimānalo to participate in aquaponics lessons and will guide the families in building and maintaining backyard systems. The researchers will follow up to see whether the systems are successful in helping the participants increase their intake of and access to fresh fruits, vegetables and fish, as well as promote healthy eating habits. In addition, impacts on participants’ mental wellness, cultural identity, family strength and community connectedness will be measured.
Ilima Ho-Lastimosa feeds fish in an aquaponics set-up, while Jane Chung-Do looks on.
“Our goal is to restore Native Hawaiian practices related to food and community,” said Chung-Do. “The study embraces the perspective that health is holistic and interconnected with our culture, families, communities and the ʻāina.”
As a public health scientist, Chung-Do has worked to enhance the wellness of children and families in Hawaii, especially in rural and minority communities.
Radovich was born and raised in Waimānalo and holds a PhD in horticulture. His expertise is in sustainable and organic farming systems.
Ho-Lastimosa grew up on the Waimānalo Homestead and holds masters degrees in social work and acupuncture; she is also a master gardener. The community leader and cultural practitioner in Waimānalo founded God’s Country Waimānalo, a group that initiated a food sovereignty and sustainability movement in the community.
Source: University of Hawai'i (Theresa Kreif)
Publication date : 10/11/2018
Aquaponics – a Great Way to Increase Farmers’ Income
For those who don’t know, Aquaponics is a sustainable method of raising both fish as well as vegetables.
26 October, 2018 | By Pawan Kumar Sharma
Population wise India is the second largest country in the world hence the government is worried about how to control the increasing population level but at the same time it is a matter of pride that we have largest youth potential in the world. In the present era we have a challenge to create employment opportunity for the job seekers and to provide nutritious diet to the present as well as future generations.
Good agriculture production could have been a solution but due to rising population, agricultural land is diminishing. Growing wasteland is also a big problem in farming. In urban areas due to space problem people don’t think about agricultural production but always demand for fresh quality vegetables and protein sources.
For all these problems there is one solution - Aquaponics.
For those who don’t know, Aquaponics is a sustainable method of raising both fish as well as vegetables. Aquaponics is a great indoor farming method, which can be done anywhere. It provides fresh local food that is without any pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. Other benefits include:
It provides two crops in one place at a time and is very helpful in increasing the farmer’s income.
It gives more production than traditional farming method.
It provides vegetables from hydroponics and fishes from re-circulatory aquaculture system at the same time. We know that vegetables are the good source of vitamins and fish is a good source of protein with high amount of w -3 fatty acids that is helpful in maintaining good health.
Easy to operate.
It can be implanted in very small space like 10 m2, so the vegetables and fishes can be grown on site of restaurant, hotels, houses, and farms easily.
Aquaponics can be a good opportunity for the unemployed; they can start it as a startup business under START UP YOJANA.
HOW IT WORKS:
It combines Hydroponics and Re-circulatory aquaculture system and this is suitable for both as the nutrients requirements is fulfilled by the disposing of nutrient-rich fish waste from aquaculture unit thus there is no need for nutrient media. This fish waste provides a natural nutrient solution for plant growth and this nutrient-rich effluent is used to irrigate a connected hydroponic bed while fertilizing its plant crops at the same time. The filtration of water is done by the hydroponic unit as the plants absorb the nutrients and filter the water through the sand filter so this media based hydroponic system serves as an aerobic bio filter that is generally used in RAS, converting ammonia to nitrate. The ammonia is converted by denitrifying bacteria in the hydroponic grow bed into forms readily up taken by plants for energy and growth. Essentially, the hydroponic bed and its crops serve as a bio-filter for the fish waste water before it is returned, cleaned back into the fish tank. To utilize the nutrients more in amount from the waste water effluent of aquaculture unit, the Aquaponics unit should be dominated by the hydroponics system.
Preferable vegetables and fish species for Aquaponics:
Vegetables:
Lettuce, Basil, Coriander, Spring onion, Fruit vegetables such as tomato, cucumber, Beets, Okra, Blueberries, etc
Fish species
Nile Tilapia (the most preferable fish), Catfish, common carp, Asian Barramundi , Mullet, Perch, Largemouth bass, bester sturgeon, Grass carp, Ornamental fishes.
Potential of Aquaponics Production System (Fish and Vegetable):
The vegetables are produced around double in hydroponic and aquaponics systems as compared to more conventional horticulture system. Some researchers has demonstrated the total production from Fish and vegetable up to 160 kg/m2/yr. so the aquaponics is a great solution for food security and unemployment problem.
About the Author:
Pawan Kumar Sharma
Dr. J. Stephan Sampath Kumar
Centers for Sustainable Aquaculture, Thanjavur- 614904
Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University Tamil Nadu.
pawan.sharma32224@gmail.com
Mobile- +91-9024974343
South Korean Road Tunnel Smart Farm No Rose-Coloured Pipe Dream
Behind a blue wall that seals a former highway tunnel stretches a massive indoor smart farm bathed in rose-tinted light.
AP | 30 August 2018
Behind a blue wall that seals a former highway tunnel stretches a massive indoor smart farm bathed in rose-tinted light.
Fruits and vegetables grow hydroponically — with no soil — in vertically stacked layers inside, illuminated by neon-pink LEDs instead of sunlight.
Operators of this high-tech facility in South Korea say it is the world’s first indoor vertical farm built in a tunnel.
It’s also the largest such farm in the country and one of the biggest in the world, with a floor area of 2300sqm, nearly half the size of an American football field.
Indoor vertical farming is seen as a potential solution to the havoc wreaked on crops by the extreme weather linked to climate change and to shortages of land and workers in countries with ageing populations.
The tunnel, about 190km south of Seoul, was built in 1970 for one of South Korea’s first major highways.
Once a symbol of the country’s industrialisation, it closed in 2002.
An indoor farming company rented the tunnel from the government last year and transformed it into a “smart farm”.
Instead of the chirrups of cicadas, Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune resonates in the tunnel in hopes of stimulating the crops’ healthy growth.
“We are playing classical music because vegetables also love listening to music like we do,” said Choi Jae Bin, head of NextOn, the company that runs the vertical farm.
Head of NextOn Choi Jae Bin explains how his high-tech tunnel-based vertical indoor farm NextOn in Okcheon, South Korea, could be a potential solution to the havoc wreaked on crops by the extreme weather linked to climate change, and to shortages of land and workers as the country ages.Picture: AP
Sixty types of fruits and vegetables grow in optimised conditions using NextOn’s own growth and harvest systems.
Among them, 42 are certified as no-pesticide, no-herbicide and non-GMO products, said Dave Suh, NextOn’s chief technology officer.
He said the tunnel provided temperatures of 10 to 22 degrees celsius, enabling the company to optimise growing conditions.
High-tech smart farms, used also in places like Dubai and Israel where growing conditions are challenging, can be a key to developing sustainable agriculture, experts said.
“Society is ageing and urbanisation is intensifying as our agricultural workforce is shrinking,” said Son Jung Eek, a professor of plant science at Seoul National University.
Smart farming can help address that challenge, he said, as well as make it easier to raise high-value crops that are sensitive to temperature and other conditions.
Only slightly more than 16 percent of South Korea’s land was devoted to farming in 2016, according to government statistics.
The rural population has fallen by almost half over the past four decades, even as the overall population has grown nearly 40 per cent.
The Agriculture Ministry announced earlier this year it would invest in smart farm development nationwide, expanding their total area to 7000ha from the current 4010ha.
Turning a profit can be challenging for indoor vertical farms given the high cost of construction and infrastructure.
NextOn cut construction costs in half by using the abandoned tunnel and developing its own LED lights and other technologies.
Sesame leaves grow on a vertically stacked styrofoam layer.Picture: AP
The proprietary technologies reduce water and energy use and the need for workers, cutting operation costs, Suh said.
Sensors in each vertical layer measure variables such as temperature, humidity, light, carbon dioxide and micro-dust levels to maintain an optimised environment for each crop.
The crops will cost less than conventionally grown organic vegetables, Suh said.
The farm will begin supplying vegetables to a major food retailer and a leading bakery chain beginning in late August, NextOn said.
Suh said the medicinal plant market was currently dominated by a few countries and regions.
“Our goal is to achieve disruptive innovation of this market by realising stable mass production of such premium crops,” he said.
AccorHotels Now Using 600 Onsite Urban Food Gardens
Hospitality giant Accor Hotels has announced that it is on track to install urban fruit and vegetable gardens at 1,000 of its 4,500 global hotels by 2020
9 August 2018, source edie newsroom
Hospitality giant AccorHotels has announced that it is on track to install urban fruit and vegetable gardens at 1,000 of its 4,500 global hotels by 2020, as part of its commitment to cut emissions from food transportation and reduce its food waste output.
The urban vegetable garden at Novotel London Waterloo produced enough pesticide-free basil to stock the kitchen all summer
The hotelier has today (August 9) revealed that it has fitted 600 of its locations worldwide with the gardens, which supply fresh vegetables, herbs and salads to be used in its restaurant and bar menus, putting the chain on track to meet its target of installing 400 more over the next two years. To date, 26 of these gardens are at UK branches, including the Novotel hotels in Canary Wharf, Paddington and Waterloo.
AccorHotels said in a statement that the move to build the gardens would help the company meet its target of reducing food waste from its restaurants – which collectively serve more than 150 million meals each year - by 30% by 2020, while boosting the traceability, and reducing the environmental footprint, of its produce supply chains.
“As a group that produces a lot of food for our guests across the world, it is vital that we play our part in reducing food waste and investing in sustainable food systems,” AccorHotels’ chief operating officer for Northern Europe, Thomas Dubaere, said.
“Our hotels are encouraged to source local produce, reducing the environmental impact from their food purchases and providing outlets for farmers to sell their produce.”
As well as shortening the produce supply chain, AccorHotels claims that installing urban gardens has improved the biodiversity and air quality in the areas surrounding its hotels, reduced the urban heat island effect and urban runoff and provided better heat and sound insulation to buildings which have rooftop gardens.
In addition to produce from onsite, pesticide-free gardens – which make use of hydroponic, aquaponic and vertical farming innovations to thrive - AccorHotels regularly uses honey produced from beehives on hotel rooftops across its restaurants. For example, the Novotel London Tower Bridge has recently been fitted with hives on its rooftop garden, with AccorHotels estimating that this will enable kitchen and bar staff to harvest 30kg of honey by the end of 2018.
Branching out
AccorHotels’ commitment to build urban gardens at its hotels forms part of the chain’s Planet 21 sustainability strategy, which was launched in 2012 and sets out a range of 2020 targets across topics such as eco-design, energy efficiency and water stewardship, alongside sustainably sourced food.
The strategy additionally includes the company’s Plant For The Planet initiative, which has seen AccorHotels commit to plant 10 million trees by 2021 through a string of global agroforestry and reforestation projects.
As of 2016, it has planted five million trees in 26 countries through the initiative – but Dubaere noted that the need to champion sustainable agriculture in a city environment had grown since Plant For The Planet launched in 2009.
“Our backing of agroforestry projects supports sustainable food production in rural areas, but almost 70% of the global population will live in cities by 2050, so we also feel it is important to mitigate the increasing consumption in urban areas,” Dubaere added.
The launch of the urban garden initiative came after AccorHotels last year became a signatory of WRAP’s Courtauld Commitment 2025, committing to achieve at least a 20% reduction in food waste and greenhouse gas emissions. To date, more than XYZ companies across a range of sectors have signed up to the commitment, with signatories representing 95% of the UK food market.
Sarah George
RUFEPA + Green Sense Farms, Join Forces to Build Next Generation Indoor Farms
September 28, 2018
RUFEPA + Green Sense Farms, Join Forces to Build Next Generation Indoor Farms
Green Sense Farms Holdings, Inc., today announced the formation of a joint venture with RUFEPA a Spanish greenhouse builder with over 25 years of turnkey project experience.
The joint venture will focus on building combined indoor vertical farm and greenhouse projects for third parties to sustainably grow a wide range of vegetables using less land, water and energy- to feed a growing global population. This is the first of its kind.
RUFEPA Designed Green House Interior | Credit: RUFEPA
RUFEPA Designed Green House Exterior | Credit: RUFEPA
Green Sense Farms Grow Room with vertical towers, growing herbs and lettuces Credit: Green Sense Farms
“Using indoor vertical farms to grow leafy greens and healthy, disease free seedlings that can be directly transplanted into a greenhouse to grow to maturity is a cost-effective use of both indoor growing technologies.” Robert Colangelo, President, Green Sense Farms Holdings, Inc.,
“Combining the two technologies will increase the global production of vegetables by taking weather out of the equation which is ideal for growers in Middle East, APAC and Scandinavian countries.” José Antonio Morales Pérez, Director General, RUFEPA
ABOUT
Green Sense Farms Holdings, Inc., based in Portage, IN is a pioneer in indoor vertical farming. The company is building a network of indoor vertical farms in the US they own and operate at their customers location. They also design, build, and license their technology to operating partners abroad. Recently they added capacity to conduct R&D on new cultivars and indoor growing equipment on a contract basis for third parties at their commercial scale production facility.
To schedule an interview with Robert Colangelo or obtain additional photos please contact Angela Meadows by email at Angela@greensensefarms.com
RUFEPA based in the Spanish southern region of Murcia, Spain, designs, manufacturers and provides all the technical growing equipment necessary for the construction and operation of a greenhouse. They are a global provider of services and have built projects in every continent.
'Green Monster' Is Taking On A Whole New Meaning At Fenway Park
The luscious green produce at Fenway Park
Stacy Buchanan
August 31, 2018
On a hot summer day at Fenway Park there’s a different kind of team, hard at work, on a very different type of field. High above Yawkey Way, along the 3rd Base side of the stadium, you’ll find Fenway Farms, a 5,000-square-foot working farm that's growing produce that is being served at Fenway and donated to a local food rescue. Instead of Wally or home runs, we’re talking about peas, kale, and scallions, to name just a few of the many varieties of produce growing here.
Jessie Banhazl, CEO & Founder of Green City Growers
Stacy Buchanan
The relatively lightweight milk crate farm was installed by Recover Green Roofs and is managed by Green City Growers (GCG), who also maintain the largest rooftop farm in New England atop the Whole Foods in Lynnfield. GCG was introduced to Linda Henry after winning an award through the Henry Foundation, which led to the Fenway Farms partnership. A spot had already been designated by Henry as a potential green roof, and a little bit of that magic that lives in Fenway must have been at work because the space happened to be furnished with perfect growing conditions for a rooftop farm.
The milk crate system at Fenway Farms
Stacy Buchanan
“The milk crate system was chosen because it is very mobile and modular, like Legos,” says Jessie Banhazl, CEO & Founder of Green City Growers. There are over 2,000 milk crates and the small boxes can be arranged to take up every available space, which is helpful given the unusual angles and shape of the roof. But there’s big return for such a relatively small farming space – the farm currently cultivates about 6,000 pounds of produce annually!
“I’m so spoiled now,” says Fenway’s Executive Chef, Ron Abell. “The care and nurturing [GCG] put into it, the organic nature, it’s incredible.” When asked his favorite part of having Fenway Farms in his operation, Abell says, “The food travels 100 feet and it’s in my kitchen. You don’t have to do much to it and it tastes amazing.”
“Luckily, baseball season happens to align perfectly with the growing season in New England,” Banhazl explains, so the farm operates primarily while the park is in full swing. That means fans can often see the farmers at work, harvesting produce or tending to the crops. It is also one of the most popular stops on the park tour, where approximately 10,000 people a week get to see “the best farm team in baseball” as the guide punned to the group who passed through during our visit.
Fenway’s Executive Chef Ron Abell picks peppers from the rooftop farm
Stacy Buchanan
The farm is split into two spaces. There’s an area of closely controlled farm rows that maintain the strict standards required by the park’s food production company, Aramark, and grows about 35% of the produce served in the EMC Club throughout the season. Then there’s the vineyard vines deck, which grows produce around its perimeter and between event spaces. This area hosts youth and community engagement programs, like the Fenway Rooftop Sessions, and 100% of the produce grown here is donated to Lovin’ Spoonfuls, the largest food rescue agency in New England.
Patrons of the ballpark tour admire the rooftop farm
Stacy Buchanan
Chef Abell, in his 12th season at Fenway Park, creates a new menu at the EMC Club for every home stand. “I like to experiment,” he says. “Being this close to the produce really gets your creative juices flowing and opens your mind to what you can do with it. Like kohlrabi – we use it in root vegetable hash, shaved on to salads, and even pickled – it’s great!”
The culinary team strives to be as zero-waste as possible, using as much of the produce grown as possible – carrot tops in pesto, beet greens in salads, and a variety of preserving techniques for whatever can’t be used fresh during the baseball season. Late-season tomatoes are roasted and frozen for stocks and braises, chilies are turned into hot sauce, and cucumbers and green tomatoes are pickled. “What we harvest here can make its way around to almost anywhere in the ballpark,” Chef Abell said. Look out for items, such as a kale Caesar wrap made with kale from the farm next time you’re at Fenway.
Fresh herbs growing in the vineyard vines club
Stacy Buchanan
The choice of what to grow on this small-scale farm is an annual collaboration between Green City Growers, Chef Abell, and his team. The variety is impressive, producing everything from hearty greens and root vegetables to French breakfast radishes, and of course, copious amounts of scallions for Chef Abell’s infamous scallion pancakes. There are even strawberries that grow twice a season, to the delight of the park’s pastry staff.
Chef Abell garners a lot of creative inspiration and culinary satisfaction from the rooftop farm
Stacy Buchanan
We were lucky enough to visit Fenway on one of the biweekly days when the folks from Green City Growers work on the farm. A few farmers picked the day’s impressive haul, which included 30 pounds of kale, 20 pounds of Swiss chard, and 20 pounds of scallions, as well as heirloom tomatoes, Italian and Oriental eggplant, chives, thyme, mint, sorrel, and parsley.
Heirloom tomatoes growing in milk crates
Stacy Buchanan
They were also planting new mid-season crops of carrots and radishes. One of the farmers is Production Site Specialist Carissa Unger, who talked about the particularly good soil used here. “It’s the best soil I’ve ever worked with. It’s wet and fluffy.” The proprietary organic blend from the Vermont Compost Company was specifically chosen for its light weight, yet superior nutrient and moisture retention. The quality of the soil is one important reason why the farm can successfully grow large plants, such as heirloom tomatoes, in tiny 12x12-inch milk crates.
Production Site Specialist Carissa Unger turns the soil
Stacy Buchanan
This isn’t just another trendy undertaking by a high-profile organization. It’s real food that’s grown and served right at Fenway Park. That’s not to say that the posh location has no bearing on the success of the project. It’s obvious that the budget is plentiful and the maintenance top-notch. Not many projects of this scale go from concept to fruition in about 8 months, but that kind of dedication is exactly what’s making Fenway Park a leader in sustainability initiatives.
The drip irrigation system is the most efficient and sustainable style, distributing the water directly to the roots of the plants, avoiding waste through evaporation. The system also has weather sensors that deactivate the irrigation when it rains. Other sustainability benefits include improved building insulation, help with storm water runoff, and reduced pest-management needs. While the farm still has to contend with some flying pests, not a single four-legged digging creature has made its way up onto the roof, making it a bit easier for the farmers to protect and maintain the crops.
The drip irrigation system at the rooftop farm
Stacy Buchanan
The only unfulfilled wish the team has is even more space to grow a larger percentage of the produce consumed at the park. The obvious success of the project means some form of expansion isn’t out of the question. But for now, partnerships with local farms, such as Ward’s Berry Farm in Sharon, provide larger quantities and produce that can’t grow in milk crates.
And make no mistake, the term 'Green Monster' will continue to take on a whole new meaning in this unique corner of 'America’s Most Beloved Ballpark'. We encourage you to take a hike up to farm to see what’s on deck during your next Fenway visit.
The rooftop farm at Fenway
Stacy Buchanan
The Rise Of The Urban Rooftop
With space at a premium, cities are exploring new ways to make better use of their rooftops.
The rooftops of our cities are wowefully under-utilised, despite the constant-battle for land (Image credit: Shutterstock)
With space at a premium, cities are exploring new ways to make better use of their rooftops.
Our cities have never been denser, taller, or busier than they are now, and with that, comes the constant battle for land. Whether you’re a city dweller, developer, transport planner, or farmer, you’re forced to compete for dwindling amounts of available space. And with two-thirds of the world’s population predicted to live in cities by 2050, the stress on urban infrastructure looks set to outpace even the most carefully-laid plans. But if we look at aerial images of any city center, we can quickly spot plenty of unused space – the rooftops. Speaking to Scientific American, Steven Peck from a non-profit called Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, describes the roofscapes of our cities as “the last urban frontier – (representing) 15 to 35 % of the total land area.”
So what can we use this precious resource for? In a growing number of high-density cities, some of it is dedicated to recreation – everything from bars and pools, to soccer pitches and running tracks can now be found atop skyscrapers. Others host smog-eating roof tiles or questionable wind turbines, while in China, a large shopping mall has 25 villas on its roof. But when a rooftop offers access to sunlight, there are two more obvious candidates for its use – agriculture and solar power.
Green Cities
Green roofs have been growing in popularity for more than a decade, and in some cases, growing in scale too – atop a convention center in Manhattan sits the city’s largest, covering an area of 89,000 m2. Usually comprised of planted beds, or carpet-like tiles that encouraged the growth of low profile vegetation, green roofs can provide a habitat for birds and insects in an otherwise hostile environment. They also act as thermal insulation for the building, and reduce storm water runoff that can otherwise cause havoc in urban sewers.
Green roofs come with the added benefit of mitigating the dreaded urban heat island effect, whereby, as a result of heat-absorbing materials like asphalt and concrete, cities can be several degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside. In contrast, trees and green spaces can absorb shortwave radiation, and use it to evaporate water from their leaves – a kind of ‘double cooling’ effect. There are countless studies that back up this idea. One of the most interesting came from researchers at the University of Georgia. In 2015, they showed not only that ‘green’ cities are cool cities, but that networks of small urban green spaces, such as parks, gardens and green roofs, were more effective at reducing a city’s temperature than a singular park of the equivalent size.
In some European and US cities, councils now offer significant financial incentives to developers who install a green roof – in Hamburg, building owners can receive subsidies of 30–60% of its installation costs. And from 2020, green roofs will be considered compulsory for all new, large-scale builds in the city. (CONTINUED...)
uilding-intergrated PVs are growing in popularity. But are they always the best option? (Photo by Thomas Imo/Photothek via Getty Images)
As food security and urban nutrition creep ever-higher on the agenda for the United Nations, there’s also a worldwide movement of using green roofs for hyper-local food production. In regions with suitable climates, hundreds of different vegetables, fruits, herbs and salad leaves can be grown on rooftops. Beehives and chicken coops are also becoming commonplace amongst the high-rises. But not all rooftop farms are equal, as we’ll discuss.
Power Up
But first, what about solar power? With so many cities now divesting from fossil fuels, and the costs of solar panels dropping dramatically, photovoltaic (PV) systems have become the ‘go to’ option for generating distributed power in built-up areas. And, even with standard commercial panels, the energy gains are dramatic. The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have estimated that rooftop PV systems could generate almost 40% of electricity demands nationwide. NREL also developed a very cool visualization tool called PVWatts to help people discover if solar panels would work for them. In 2012, Dutch researchers calculated that building-integrated photovoltaics could deliver 840 TWh of electricity – that’s more than a fifth of the total annual demand for all of the EU-27 countries.
In 2011, a fascinating map was published by the City University of New York. Assembled from images taken by a LIDAR-enabled (Light Detection and Ranging) aircraft, it showed that at the time, 66.4% of New York’s buildingshad roof space suitable for commercial photovoltaic systems. Furthermore, they estimated that, even with NYC’s changeable weather, rooftop installations could meet close to 14% of the city’s annual electricity consumption.
And cities have certainly taken note of this data – in many cases, making such installations compulsory, as in Sao Paulo, where Brazil’s Ministry of Cities announced that future low-income housing developments should include rooftop photovoltaics.
Which one to choose?
There’s no doubt that in both cases, a network of ‘productive rooftops’ could benefit the local community by supplying a portion of a necessary resource – either food or electricity – while also reducing their environmental burden. But is one better than the other? (CONTINUED...)
This was the question posed by researchers from MIT and the University of Lisbon in a recent paper in the journal Cities. Focusing on the rooftops of a mixed-use neighborhood in Lisbon, they carried out a Cost-Benefit Analysis for four scenarios – 1. Open-air rooftop farming, 2. Rooftop farming in low-tech greenhouses, 3. ‘Controlled environment agriculture’ (farming in high-tech greenhouses) or 4. Solar PV energy generation. Starting with existing data on everything from installation costs and resources used, to carbon footprint and yield, they modelled the impact that each installation would have on the local community over a period of 50 years.
The researchers took a footprint of one square meter of roofing, considered a population of 17,500 residents, and for the farms, looked only at a single crop – tomatoes. The fruit is not only incredibly popular in the Portuguese diet – with an average of 10.4 kg eaten per year, per person – there’s also a large body of data available on their growing requirements and yields. For solar power, they considered standard single-crystalline silicon PV modules, arranged on flat or pitched roofs. They also assumed that the PVs installation would act as part of the grid – in other words, though generated locally, the electricity would be distributed via existing infrastructure.
Urban farming might add value to a neighbourhood far beyond what had been previously assumed (Photo by John S Lander/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Here are a few highlights from their study:
The benefits of food production varied according to the supply chain, except for high-tech rooftop farms, which were predicted to be profitable regardless. Open-air and low-tech greenhouses were found to only profit when the crops are sold directly to consumers.
If the demand for tomatoes in Lisbon was to be met through rooftop farming, you’d require 1.89 square meters for organic field cultivation (#1), 0.37 m2 for soil-less cultivation in unconditioned greenhouses (#2), or 0.15 m2 for controlled-environment agriculture (#3)
A rooftops farm could potentially create five times as many local jobs as a rooftop PV system, but would involve much higher operation and maintenance costs
The electricity yield for PVs installed on south-oriented unshaded rooftops was calculated to be approximately 300 kWh/m2/year.
So, both options seem pretty good. But it’s when we look at the bigger picture that the differences start to show. I’ve written about the questionable profitability of urban farming in the past, but that was only ever as measured on individual farmers, which – I say, with the benefit of hindsight – doesn’t make all that much sense in the context of a city.
This study, however, takes a broader, and much more sensible view – it looks at rooftop installations as part of an interconnected network. And it’s which measures the overall value – in terms of economics and the environment – to both the building owner, and the community around it. And by looking at it that way, they concluded that for Lisbon, the use of rooftops for food production could yield significantly higher local value than solar PV energy generation or standard green roofs. Of course, this is very site-specific – in another city, you might come to exactly the opposite conclusion, but that’s kind of the point. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to make cities more sustainable, and anyone who tells you otherwise is massively over-simplifying a complex issue.
There are lots of things that will help anywhere – e.g. moving from private cars to mass transit, making renewable energy the default option, being smarter with how we use water, reducing our reliance on concrete, minimizing our waste footprint, and reserving single-use plastics for very, very specific applications. But when it comes to ‘other’ questions, like should we use our rooftops for energy generation or farming, the answers are a lot less black-and-white. By adopting research like the study I’ve featured here, we can get much closer to making the right decision for our specific circumstances. The authors said that their study “…aims to provide decision-makers with a basis for systematic and integrated comparison of these productive uses of rooftops.” Now, all I hope is that some of those decision makers start using it.
Meriden Aquaponics Firm Scores $500K Investment For New Haven Expansion
PHOTO | TRIFECTA ECOSYSTEMS
JULY 16, 2018
Meriden-based Trifecta Ecosystems, an aquaponics technology company and indoor farm, has received a $500,000 investment to grow its aquatic systems in the New Haven region.
New Haven-based water provider South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWA) announced Monday its investment will allow Trifecta Ecosystems to build a custom-controlled aquaponics system, an urban farming technology platform, and workforce training programs in the Greater New Haven region.
RWA, a nonprofit that provides water to 430,000 people in 15 municipalities throughout Greater New Haven, said the funds are aimed at creating sustainable agriculture and fish-farming practices in the area.
With board approval, RWA says it could invest another $1.5 million into the project.
Spencer Curry, CEO and co-founder of Trifecta, says the initial investment will allow his firm to grow a new aquaponics system in the New Haven region "that will combine food production, aggregation, processing, research, and workforce training at integrated locations, helping pave the way for statewide adoption."
"This investment will allow our company to continue towards our mission of creating the City that Feeds Itself, by providing communities the tools they need to grow their own food, cost-effectively, scalable, and repeatedly."
Under aquaponics farming, produce can grow naturally without chemical fertilizers in a system that uses less water because it is recycled. Aquaponic farms, which have a smaller physical footprint, reduce carbon emissions by using up to 95 percent less water vs. traditional growing methods.
Building a new aquaculture, which raises aquatic animals such as fish with hydroponics, in the region will help sustain farming and kick-start economic growth, RWA said.
"We believe the science of aquaponics holds real potential for Connecticut in addressing land management issues and overcoming resource challenges facing traditional agriculture," RWA CEO and President Larry Bingaman said.