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Vertical Farming Takes Root In Taiwan
Taiwan is uniquely placed to benefit from the application of information technology to agriculture, enabling it to help provide food for an expanding global population.
Exposed root system for hydroponically grown plants at YesHealth's iFarm in Taoyuan. Photo: Jules Quartly
After becoming a world leader in semiconductors and other electronic products, Taiwan is now looking to smart agriculture as its next vine to climb. The island aims to supply much of the world’s fruit and vegetables within the next 30 years.
This might seem rather unlikely until you consider that the future of farming is not land and labor but factories and robots. Furthermore, Taiwan already possesses in abundance the tools that tomorrow’s smart farmers will use, including solar and advanced light technology, chemicals, gene editing, drones, smart sensors, software, algorithms, data mining, and big data.
Many of these technologies are being put to use in a glittering new 14-story vertical farm at Copenhagen Markets in Denmark’s capital. The first phase of construction of the 7,000-square-meter facility finished in early December. It is one of Europe’s biggest and most efficient vertical farms and was built using a blueprint of patented technologies from Taiwan’s YesHealth Group.
The result of a partnership between YesHealth and Danish agritech startup Nordic Harvest, the farm looks like a fancy warehouse from the outside. The interior is fitted with rows upon rows and columns upon columns of trays containing leafy greens, growing under an intense battery of more than 20,000 smart LED lights. The plants are tended by engineers in lab coats and guided by software that processes over 5,000 individual data points to optimize plant health.
Rows of fresh produce grown under batteries of LED lights at iFarm. Photo: Jules Quartly
The LEDs provide variable spectrum light for 100 different kinds of plants, nanobubble hydroponics oxygenate the roots and inhibit bacterial growth, and liquid microbial fertilizers derived from oyster shells, brown sugar, and soy milk provide essential nutrients for plants and soil. Even the music played to the plants is science-infused, with classical or light jazz music ranging between 115 and 250 Hertz seeming to work best.
Production at the new vertical farm is set to begin in the new year and will scale up to around 3,000 kilograms of leafy vegetables per day by the end of 2021, equating to approximately 1,000 tons of greens annually. Crucially, unlike most farms, these figures are close to guaranteed since production is not at the mercy of climate, the weather, pests and disease, pesticide residue, nitrate levels, or hundreds of other variables that affect traditional farming.
According to Jesper Hansen, YesHealth Group’s Chief Communications Officer, the partnership with Nordic Harvest has been a productive one so far. It took just five months to install the farm and all the produce is pre-sold to ensure the operation is profitable by Q3 of 2021.
“This collaboration is just the start of a long-term journey together,” Hansen said in an email from Denmark. He notes that the two partners plan to expand to other Scandinavian countries over the next several years.
Hansen credits Taiwan for its efficient development of the technology and know-how to reproduce vertical farms all over the world and calls the Danish development “a crucial milestone in our international expansion.” He adds that the company is eyeing new partners in Europe, Asia, and the MENA (the Middle East and North Africa) region.
YesHealth is the brainchild of serial tech entrepreneur Winston Tsai, who started an LCD screen company at age 21. His “eureka moment” came after being diagnosed with liver cancer and partly linking his illness to pollution in foods. After recovering, he made it his mission to produce affordable, pesticide-free produce by harnessing the power of technology.
He founded YesHealth Agri-Biotechnology Co. Ltd. in 2011 and six years later established YesHealth iFarm in Taoyuan’s Luzhu District. The iFarm cultivates an ever-expanding range of leafy vegetables and herbs in a 2,500-square-meter warehouse factory. It produces 1,500 kilograms of leafy greens per day, a yield which the company says is 100 times more efficient than a traditional farm using the same space and requires only 10% as much water. In addition, YesHealth has a farm in China’s Shenzhen, which harvests up to 2,500 kilograms per day.
A tour of iFarm is well worth a visit and introduces the wide variety of plants grown there. Photo: Jules Quartly
YesHealth’s products are sold to major retailers both in Taiwan and abroad, including restaurants, hotels, and airports. Its stated aim is to supply a total of 7,000 kilograms of leafy greens per day worldwide in 2021.
Diners enjoy a meal at iFarm’s restaurant, which overlooks the vertical farm. Photo: Jules Quartly
Having sampled the produce at the iFarm, I can confirm the arugula grown there is as tasty as any I have tried, while the lettuce and leguminous alfalfa is a perfectly clean, green, and crunchy eating experience – the result, I was informed, of an optimal growing environment and harvesting at exactly the right time.
A plate of salad featuring leafy greens grown at the iFarm site. Photo: Jules Quartly
In a sense, it’s back to the future for Taiwan, which had a largely agricultural economy up until the 1950s. Agriculture was one of the pillars supporting the nation’s economic miracle after World War II. With the help of mechanization and productivity gains, agricultural production at that time contributed around a third of Taiwan’s GDP.
In more recent times it has accounted for just 1.8-1.9% of GDP. That greatly reduced figure, which includes animal husbandry, fishing, and forestry, is not due to a decline in agricultural output per se, so much as the growth in manufacturing and the emergence of a pervasive service sector.
Taiwan has a wide range of rich, often volcanic soils that are exceptionally fertile, along with a subtropical climate that provides plentiful sun and rain. It is known as the “Fruit Kingdom” because of the quality of its fruit, with dozens of varieties ranging from bananas and papayas to wax apples and guavas. More than 100 kinds of vegetables grow all year round.
On the other hand, Taiwan’s mainly mountainous geography means just 25% of the land is suitable for farming. Meanwhile, climate change is affecting agricultural production by increasing summer temperatures and making rainfall more unpredictable. At the same time, considerable soil erosion, acidification, contamination by chemicals and heavy metals, and strong pesticide use have diminished soil quality over the last 50 years.
Furthermore, the proportion of Taiwanese involved in farming has rapidly declined, from 37% of the population in the early 1970s to the current 15% or less, according to the Yearbook of the Republic of China. Not only is the farming population declining, but it’s also ageing as well.
Those factors may not pose as much of an issue, however, since the old model of agriculture is being disrupted so dramatically that even economies of scale are being upended. Given the large size and advanced technology of the U.S., it may come as no surprise that it is the world’s biggest exporter of food as measured by value. Second on the list, however, is the Netherlands, which has just 0.045% the area of the U.S.
According to a National Geographic report in September 2017, the Netherlands’ achievement can be attributed to the work coming out of Wageningen University & Research, 80 kilometres from Amsterdam in the heart of Food Valley – the world’s agricultural equivalent of Silicon Valley in California. The university strives to come up with ways to increase yields and sustainability, and then to disseminate that knowledge.
New generation
With its strong background in information technology, Taiwan is in a good position to follow that example. The island manufactures everything required for what is known as precision agriculture, a farming management concept that uses IT to collect data from multiple sources as a means of increasing crop yields and boosting profitability. Taiwan is thus the ideal place for putting together prototypes relatively quickly and cheaply.
YesHealth, for example, makes its own LED lights through a local contractor rather than relying on a major manufacturer like Philips, which means it’s nimbler in terms of bringing focused, new tech to the market – and reaping the dividends. According to the company’s Program Manager, Dennis Jan, Taoyuan’s iFarm has the sixth generation LED lighting, while new iterations that are increasingly productive and energy-efficient are being rolled out on an almost annual basis.
The Council of Agriculture (COA) recognized some time ago the need for a precision approach to farming. In 2016, it developed the “Smart Agriculture 4.0 Program,” which was passed by the legislature a year later.
COA realized that the nation’s “calorie-based food self-sufficiency rate is relatively low” and that “shortages in food supplies and escalations in food prices” will inevitably occur as the world’s population expands from 7.5 billion to an expected 10.5 billion by 2050.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says that in order to meet the needs of all these additional people, about 70% more food needs to be produced. Gains achieved in improving crop yields have plateaued and are unlikely to rise again without a complete transformation of the agricultural landscape through the introduction of city farms, vertical farming, and the application of information technology.
In a written response to Taiwan Business TOPICS, COA commented: “With the rapid development of sensing technology, smart machinery devices, IoT, and big data analysis, smart agriculture has been growing in various fields.
“For example, it can monitor and control the production environment automatically to keep animals and crops in the best condition,” COA said. “It can predict harvesting dates and yields through data analysis and make adjustments to maintain a balance of production and marketing, and it can use smart automated machinery in agricultural operation to significantly reduce the labor burden.” Such uses, says the Council, “make agriculture more competitive.”
Fruitful results
Besides fruit orchards, other sectors that COA has included within Agriculture 4.0 include seedlings, mushrooms, rice, aquaculture, poultry, livestock, and offshore fisheries.
COA cites Taiwan Lettuce Village as an enterprise that has benefited from precision farming. The company halved fertilizer use but improved harvest efficiency 1.5 times by introducing a fertilization recommendation system, a harvesting date and yield prediction system, synchronous fertilizing technology, and transplanter and harvester technology.
According to COA the application of precision farming increased yield prediction accuracy by 5% and prevented 350 metric tons of overstocking. In addition, plant disease and pest control were improved through the use of a cloud-based system and machine learning algorithm. “The results were very fruitful,” COA concluded.
Agriculture 4.0 doesn’t just apply to the growing of produce; it also looks at the storage, transport, and export of goods. As an example, COA points to a relatively new fruit hybrid that was originally developed in Israel in the late 1960s. The atemoya – or pineapple sugar apple (鳳梨釋迦), as it is known in Taiwan – is a heart-shaped fruit with green, scaly skin. A cross between wax apples and the cherimoya (often referred to as Buddha’s head fruit locally), it has become synonymous with Taiwan and export success, much like the kiwi fruit and New Zealand.
Previously, 90% of the country’s atemoya exports went to China because it is so close. Later, the Taitung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station introduced a frozen whole-fruit technique that enables 95% of thawed fruit to have a “consistent ripening texture and dramatically improved the raw material quality.”
The technique involves a quick freeze to -40° Celsius, which inhibits bacteria, allowing the whole fruit to be transported at a fairly standard -18°C. After thawing, it can meet the rigorous food safety standards of Japan and South Korea.
Traditional farmers may harbor concerns about agriculture becoming a primarily manufacturing process, taking place under artificial light. However, Kevin Lin, Head of Business Development at YesHealth, insists that what the company is doing is still agriculture.
“This is nature; we are just optimizing it,” he says. “Sustainability is at the forefront of what we do, and our focus now is on ensuring the energy costs of vertical farming – such as heating and lights – are lowered and the source is sustainable.”
In this way, Lin says, Taiwan can produce cheap, healthy, and environmentally friendly food that can help feed the world, even as the global population approaches the staggering 10.5 billion mark.
2020 Shone A New Light On The Need For Container Farming
For us here at Freight Farms, the COVID-19 pandemic became a pivotal moment
Even A Pandemic Couldn’t Stop Us!
When the COVID-19 pandemic came to a head in March, we all felt a deep sense of trepidation. At the time, the future looked beyond bleak. We were all at the forefront of a completely new experience and it was up to us to figure out how to stay safe and continue to thrive in the ‘new normal’ world. For us here at Freight Farms, the COVID-19 pandemic became a pivotal moment. Would people still care about their source of food in the midst of a health crisis? Would individuals be looking to shift careers and lifestyles during such uncertainty?
The answer came right away: yes. The pandemic shone a spotlight on the key flaws within our food system and the need for a workplace revolution. We saw a tremendous growth of interest from people looking to make a positive and needed impact on their communities. We reflect on the year with immense gratitude for our community of farmers that continue to help us address pressing issues of sustainability and food security–we can’t wait to see all we can accomplish together in 2021!
Liberty Produce & Writtle University College Launch Webinar Series On The Transformation of Agriculture And Its Workforce For A Sustainable Future
Writtle University College (WUC) in Essex and Liberty Produce launch their highly anticipated public webinar series on January 27th 2021.
18th January 2021
London & Essex, UK
Writtle University College (WUC) in Essex and Liberty Produce launch their highly anticipated public webinar series on January 27th 2021. The online events will consider major issues facing the horticulture and agriculture sectors based around a key theme of ‘Transforming Agriculture and its Workforce for a Sustainable Future.’
Each of the webinars will feature a range of prominent industry figures and will welcome all viewers with an interest in sustainable production. All online events will be free-of-charge, in line with WUC and Liberty Produce’s ongoing commitment to education and knowledge-sharing. This webinar series is being supported by EIRA, a collaborative project funded by Research England that connects businesses in the East of England with academic expertise, specialist facilities and funding opportunities.
Dr Anya Perera, WUC’s Head of School for Sustainable Environments & Design, said: “We are proud to be working in collaboration with Liberty Produce and EIRA. Our three introductory webinars will focus on challenges faced by growers at a national and international level. We are delighted by the positive response from key members of the sector and look forward to sharing vital topics with our expert panellists.”
Benita Rajania, Product Director at Liberty Produce, said: “We are delighted to be teaming with WUC to bring together stakeholders from across our community for this new webinar series. Collaboration is a vital component in tackling the challenges our sector is facing, and we look forward to meeting virtually with our colleagues from across industry and academia to discuss latest developments, share knowledge and strengthen relationships at an industry level.”
Topics include: the modernisation of agriculture through technological advancement; examining food production systems and identifying skills gaps; how to create a fit-for-purpose workforce in a sustainable economy.
Each subject will be discussed by an expert panel, featuring guests including Dr Susan McCallum from the James Hutton Institute and Belinda Clarke, Director of Agri-TechE.
Since its foundation in 2018, Liberty Produce has been dedicated to the development of sustainable agricultural practices. The farming technology company was created in response to the global food security crisis. Liberty Produce develops leading-edge technology that enables the growth of local produce year-round, using fully-controlled indoor vertical farming systems.
WUC recently became the first UK university to offer degrees in regenerative agriculture. WUC been teaching land-based courses since 1893 and, in 2020, was ranked top university-sector institution in England for overall student satisfaction by the National Student Survey. Its small class sizes and specialist courses offer students a personalised approach that combines practical skills with cutting-edge theory.
2021’s webinar series reflects WUC and Liberty Produces’ collective dedication to the creation of long-term sustainable food production at a time of climate crisis and the disruption of global supply chains.
Click the links below to book your free webinar place:
January 27th: The modernisation of agriculture through technological advancement
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6675999720069964303
February 24th: Examining food production systems and identifying skills gaps
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7622331785910917132
March 24th: How to create a fit-for-purpose workforce in a sustainable economy
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8843380130486408204
About Liberty Produce
Liberty Produce is a farming technology company founded in 2018 to drive innovations that will enable us to meet our global crop requirements over the next century, without harming the planet. As experts in the development of technology (from advanced lighting systems to machine learning for integrated control systems) for the breadth of indoor agriculture (from glasshouses to Totally Controlled Environment Agriculture systems), Liberty delivers research and products that consistently push boundaries. Liberty Produce develops and builds systems that reduce operational costs with enhanced resource efficiency, improve yields and increase sustainability for greater food security through the growth of local produce year-round. www.liberty-produce.com
Further images available here.
Media enquiries: Claire Apthorp media@liberty-produce.com +44 (0) 7920403068
General enquiries: info@liberty-produce.com; +44 (0)20 7193 2933
About Writtle University College (WUC)
Writtle University College (WUC) has been at the forefront of the agrifood sector since 1893. In 2020, it was named the highest rated university-sector institution in England for student satisfaction by the National Student Survey, also receiving 100% satisfaction for its horticulture course. Industry-focused programmes offer the skills, expert theory and qualifications required to enter a fast-moving sector. WUC recently launched a degree in regenerative agriculture, which is the first of its kind in the UK. https://writtle.ac.uk/
Media enquires: Sara Cork press@writtle.ac.uk
About EIRA
EIRA is a collaborative project between seven universities and colleges in the East of England. Driving economic growth in the region, EIRA connects businesses with academic expertise, consultancy, facilities and funding opportunities. Led by the University of Essex, EIRA is also supported by the University of East Anglia and the University of Kent. Backed by £4.7 million of Research England’s Connecting Capability Fund, EIRA delivers activities across three themes: digital creative, artificial intelligence and biotechnology. EIRA has opportunities to work with businesses of all sizes through Innovation Vouchers, Research and Development Grants, i-Teams, Hothouse events, Start-up Microfinance and Innovation Internships. eira.ac.uk
General enquiries: eira@essex.ac.uk
Twitter: @EIRA_eARC
ARGENTINA: Substrate Cultivation And Hydroponics: A Technology on The Rise
“It was found that with hydroponics, productivity and profitability are increased between 30 and 50%, due to the greater efficiency in the use of the surface and natural resources, and it reduces the use of agrochemicals”, Analía Puerta, coordinator National of the “Tierra Sana” Project, carried out by INTA together with UNIDO (United Nations Organization for Industrial Development), within the framework of the Montreal Protocol
INTA, together with national universities, producers, and companies, promotes this production system that has grown in the last 5 years as an efficient and sustainable alternative. During 2021, the institution will be part of the organization of the Virtual International Symposium that will bring together the main national and international referents on the subject.
The cultivation in substrate and hydroponics consists of the production of vegetables without the use of the soil, for this reason, they are also called "cultivation systems without soil". When the roots develop in water it is called "hydroponics" and, when they do so in a solid medium, different from the soil, "substrate cultivation", using a great diversity of substrates and/or mixtures of them.
It is a production system that arises from the high degradation of soils, as a consequence of unsustainable management and inadequate practices, which is on the rise among producers as an alternative. This will be one of the topics that will be addressed on March 30 and April 6 and 8, 2021 in virtual form at the International Symposium on Substrate Culture and Hydroponics.
“It was found that with hydroponics, productivity and profitability are increased between 30 and 50%, due to the greater efficiency in the use of the surface and natural resources, and it reduces the use of agrochemicals”, Analía Puerta, coordinator National of the “Tierra Sana” Project, carried out by INTA together with UNIDO (United Nations Organization for Industrial Development), within the framework of the Montreal Protocol.
"In Argentina, the system began to be implemented more than 20 years ago in the ornamental sector, and it grew considerably in the last 5 years, extending to other sectors such as horticulture, citrus, and even for the production of green forage", underlined Puerta.
Along these lines, the most important productions in the hydroponic system correspond to leafy vegetables, such as lettuce, arugula and chard and, in the substrate system, the cultivation of tomatoes, strawberries and, to a lesser extent, peppers stands out.
In addition, the coordinator highlighted, “the well-being of workers is increased, since it improves the ergonomics of all operations, especially those of harvest, and the borders of the productive regions are expanded, allowing production in areas not suitable for cultivation, either due to health problems or the high real estate value of the surface ”.
Another benefit of these techniques is to allow access to fresh vegetables in specific situations, such as in places where the soil is not suitable for production, or directly where there is no soil, such as patios, terraces, landfills, contributing additionally to the promotion of short circuits of production and commercialization of vegetables.
According to Puerta, "it is important to highlight that this production alternative can be adapted to different production levels, from family farming to small, medium and large companies."
Puerta: "In Argentina, the system began to be implemented more than 20 years ago in the ornamental sector, and has grown considerably in the last 5 years".
This production system has established itself as a technology of recognized efficiency and massive implementation in developed and highly technical countries, such as Japan, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States.
According to data from 2015, the world area of crops under this production system (hydroponics and substrate) reaches 40 thousand hectares, with the Netherlands being the country with the largest covered area, with 5 thousand hectares, Spain with 2,500, Belgium and the United Kingdom with 2,000, Japan 1,500, as well as China, France 1,000, Israel 750, Canada 500 and the United States 250 hectares.
"Currently, there are productions of this type in all provinces of the country and, not only in traditional production areas, but there is a massive growth in urban areas," said the coordinator of "Tierra Sana". Along these lines, he added: "With this system the producer becomes independent of the quality of the soil and when the production is carried out undercover, the environmental conditions can be modified, especially the temperature, light intensity, and humidity of the environment".
Nowadays, there are commercial and self-consumption productions from the north to the south of the country, including promising experiences for the supply in the Argentine Antarctica. "In this sense, INTA has been contributing to the consolidation of this production alternative, through numerous research and extension activities carried out by agents from the different units of the country," said Puerta.
To date, there have been countless workshops and training courses and demonstration plots of strawberries and vegetables have been installed in the main productive areas of the country, promoted by the “Tierra Sana” project, in cooperation with units referring to the subject, and together to companies, producers and universities.
On the other hand, it should be noted that the development of these activities is part of the sustainable development goals ("SDG") outlined by current public policies according to the guidelines of the United Nations (UN) and being prioritized on the agenda. 2020-2030.
It is a production system that arises from the high degradation of soils, as a consequence of unsustainable management and inadequate practices, which is on the rise among producers as an alternative.
International Symposium
Currently, INTA is organizing an International Symposium on Substrate Culture and Hydroponics together with 5 universities in the country (UBA, UCC, UNLu, UNLP, UNNOBA), within the framework of the 41st Argentine Congress of Horticulture (ASAHO).
The event will take place on March 30 and April 6 and 8, 2021 in virtual form. It will have the participation of national and international referents who will speak about the latest advances in the field and exchange knowledge with the participants, productions from Argentina and other countries will be visited through virtual tours and there will also be a space for the presentation of scientific and Of disclosure.
Their reception is already open and is until December 31st. There are different registration modalities in order to offer a wide range of possibilities to participants.
"Through all these activities, it is hoped to be able to contribute to the consolidation of a scientific, technical and productive network that includes actors from the public and private sectors around the production of food in an efficient and sustainable way", concluded Puerta.
USA: NEW YORK - Green Amazon A Smart Vertical Farming Company Is Making The Change For Feeding Communities In Need
Green Amazon is a sustainable smart agriculture company based in Buffalo, New York. The company uses different patented pending technologies in its projects
Green Amazon is a sustainable smart agriculture company based in Buffalo, New York. The company uses different patented pending technologies in its’s projects. Normally when we think about farms on the side of a road, we might imagine acres of land, crops, and livestock roaming on expanses of grass. Green Amazon farms will be different.
The Farms will be built on the east side of Buffalo, New York. The company is paving the way for a new method of farming – The company will provide necessary food and nutrients to communities in need while also reducing the burden on the earth’s natural resources and accounting for its changing weather patterns.
Green Amazon was founded in Finger lakes, New York by Dr. Walid Nosir, the company moved to Buffalo, New York to be closer to the people and community it serves.
The company plans to build the farms where the people are and think about how to be most efficient in that delivery. Green Amazon is trying to cut the shipping cost and distributions, so our selling partners, their warehouses, and their distribution facilities are within just miles. The idea that we’re literally in their backyard, we can really be collaborating closely on understanding what their needs are and be able to grow really efficiently.
Green Amazon seeks to improve food security and work towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (2015) of “No Hunger”. In the coming decades, increasing pressure on the global food supply and associated supply chains will require industry overhaul. The research team at Green Amazon believes a focus on using modern technologies in the products and their development of non-chemical fertilization and inadequate disposal or reuse of agricultural will result in a decrease of the negative environmental impacts induced by wastes.
Green Amazon Growth system will be movable and vertical. The farm’s growing room is specially regulated to minimize contamination and provide a stable, consistent environment for crops to grow. People who enter the room must wear lab coats, eye protection, gloves, and hairnets and even wipe their shoes on a disinfecting mat. Air curtains also help prevent unwanted contaminants from floating into the space. The farm also waters its crops with an aeroponics system.
America Is Hungrier Than Ever For Sustainable Food Systems. Can We Build Them?
In the spring of 2020, many small farms across the U.S. found themselves in a bittersweet predicament. Restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus were forcing restaurants — major buyers for the local farms that serve urban areas — to shut down
November 2, 2020
In the spring of 2020, many small farms across the U.S. found themselves in a bittersweet predicament. Restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus were forcing restaurants — major buyers for the local farms that serve urban areas — to shut down. The loss of these key customers might have wiped out many of these local growers, if not for another COVID-19-induced phenomenon: individual shoppers started calling — and calling — and calling.
"The farms we work with are seeing a huge spike in demand [for direct sales]," Dan Miller, CEO, and founder of the crowdfunding platform Steward, told me when we spoke by phone in early April. "But now they have to quickly switch their businesses to meet that demand." So Miller, who launched the platform in the fall of 2019 to provide funding to small, sustainably run farms — operations often underserved by traditional finance — soon found himself expanding Steward’s services to help these same farmers shift their business model.
Stories of small farms pivoting their operations on a dime were easy to find in the early months of the pandemic: these farmers worked overtime to meet customer demand, added services such as online ordering and home delivery, and jumped into action to prop up community food banks struggling to serve an influx of the newly unemployed. Compared to the industrialized and supersized food system most Americans live with — represented by rivers of wasted milk and COVID-19 outbreaks at meat-packing plants that killed more than 200 people — these distributed systems looked healthier, safer, and more environmentally sustainable than ever. They also looked more agile and resilient.
Crises often present an opportunity to reimagine current systems, so I wondered: Would that happen here, with food? Would the food consumption trends driven by the pandemic wind up as a paragraph in the history books — like the "victory gardens" of World War II — or could it lead to lasting change? And how do we transform this moment of crisis into a more resilient, sustainable, healthy, and just food system?
Crises often present an opportunity to reimagine current systems.
At GreenBiz Group’s virtual clean economy conference, VERGE 20, last week, speakers and participants addressed questions such as these, discussed how to make sure that these changes stick and identified what challenges stand in the way. During a session delving into lessons from the pandemic, panelists agreed that the No. 1 barrier to changing the current food system is financing.
"The financial services that are out there … are really not calibrated for the moment we’re in," said Janie Hipp, CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund. "If we’re going to actually build an agile and resilient system going forward, then we have to invest in it."
One example of the financial challenges sustainable farms face comes in the form of crop insurance. If a farmer wants to transition a farm from conventional practices to organic or regenerative ones, costs are associated with that transition. However, insurance policies typically do not cover them, so the farmer is forced to take on the extra up-front costs and risk. The same holds true for traditional agriculture financing, developed for conventional farming. Loans are typically underwritten based on the equipment, inputs, volume, prices, and insurance coverage of conventional growers. These factors are different for organic and regenerative farmers, so the numbers often don’t work, resulting in loans being denied or unaffordable.
This increased access to capital could help scale the market, which hopefully would bring down the cost and make this more nutritious food more widely available, said Matthew Walker, managing director at S2G Ventures, a food systems-focused venture fund and mission investor.
"There’s a lot of work to be done to provide affordable nutrition … and allow those who are seeking to grow organic, or use any tech-enabled process that might be better for soil health, better for nutrition, to at least get started," he said.
This increased access to capital could help scale the market.
Making healthy food available in disadvantaged neighborhoods, where affordable, fresh vegetables are hard to come by, is the mission of the Green Bronx Machine, but founder Stephen Ritz — a VERGE keynote speaker — didn’t wait for systems change. Established in 2012, the program uses hydroponic and vertical farming technology at its indoor teaching farm at a South Bronx school, where kids learn how to grow and cook vegetables themselves.
Each week throughout the school year, the kids take home bags of groceries to their families. Green Bronx Machine also operates a "food for others" outdoor garden and summer youth employment program in the Bronx, which serves food-insecure families in the community. And it has various other partnerships and serves as a model for schools in other districts, including a program in more than 60 Chicago schools, sponsored by the foundation of Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, who joined Ritz on VERGE’s Building a Better Food System for America’s Cities panel.
Like the farmers who work with Steward, the Green Bronx Machine’s student farmers pivoted when the pandemic hit, Ritz said in his keynote.
"As COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill, it became the ultimate manifestation of three larger illnesses: racism; greed; and corruption," Ritz said. "And we found new ways to secure and distribute food to those who needed it most."
This has included providing weekly grocery delivery for 26 food-insecure patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, who are recovering from cancer, and for 55 of the most vulnerable families in the Bronx, across a 26-mile route that includes walk-up buildings.
"The truth is children want to be part of the conversation. The truth is children don’t let differences divide them. The truth is children are smarter than you think," Ritz said.
As COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill, it became the ultimate manifestation of three larger illnesses: racism; greed; and corruption.
When New York was the epicenter of the pandemic — a place whereby May, the virus had killed more than 20,000 people, primarily in underprivileged neighborhoods such as the South Bronx — food grown by a bunch of kids was delivered to families who may not have eaten otherwise.
The Green Bronx Machine joined community farms, urban farms, and small family farms in offering a lifeline to their communities. They proved themselves resilient in a crisis, and their numbers are growing, but they remain a teeny, tiny part of the gargantuan American food system.
In 2017, there were 16,585 certified organic farms, a 17 percent increase from just a year earlier, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service’s latest Organic Survey, released this month. These farms accounted for 5.5 million certified organic acres, an increase of 9 percent over 2016.
This impressive growth marks the continuation of a decade-long trend. And yet, certified organic acres still represent less than 1 percent of the total 911 million acres of American farmland. (Although I should add that the survey’s three-year lag does not provide an up-to-date picture, and farms that use organic or regenerative practices but have not been certified don’t get counted.)
The main challenges for these farms is getting the infrastructure and operational capacity in place to support a growing customer base.
Curious to see whether the direct sales demand Steward’s farmers saw in the spring was continuing to hold, I checked back in with Miller. By email, he told me that demand had held and offered an example from Fisheye Farms, an urban farm in Detroit. Fisheye, he reported, already has sold out their entire winter CSA and is fielding inquiries for spring. CSA stands for "community-supported agriculture," a system where customers buy "a share" of the farm. They pay a fixed rate to receive regular boxes of whatever’s in season. Every other week, from November through February, members of Fisheye’s winter CSA will receive spinach, kale, carrots, turnips, radishes, microgreens, and more. The cost is $300, or about $38 a week.
"The main challenges for these farms is getting the infrastructure and operational capacity in place to support a growing customer base," Miller said in his email. "Even the farmers with the most demand still need capital to run better, as they can’t finance everything they need just on cash flow."
In other words, to replicate and scale what these farms do, and build distributed food systems that are resilient, sustainable, healthy, and just, will take time, cooperation, and a lot of green.
Lead photo: by Oleg Demakov on Unsplash.
UAE: Smart Acres: Heights of Sustainability
Smart Acres, the latest in UAE's hydroponic vertical farming industry, is now producing a line of the freshest, most nutrient-dense greens for UAE residents and businesses
Rohma Sadaqat
October 19, 2020
Smart Acres, the latest in UAE's hydroponic vertical farming industry, is now producing a line of the freshest, most nutrient-dense greens for UAE residents and businesses.
A growing focus on healthy food farmed sustainably and locally has meant that vertical hydroponic farms are finding a home in the UAE. The last few years have seen a marked increase in the number of companies that have launched their vertical farming facilities in the country, providing hotels, cafes, restaurants, and households across the emirates access to a growing portfolio of fresh greens.
Smart Acres, the latest addition to the UAE's hydroponic vertical farming industry, is now producing a line of the freshest, most nutrient-dense greens for UAE residents and businesses. The company has launched in collaboration with n.thing, a Korean-based technology company that designed the farm modules using an award-winning Internet of Things (IoT) based technology system to grow and monitor their greens - a system that not only consumes less resources but generates ultra-high quality crops.
Abdulla Al Kaabi, Founder and CEO of Smart Acres, revealed that vertical farming is a relatively new modern farming concept that was first proposed in the late 1990s. The main advantage of vertical farming technology, he explained, is that you can achieve a huge output in a limited space.
"Our container farms have a crop yield that is 20 times greater than traditional farming methods," he explained. "We currently harvest approximately 10,000kg a year from 120sqm of land, but to achieve the same output in traditional farming methods, you would require over 2,500 sqm of land."
Al Kaabi also explained that the hydroponics method has been around since the 1700s. With the advancement of modern-day technology, companies are now able to use this farming method to cultivate crops commercially. The biggest advantage of hydroponics comes from the decrease in water usage. Smart Acres' method uses up to 10 times less water than traditional farms to grow lettuce.
"We've lost over a third of our arable land on this planet in the past 40 years, and with the increase in population, we will face a great shortage of arable farmland to grow enough food for the world's population by traditional means," Al Kaabi said.
"Freshwater scarcity is also a serious issue that we face as a civilization, and it was listed as the largest global risk by the World Economic Forum in 2019. These two problems are a severe challenge in the UAE. In 2019, the UAE was ranked 10th out of 164 in a global rank of nations where water supplies are most stretched."
Looking ahead, he said that he believed that the future of farming will be a mix of different technologies. "Different crops require different farming methods and there is no one size fits all. For lettuce variety, we strongly believe that we have achieved great efficiency and commercial viability with the mix of vertical farming and hydroponics technology along with the advancement of IoT. The UAE's Food Security Strategy is multi-faceted with the core goals of identifying and diversifying food sources. Local production is a vital component, but it also needs to be supplemented with global imports. Even for local production, optimum farming methods for different crops may vary for rice, strawberry, lettuce, tomatoes, etc."
Currently, Smart Acres grows five different varieties of lettuce on their farm. They take six weeks to grow from seeding to harvest. The first step is to plant the seed in the growth medium which is placed in the germination room. After the seeds have been successfully germinated, they are transplanted into the growth area where light, temperature, airflow, and humidity are all micro-controlled to provide the most optimum environment for the plants to grow.
"We are currently testing many different varieties of lettuces in the UAE," Al Kaabi said. "At the same time, our research team is collaborating with other researchers around the world to develop the most optimum environment for some of the other crops. Our goal is to be able to introduce a new crop every year for the next five years and there is a very good chance that strawberries will be one of the five crops that we may cultivate in the next five years."
Asked about the response that the concept has received, Al Kaabi said that there has been a lot of support and interest from the restaurant and café industry in the region. Chefs have been using vertically farmed produce for a few years now, but the scope has only been limited to micro-greens because growing large lettuce heads at a consistent weight can be challenging.
"Sustainable farming practices are very much on the minds of most chefs here in the UAE," he said. "The industry is becoming more aware of how sustainable practices are vital to the safety of the environment and for our survival. We have received a lot of inquiries from restaurants and hotels across the emirates for our crops, which was the result of managing to successfully grow large and premium-quality lettuce heads with consistency. Currently, we have not focused on providing our produce to many outlets as we have set our sights on developing our R&D facility that will spur long-term growth for UAE food security."
- rohma@khaleejtimes.com
How Indoor Farming Is Shaping The Future of The Agriculture And Curbing Climate Change
Bowery Farming Founder & CEO joins Yahoo Finance’s On The Move panel to discuss how the vertical farming company has expanded into more than 650 U.S. stores as well as break down how consumer demands are changing our food systems
October 14, 2020
Irving Fain - Bowery Farming Founder & CEO joins Yahoo Finance’s On The Move panel to discuss how the vertical farming company has expanded into more than 650 U.S. stores as well as break down how consumer demands are changing our food systems.
ADAM SHAPIRO: Farming revolution under the way. Sustainable farming, but the kind of farming that takes place indoors and on rooftops. To talk about this, we bring in Irving Fain. He's Bowery Farming founder and CEO.
Years ago, I got to see an indoor marijuana farm, essentially, where they grew everything in a ground coconut shell, but it was incredibly efficient the way the nutrients and the water were recycled. And I would imagine that's part of what you do.
But what's even cooler about this is, you're already supplying, what, is it 600 plus stores in the tri-state area with your produce. So how does someone who's got their start in software and finance go into farming?
IRVING FAIN: Yeah, it's a good question, Adam. Thanks for having me. I think I've been a believer since I was a young kid that the technology and the innovation economy could be used to solve hard problems and important problems.
And when you look at what's happening with the climate crisis right now, you look at the fires in California, you look at the storms we've been seeing, you look at just the droughts we've been going through for the last decade-plus, there is no greater cause of climate harm than agriculture. It is the largest consumer of resources globally. 70% of the world's water goes to ag every year. And we use about 6 billion pounds of pesticides annually across the world.
And so, in the last 40 years alone, we've lost 30% of all of our arable farmlands. And you look at the fact that the world population is increasing. We need more food to feed that growing population. And we are urbanizing at a faster and faster rate. I just got really obsessed with this question of, how do you get fresh food to urban environments, and how do you do that more efficiently and more sustainably?
JULIE HYMAN: Irving, it's Julie here. Thank you for joining us. You know, this has seemed to be a trend. We spoke with a company recently that was going public through a SPAC that was a big indoor farming company. That person, too, was not necessarily a farmer, right?
As Adam mentioned, you're from a banking and tech background. And so I'm curious, is the farming industry, so to speak, onboard? We have talked a lot on this show about how family farms are dying, in many cases. The economics are really tough there. So I'm wondering how much this new part of the industry is incorporating the old, and how much those people might be on board?
IRVING FAIN: Yeah, you know, I think what's so exciting to see right now, Julie, is just the fact that technology is penetrating all areas of agriculture right now. So you're seeing precision agriculture on the farms. So we can give crops much more precise amounts of water or fertilizers versus just dumping from planes or spreaders like you can see on the photo right now.
You're seeing the use of satellite imagery and drone imagery. So I think when you look at innovation in agriculture, we've got to look at indoor farming as a part of a larger puzzle. We are a piece of this puzzle, a very important piece of it because the fresh produce industry is so critical.
But in order to solve a problem where agriculture is consuming so many of these resources, where our climate is being stretched in the way that it is, we're going to need cooperation from outdoor farmers and indoor farmers alike.
MELODY HAHM: And Irving, I think the company that Julie was mentioning was AppHarvest. Also news today that SoftBank is leading a $140 million funding round for Plenty, of course, your counterpart there. And actually, Driscoll's, the berry company, is going to be an investor.
I want to think about the idea of vertical farming. Speaking with folks who are in very saturated cities or very cosmopolitan areas, as I understand it, vertical farming was another way to provide fresh fruits, fresh veggies to perhaps lower-income students, many of whom depended on their schools for breakfast, lunch, and even dinner sometimes.
How have you been navigating this space, if at all? And what's your vision therein allowing a lot of these fresh produce items to reach the masses and perhaps those who wouldn't be able to afford some fresh things at Whole Foods?
IRVING FAIN: Yeah, no, it's a great question, Melody. And so, you know, at Bowery, we're building the modern farming company. And, you know, we're really proud to be the largest indoor vertical farming company in the United States right now. And we are building smart farms that are close to the cities that we're serving. And we really take the responsibility of the community members seriously.
And so that, for us, means a number of things. We're engaging with nonprofit partners in the mid-Atlantic, where we are, as well as in the tri-state area. We're actually the largest donation partner for fresh produce in the Maryland Food Bank right now.
We're actually selling a wholesale product to the DC Central Kitchen Healthy Corners Program right now. And what they then do is they take that produce and they bring it into corner stores in food deserts across the Baltimore and the DC area. And they sell that at a subsidized price inside coolers to get fresh, healthy produce to consumers who may have a difficult time achieving that.
That's a really critical piece, but also, we have just built Bowery under the belief that we want to democratize access to high-quality fresh food. Everybody should be able to eat great produce. And the produce we're growing is, it is like the produce you remember from your grandparents' garden.
And so you can find Bowery products everywhere from Whole Foods or a Giant, all the way to retailers like Walmart and then online retailers as well. And so we really believe in spreading the access to what we're growing at Bowery.
ADAM SHAPIRO: I am curious because I think a lot of people, there's a passion about what you're doing with this farming revolution. But it's all about yield when you talk about crops. So can you give us a perspective of where the indoor farming market stands with its yield? And potentially, we're talking about feeding, at least this country, with things that are grown in this manner, or is that really a pipe dream?
IRVING FAIN: No it's the right question to ask. I think it's one of the reasons why, at Bowery, we've invested really heavily in the technology side of what we're building. And so, we're building warehouse-scale indoor farms. We stack our crops from the floor to the ceiling. And we grow under lights that mimic the spectrum of the sun.
And so we can grow year-round, independent of weather and seasonality. It is pesticide-free, protected produce. We're 100 times plus more productive than a square foot of farmland. And we use only a fraction of water compared to traditional agriculture. And what really makes that possible is innovation that we've been driving in robotics and automation, as well as innovation around the software side.
So we've built something called the Bowery OS, Adam, which is, it's the brains of our farm. It's a proprietary system, and it uses software, computer vision, machine learning to both monitor and manage our crops to ensure they're getting exactly what they need when they need it. They're as flavorful as possible. And they're harvested at that peak yield and peak freshness.
So it really is where technology marries traditional growing and traditional agriculture, which comes together. And it creates an enormous opportunity. I mean from our view, this is a $100 billion a year opportunity in the US and probably about a trillion dollar a year opportunity globally.
And that's not for every crop. We don't look at staple crops, for instance, corn and wheat and soy, as areas that we're necessarily focused in today. Could you do that eventually? You know, technology has a nice way of surprising us. But that's not something where we're focused or counting on right now. And you don't need that to build a big business.
ADAM SHAPIRO: Look, I tried to grow tomatoes on the 18th floor, the terrace out here. And I refer to them as the toxic tomatoes because it was a disaster. I want to thank you for joining us, Irving Fain, Bowery Farming founder, and CEO.
UK: £5m Funding Award For John Innes Centre To Modernize Horticultural Facilities
A little over £3m of the investment will provide new Controlled Environment Rooms (CERs) for plant and microbial experiments. CER’s offer scientists precise control of environmental factors such as light, temperature, and humidity
A multi-million-pound project to modernize the horticultural facilities at John Innes Centre has been approved.
The £5.1m upgrade is funded by UKRI-BBSRC. Work will begin in Autumn 2020, and the project set to be completed by March 2021.
The company's Horticultural Services support the world-renowned science of the John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory and occupies a large site on the Norwich Research Park.
A little over £3m of the investment will provide new Controlled Environment Rooms (CERs) for plant and microbial experiments. CER’s offer scientists precise control of environmental factors such as light, temperature, and humidity. The upgrade will also improve the containment measures required for experiments that investigate plant pathogens, or for growing genetically modified plants.
The new infrastructure offers energy efficiency and sustainability gains due to LED lighting, wastewater treatment, and rainwater harvesting. The reduction in utility costs from installing these technologies is estimated to be £116,000 per year.
Further savings will be achieved by more efficient use of glasshouse space (£200,000 per year) and reduced reliance on off-site horticultural facilities (£240,000) per year.
The current glasshouses (which cover an area of 5,775m2) is mostly single-span structures designed and built several decades ago. This investment is the start of a long-term move away from using glasshouses and towards controlled environments which better enable consistency of inputs and experimental results.
Head of Horticultural Services at the John Innes Centre, John Lord said: “World-class science needs world–class, market-leading technology. This investment is timely because there is a desperate need for our scientists to work on solutions to the challenges that face us. From understanding pathogens that cause plant diseases, to creating climate-resilient, nutritious crops that feed the world.
“This investment will bring a much-needed upgrade, providing facilities that are relevant and appropriate for the world-leading plant and microbial science that takes place on the Norwich Research Park. It also future proofs the site to fit with longer-term ambitions to redevelop the infrastructure here.”
Features of the new modernization include 30m2 of large walk-in growth space which offers LED lighting, nutrient enrichment, climate control, and state-of-the-art irrigation systems. The spaces will be configurable, it can be divided into multiple layers or used as a large open space, offering the next step towards bigger trials for crops.
The new facility will also benefit from a sustainable water supply, as it will harvest rainwater. The rainwater will be monitored and treated onsite to ensure it is free from phytopathogens, and that it has the correct pH. This soft, nutrient-rich harvested rainwater means that scientists will be able to minimize the use of fertilizers, and the consistent, monitored water supply will ensure that scientific experiments are reliable and repeatable.
“This is the start of a wider, long term project to update horticultural services at the John Innes Centre to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of science of today while being flexible enough to meet the needs of tomorrow as problems and new technologies arise,” said John.
For more information:
John Innes Centre
www.jic.ac.uk
Publication date: Thu 8 Oct 2020
Martha Stewart, J.D. Vance And Impossible Foods’ David Lee Join Board of AgTech Leader AppHarvest
Company adds executives from The Carlyle Group, Impossible Foods and raises new round from sustainability-focused investors such as Jeffrey Ubben and James Murdoch as COVID-19 heightens need for more resilient domestic supply chains
The company adds executives from The Carlyle Group, Impossible Foods and raises new round from sustainability-focused investors such as Jeffrey Ubben and James Murdoch as COVID-19 heightens need for more resilient domestic supply chains
AUGUST 6, 2020 – MOREHEAD, KENTUCKY – AppHarvest announced today that food entrepreneur and icon Martha Stewart, Impossible Foods Chief Financial Officer David Lee, and best-selling author and investor J.D. Vance, have joined the company’s Board of Directors as it prepares to open one of the world’s largest indoor farms this fall in Morehead, KY. Starting with non-GMO tomatoes, AppHarvest’s farms will provide freshly grown American fruits and vegetables for national grocers, meeting the enormous and growing demand for locally grown produce amidst the supply chain challenges created by the current COVID-19 pandemic.
“The future of food will be, has to be, growing nutrient-rich and delicious produce closer to where we eat,” Stewart said. “That means food that tastes better and food that we feel better about consuming. AppHarvest is driving us towards that future and working from within Appalachia to elevate the region.”
Added Vance, “The last few months have taught us that our food system is a little more precarious than we realized. AppHarvest will change that, and it will do so by building a sustainable, durable business in Appalachia, and investing in the people who call it home.”
Added Lee, “AppHarvest’s innovative approach to agriculture has the potential to dramatically change the way we get our produce and the impact our food has on the natural environment. I’m excited to join their mission as they enter this next phase of growth.”
Anna Mason, Partner at Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, the fund led by AOL Co-founder Steve Case to back companies outside of Silicon Valley, will also join the Board. “AppHarvest’s rapid expansion and job creation is exactly what Rise of the Rest envisioned with its focus on helping companies in Middle America grow,” Mason said.
Inspired by the belief that the technology already exists today to grow dramatically more food, with far fewer resources, AppHarvest’s indoor farms reduce the need for acreage, use no harmful pesticides, lessen fuel used in shipping, and are the first of their size that will rely entirely on recycled rainwater for all water needs. AppHarvest’s closed-loop water system eliminates agricultural runoff common in open-field agriculture. This is critical as the U.S. ramps up efforts to secure food systems that can withstand health and climate disruptions.
“It’s time for agriculture in America to change,” said AppHarvest Founder & CEO Jonathan Webb. “The pandemic has demonstrated the need to establish more resilient food systems, and our work is on the forefront of that effort. Eastern Kentucky, with its central U.S. location, provides the perfect place to build AppHarvest’s indoor farms while also providing much-needed jobs to a ready workforce.”
AppHarvest’s 2.76-million-square-foot controlled environment agriculture facility has already created 100 construction jobs and will create more than 300 full-time permanent jobs for residents of Eastern Kentucky, where 44 percent more residents are unemployed than the national average.
With its vision to create America’s AgTech capital in Appalachia, AppHarvest has been recognized for its focus on social good. The company has been certified by the independent non-profit B Lab as a
B Corporation, passing a rigorous audit of its sustainability practices.
AppHarvest is also announcing the hires of Marcella Butler as the company’s first Chief People Officer, Jackie Roberts as its first Chief Sustainability Officer, and Geof Rochester as its first Chief Marketing Officer. Butler joins AppHarvest after serving as Impossible Foods' first Chief People Officer, where she led the tripling of employees to more than 650 individuals. Prior to joining Impossible Foods, she worked at Google, first in People Operations, followed by Corporate Development, where she led global acquisition due diligence and integration activities. Roberts joins AppHarvest from The Carlyle Group, where her roles included Chief Sustainability Officer. Prior to The Carlyle Group, she served in several senior roles at the Environmental Defense Fund. Rochester, who has decades of experience in marketing and corporate social responsibility, previously served as Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer of The Nature Conservancy with prior work at WWE, Showtime, Comcast, and Procter & Gamble.
AppHarvest’s Board and staff additions come as the company closes its $28 million Series C funding round. Combined with the company’s prior funding rounds, including project financing, AppHarvest has attracted more than $150 million in investment in just over two years.
Narya, the new venture capital firm co-founded by Vance and Colin Greenspon as well as backed by leading entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel, led the investment round with participation from existing investors ValueAct Capital’s Spring Fund, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, and Equilibrium, which has provided nearly $100 million in project financing to date.
New investors include Lupa Systems, the private investment firm founded last year by James Murdoch (who along with the ValueAct Spring Fund and Equilibrium, are leading the way for venture’s expansion into sustainability-focused investments); Breyer Capital, founded by early Facebook investor Jim Breyer; food and agriculture fund S2G Ventures (Seed 2 Growth); Black Capital, led by NBA legend Kevin Johnson; and Endeavor Catalyst, the co-investment vehicle through which Endeavor invests into companies founded by its entrepreneurs. Endeavor selected Webb as an Endeavor Entrepreneur in 2019.
“AppHarvest is poised to be a leader of the modern agricultural transformation, and we’re enthused to be a part of its upcoming launch and growth phases both in the U.S. and internationally,” said Frederic Michel, Partner at Lupa Systems. “The team is developing a compelling model that can respond rapidly to the needs for efficiency, sustainability, quality, and resiliency in the food sector today.”
The Series C funding round will allow the company to continue to recruit top-tier talent from around the globe as it prepares to build additional farms throughout Central Appalachia.
About AppHarvest
AppHarvest is building some of the world’s largest indoor farms, combining conventional agricultural techniques with today’s technology to grow non-GMO, chemical-free fruits and vegetables to be sold to the top 25 U.S. grocers. The company has developed a unique system to reduce water usage by 90% compared to typical farms, as a 10-acre, on-site rainwater retention pond pairs with sophisticated circular irrigation systems. The system also eliminates agricultural runoff entirely. By locating within Appalachia, AppHarvest benefits from being less than a day’s drive to 70% of the U.S. population. That lowers diesel use in transportation costs by 80%, allowing the company's fresher produce to compete against low-cost foreign imports.
Indoor AgTech Goes Virtual: Over 300 Industry Leaders Sign Up for Online Summit on July 23, 2020
The Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit, a virtual event on Thursday, July 23, will gather the biggest names in the indoor and vertical farming industries to discuss how the sector is rapidly transforming the agri-food landscape, and redesigning food systems to meet consumer demand for fresh produce
Indoor AgTech Goes Virtual: Over 300 Industry Leaders Sign Up for Online Summit on July 23, 2020
The Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit, a virtual event on Thursday, July 23, will gather the biggest names in the indoor and vertical farming industries to discuss how the sector is rapidly transforming the agri-food landscape, and redesigning food systems to meet consumer demand for fresh produce.
Oscar Brennecke, Conference Producer for the Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit, says: “Three years on from our first event we’ve seen a huge shift in the scale, quality and affordability of indoor-grown produce. As a high-end niche market, fresh produce is now available on supermarket shelves and restaurants, providing a clean, safe, nutritious, local, and resilient food source to millions of people.
“Hosting the virtual event provides a meeting point for the sector and we’re looking forward to facilitating new connections, sharing best practice, and accelerating project developments.”
The Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit has taken place in New York annually since 2018, attended by major farm operators, food retailers, seed companies, technology providers and investors from around the world. The new Virtual Summit will host over 300 participants from the US, Canada, Europe, the UAE and Asia to share knowledge and engage in high-level networking via online roundtable groups and 1-1 meetings.
Key discussion topics on the fast-paced program include:
· Finding Growth in Crisis: Responding to a Rapidly Changing Food Landscape
· Why Diversify? Exploring the Costs and Benefits of Indoor Agriculture
· Optimizing Seeds for Indoor Agriculture: Breeding a Competitive Advantage
· Enhancing Nutritional Value and Yield: Perfecting Plant Recipes
· Lighting and Energy: Driving Efficiency and Economic Viability
· Financing Growth: Can Capital Keep Pace with Industry Demand?
· Investing in Food Security: The Abu Dhabi Model
· Adapting to a New Food Culture: Supplying Restaurants Post-COVID
· Optimizing Consumer Awareness: How to Build a “Holistic” Indoor Brand
Over 40 international speakers include:
· David Rosenberg, CEO, AEROFARMS, USA
· Tessa Pocock, Director of Advanced Lighting & Plant Physiology, PLENTY, USA
· Sanjeev Krishnan, CIO & Managing Director, S2G VENTURES, USA
· Elyse Lipman, Director of Strategy, LIPMAN FAMILY FARMS, USA
· Viraj Puri, Co-Founder & CEO, GOTHAM GREENS, USA
· Susan MacIsaac, Head of AgScience, BOWERY, USA
· David Farquhar, CEO, IGS, UK
· Gretchen Raymond, Managing Director, RIJK ZWAAN, USA
· Tobias Peggs, CEO, SQUARE ROOTS, USA
· Delphine Descamps, Managing Director, CREADEV, USA
· Maximillian Vogt, Director Buying, ALDI SÜD, GERMANY
· Sky Kurtz, CEO, PURE HARVEST, UAE
The full agenda, advisory board, confirmed speakers, and delegate registration are available at www.indooragtechnyc.com
10 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Container Farm
If you’ve been looking into indoor farming from home, you’ve probably come across a container farm as a sustainable option. A container farm is an indoor vertical farm, that operates inside of a repurposed shipping container
If you’ve been looking into indoor farming from home, you’ve probably come across a container farm as a sustainable option.
A container farm is an indoor vertical farm, that operates inside of a repurposed shipping container.
These farms grow crops using hydroponic systems, artificial lighting, and controlled environment agriculture (CEA) technology.
Container farms are popular for their ability to yield a lot of produce in a compact space.
But before you get started, there’s some vital information you should learn.
In this article, you’ll learn what you should find out before starting a container farm.
1. What type of hydroponic system does it use?
There are many different types of hydroponic systems.
The type of hydroponic system a container farm uses will influence compatible crops, maintenance, and its advantages and disadvantages.
For example, recirculating systems like nutrient film technique (NFT), allow the farm to reuse water, cutting back on water use, and work best with quick-growing leafy greens.
2. How is the hydroponic system controlled?
How the hydroponic system is controlled, will determine how much additional labor you need in order to operate it.
If it’s an automated system, like our Pure Greens Container Farms, you’ll save time and energy.
If it’s a more basic system, you’ll have to put in more work to get the results you desire.
3. How is the environment controlled?
How the inside environment of the container farm is controlled, depends on the level of CEA technology that’s been installed.
A basic refrigerated container, with no modifications, will regulate indoor temperature to some degree, but it won’t be easily adjustable or precise.
On the other hand, more controls like temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide will result in perfect growing conditions for your crops, improving quality and yields.
4. Where can you put it?
One of the benefits of container farming is the ability to grow food in any climate and in densely populated urban areas.
But before starting your container farm, you’ll need to know if you have the proper space for it.
You need to make sure you have enough room on all sides of the farm, level ground, a proper connection to water, and an electrical source.
5. What preparation do I need to do before starting?
The preparation you put into starting a container farm will depend on your personal situation, such as whether you already have the proper space, tools, and materials for it.
Additionally, you’ll want to consider preplanning your budget and what crops you’d like to grow so that you can adjust your expectations accordingly.
6. What do I need to buy separately?
Whether you’re renting or purchasing your container farm, you’ll need to know what materials and equipment it comes with, so you can plan to purchase anything else separately.
These things will need to be accounted for in your budget, and it’s best to know before starting in order to minimize financial surprises.
7. How much work does operating one unit require?
If you already have plenty of time on your hands, this might be less of a concern.
But if you’re only going to be able to put in a few hours of work each week, you might want to look into getting some help.
In general, you should budget for at least 20 hours of work time for your container farm each week.
8. Who will do the labor?
As mentioned in the previous section, if you can’t fully commit your time to maintaining your container farm, you should look into hiring someone.
If you plan to hire someone, you’ll have to make sure to include that in your budgeting as well.
And if you’re going to take on the work all on your own, you should ensure that you’ll have enough time to do so before you start.
9. What plants can I grow in it?
Before starting a container farm, you should know what crops you’re most interested in growing.
Container farms grow a lot of different types of crops, but the most ideal ones will depend on what type of hydroponic system it uses.
You’ll want to make sure your desired crops align with what you’ll actually be able to grow.
10. What are the expected yields?
Whether you’re using the container farm to feed people or to sell your produce, knowing what to expect is important.
You should make sure the farm has the ability to yield enough to match your needs, both in terms of mouths to feed and profit.
Now that you know what questions to ask, you can start finding the answers!
Check out our container farming guides on our website puregreensaz.com or call 602–753–3469 for more information.
WRITTEN BY
Pure Greens Arizona LLC
Pure Greens’ container-based grow systems offer a variety of interior layouts, sizes, and options so customers can create a farm that meets their needs.
Urban Vertical Farming: The Key to a Sustainable Future
Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops/foods in vertically stacked layers. This is usually done indoors and in a controlled environment. This method optimizes plant growth and allows the use of soilless techniques such as hydroponics
Living in a dense city population can make you wonder, "where does our food come from?" When you live in urban areas like Houston, New York City, or Seattle, it's rare that you notice farms on your drive to work.
The idea that our food is grown hundreds to thousands of miles away can be worrisome. What if something were to happen to those farms? Our resources would cut off and we would have limited access to foods. This is why vertical farming in urban areas is critical to ensure cities can be sustainable food leaders.
What is vertical farming?
Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops/foods in vertically stacked layers. This is usually done indoors and in a controlled environment. This method optimizes plant growth and allows the use of soilless techniques such as hydroponics.
How does vertical farming work?
Vertical farming needs several things to work. We'll cover each one below:
Physical Layout - The purpose of farming indoors is to maximize volume. We do this by maximizing the output efficiency per square meter. This is why you will see physical layouts in the form of skyscrapers or vertical tower-like structures.
Lighting - To optimize crop growth, a need for artificial and natural lights are essential.
Growing Medium - There are several different growing mediums for vertical farming. These methods include hydroponics, aeroponics, and aquaponics. Coco Coir, Rockwool, ,Biostrate, Vericulite, Perlite, SunShine #4 and Black Gold are great mediums used in indoor farming.
Sustainability Features - Sustainable features often used with vertical farming feature rainwater tanks, wind turbines, and spaces with low energy costs.
Why is urban vertical farming important?
By 2050, the forecast is that we will have an extra 2 billion people on the planet. Many of these people will live in urban areas. And we have already used a third of arable farmland in the past 40 years.
We need to come up with other sustainable ways to grow food to ensure we can feed everyone. Vertical farming allows us to grow healthy, accessible foods within a few acres of land, close to home.
This is critical for urban areas because they will become more populated over time. Instead of relying on faraway food sources, we need to take matters into our own hands. By establishing urban vertical farming settings, we'll be able to control and grow our own food sources.
Vertical farming also uses 95% less water than traditional farming methods. The use of water needed to grow crops traditionally is wasteful. To be able to handle an influx in population, vertical farming is a sustainable solution.
How does vertical farming benefit us?
There are many reasons why vertical farming is the future of farming. By building vertical farms, there will be an increase in job opportunities. There will be easier access to healthier and attainable foods. With food grown close to home, we will always be aware of where our food comes from.
Because of the controlled environment, there is a higher chance of growth success. We will be able to grow crops year-round and have larger yields. Crops will not be exposed to harsh weather conditions since they'll be grown indoors. Urban vertical farming methods should start being adopted right now.
The Takeaway
To prepare for the upcoming increase in food demand, urban areas need to adopt sustainable policies. People should start growing their food indoors as well as increasing the demand for high-tech farming methods.
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#farming #farmingfeeds #farming365 #verticalfarming #vertical #urbanfarming #localgrown #futureoffood
How The UAE Grows its Own Food In a Sustainable Way
As the UAE strives to achieve and maintain the highest level of national food security, a transformation is taking place in the country’s agricultural sector
By Jackie Austin -January 25, 2020
THE ABU DHABI AUTHORITIES RECENTLY SAID THEY USED THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY TO GROW CROPS LOCALLY AS PART OF THE FOOD SECURITY STRATEGY.
As the UAE strives to achieve and maintain the highest level of national food security, a transformation is taking place in the country’s agricultural sector. As agriculture often puts considerable pressure on natural resources and the environment, the UAE develops sustainable and integrated food safety systems that use the latest technologies to innovate solutions to the challenges of securing food resources.
In other words, the country is now promoting and applying large-scale sustainable farming methods aimed at protecting the environment, expanding the world’s natural resources and maintaining and improving soil fertility. It also wants to support farmers, resources, and communities by promoting farming practices that are profitable, environmentally friendly and good for communities.
Some of the practices under sustainable agriculture include vertical farming, hydroponics, organic farming, and controlled environmental farming to grow local fruits and vegetables with minimal resources. The Abu Dhabi authorities recently said they used the latest technology to grow crops locally as part of the food security strategy.
Saeed Al Bahari Salem Al Ameri, director of the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA), said the authority is working on an ambitious plan to achieve the sustainability of agriculture and to support the overall scientific research efforts to improve food safety mechanisms. “The Authority is keen to invest in future technologies and create innovative and sustainable solutions to overcome environmental and climate challenges, with the aim of identifying the best technologies and the most suitable farming methods for the local environment and local farmers and companies in the private sector, to achieve sustainability in these areas, “Al Ameri said.
Last year, a Smart Home Farming Showcase called “Bustani” – meaning “garden” in Arabic – was launched in Masdar City’s Eco-Villa prototype to demonstrate emerging farming solutions. It included innovative solutions to encourage people to grow and grow their own food at home to help provide sustainable solutions and manage food safety.
Bringing a revolution in agriculture
Using advanced technology to produce zero pesticides, zero herbicide, and more water-efficient products, Unsfarms from the UAE is growing food for a better future by revolutionizing agriculture. Mustafa Moiz, director of Unsfarms, a local indoor hydroponics company that grows fresh, locally produced leafy vegetables without chemicals or preservatives, said vertical farming is the future of sustainable agriculture in the UAE. “By growing vertically, we are able to produce 40 times more on the same footprint of the country, bringing the concept from farmer to plate to your home. With a third of the world’s population hungry and two-thirds of the food products waste due to logistics inefficiencies, local growth in urban areas can play an important role in addressing these problems, and with the world population expected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050, the simplest answer is vertical farming where products are free from pesticides and herbicides, with consistent production with ecologically sustainable methods throughout the year. In addition to sustainability, our indoor culture approach will also improve the taste and quality of the products, giving the brand and retailers a competitive advantage. “Talking about the varieties of crops that they produce through vertical farming, he said: “For example, we grow heirloom varieties and types of products that people usually don’t find, such as wasabi mustard, red-veined sorrel and gourmet lettuce that burst with taste even when consumed raw. We are busy growing different types of lettuce leaves, mixes and micro vegetables such as kale, gourmet baby lettuce, mustard and herbs.
“Controlled environment agriculture”
Madar Farms, based in Abu Dhabi, one of the local farms that has been operating for four years now, offers a holistic approach to sustainability to address food and water safety challenges in the region. Kyle Wagner, head of operations at Madar Farms, said they use different methods to ensure that their products are grown sustainably. One is through closed and controlled systems that offer optimum conditions and protect plants against external factors, making a consistent food supply possible throughout the year. “In this controlled environmental agriculture we use a technology-based approach to food production within a closed cultivation system where environmental variables can be maintained and optimized,” he said.
Wagner said the farm also takes a two-pronged approach, combining hydroponics and vertical farming methods to unlock synergistic benefits. Madar Farms is currently growing various leafy vegetables and microgreens and their new multi-million-dirham farming facility – the world’s first commercial tomato-based commercial farm with only LED lamps to grow fresh tomatoes will be put into operation later this year in Abu Dhabi. The 5,000 square meter facility currently under construction in the industrial zone of Khalifa, Abu Dhabi (Kizad), will also grow microgreens and triple the number of microgreens that Madar Farms is currently growing. All grown products are distributed locally throughout the UAE
Wagnar explained that, in general, crops grown in controlled environmental agriculture with hydroponics grow slightly faster than regular crops because they are provided with the ideal environmental conditions that are needed to thrive.“Sustainable agriculture combines our technology with agriculture. As such, sensors, software, filters, LED lighting, air conditioning, and strict hygiene protocols are required,” he said.
Connect customers and farmers
PC Kabeer and wife Semy Kabeer, who founded FarmChimp, an SME that connects consumers directly with farmers who use organic farming for their crops, said:
“We are working on a traceability concept so that our customers can make contact with their farmers and understand the ways the farmer has used to get that product.
We bring the face of the farmer and connect him with the customers so that they can better understand their products.
And we want to bring the land to life by encouraging farmers to use organic fertilizer, feritlisers and also doing multi-cropping to enrich the soil. “Darshan Murali, a 16-year-old student volunteer who focuses on organic farming, together with a team of students, spreads awareness about sustainable agriculture by organizing activities that involve children in organic farming. “The products needed for the garden that we use are completely chemical-free. This process starts from the end of October and ends with a successful harvest in March. The first step is to prepare the soil with cow dung and peat moss. After a few weeks, the plants need fertilizer and for that, we use neem cake, visamic acid, and cow manure again together with vegetable compost.
To get rid of the pests and insects, we use garlic and chilly mix diluted with water and then spray it on the leaves. The entire process is done by volunteers from our team of volunteers named #teamUFK. “Murali said they use organic farming at their GEMS Millennium School, Sharjah and have grown vegetables such as tomato, chili, cauliflower, ovary, cucumber, snake gourd, and other leafy vegetables. “By allowing plants to grow organically themselves, you ensure that you are free from lifestyle diseases and organic agriculture ensures that the ecosystem is well balanced.”reporters@khaleejtimes.com
Does Farming’s Greener Future Mean A Return To Tradition, or New Technology That Heralds ‘The End of Sustainable Agriculture As We Know It’?
With the UK committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2050, agri-tech — technology applied to farming — is increasingly playing a crucial role in reconciling food production with sustainability
Carla Passino November 24, 2019
Indoor farming could pave the way for the UK to move towards net-zero, say experts Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
With the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis becoming increasingly pressing, we could see a shift away from conventional agriculture towards indoor food production, say some experts.
With the UK committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2050, agri-tech — technology applied to farming — is increasingly playing a crucial role in reconciling food production with sustainability. But rapidly advancing innovation, together with the growing interest in the natural capital of land to combat climate change and halt the decline in biodiversity, could change agriculture as we know it, with vertical farming replacing, at least in part, field-grown crops.
Emily Norton, head of rural research at Savills, told a meeting of rural professionals this week that the future may not look anything like they’ve envisioned.
‘Pursuing carbon efficiency in agriculture is going to be transformational,’ she said at a meeting in Norwich.
‘Farmers have naturally been adopting a wait-and-see approach to accessing ELMS, but the climate debate could fast-track disruptive agricultural innovation and signal the end of sustainable agriculture as we recognize it here in Norfolk.’
That’s a stark warning: we think of sustainable farming as a return to traditional methods, and while this will be part of the solution there will be a role for technology such as indoor growing.
‘If agriculture as an industry accepts the net-zero challenge we need to be prepared to adapt accordingly… Indoor production is inevitable for a variety of crops’
‘The Committee on Climate Change Land Use Change report recommended the release of around half of all UK arable land to environmental adaptation,’ she explained.
‘If we’re to produce the same amount of food, this signals a major shift to innovations like controlled environment agriculture — removing food production from the soil. However controversial it might feel, if agriculture as an industry accepts the net-zero challenge we need to be prepared to adapt accordingly. Net-zero, climate change, and technological innovation all suggest that more indoor production is inevitable for a variety of crops.’
There is no doubt that, with the climate emergency at the forefront of people’s minds, there’s a growing demand for land to deliver environmental benefits, whether through planting trees, generating green energy or restoring habitats for fast-disappearing wildlife.
Likewise, the technology to deliver sustainable, indoor-farmed produce has quickly advanced. ‘For many years, we have grown produce in glasshouses and vertical farming is another step forward,’ says Charlie Yorke, technology specialist at rural insurers NFU Mutual, which earlier this month published a report on agri-tech.
‘Crops can essentially be grown anywhere as long as there is water and electricity’
The term, he continues, broadly covers ‘a variety of farming methods that stack multiple layers of crops on top of one another — fully utilizing 3D space.’ Farm designs can be entirely tailored to suit each crop type and space constraints, whether this means having racks of micro-green pallets in a shipping container, or tall spires of lettuces in a bespoke glasshouse. Because of this flexibility, ‘crops can essentially be grown anywhere as long as there is water and electricity.’
But the system’s key advantage, according to Mr. Yorke, is that farmers ‘can control the environment completely,’ targeting it to the specific requirements of the crops they are growing to optimize growth and yields. ‘They can control the humidity, the temperature, the light and they can really start to tailor these crops just by using light and different nutrients.’
Essentially, this means people can ‘consistently produce perfect crops all year round’. And because everything is closely controlled, ‘there is minimal use of pesticides and petrochemical fertilizers’. Vertical farms also ‘hardly use any water and a lot of what they use is recycled — it might be from rain, it might be filtered.’ Mr. Yorke mentions Intelligent Growth Solutions, a vertical farm system in Edinburgh, as an example of a company that recycles rainwater.
All this, together with the ability to make the best possible use of available space, results in ‘higher yields per area of land with much lower waste’.
‘Leafy greens work well but cereals and fruits are a challenge’
Nonetheless, the National Farmers’ Union, which earlier this year stated that agriculture should strive and become carbon neutral by 2040, ten years earlier than the government’s own deadline, believe that it’s yet early days for soil-less farming to supplant more traditional practices.‘Vertical farming is very much in the early stages of being researched to test how feasible it is for the future,’ said a spokesperson. ‘Currently, the high costs of implementation will limit its uptake and therefore its impact on the wider food supply chain.’
Instead, with British growers at the forefront of technological developments that improve quality, yield, environmental protection and energy use, according to the NFU, ‘it is crucial that retailers ensure they also invest and support the farmers that supply them with large, field-scale crops such as root vegetables, where vertical farming is not realistic.’
The NFU Mutual’s Mr. Yorke agrees it’s early days and that, ‘at present, the technology is not suited to all crops; leafy greens work well but cereals and fruits are a challenge.’
Overall, however, he believes the future of sustainable food production lies very much in integrating vertical farming into a wider mix that also includes other ground-breaking tools, such as digital soil mapping systems, robotic micro-sprayers or livestock sensors, that support land-based agriculture and help make it more productive and eco-friendly at the same time.
‘We don’t see vertical farming replacing traditional farming methods — rather we see it complementing farming and maximizing spaces which may have previously been seen as non-agricultural,’ he says, quoting, as an example, Growing Underground, a micro-green and salad producer operating 108 feet below the streets of Clapham, in London. ‘It is one of a number of innovations which are already demonstrating alternatives to conventional field-based production.’
Nature Fresh Farms Partnering With Hiram Walker In Sustainable Initiatives
Nature Fresh Farms has recently teamed up with Hiram Walker & Sons Limited– the whisky producer is now providing the greenhouse operation with a renewable fuel source in the form of whisky cull barrels
Leamington, ON (November 25, 2019) – Nature Fresh Farms has recently teamed up with Hiram Walker & Sons Limited– the whisky producer is now providing the greenhouse operation with a renewable fuel source in the form of whisky cull barrels.
Beginning in 2018, whisky producer Hiram Walker & Sons reached out to Nature Fresh Farms seeking help in reducing their surplus of whisky cull barrels. To date, Hiram Walker has provided them with over 25,000 barrels as fuel for their biomass boiler. The successfulness of the arrangement has expanded the program, where in addition to the barrels, Hiram Walker sends other scrap wood material including used bungs, wood shavings, and damaged pallets.
Every month Nature Fresh Farms receives approximately 400 barrels that are shredded and stockpiled for the colder seasons. The wood chips are fed to the biomass boiler’s fire box, heating the water that is pumped through rails throughout each row of plants to warm the greenhouse. To date they have burned over 25,000 barrels equaling about 1,125 tons of wood, producing about 20,000 gigajoules equivalent to nearly 520,000 cubic meters of natural gas. By burning the 25,000 barrels it saves Nature Fresh Farms 520,000 m3 of natural gas. That would heat the average home in Canada for 192 years, saving 1,000 tons of CO2 emissions.
“The partnership between Hiram Walker and Nature Fresh Farms can best be described as a win-win situation for both companies,” said Darren Taylor, Customer Service & Planning, Bulk Operations at Hiram Walker & Sons Limited. “Hiram Walker has an environmentally friendly way to dispose of barrels and Nature Fresh Farms receives a good supply of clean-burning oak wood.”
The two companies will continue to effectively work together to recycle wood and the metal whisky barrel rings, thus reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. This partnership allows both companies to maintain their values of sustainability while finding new opportunities to integrate eco-friendly alternatives within their operations.
“We are in an industry that has the capacity to produce significant positive change,” said Dave Froese, Energy Manager at Nature Fresh Farms “Teaming up with Hiram Walker & Sons gives us the opportunity to continue to make a difference by reducing the amount of materials that end up in landfills.”
Using biomass boilers to create greener energy is just one part of the overall energy strategy at Nature Fresh Farms. Nature Fresh Farms has prioritized sustainability to make impactful efforts, and that commitment has only strengthened. Marked by its 20 years of growing, Nature Fresh Farms continues to innovate and introduce more viable and sustainable growing and packaging solutions.
‘We Really Need To Wake Up Quickly’: Al Gore Warns of A Looming Food Crisis Caused By Climate Change
Some 40 panelists, most of them farmers and scientists, took the stage to discuss topics from healthy soil to carbon sequestration, but the main event was Gore’s slide show, delivered with his characteristic mix of bravado and humility, detailing the impacts of climate change on food systems worldwide
Former vice president Al Gore backstage at the Time 100 Health Summit in New York in October. (Craig Barritt/Getty Images For Time 100 Health)
By Amanda Little
Oct. 22, 2019
CARTHAGE, Tenn. — “I’ve done so many presentations I just never get nervous anymore, but I was nervous before this one — so much new material,” Al Gore said last week as he launched into the latest iteration of “An Inconvenient Truth,” the slide show that won him an Oscar, a Nobel Prize and a Grammy. Gore had invited 300 guests — chefs, farmers, food executives, and activists — to “The Climate Underground,” a two-day conference last week at his family farm here that explored the intersection of food, climate change and sustainable agriculture.
Some 40 panelists, most of them farmers and scientists, took the stage to discuss topics from healthy soil to carbon sequestration, but the main event was Gore’s slide show, delivered with his characteristic mix of bravado and humility, detailing the impacts of climate change on food systems worldwide.
Will technology or tradition save the global food supply? Why not both?
“This is in Georgia; a heatwave cooked these apples before they could be harvested,” he said, issuing forth rapid-fire examples alongside bone-chilling images and video. “This is the Australia wine region that’s going to be untenable. . . . Rice yields in 80 percent of Japan have declined due to the rising temperatures. . . . In nearby Murfreesboro, Tenn., we’ll see a quarter decline in soybean yields within the next 30 years.”
Gore spent the better part of 90 minutes detailing the pressures of drought, heat, flooding, superstorms, “rain bombs,” invasive insects, fungi and bacterial blight on food producers. “We may be approaching a threshold beyond which the agriculture that we’ve always known cannot support human civilization as we know it,” he declared in a low growl. “That’s something we need to avoid.”
Alice Waters, who Gore said catalyzed his interest in food and who had volunteered to cook the vegetarian lunches served to attendees (using local, seasonal and organic ingredients, natch), said the presentation was bittersweet: “I am deeply depressed. But on the other hand, the solution seems so, so unbelievably transformational. . . . We can restore the health of the planet while also restoring the health of people and communities.”
Naomi Starkman, editor-in-chief of Civil Eats, which covers news on sustainable agriculture, was similarly fraught: “Gore spoke with such devastating and fierce clarity, connecting the dots between the ways agriculture is implicated in and impacted by the climate crisis. But it also felt like a hopeful moment wherein agriculture, and farmers in particular, are taking a front-and-central place in solving one of the most urgent issues of our time.”
Mark Bittman, the former New York Times food columnist, was more circumspect: “There are ways in which the conversation here isn’t quite realistic. Regenerative agriculture is not about increased yield, it’s about producing more of the right food in the right ways. ... But kudos to Al Gore for taking it on. There’s no more important conversation to have.”
I sat down with the former vice president to dive deeper into the details. Edited excerpts of our conversation follow:
Q: The main way most humans will experience climate change is through its impact on food: Is this a fair statement?
A: Ever since 2015, it’s been clear that the impact on the food system was underestimated in previous years. And there is a natural resistance that many of us have had to getting too concerned about the food system. Food insecurity had been declining steadily for the last couple of decades, just as extreme poverty had been declining. But in the last couple of years, that too has changed, and the principal reason is the climate crisis.
Africa, by mid-century, will have more people than either China or India. And by end of century, more people than China and India combined. And you combine that with the impact of the climate crisis on subsistence agriculture in Africa, the importance of subsistence agriculture in Africa, the poor quality of the soils, the persistent problems of land tenure, and the economic and social structures that discourage good stewardship of the land, then, wow. We really need to wake up quickly to the serious crisis that could develop there.
We have no idea yet how to feed the planet without frying it
Q: What are the most crucial policy measures that need to be taken to encourage regenerative farming in the U.S. and climate-smart agriculture broadly?
A: We need leadership to completely refocus USDA to completely change the system of farm subsidies to stop the massive subsidies for crops that are not eaten by people, that go to biofuels, that go to animal feed. We should eventually work our way toward a system for compensating farmers for the buildup of soil carbon. That’s not possible yet, partly because we are still developing a measurement of soil carbon buildup that is necessary for the confidence of policymakers and voters that this is not some boondoggle. But eventually, that’s where we need to be.
Q: On one hand you have Bill Gates saying, “The time has come to reinvent food,” and on the other you have Alice Waters and others saying, “Let’s de-invent food, let’s go back to preindustrial agriculture,” essentially. What do you think the role of tech should be?
Alice Waters, at The Washington Post in 2017, has advocated for a return to traditional farming. (Kristoffer Tripplaar/For The Washington Post)
A: We want a single, magic answer that’s going to solve a big, complicated problem, and I think that in agriculture and food and climate, these systemic approaches are usually more likely to be successful. But technology and science has an important role to play. Measuring soil carbon is one. That team at the Salk Institute has a really interesting proposal to modify roots to sequester more suberin, a form of carbon that stays in the soil for a long time. If their hypothesis is correct, the root structures of food plants can be made much more robust in a way that simultaneously sequesters more organic carbon and increases yields. So that’s technology that is worth exploring and evaluating.
In general, the solutions in agriculture are more to be found in going back to some traditional approaches that worked but were discarded because of the pressure for short-term profit maximization. And that includes crop rotation. It includes cover crops to put key chemicals and nutrients back in the soil after it’s been used for a particular cash crop. It includes rotational grazing, which is not without controversy but has been proven to work, at least on farms of this scale.
Climate change is sapping nutrients from our food — and it could become a global crisis
Q: What role must consumers play in the shift toward sustainable food systems and climate resilience?
A: There’s a danger in focusing on consumer behavior. There’s a danger of giving the impression that the solutions to the climate crisis have to be shouldered by women and men who care enough about it to change their personal choices. They do. But as important as it is to change a lightbulb, it is way more important to change policies. And in order to change policies, we have to have new policymakers. So the most important role that individuals can play is in taking their concern and passion for a better world into the voting booth and turning out in large numbers to overcome the dominance of our political system by big money.
Q: Some permaculture and regenerative farmers that I met with have said that it’s more expensive to farm this way. They can’t afford their own products. How do we address that?
A: I don’t want to deny the premise of your question, but some regenerative farmers have saved a lot of money on their input costs. Now, how do we develop markets for healthier, organic, regenerative-agriculture food? That’s one of the reasons we’re incorporating efforts to get school systems and hospitals and nursing homes and long-term care facilities to provide markets for healthier food.
Q: Still, there are real concerns from middle- and low-income consumers that this is an elitist movement.
Solar panels on a home in Maryland in 2016. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post)
A: It hasn’t been very many years since solar panels were considered an elitist movement. And you heard exactly the same critique. “For those who can afford them, that’s fine. But don’t tell me that’s going to be a significant development, because only the wealthy elite are doing it.” Well, that’s not true anymore, because that was the beginning of a movement that drove scale and accelerated the cost reduction curve. And now you’ve got people putting rooftop solar on and community solar, and it is really taking off dramatically. But it started as an elitist movement. The same thing is beginning to be true of electric vehicles. If we can democratize and widely distribute the soil carbon assessment technologies, I don’t think it’s that hard to imagine technology driving the cost down to the point where this can spread more rapidly.
Q: The agriculture industry is so interesting because it is a major driver of the climate problem, but it is also more vulnerable than any other industry to the pressures of climate change.
A: Many pioneers of regenerative agriculture are finding that their farms are more resilient to drought and flood and extreme weather than with the older established farming techniques. Building the health of the soil does not mean just more organic carbon. It also means building the ability of the soil to absorb the higher rainfall events and to withstand drought events more effectively.
Q: One scientist said to me the most delicious fruits are dying because the specialist crops, the ones that we love the most, are hardest to adapt to new circumstances. Of all the crops that are most vulnerable, which would be the hardest for you to live without?
A: Chocolate. Cacao. Absolutely.
Little is author of “The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World” (Harmony, 2019).
Vertical Farming, A Sustainable Innovation
This new form of farming, within buildings located close to urban areas, is gaining momentum. Some believe it will become common place as the world’s population grows. According to the UN, the global population will hit 9.7 billion by 2050.
September 10, 2019
Could new innovative light recipes in indoor farms hold the key to feeding the world’s growing population?
Innovatus, a sustainable agricultural business in Fuji City, Japan, reached out to us. It had an interesting challenge it wanted help in solving. Namely, to produce high-quality, tasty, and pesticide-free lettuce in the most efficient way possible. In recent years, Japanese consumers have become increasingly concerned with food safety. People worry about pesticide-treated vegetables grown outdoors and the effects of fine particle pollutants that can be a serious health risk. To cater for the demand for clean, safe produce, Innovatus established a vertical farm with strict hygiene controls to produce truly safe vegetables.
We swung into action, responding with a mix of LED lighting expertise and technology. Our goal was simple: to increase the efficiency of one of the world’s largest closed-environment vertical farms - helping it to deliver 12,000 heads of lettuce every single day.
This new form of farming, within buildings located close to urban areas, is gaining momentum. Some believe it will become common place as the world’s population grows. According to the UN, the global population will hit 9.7 billion by 2050.
“We were really impressed by how well-suited the Philips LED modules are for vertical farming. They allow us to create consistent quality produce locally, using only a fraction of the water and electricity compared to open field lettuce or lettuce grown with the help of fluorescent lighting,” said cultivation management group team leader Shinichi Kitamura.
Consumers find the lettuce fresh and flavorful, especially compared to lettuce grown outside. Additionally, since the lettuce from Innovatus is grown and packaged in an extremely hygienic environment, there is no need for its consumers to wash it before eating and it lasts for two weeks.
“At Signify, we’re proud to be contributing to such projects because it reflects how we can solve social and environmental challenges using technologies that are more sustainable,” said Anton Brummelhuis, Senior Director Sustainability at Signify. “This project meets one of our eight sustainable focal areas. In this case, Basic Needs – in other words, how we contribute to the availability of fresh air, water, and food.
Vertical farming for smarter and more sustainable cities
More efficient food production will be needed to support an additional two billion people on the planet through to 2050. New and smarter agricultural methods other than rural farming will be required to deliver food – at scale – to meet demand.
And that’s why Signify develops special lighting for vertical farming and high tech horticulture – to help feed this growing population in a more sustainable way.
We help optimize growth systems with LED lighting for crop cultivation all year round. Our tailor-made light recipes contribute to predictable growth, bigger harvests and higher quality plants.
Our tailor-made light recipes contribute to predictable growth, bigger harvests, and higher quality plants."
Our GrowWise Center in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, is where much of the research into new light recipes takes place. There, scientists constantly look for improvements in crops such as taste, health benefits, texture and quality. By controlling parameters needed to grow plants, such as light, humidity, and irrigation, we help our customers get the most out of crops while saving space, energy and water.
“We use exactly the same photons as the sun, just optimized for the type of plant. We use water but we recycle it so use less. We keep out bugs and pests and optimize the plant for taste. We do this in a clean environment, all year-round. The result is reduced waste, food miles…and produce that is clean, healthy, and nutritious food, grown in a resource efficient way,” said Roel Janssen, Global Director City Farming
In Japan, a new large-scale vertical farm was built using the Philips GreenPower LED production module to grow high-quality lettuce varieties, spinach and coriander year-round.
Crops from the vertical farm don’t use pesticides and have a much lower bacterial count. The automated process from seeding to harvest takes only 39 days compared to 70 days in the open field, and production reaches up to 3,200 kg of lettuce a day. And the controlled environment gives the customer the opportunity to steer growth characteristics to improve shelf life, red coloration in lettuce, even vitamin C levels.
Vertical Farming and Sustainable Development
To help create a bright future for people and the planet, the UN established global goals for sustainable development. These interconnected goals aim to tackle the most pressing challenges we face as a global community including, but not limited to, climate, resource scarcity and poverty.
Vertical farming as a sustainable agricultural practice is important. Innovative solutions for urban agriculture, if scaled up, can be an answer for future food scarcity while developing sustainable food production patterns.
Sustainable agricultural practices are crucial if the world is to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, such as goals 11 and 12, for sustainable and resilient cities and communities, and responsible production and consumption.
With our research, we develop climate-resilient technology and increase resource efficiency that contribute to the transition towards more sustainable and smarter cities, at the heart of SDG 11. And scaling up these solutions creates sustainable food production patterns, which in turn contribute to SDG12.
Lighting is perhaps the killer app for vertical farming. Recent breakthroughs in LED technology may well lead to a golden age for urban farmers, improving plant consistency, quality and yield. Vertical farms that use fewer resources, located close to towns and cities will reduce the distance from farm to fork, reshaping the role of agriculture.”
Anton Brummelhuis
Senior Director Sustainability at Signify
“Lighting is perhaps the killer app for vertical farming. Recent breakthroughs in LED technology may well lead to a golden age for urban farmers, improving plant consistency, quality and yield. Vertical farms that use fewer resources, located close to towns and cities will reduce the distance from farm to fork, reshaping the role of agriculture,” said Anton Brummelhuis, Senior Director Sustainability at Signify.
About the author:
Thomas Marinelli
Head of Sustainable Design and Sustainable Products
Barbados: Teachers' Training College Opens Aquaponics Farm to Staff and Students
The Erdiston Teachers’ Training College is on its way to becoming a green campus. After three months of construction, the institution officially opened its aquaponics farm to the staff and students.
The farm which is being facilitated by the school’s Climate-Smart Aquaponics for a Sustainable Future project, attempts to integrate the disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) into the primary school science classrooms. The project was planned by a group of third-year University of the West Indies, Bachelors in Education students.
“There are some deficiencies as it relates to the application of STEM [in the schools]. This Climate-Smart Aquaponics initiative bridges the gap. It allows persons to have a sense of how to go about teaching STEM, particularly at the primary level in Barbados,” said aquaponics consultant and project facilitator Rozanne Walrond.
The College science lecturer revealed the facility accommodates 460 plants and small-scale fish farming. It will be chiefly utilised by Erdiston Teachers’ Training College students but will also be open to primary and secondary school students for use. Walrond insists that exposure to aquaponics from an early age would educate students on the importance of sustainable and renewable energies.
“One of the benefits of aquaponics is that… where there is a deficiency in arable land and you have a system of this nature, the opportunities are endless in how much you can actually reap,” she continued.
Walrond disclosed that the opening of the aquaponics farm was the first phase of the college’s plan to become fully sustainable and promote renewable energy. The facility will be using recycled water and will be sustained by solar energy, thanks to the support of Williams Solar which has donated photovoltaic panels.
“We want to become iconic in terms of having this college be promoted as a smart and sustainable institution,” commented Walrond.
Could This Ancient Jewish Practice Be A New Tool For Sustainable Agriculture?
Ethan Blake posted April 17, 2019
The practice of letting the land lie fallow after every six years of farming requires a complete reset in sustainable practices—and could gain traction as a way to combat climate change.
The practice of letting the land lie fallow after every six years of farming requires a complete reset in sustainable practices—and could gain traction as a way to combat climate change.
Schoolchildren gather around a seemingly neglected garden bed at Urban Adamah, a Jewish farm and educational center in Berkeley, California. Educator Ariela Ronay-Jinich shows the students that while the plot appears abandoned, it’s actually the farm’s most fertile patch of soil. The children dig their hands an inch beneath the surface and uncover a thriving community of worms and insects, including a foot-long earthworm.
Ronay-Jinich explains that the plot has been set aside for shmita, a Jewish farming practice dating back to Biblical times, that lets the soil rest for one year after every six years of farming (the next shmita year is September 2021–22). Intended to express gratitude for abundance and share one’s fruits of labor with the less fortunate (in accordance with laws that require farmers to forgive debts and leave field corners for the needy to glean), the practice derives from rules laid out in Exodus (23:10): “And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and gather in the increase thereof; but the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of thy people may eat; and what they leave, the beast of the field shall eat.”
Many farms leave portions of the land fallow for a season. But, says Lucy Zwigard, a farmer at Urban Adamah who has also practiced agroecology in France, “what sets shmita apart from typical crop rotations is that it invites us to reimagine our fundamental relationship with the land. Winter cover cropping and no-till farming, for instance, are still production-based and ‘business-as-usual.’ Shmita is a full-stop, reset, rethink of cultivation.”
While shmita is not widely practiced on commercial farms, even in Israel, its age-old ideals have gained traction in the United States over the past decade as the field of spiritual ecology—an understanding of environmental degradation as rooted in spiritual malaises such as greed and apathy—has taken off.
“Jewish community farms,” including Philadelphia’s Jewish Farm School, Illinois’ Pushing the Envelope Farm, and San Diego’s Coastal Roots Farm all employ the shmita practice as they follow Talmudic agricultural law. These organizations are part of a modern movement with a reawakened interest in what they call “earth-based Judaism,” which approaches climate change and environmental sustainability through a lens of ancient wisdom.
Even secular farms, such as the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, incidentally employ shmita-style philosophies in their work; its farm incorporates the idea of rest and follows a seven-year rotation plan in its vegetable fields, based on the seven major plant families.
In light of new research on carbon sequestration, allowing soil to go fallow poses an age-old, no-maintenance way to regenerate soil at any scale. Industrial agriculture and desertification have together depleted global grasslands and prairies to the extent that, according to Rattan Lal, director of Ohio State University’s Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, the world’s cultivated soils have lost 50 to 70 percent of the carbon in the soil as it has entered the air as atmospheric carbon dioxide.
In addition to reducing carbon outputs like burnt fossil fuels, humans can draw carbon back into the ground by restoring organic soil matter as a “natural sink.” Through photosynthesis, plants intake carbon from the air and feed it to deep soil organisms, and the healthier the soil, the greater its holding capacity for carbon. Shmita could complement otherland conservation and carbon sequestration techniques—including agroforestry, holistic planned grazing, and regenerative low- and no-till agriculture—by that simply letting land rest can alone increase soil fertility and thus sequester carbon.
Many manifestations
Shmita dates back thousands of years, to a time when growing food was more central to human life than it is today. Farmers prepared for several years prior to store food and plant enough perennials to eat during shmita. During that year, they only harvested as much as they needed to eat at any time, and otherwise rested from agricultural labor. (Farmers were the first professionals to take a “sabbatical year,” which later extended to clergy and scholars.) However, the financial and operational logistics make whole-farm shmita much less feasible on today’s farms.
Urban Adamah’s main field in Berkeley, California. Photo from Urban Adamah
Few farms practice shmita in Israel today, and when they do, ultra-Orthodox Jews eat domestically grown perennials but import annual produce from non-Jewish farmers abroad. (Observant Jews believe that shmita law only applies in Israel, so while they eat any food grown internationally by non-Jews, they cannot eat Israeli-grown annuals.)
Even though the laws of shmita don’t officially apply in America, many farms—ranging from for-profit farms to urban synagogues’ educational gardens and rural retreat centers—harness its wisdom in creative ways, says Shani Mink, a co-founder of the Jewish Farmer Network and a member of the National Young Farmers Coalition.
“At the Isabella Freedman Center in Connecticut, they designate a plot of their land during shmita year as one without fences, meaning that anyone is welcome to come and harvest,” Mink said. “Maryland’s Pearlstone Center scaled back their farming, took a break from their fellowship program, and spent the full year observing the land and composing a master ecological plan that would both grow the community and nurture the biodiversity of the 180-acre property.”
“We donate 70 percent of our produce, and we sell 30 percent of it as pay-what-you-can.”
Philadelphia’s Jewish Farm School only has one fallow bed, but co-founder Nati Passow says, “we manifest shmita’s values in various other ways.” Their garden started as a vacant lot and they eventually took down the fences, bought the lot, and made it a public space for children as well as for community programs. They also started donating produce to Food Not Bombs, a food justice organization with a location across the street.
“By literally taking down fences, we created inclusive public space,” Passow says. “We have been planting more fruit trees, berries, and perennials, and during the last shmita year, we restricted ourselves from storing surplus harvest—because that creates an accumulation of wealth—so that we could only take what we needed at the moment.” Passow also notes that a couple of years ago, the Jewish Farm School held a forum about shmita and, to his surprise, Christians in particular from around the country were interested in learning about and implementing the practice in their congregations and gardens.
San Diego’s Coastal Roots Farm exemplifies another revised shmita observance. “For what we call ‘above-ground growing,’ we plant seedlings and organic matter into GardenSoxx, place them on top of a small shmita bed, and give them drip irrigation so that the ground below can rest,” says Sharone Oren, the farm’s education manager.
“Our farm relies on continual grants—we donate 70 percent of our produce, and we sell 30 percent of it as pay-what-you-can, so we cannot pause operations for one whole year,” Oren explains. “Instead, we use the shmita plot—half of which [is planted with] perennials—as an educational tool, which we arranged as a meditation labyrinth for visitors to wander through and ponder its principles.”
Listening, engaging, and resting with the land
The Jewish sustainability organization Hazon, headquartered at the Isabella Freedman Center, launched the Shmita Network and the Shmita Project Sourcebook as resources for the next shmita year.
In addition to a history and textual interpretations of shmita, Hazon’s Sourcebook provides an appendix of practical agriculture techniques that combine Jewish law with permaculture design principles. Though permaculture is a relatively new approach—first developed by David Holmgren and Bill Mollison in the late 1970s—many Jewish farmers find its methods compatible with shmita’s principles.
The pay-what-you-can farm stand at Coastal Roots Farm. Photo from Coastal Roots Farm.
The pay-what-you-can farm stand at Coastal Roots Farm. Photo from Coastal Roots Farm.
One section, for example, argues that a “perennial-based food system”—which includes trees, shrubs, mushrooms, and wild (uncultivated) crops—leads to a healthier and more resilient food ecology. Perennial plants “invest more into their own plant body (since they are long-lived), while annuals invest more in producing seed (since they live only through their seed production),” according to the book. They therefore have longer roots that tolerate drought and access more nutrients in the soil, stronger bodies that resist diseases and pests, and single planting that reduces soil disruption.
Yigal Deutscher, a farmer, permaculture designer, and author ofEnvisioning Sabbatical Culture: A Shmita Manifesto, says that shmita is more than just producing food and undoing the shortcuts that industrial agriculture has taken to make unsustainable profits, he says. “It is a whole systematic approach of regenerative agriculture. You cannot just buy a permaculture book and be all set. Every land has its own agreements with the people who tend it, and each has a different mythology and ecological relationship that has taken generations upon generations to learn.”
No matter if a farmer is Jewish or secular, uses crop rotations or no-till methods, harvests wild annuals or only perennials, Deutscher says, they apply shmita if they listen to and engage in a deep ecological relationship with the particular land and its needs.
Perhaps shmita could be the next sustainable agriculture wave, or as environmental psychologist and activist Dr. Mirele B. Goldsmith foresees, “In a world inspired by shmita, there will be no early deaths from filthy air, no oil spills, no devastated mountains and collapsing coal mines, no toxic wastewater from fracking, no contaminated nuclear plants, no oil-fueled wars, and no climate change.” Despite various interpretations, one conviction is ubiquitous: periodic rest is essential for one’s field and, by extension, the planet’s health.
This article was originally published by Civil Eats. It has been republished here with permission.