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Land Trust, NH Farms, CitySeed Become Roomies
Land Trust, NH Farms, CitySeed Become Roomies
by ANEURIN CANHAM-CLYNE | Feb 28, 2018
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Posted to: Environment, Food, Wooster Square
ANEURIN CANHAM-CLYN
Justin Elicker, Russell Moore, and Amelia Reese Masterson at the grand opening of New Haven Farms and New Haven Land Trust’s new offices.
“Nonprofits don’t often work well together,” Justin Elicker said at the grand opening a new working space Tuesday night to be shared by the New Haven Land Trust and New Haven Farms.
Well, at 817 Grand Ave. they now do.
The Land Trust, which Elicker runs, and New Haven Farms have moved into a space connected to the farmers market group CitySeed. Tuesday the executive directors of the three organizations joined board members, employees, high school students and community members at an informal celebration of the new shared space.
The three nonprofits realized their missions overlap, so sharing an office opens opportunities, said Russell Moore, the executive director of New Haven Farms. Moore’s organization operates several urban farms in and runs a 16-week nutritional education and gardening program for low-income New Haveners with nutrition-related diseases like diabetes. Moore’s organization partners with the New Haven Land Trust to run a garden incubator program that helps graduates of the Farm-Based Wellness program.
“We have so many ideas for how to eliminate food insecurity in New Haven. This space helps us do that much better,” Elicker said.
CitySeed, which has been at the site for several years, welcomed its new neighbors. CitySeed manages several farmers markets and runs culinary programs, including a Sanctuary Kitchen that helps refugees in New Haven celebrate their cultures and make healthful food, and has an industrial kitchen in its office. This kitchen is one of the main points of connection among the organizations, according to Executive Director Amelia Reese Masterson. In CitySeed’s kitchen, high school students in the Land Trust’s Growing Entrepreneurs program make pesto, sauces and other food products from food they grow in the Land Trust gardens.
Guests at the celebration
All three organizations share a common goal, according to Reese Masterson: to grow an equitable and sustainable food system in New Haven. Elicker said the organizations will, through weekly meetings, develop more programs and partnerships than was possible before.
“All of us embrace that vision. Working together will bring that much closer to reality,” Moore said.
Kenny Delgado, a junior at Metropolitan Business Academy and a member of New Haven Land Trust’s Growing Entrepreneurs program, said the office has a great atmosphere. Delgado said enjoys the commitment displayed by the workers at the organizations, who he said avoid taking themselves too seriously.
Rasha Abuhatab, another Growing Entrepreneur and junior at MBA, said the new office afford opportunities that weren’t available when she started there through the Youth-At-Work program over the summer. Thanks to CitySeed, the Growing Entrepreneurs can attend more community programs, access more resources, and have a space to make the sauces they sell to local businesses.
Elicker addressed the assembled workers, board members and guests, calling the cooperation among these organizations a model for a city with many nonprofits but not enough collaboration.
“It’s symbolic of what a lot of other groups in the city should be doing,” Elicker said.
LUCY GELLMAN FILE PHOTO
Xavier Hernandez at the “Growing Entrepreneur” plot at Grand Acres.
Bringing New Technology In Farming To The Emirates
Bringing New Technology In Farming To The Emirates
The new pay – off of Levarht ‘Bringing the best together’ is matching our new project in the Emirates in full. Together with our business partner GrowGroup, we are bringing technology in vertical and horizontal farming to the next level. In close cooperation with our knowledge partners Philips Lighting, Rijk Zwaan, and Delphy. All specialists sharing their unique expertise and knowledge in making this new venture a success!
Green Factory
In Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates, we will set up a sustainable green factory for the production of lettuce, baby leaves and herbs in a chemical-free environment. A unique combination of vertical & horizontal farming, with our own propagation area. And in addition to that a connected packing facility, which allows us to mix and pack 100% clean mix salads. Non washed and all ready-to-eat.
Tasty, Fresh & Clean, the perfect match
Our joint objective is to serve the final consumer fresh lettuces and herbs, and completely free from any chemicals or other forms of crop-protection. By selecting the tastiest crops, the strongest varieties and creating a clean production, we are able to serve the consumer the best produce within 24 hours after harvest … ready-to-eat. Because our products are so clean, we don’t even have to wash before packing.
Sustainability, the future of farming
By creating a completely closed environment in production, using the latest generation of LED lighting, we can reduce the usage of water and energy to a minimum.
We also see a great opportunity in growing closer to the stores and the final consumer. Local production enables us to reduce mileage and imports. So not only fresher produce on the shelves, but also a step forward in protecting the environment.
Bringing the best together
We have found in each other strong partners, who share the philosophy of not only changing but especially improving farming technics and serving the consumer fresher, cleaner and tastier product. Partners sharing their unique expertise … the best example of “Bringing the best together”.
January 30th, 2018
NYC’s Farm One Delivers Rare, Ultra-Fresh Produce In Just 30 Minutes
In April 2016, Manhattan’s Institute of Culinary Education planted its very first on-site farm with over 150 crop varieties. The hydroponic gardens are lit by LEDs and feature high-tech systems that provide specific growing conditions for even the rarest of greens.
NYC’s Farm One Delivers Rare, Ultra-Fresh Produce In Just 30 Minutes
- February 26, 2018
- by Nicole Jewell
The farm-to-table movement has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years – and now NYC chefs can pick up sustainable, 100% “nasty-free” produce grown within city limits. Farm One is a Manhattan-based hydroponic farm that grows hundreds of rare herbs, edible flowers, and microgreens, which can be delivered to 90% of NYC restaurants by bike in just 30 minute
In April 2016, Manhattan’s Institute of Culinary Education planted its very first on-site farm with over 150 crop varieties. The hydroponic gardens are lit by LEDs and feature high-tech systems that provide specific growing conditions for even the rarest of greens. The grow room is 100% free from pesticides and herbicides, and it uses around 95% less water than traditional gardens.
The garden organizers have spent years researching and growing rare seeds from all over the world. Farm One is currently one of the city’s largest providers of edible herbs and greens, and it’s a major resource for chefs looking to cook with fresh produce. The system is so efficient that local eateries can have their greens on-site just minutes after being harvested.
In addition to delivering fresh, sustainably-grown produce immediately after harvesting, Farm One offers classes and workshops on hydroponics and indoor farming for budding chefs or home cooks. The Tribeca location also hosts tours where guests can taste dozens of rare plant varieties – most of which cannot be found anywhere else in New York.
Via Uncrate
Images via Farm One
- under Agriculture, Gallery, Manhattan, Urban Farming, Vertical Garden
This Swedish Indoor Urban Farm Wants To Revolutionize How We Live And Eat
03/02/2018
This Swedish Indoor Urban Farm Wants To Revolutionize How We Live And Eat
But people can’t live on microgreens and exotic salads alone.
Oliver Balch On assignment for HuffPost
PLANTAGON
In the basement of a landmark 27-story tower in Stockholm’s central Kungsholmen district, Owe Pettersson is hoping to sow the seeds of an indoor urban farming revolution.
Pettersson is the chief executive of Plantagon, a new Stockholm-based urban farming venture set to kick off operations in the basement of an office block in the Swedish capital later this month.
“This will be one of the most advanced food factories located in a city that we have today,” says Pettersson, who has spent more than 25 years in the insurance and banking industries.
He is by no means the first enthusiast for indoor farming, which has become increasingly fashionable in recent years. Claims for the practice of growing food in basements or warehouses range from feeding people in desert environments to reversing the negative environmental effects of monoculture farming.
“Nature will repair itself if you give it a chance, and indoor farming gives it that chance,” says Dickson Despommier, author of The Vertical Farm and a vocal proponent for this novel approach to agriculture.
Plantagon’s early promises echo this nascent optimism. Pettersson calls the farm’s approach “agritechture”: the combination of agriculture, technology and architecture hoping to revolutionize how we live and eat.
The term may be new, but the concept isn’t. Indoor farming is made possible by agricultural technologies such as hydroponics (growing plants without soil) and aeroponics (in which plants are grown in air strung over containers). Food can be produced without direct sunlight or soil.
The Swedish startup says it will be more efficient than similar enterprises. While that’s impossible to prove at this stage, in theory the company’s main bases seem covered.
Plantagon plans to grow high-value foods ― mostly salads and herbs ― in a pumice-like substance rather than soil. Water for the plants is measured with scientific precision. It will also dehumidify the air and reuse any excess water to ensure zero waste.
In conventional agriculture, the amount of water required to produce a kilo of food can vary from about 130 liters (34 gallons) for lettuce, to 3,400 liters (900 gallons) for rice. In contrast, Plantagon says it will only need to use one liter per kilo for its crops.
Energy is also a key issue for indoor urban farms, which have to create artificial sunlight. Although advances in the efficiency of LED lights have helped bring down energy consumption in recent years, plants use only about 1 percent of the artificial light produced. This leads to a colossal waste of energy, most of which disappears as heat.
Plantagon says it will capture around 70 percent of this wasted heat in its 6,500-square-foot basement farm, and pipe it into the heating system of the office block above. Oxygen produced by the plants will be sent to office workers via the building’s air conditioners.
PLANTAGON
The office block which will house Plantagon’s farm.
The current capitalist system is broken. Get updates on our progress toward building a fairer world.
“This is the basic way we get interest from real estate developers to rent out their basements or other spaces to us,” says Pettersson.
Indoor urban farms may be proliferating, but the ability to produce affordable food, at scale, and in a manner that is economically viable escapes many in this nascent industry. Plantagon hopes to reverse this trend and turn a profit.
The firm’s recent crowdfunding campaign raised 4.4 million Swedish krona ($559,000) that will help its ambition to install up to nine more urban farms across Stockholm over the next three years. The inaugural farm, which cost about $863,000, was backed by a group of private investors.
Plantagon also has a charitable arm, which owns 10 percent of the business and commits to invest in innovative for-profit companies that seek to address societal challenges. People can invest in “generation shares” in the charity that cannot be cashed for seven generations.
The firm’s confidence that it can be profitable rests in part on reducing expenses, with lower costs for energy and water, and savings on rent. Plantagon has negotiated a three-year, zero-rent deal in exchange for the heating and clean air that its farm provides to the building.
“Most [indoor farming] projects are difficult to make economically viable because they tend to focus only on the technology and the growing. You also need to find a business model that works,” says Pettersson.
Keeping operations hyper-local will help meet that requirement, the startup says. It intends to set up a retail pop-up stall in the foyer of its host building, and sell produce to a local supermarket and nearby restaurants. Its virtually non-existent supply line will keep transport costs to a minimum, while its “ready-to-sell” distribution model will eliminate the need for expensive and wasteful packaging.
Plantagon says its business model answers many of urban farming’s critics, who argue that the approach is energy-intensive and expensive.
Some will never be convinced. For Stan Cox, a U.S. writer and plant breeder, converting sunlight directly or indirectly (via fossil fuels) into electricity to help grow plants is “about as wasteful as a system can be.” Plantagon uses solar energy, but it’s still no replacement for natural sunlight, hardened critics like Cox argue.
As for the venture’s business model, even Pettersson admits that all the pieces of the puzzle have to be in place to stand any chance of success. That limits the model’s scalability, he concedes. “It’s a completely new supply chain model that you need for each project [so] we won’t do these projects just anywhere.”
Nor, as some hope, will hydroponics meet the world’s nutritional needs. While Plantagon has a guarantee from the local supermarket not to sell its products above market rates, thus tackling questions of affordability, its nutritional scope is limited. People cannot live on microgreens alone.
Even if they could, production volumes would fall well short. Expanding the scope of high-tech ventures like Plantagon’s to roof gardens, allotments and other more conventional forms of urban farming would still see cities struggling to feed themselves. As a recent paper published in the Journal of Social Change concludes, agriculture in cities represents a “secondary source of food” at best.
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Urban Farm Business Upset Over County Regulations
Urban Farm Business Upset Over County Regulations
By: Sarah Beckman
Feb 26, 2018
DES MOINES - Dogpatch Urban Gardens started small. Now they have more crops, more customers, and more county regulations they have to follow.
Jenny Quiner and her husband started this urban garden in unincorporated Polk County a few years ago.
"Through the two years our farm has sold to restaurants, farmers market, DSA, and we also have an on-site farm stand that we sell out of," said Quiner.
The farm stand is surrounded by gardens, a high tunnel system, and some green space where the Quiners hope to eventually host weddings and small concerts. As they've expanded this operation, the county changed the zoning from a farm stand to a commercial business.
"We feel like the county has changed their stance, we've changed too but we still fit the definition of a farm stand and we've been deliberate about that," said Quiner.
County planning and zoning officials said Dogpatch Urban Gardens is more like area pumpkin patches and wineries, which now classify as agri-tourism.
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"We've been working with them to bring their site up into compliance to meet life safety issues and meet the environmental health requirements for an on-site septic system," said Brett VandeLune, Polk County supervisor.
While these entrepreneurs understand the regulations, it will be expensive to meet county requirements. They hope their customer base grows alongside their business.
The owners of Dogpatch Urban Gardens have started a kickstarts campaign to raise money to help them with about $75,000 worth of upgrades to the property.
SKYBERRIES Conference Celebrates Two Years of Vertical Farm Institute
International conference SKYBERRIES invites urban farmers, researchers, and pioneers to Vienna, Austria, to discuss the future of agriculture from February 28 to March 2, 2018.
SKYBERRIES Conference Celebrates Two Years of Vertical Farm Institute
International conference SKYBERRIES invites urban farmers, researchers, and pioneers to Vienna, Austria, to discuss the future of agriculture from February 28 to March 2, 2018.
Visitors will be able to network on location with the attendees of the URBAN FUTURE Global Conference, which will be held during the same dates. In total, about 3,000 people are expected to convene and discuss topics surrounding food security, urban agriculture, and vertical farming.
Both conferences take place at the Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Center, the Vienna trade fair venue, and both conferences are accessible with the SYKBERRIES ticket.
SKYBERRIES presents Dickson Despommier, author of The Vertical Farm; Saskia Sassen, sociologist and author of The Global City; Franz Fischler, President of the European Forum Alpbach; representatives of farms such in Infarms, AeroFarms, Green Sense, or Vertical Harvest; and many more speakers. In addition, the conferences will hold industry speed dating activites, a poster exhibition, and field trips.
One of the highlights of the event is the presentation of Ruthner-Towers. These Tower-Greenhouses, built in Vienna as well as many more sites in the 1960s and 1970s, were the world’s first vertical farms. SKYBERRIES highlights this innovation, presenting learnings as well as an excursion to one of the few Ruthner-Towers left.
SKYBERRIES is offering a special discount to the Food Tank community. Click here to order your standard ticket, and enter the voucher-code FOODTHINKTANK to get your ticket for 25-percent off. All tickets include full access to the URBAN FUTURE global conference.
SKYBERRIES SPEAKER UPDATE
SASKIA SASSEN
Saskia is the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology and member of The Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University. Her latest book is Expulsions: Brutality and Complexity in the Global Economy (Harvard University Press 2014) now out in 18 languages. She is the recipient of diverse awards, including multiple doctor honoris causa, the Principe de Asturias 2013 Prize in the Social Sciences, and made a Foreign Member of the Royal Academy of the Sciences of the Netherlands
DICKSON DESPOMMIER
Dickson is a microbiologist, ecologist, and emeritus professor of Public and Environmental Health at the Columbia University. In 2010, he published his widely received book: “The Vertical Farm: feeding the world in the 21st Century”. Well known for his podcasts, TED Talks and lectures on vertical farming, Dickson also supports the vertical farm institute as Board Member.
INFOGRAPHICS
Have you already seen our infografics? At almost every speaker's profile you can find a graphic on one of the topics to be discussed at SKYBERRIES.
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NONA YEHIA
Nona is uniquely positioned in the Vertical Farming sphere as she is at once a practicing Architect, the Co-Founder, Owner, Designer and CEO of a cutting edge greenhouse, Vertical Harvest of Jackson Hole. This combination has cultivated expertise in both the design, implementation and operation of innovative systems and programs that position Vertical Harvest to be an impact model for communities around the globe
DANIEL PODMIRSEG
Daniel is founder of the vertical farm institute and Vertical Farming expert, studied architecture. His dissertation “up!” deals with the potential of vertical farms with regard to the reduction of energy and land consumption. “up!” is considered a standard work and Dickson Despommier assesses the work as the most comprehensive research on Vertical Farming in the world so far.
VALENTIN THURN
Valentin is a director and producer of more than 50 television documentaries and reports on social, developmental, environmental and educational issues. His shooting and lecture tours have taken him to over 50 countries on all continents. For his films, he received a number of prizes and awards. “Taste the Waste” was a box office hit in 2011/12, and “10 Billion – What’s on your plate?” was the most successful German cinema documentary in 2015.
ISABEL MOLITOR
Isabel is co-founder and CMO at Farmers Cut, an indoor vertical farming company based in Hamburg with the mission to build a global farm network to deliver locally produced, pesticide-free greens from farm-to-fork. Prior to Farmers Cut Isabel lived in New York working in Marketing for a Swiss skincare company. Isabel holds a B.Sc. in Business Administration from the European Business School and a M.Sc. in International Development from from New York University’s Center for Global Affairs.
FRANZ FISCHLER
Franz Fischler became widely known and much respected both domestically and internationally when he was EU commissioner. Between 1995 and 2004, the future of European agriculture was in his hands. Franz Fischler implemented his vision of modern agriculture in far-reaching reforms of European farming policies, rural development and fisheries. Since December 2015 he is president of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna, since 2012 president of the European Forum Alpbach.
BARBARA IMHOF
Barbara is an internationally active space architect, design researcher and educator. Barbara Imhof is the co-founder and CEO of LIQUIFER Systems Group, an interdisciplinary team comprising engineers, architects, designers and scientists. Her projects deal with spaceflight parameters such as living with limited resources, minimal and transformable spaces, resource-conserving systems; all aspects imperative to sustainability.
DAVID SCHMIDMAYR
David is an expert in LED-lighting with many years of experience in horticulture. Using his in-depth knowledge of photonics and semiconductor technology, he co-founded five years ago SANlight (as a company and research institute), with the purpose of developing and manufacturing LED illumination systems for commercial greenhouses, special applications and household use. SANlight won the “Born Global Champion” award in 2016.
... and many more! You will find all our inspiring speakers on ourWebsite.
We leave you with one last reminder of our SKYBERRIES conference discount: Save € 55,- by purchasing a combined ticket for SKYBERRIES and URBAN FUTURE global conference! Exclusively via our SKYBERRIES ticketshop.
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Dubai Chef Offers Tours of His Greenhouse
Buenaventura grows several different kinds of lettuce, a range of herbs, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and edible flowers in a space that can’t be much bigger than 40 square metres.
Dubai Chef Offers Tours of His Greenhouse
UAE restaurant Cuisinero Uno has begun to grow its own organic vegetables. Gather around and join the fun at this urban farm
March 1, 2018
Keith J Fernandez, Group Editor - GulfNews.Com
John Martho Buenaventura shows off his baby eggplant with all the pride of a father. “I’m so happy,” he trills, talking to Gulf News tabloid!on the deck outside his second-floor restaurant at Dubai’s Business Bay. “Come back in two weeks and we’ll have a lovely crop!”
Rather improbably, we’re standing in a greenhouse bang in the middle of a dense cluster of high rises, in a very Dubai take on the heightened trend for organic produce and locavore eating. “A lot of people have been growing their own food, but we’re the first restaurant to actually do so on our terrace,” he says.
Buenaventura grows several different kinds of lettuce, a range of herbs, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and edible flowers in a space that can’t be much bigger than 40 square metres. The results are served in his modern tapas restaurant Cuisinero Uno at the Steigenberger Hotel Business Bay.
Diners can tour the greenhouse anytime. Until March 9, as part of Dubai Food Festival, the restaurant is hosting a tour and tasting session each Friday. Interested visitors can take part in an experiential planting session and learn how to make healthy smoothies and mocktails — and taste some of this food. We loved the fantastic burratini salad with homegrown cherry tomatoes — the tomatoes juicy, fresh and sharp, the basil nice and peppery.
“My food costs have gone down between 3 and 5 percent, and the food tastes better because it’s locally sourced and organic,” Buenaventura tells me. The volumes from his terrace farm are nowhere near enough to sustain the restaurant, but as he says, at least he’s doing something to create a greener world and be sustainable. “In our own small way, we want to do a farm-to-table experience and we want to showcase that you don’t have to spend a lot of money for good food.”
And although he faced high installation and set-up costs for this urban farm, these will be amortised over time. He is now also experimenting with making his own compost.
The greenhouse uses a combination of hydroponics and aquaponics. The former is simply growing plants in water and is largely responsible for the spurt in locally grown produce now available in UAE supermarkets. Aquaponics is a system of aquaculture, where plants live off used water from aquariums. The plant beds subsequently purify the water, which loops back into the fish tanks. Nutrients are automatically added as required.
In March last year, Gulf News reported how the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment has prioritised the use of hydroponic technology on farms as part of its food security strategy. The number of greenhouses in the country has grown from 50 in 2009 to over 1,000 in 2016, official figures show.
Buenaventura wants to take that one step further. He hopes to inspire similar projects and seed a discussion about sustainable habits. “The UAE is a hot country and not a lot of crops grow here. But if it was mandated by the government that all buildings in Dubai had to dedicate one floor to vertical farming, nobody would go hungry,” he says. “What do we eat in Dubai? Tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, lemon, aubergine — we spend a lot of money on those, but we can grow these ourselves.”
He acknowledges that apartment residents won’t achieve the volumes needed to feed their families with a small balcony garden, but he says it’s a viable business model for those looking at alternative sources of income. “In a bigger set-up, like a grow truck — about the size of a trailer truck — you can grow 3,000 heads of organic lettuce in a month with hydroponics, which shortens the grow time by up to 30 per cent. So that’s a good business.”
For the moment, Buenaventura is happy to be making a difference in his own small way.
Big Data Suggests Big Potential For Urban Farming
GETTY IMAGES
This story originally appeared on CityLab and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Gotham Greens’ boxed lettuces have been popping up on the shelves of high-end grocers in New York and the Upper Midwest since 2009, and with names like “Windy City Crunch,” “Queens Crisp,” and “Blooming Brooklyn Iceberg,” it’s clear the company is selling a story as much as it is selling salad.
Grown in hydroponic greenhouses on the rooftops of buildings in New York and Chicago, the greens are shipped to nearby stores and restaurants within hours of being harvested. That means a fresher product, less spoilage, and lower transportation emissions than a similar rural operation might have—plus, for the customer, the warm feeling of participating in a local food web.
“As a company, we want to connect urban residents to their food, with produce grown a few short miles from where you are,” said Viraj Puri, Gotham Greens’ co-founder and CEO.
Gotham Greens’ appealing narrative and eight-figure annual revenues suggest a healthy future for urban agriculture. But while it makes intuitive sense that growing crops as close as possible to the people who will eat them is more environmentally friendly than shipping them across continents, evidence that urban agriculture is good for the environment has been harder to pin down.
A widely cited 2008 study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that transportation from producer to store only accounts for 4 percent of food’s total greenhouse gas emissions, which calls into question the concern over “food miles.” Meanwhile, some forms of urban farming may be more energy-intensive than rural agriculture, especially indoor vertical farms that rely on artificial lighting and climate control.
An operation like Gotham Greens can recycle water through its hydroponic system, but outdoor farms such as the ones sprouting on vacant lots in Detroit usually require irrigation, a potential problem when many municipal water systems are struggling to keep up with demand. And many urban farms struggle financially; in a 2016 survey of urban farmers in the US, only one in three said they made a living from the farm.
Although cities and states have begun to loosen restrictions on urban agriculture, and even to encourage it with financial incentives, it has remained an open question whether growing food in cities is ultimately going to make them greener. Will the amount of food produced be worth the tradeoffs? A recent analysis of urban agriculture’s global potential, published in the journal Earth’s Future, has taken a big step toward an answer—and the news looks good for urban farming.
“Not only could urban agriculture account for several percent of global food production, but there are added co-benefits beyond that, and beyond the social impacts,” said Matei Georgescu, a professor of geographical sciences and urban planning at Arizona State University and a co-author of the study, along with other researchers at Arizona State, Google, China’s Tsinghua University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Hawaii.
A MODIS Land Cover Type satellite image of the United States, similar to imagery analyzed by the researchers. Different colors indicate different land uses: red is urban; bright green is a deciduous broadleaf forest.
Using Google’s Earth Engine software, as well as population, meteorological, and other datasets, the researchers determined that, if fully implemented in cities around the world, urban agriculture could produce as much as 180 million metric tons of food a year—perhaps 10 percent of the global output of legumes, roots, and tubers, and vegetable crops.
Those numbers are big. Researchers hope they encourage other scientists, as well as urban planners and local leaders, to begin to take urban agriculture more seriously as a potential force for sustainability.
The study also looks at “ecosystem services” associated with urban agriculture, including reduction of the urban heat-island effect, avoided a stormwater runoff, nitrogen fixation, pest control, and energy savings. Taken together, these additional benefits make urban agriculture worth as much as $160 billion annually around the globe. The concept of ecosystem services has been around for decades, but it is growing in popularity as a way to account, in economic terms, for the benefits that humans gain from healthy ecosystems. Georgescu and his collaborators decided to investigate the potential ecosystem services that could be provided through widespread adoption of urban agriculture, something that had not been attempted before.
The team began with satellite imagery, using pre-existing analyses to determine which pixels in the images were likely to represent vegetation and urban infrastructure. Looking at existing vegetation in cities (it can be difficult to determine, from satellite imagery, what’s a park and what’s a farm), as well as suitable roofs, vacant land, and potential locations for vertical farms, they created a system for analyzing the benefits of so-called “natural capital”—here, that means soil and plants—on a global and country-wide scale.
Beyond the benefits we already enjoy from having street trees and parks in our cities, the researchers estimated that fully-realized urban agriculture could provide as much as 15 billion kilowatt hours of annual energy savings worldwide—equivalent to nearly half the power generated by solar panels in the US. It could also sequester up to 170,000 tons of nitrogen and prevent as much as 57 billion cubic meters of stormwater runoff, a major source of pollution in rivers and streams.
“We had no notion of what we would find until we developed the algorithm and the models and made the calculation,” Georgescu said. “And that work had never been done before. This is a benchmark study, and our hope with this work is that others now know what sort of data to look for.”
Robert Costanza, a professor of public policy at Australian National University, co-founded the International Society for Ecological Economics and researches sustainable urbanism and the economic relationship between humans and our environment. He called the study (in which he played no part) “a major advance.”
“This is the first global estimate of the potential for urban agriculture,” Costanza wrote in an email. “Urban agriculture will never feed the world, and this paper confirms that, but the important point is that natural capital in cities can be vastly improved and this would produce a range of benefits, not just food.”
“Urban agriculture will never feed the world … but the important point is that natural capital in cities can be vastly improved.”
Costanza said he would like to see the researchers’ big data approach become standard in urban planning, as a way to determine the best balance between urban infrastructure and green space—whether it’s farms, forests, parks, or wetlands. That is the researchers’ hope as well, and they’ve released their code to allow other scientists and urban planners to run their own data, especially at the local level.
“Somebody, maybe in Romania, say, could just plug their values in and that will produce local estimates,” Georgescu said. “If they have a grand vision of developing or expanding some city with X amount of available land where urban agriculture can be grown, they can now quantify these added co-benefits.”
That could be very valuable, said Sabina Shaikh, director of the Program on the Global Environment at the University of Chicago, who researches the urban environment and the economics of environmental policy.
“Ecosystem services is something that is very site-specific,” she said. “But this research may help people make comparisons a little bit better, particularly policymakers who want to think through, ‘What’s the benefit of a park vs. food production?’ or some combination of things. It doesn’t necessarily mean, because it has the additional benefit of food production, that a farm is going to be more highly valued than a park. But it gives policymakers another tool, another thing to consider.”
Meanwhile, policy in the US and internationally is already changing to accommodate and encourage urban agriculture. California, for example, passed its Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones Act in 2014, allowing landowners who place urban plots into agricultural use to score valuable tax breaks. The idea has proven controversial—especially in housing-starved San Francisco. Beyond raising rents, critics have argued that urban agriculture, if it impedes the development of housing, could reduce density, contributing to the sort of sprawl that compels people to drive their cars more. Put urban farms in the wrong place, and an effort to reduce food’s carbon footprint could have the opposite effect.
On the other hand, businesses like Gotham Greens that aim to expand may still be hampered by zoning—Puri and his co-founders had to work with New York’s zoning authority to change regulations affecting greenhouses before they could open their first farm. As the company looks to add sites in other cities, the wide array of their zoning rules, utility access, and regulations will influence its decisions.
“I think we could benefit from a more cohesive policy,” Puri said, “but it’s also a very new industry. And then there are so many approaches to urban agriculture. How does a city approach something that is so broad and diverse at this stage?”
While more data about the potential ecosystem services and tradeoffs would surely help create a more navigable regulatory landscape, Puri, like others in his industry, is also something of an evangelist, eager to put in a word for urban farming’s less quantifiable benefits.
“I don’t believe that urban farming is ever going to replace more conventional farming,” he said. “I don’t think a city is going to be able to produce its entire food supply within city limits, but I think it can play a role in bringing people closer to their food, and in making our cities more diverse and interesting and green.”
In Less That 2 Days After Our Official Launch We Reached Our $15,000 Goal!
In Less That 2 Days After Our Official Launch We Reached Our $15,000 Goal!
I'm going through a range of emotions. Honestly, launching this Kickstarter campaign was a risky launch as it made us vulnerable and exposed. You all rallied and lifted us up to validate the farm! My heart is full.
I truly feel we are fighting the good fight, and we are not done! Now that we hit our goal of $15,000 it doesn't mean we are done. Consider this a challenge to see just how much money we can raise!
Our campaign's success is getting people's attention and doing a great job of exposing our story. The video below was created by my urban farming mentor, Curtis Stone. Curtis is based in Canada and has over 190,000 followers on his YouTube Channel. In less than 24 hours this video has been watched over 8,500 times!
Curtis is pioneering urban farm around the world.
Watch to get his perspective on our issues...
Be on the lookout for stretch goals/rewards that will become available soon.
Please keep sharing our story/campaign through with your tribes. Thank you and let's keep on rocking!
Cheers!
Your Urban FarmHer, Jenny
Dear Local Government: Actions Speak Larger Than Words
Dear Local Government: Actions Speak Larger Than Words
Dogpatch Urban Gardens is a female-run urban farm located in Des Moines, Iowa. The farm is facing major hurdles due to changes in policy/regulations by the local county.
Des Moines, Iowa - February 2018: Dogpatch Urban Gardens is an urban farm in Des Moines, Iowa. We just finished our second growing season, and in 2018 we are facing more than $75,000 of imposed infrastructural changes resulting from misinformation from our local county.
In two years of business, Dogpatch Urban Gardens has produced over 12,000 pounds of organically grown produce for people in
Des Moines. The farm is enhancing the community yet the financial burdens from the county are making it hard for the business to be successful. In January, I was featured in the Des Moines Register as a “Person to Watch in 2018.”
Sadly, these challenges are not unique to our farm. When I talk with other farmers, many of them also have faced, or currently are experiencing, hardships resulting from unclear obligations to their local governments. Urban farming is especially challenging because we are doing something outside of the norm; this makes zoning, policies, and regulations challenging.
To make a long story short, our county originally treated our business using residential building code. A year after our operation was up-and-running the county changed their stance and has decided to require that the business now adheres to commercial codes yet not rezoning us from residential. This is in opposition to the farmstand classification, which was how we were categorized by our county and were the guidelines we were told followed. With the change in classification to a commercial business, we are being required to add public restrooms (new septic), fencing, water retention berms, and landscaping. We also must demo and repave surfaces, create a site plan, and more. While we still meet the county’s definition of a farm stand, they told us we are no longer classified as such, and we must comply with their commercial building requirements.
These struggles with our government seem contradictory. The state of Iowa is a part of the “Healthiest State Initiative” and the main page on the website says, “Iowa is #19 in the nation when it comes to being physically, emotionally, and mentally healthy. Our ranking has moved since the Initiative was announced, but our overall well-being score has been fairly constant the past five years. To claim the #1 spot, we have work to do. It’s an ambitious goal, but with your help, we can change Iowa and show the rest of the nation the road to wellness.” If the state of Iowa is placing such an emphasis on health, it seems natural for the state to want to facilitate an urban farm. Our farm provides access to healthy, organically grown food, beautifies the land, provides employment and volunteer opportunities for people to be physically active, provides educational opportunities for growing food, and more. Having an urban farm in a neighborhood exemplifies what the Healthiest State Initiative is trying to promote.
Many cities in the state of Iowa also used to participate in a program called the Blue Zones Project. The goal of this organization is to, “help transform communities across the U.S. into areas where the healthy choice is easy and people live longer with a higher quality of life.” Our urban farm is a great example of the foundation of The Blue Zones project. Happy, and healthy, communities tend to be more active, have an environment where healthy food is available, have decreased stress levels, limits urban sprawl and invests in beauty. If our farm isn’t a good example of a way to make a community happier (thus increasing health and quality of life), then I don’t know what is!
I was looking for some guidance/input on how to work through our county issues, so I reached out to the Blue Zones organization. Their response to my inquiry was, “Thank you so much for your note and the great work you are doing. Our time in Iowa delivered measurable impact at both the state level and community level that to date has delivered over 650 million dollars in grants, gifts, and direct economic impact for an investment of 25 million. As a reward for this work and outcomes, Blue Cross Blue Shield and the state decided not to continue our partnership which tells us that leadership doesn't understand the value of what we and your work delivers. I'm so sorry for what is happening. I would continue to share value of what your work delivers and stick to your guns!”
In an attempt to raise money to lessen our debt load we are taking on due to misinformation by Polk County, we are launching a Kickstarter (crowdfunding) campaign. The Kickstarter campaign will go live on Monday, February 26th. The campaign is active for 30 days, and if the funding goal is not reached we don’t get any money.
Click Here to watch our Kickstarter video
For more information, visit the Dogpatch Urban Gardens website at www.dogpatchurbangardens.com
Your Urban FarmHer, Jenny Quiner jenny@dogpatchurbangardens.com
515-802-4304
https://www.facebook.com/DogpatchUrbanGardens/ https://www.instagram.com/dogpatch_urban_gardens Images:
Startup Community Brainstorms To Save A Nonprofit ‘Vertical’ Farm In Midtown Anchorage
Startup Community Brainstorms To Save A Nonprofit ‘Vertical’ Farm In Midtown Anchorage
Author: Naomi Klouda, Alaska Journal of Commerce
February 22, 2018
Greenhouse manager Ryan Witten checks plants growing in vertical hydroponic towers while wearing sunglasses to protect his eyes from bright LED grow lights at Alaska Seeds of Change on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, in Midtown Anchorage. (Erik Hill / Alaska Dispatch News)
Managers of an Anchorage hydroponic farm at risk of shutting down in March made an unusual move to save their operation.
Seeds of Change, near Arctic Boulevard and 26th Avenue, occupies a 10,000-square-foot warehouse designed for high-tech agriculture. During its first year of operation, it served 18 young employees through a program for at-risk youth at the Anchorage Community Mental Health Service.
They've sold their first produce at farmers markets and to local restaurants: a dozen varieties of lettuce, chives, mint, kale, and bok choy.
"Our program has not generated enough revenue to be self-supporting," said Ryan Witten, the community development manager at Seeds of Change. "We were told we have funding through the end of March, by the ACMHS board.
Unless we have a plan for the future, they would be forced to shut down. That is absolutely not what the board wants to do."
[How an indoor farm in Midtown Anchorage could help at-risk youth]
They reached out to the University of Alaska Business Enterprise Institute for ideas on saving Seeds of Change.
That led to calling on Nigel Sharp, the University of Alaska Anchorage Global Entrepreneur in Residence.
Sharp, the university's first GEIR and one of only a handful in the nation, has held startup weekends, technology sprints and other events to guide tech-savvy startups since arriving in Alaska last June. But this was the first chance to put together a think tank of expertise moving from theory to a hands-on rescue of a distressed business.
Sharp got the pieces in motion to launch the first Growspace Social Business Catalyzer event Feb. 16 that began at the Seeds of Change warehouse. He invited the entrepreneurship community, including BEI staff, Alyse Daunis of Launch Alaska and Rachel Miller, Alaska Pacific University's School of Business' Walter Hickel Endowed Professor.
Peer outreach worker Quavon Bracken, 19, places plant seedlings on a strip of wicking material as he loads a hydroponic tower at Alaska Seeds of Change on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, in Midtown. (Erik Hill / Alaska Dispatch News)
Eight youth from Seeds of Change also attended, as did officials from ACMHS.
"The project is short on both time and money and yet serves an incredibly important mission for our community," Sharp wrote in his invitation. "Join us for the Growspace program where we'll deep dive into developing new sustainable business models which will end with a presentation to their board of directors for implementation."
A "catalyzer" works with participating organizations that includes social enterprises and nonprofits, to rapidly develop business models, customer validation and funding source strategies.
About 32 professionals turned out for the 10-hour catalyzer at the Anchorage Communications Center the morning of Feb. 17. Sharp said he started from a list of about 160 entrepreneurial resource people. The kickoff event the day before brought out about 100 of them, he said.
The main goal was to come up with a transition plan to present to the board by the end of March. Then the board will make a decision about whether to proceed or shut down, Sharp said.
"We came up with three major elements: fundraising, functioning as an educational business model and outsourcing Seeds of Change staff and facilities to partner organizations," Sharp said. "A fourth element is to do agricultural tourism. It's a novel opportunity to visit an indoor hydroponic farm."
Chervil, also known as French parsley, awaits thinning at Alaska Seeds of Change on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, in Midtown. (Erik Hill / Alaska Dispatch News)
The managers of Seeds of Change, Witten and Sundance Visser, were energized by the ideas.
"We split into six work groups," Witten said. "First we did team building, then talked about challenges with the existing structure. We looked at other organizations that do social impact work working with youth. We all did work ahead of time, researching. Then we came up with ideas in the work groups."
The four action plan ideas they ended up with are all credible, workable ideas that link well together, Witten said.
The first one focuses on fundraising and marketing.
"A lot of people still don't know about Seeds of Change. Since the community is still becoming aware of it, it's important to raise awareness and do fundraising, to give a longer runway training and education programs for more youth," Witten said.
The plan calls for providing educational tours and classes on how to grow year-round indoors.
"It's a pretty new thing to do. If we can help other people shorten their learning curve, that's a good opportunity for us," Witten said.
A second plan involves opportunities for leasing space. Far North Fungi, a mushroom growing business, is looking for more space and showed up at the meeting.
"They need a place that gives more heat for the mushrooms to grow and we need more CO2 for our plants, which the mushrooms give off," Witten said. "In the coming weeks, we will be talking about leasing space."
A third idea is to develop tourism opportunities inside Seeds of Change.
A fourth idea is to sublease with a partner business such as a software developer who can create farm-planning software. They can also partner with other growers for food distribution from the location.
Seeds of Change features 1,500 growing "towers," vertical columns containing thousands of plants. Though the first seeds were planted before Christmas in 2016, the dream dates back a decade of planning by Dr. Michael Sobocinski, the chief operating officer of ACMHS.
Hundreds of vertical hydroponic grow towers at Alaska Seeds of Change. (Erik Hill / Alaska Dispatch News/File)
Seeds is part of the ACMHS Transition Age Youth Continuum of Services. Staff are 16 to 26 years old, and generally are coming out of foster care, mental health treatment, the juvenile justice system or were formerly homeless or Alaska Youth Advocates who use the space as a healthy drop-in center. Sobocinski's dream was to give them a transition point or seeds for changing their own lives through the nurturing environment of planting.
ACMHS bought the building in 2014 and renovated it at a cost of about $2.9 million, including the purchase of equipment from the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services from the "Bring the Kids Home Fund," said Jessica Cochran, the executive coordinator at ANCMS. An Alaska Mental Health Trust grant paid for the staffing and startup.
Seeds of Change's growing operation is energy efficient thanks to the investment in the latest technology: low energy usage even with dozens of grow lights, maximum use of space due to the vertical towers and an irrigation system that recirculates water. Even soil costs are reduced since the plants grow in a "beds" made of recycled-plastic wicking material.
The goal is to produce 70 tons of produce per year. But the expense of operating the business has far exceeded any profits, Witten said.
"There's been a shift in the way that nonprofits have operated in the past. We have been doing our best and we recognize we need more support, working with Nigel Sharp and the UAA Business Enterprise Institute," Witten added. "I was really impressed at the caliber of people in the room. It was tens of thousands of dollars donated in time to us, especially over the last weekend."
Sharp said social-impact businesses — enterprises that combine a social cause in either a for-profit or nonprofit structure — are becoming a new vehicle for philanthropy in the U.S. They also represent a $310 billion US industry sector that is expected to grow to $500 billion over the next 10 years.
"This represents a huge opportunity for building impactful businesses," Sharp said. The consequence is that more resources will be shared among entrepreneurs to create working business models.
Urban Agriculture Advances in Cuba
Cuba's urban and suburban agriculture program was formally organized in 1997, with a tradition that goes back to 1987 when Raúl, then Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, proposed the planting of organic gardens across the nation's cities.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Urban Agriculture Advances in Cuba
Havana, Feb 13.- Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Party Central Committee and President of the Councils of State and Ministers, was congratulated for his contribution to urban and suburban agriculture on the 20th anniversary of the program and the 30th of organic gardens, in recognition of his initiative and support for the development of this effort.
During a national meeting to evaluate the sector's 2017 performance, accepting the distinction was José Ramón Machado Ventura, second secretary of the Party Central Committee and a vice president of the Councils of State and Ministers, who also conveyed Raúl's congratulations to agricultural workers and encouraged them to aspire for greater productivity and better use of the soil, rotating crops to maintain regular availability of produce for the urban population.
Cuba's urban and suburban agriculture program was formally organized in 1997, with a traditional that goes back to 1987 when Raúl, then Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, proposed the planting of organic gardens across the nation's cities. (Granma)
Horticultural LED Market: Is Amazon Showing The Way?
Horticultural LED Market: Is Amazon Showing The Way?
Monday 19th February 2018
Emerging applications, including urban farming, will help market grow by 16.4 percent CAGR between 2018 and 2023
The horticultural LED lighting market reached almost $3.8 billion in 2017, currently driven mainly by greenhouse applications. But future growth may be dominated by new types of farming, according to Yole Développement and PISEO (both part of the Yole Group of companies).
In Yole's latest Horticultural LED Lighting report, greenhouse applications will not maintain their leadership in the mid and long term and are only the tip of the iceberg. Emerging applications, including urban farming, are likely to make the horticultural lighting market boom with a 16.4 percent CAGR between 2018 and 2023.
In this context, it is not surprising to discover Jeff Bezos’ support for a vertical farms project in China. In a recent article, a journalist announced a 300 vertical farms project in China, supported by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt.
According to this article, a start-up named Plenty has raised more than $200 million, thanks to the Softbank Group and investment funds. Entering the Chinese market, Plenty hopes to tap into the country’s growing demand for organic foods.
“Vertical farms, especially developed in cities, is probably the most relevant solution we found to produce fresh food and vegetables", comments Pierrick Boulay, technology & market Analyst at Yole.
“The world population is growing and almost 80 percent of the world’s population will live in cities and megacities by 2050. As a consequence, vertical farms will clearly be part of our future."
“LED technology is a key enabler for the development of the vertical farming industry", adds Joël Thomé, general manager at PISEO. “Thanks to optical radiation versatility, easier integration, and long-life span, crop yields under artificial LED lighting will increase dramatically."
Indoor farming should develop strongly in the largely urbanised Asian areas, especially in China, as this region faces severe soil and water pollution. The Plenty start-up is but one example.
Penetration of this market by Amazon and Alphabet is not an isolated example and must be strongly considered by others in the future. According to Yole and PISEO, the horticultural lighting market is expected to reach $17 billion by 2027 thanks to a boom in indoor and vertical farming applications.
Such figures clearly highlight the attractiveness of this sector.
Amazon’s new positioning confirms the added-value of vertical farms in answer to the evolution of the world’s population and food resources. But it is also strong confirmation of the diversification strategy of the giant Amazon in penetrating the whole foods grocery chain.
TriBeCa's Hydroponic Wonderland of Herbs and Spices, Farm.One
There's one window into TriBeCa's Farm.One, a series of hydroponic vertical gardens producing greens for some of NYC's best restaurants.
TriBeCa's Hydroponic Wonderland of Herbs and Spices, Farm.One
There's one window into TriBeCa's Farm.One, a series of hydroponic vertical gardens producing greens for some of NYC's best restaurants. That window, however, faces into the building and walking by it gives reason to pause. There, just beyond the glass, is tier upon tier of rolling racks with rare herbs and spices and even edible flowers. There's no natural light, only the power of regulated LEDs. Several water-based nutrient systems cycle through—moderated by about five of the 11 or so employees at the company. Ultimately, it's a pesticide-free destination focusing on about 100 ingredients at a time, all of which have unexpectedly pronounced flavors.
"Pretty much everything here starts from seed," Robert Laing, the founder and CEO of Farm.One explains to CH. "Though, sometimes we will bring in a cutting from outside," he adds. Laing's catalog spans from the obscure to the necessary, including everything from tangerine gem marigolds to nepitella, an herb from Tuscany that delivers an odor of mint and oregano. Both are pungent. "We like to grow things that are small and delicate but have a really powerful impact. They are not just on a plate for appearance. They carry tremendous flavor," he says. Walking through the racks reveals so much: micro arugula, red Russian kale, green sorrel, Miz America, mint flowers and even blue spice basil. If you haven't heard of some of these, that's entirely understandable. Farm.One takes requests from chefs. Some of the most acclaimed establishments, Ai Fiori and Jungsik included, reach out in search of not only specific greens but even shapes and sizes.
"Chefs tell us exactly what they want. It's grown to order for their recipes. We even know the leaf size the chef wants so we work backward from that," Laing explains. "We developed a software to have that in the growing recipe. It guides where the plant batches go in the system." And while this maximizes space, much of their space and resource has been used for experimentation. "We always try to grow new stuff. A year and a half ago we were growing 20 products. Now we've grown close to 600. It becomes this nice library of flavor," he notes. It's clearly also a catalog of experience and knowledge.
Touring the garden with Laing, one is quick to observe a few unexpected elements. Some burgeoning plants extends from brown clumps. "That's coconut husk that's been recycled and turned into plant plugs," Laing explains. They also plant into sun treated stone that's been spun like cotton candy. It's also a reusable planter. "Everything we use can either be composted or reused. We have a zero waste approach here. It's the same with our packaging. Chefs either give their packaging back to us, or reuse it." There are also bugs flitting about. "We control the negative bugs by bringing in populations of other bugs," he continues. "The most visible are the lady bugs. Those will eat aphids, for instance. Then we've got other much smaller ones, hatching in sacks and emerging to eat insects." One of those is a type of parasitic wasp. While it sounds dramatic, they're quite tiny and really only tear the insides out of aphids and spider mites.
"We do not use any pesticides at all and while that's great for the people eating them, it's also great for us working here," says Laing. This means that anyone can pick absolutely anything off of a plant and it's ready to eat. As for how they grow and fertilize, "We don't use chemicals," he begins. "We used plant-based fertilizers, biodigestive materials and fish waste. There's some bat poo, too." This means that the environment is an ecosystem that must be maintained in order for bacteria and beneficial fungi to thrive. Their care must be modified constantly. It's more than just flipping on the app-controlled fanning system.
Laing says one plant brought him into this business: papalo. He tried some at the farmer's market in Santa Monica. "I was like, 'Wow, you can only get this at a certain time in California.' I starting thinking about how anyone could get it in New York in the middle of winter. it spurred me on this quest." His interest in hydroponics was countered by a reduction in LED costs. In 2016 Laing opened a small prototype farm inside of NYC's Institute of Culinary Education. Clients flocked to him. Fundraising brought in an opportunity for expansion and product development. The months-old TriBeCa space marked a materialization of dreams.
The team at Farm.One delivers to clients every weekday. They do so by bike or subway, without the use of cold storage. This means they can grow varieties of herbs and spices that have a lot of upfront flavor, rather than modified version that need to be hearty for transport and consumption later. Freshness is a result, because everything is harvested and delivered within a couple hours. As Laing concludes, "it's farm to table to the extreme." He's got expansion plans, as well—and not just for high end herbs but for more accessible vegetables in underused urban spaces.
There are a few opportunities to enter. First, there's a three hour class ($130). Here one learns about hydroponics, LEDs and indoor farming. Second, there's a 55-minute sensory farm tour ($50) where guests taste dozen of herbs—many of which are likely to be unfamiliar. It comes with a glass of prosecco and ends with a bang (well, an "electric button"). Anyone can also shop for produce. Farm.One is located at 77 Worth Street, TriBeCa.
Hero image courtesy of Farm.One, all other images by Cool Hunting
This High-Tech Skyscraper Will Be Covered In Vegetation
We’ve known for years that being in nature, or even having a view of it, can help soothe the soul and make us feel calmer. So it’s little wonder, then, that architects are increasingly designing buildings that incorporate all manner of plants, grasses, and other kinds of greenery, with an increasing number of extraordinary designs popping up in cities around the world.
This High-Tech Skyscraper Will Be Covered In Vegetation
BIG
We’ve known for years that being in nature, or even having a view of it, can help soothe the soul and make us feel calmer. So it’s little wonder, then, that architects are increasingly designing buildings that incorporate all manner of plants, grasses, and other kinds of greenery, with an increasing number of extraordinary designs popping up in cities around the world.
The latest to break ground is in Singapore, with the 280-meter-tall skyscraper set to become one of the highest buildings in the small city-state.
Designed by Carlo Ratti Associati and Bjarke Ingels Group, the building will blend urban life with tropical nature and feature office space, residences, and retail sites.
As the images show, once complete, green vegetation will seemingly sprout from the exterior of the building, “allowing glimpses into the green oases blooming from the base, core, and rooftop,” Carlo Ratti says.
But the interior will be even more lush, with a “rainforest plaza” and small park greeting visitors as they enter the building. According to ArchDaily, so-called “activity pockets” will be used for fitness sessions, art installations, and various other events.
From the ninth floor you’ll find a 30-meter-high space for the “Green Oasis” featuring a “botanical promenade” with views of the interior as well as of the city itself.
Ratti says the tower’s natural elements will be “essential to the experience of the building,” as will its “advanced digital technologies, offering us a glimpse of tomorrow’s offices.”
Those technologies include sensors for automatic control of the environment, as well as Internet of Things and artificial intelligence capabilities so tenants can customize their experience of the building.
Benefits of green buildings
Besides fostering feelings of well-being among workers, tenants and visitors, buildings bedecked with greenery can also reduce pollution levels and heat buildup, while also helping to dampen noise, and, with some designs, even enable food production.
The Italian city of Milan is already home to a couple of buildings like this. Designed by Stefano Boeri, the Bosco Verticale (Italian for “Vertical Forest”) is covered with more than 21,000 trees, shrubs, and flowering plants. Boeri is working on similar designs for Lausanne in Switzerland, and also Nanjing in China.
Singapore’s green tower is expected to throw open its doors in 2021.
For New Breed of Local Farmers, The Sky’s The Limit
For New Breed of Local Farmers, The Sky’s The Limit
Lettuce (left) and tomatoes (right) being farmed at Meod's one-hectare plot at the D’Kranji Farm Resort. The four-year-old firm snapped up a 6ha plot last week in the AVA’s first tender that featured a fixed price upfront, for companies to compete solely on the concept. Photos: Meod
17 FEBRUARY, 2018
SINGAPORE — In less than two years, green shoots sprouting from swathes of flat land may no longer be the image that best represents local vegetable farming.
If the proposals picked by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) in a recent tender are any indication, the future of farming will consist of mid-rise “apartment blocks” for vegetables, as well as towering rows of leafy greens in next-generation greenhouses.
The winning companies said they are raring to place Singapore on the map for urban farming.
Backed by public-listed company Edition, a four-year-old firm called Meod snapped up the biggest number of plots – three – last week in the AVA’s first tender that featured a fixed price upfront, for companies to compete solely on the concept.
The seven other successful tenderers each secured one plot in Lim Chu Kang.
With each plot spanning about two hectares, Meod’s three plots, which cost S$836,000, will significantly boost its existing operations, which started in January last year.
It currently farms on a one-hectare plot at the D’Kranji Farm Resort with an aim to produce about 500 to 550kg a day.
Fruiting vegetables like tomatoes and melons are planted there using trellis lines that allow farmers to string up crops and grow them to a maximum height of 4.5m. The method was inspired by practices in Israel and gleaned from Dutch consultants the firm engaged, said Meod director Jeremy Chua, 38.
In the new plots, Meod plans to grow only leafy greens using its proprietary hydroponics system, which features modular plant beds that can be stacked to heights of three to four metres.
Meod will also be making use of the data they have collected in its current farm – where they planted a mix of lettuce, Asian greens, herbs and Swiss chards – in a big way. Besides the temperature, humidity and light within the greenhouses, the company tracked the growth of seedlings and crops using various methods, as well as the time needed for each plant to reach a certain weight and stage of growth.
Such a science-based approach provided “a solid base to work with our consultants for the six hectares, to design and build the greenhouse and growing structures that can cater specifically to our local and regional tropical climate”, said Mr Chua.
He expects the newly secured plots to be operational in 12 to 18 months’ time.
Asked about its relative lack of large-scale farming experience, Mr Chua said: “We do have a team of consultants, both local and abroad to help with the size and scale. Two of our partners had also been heavily involved in the urban farming movement in Singapore since 2011 and 2012.”
Mr Chua said Meod hopes to write the chapter in Singapore’s farming story and “scale (the technology) beyond Singapore, specifically into South-east Asia”.
“We have to look at how to implement large and tangible improvements in harvest and yield with the help of technology, while still keeping costs realistic in the regional context,” he said.
NO SUN, NO PROBLEM
At least two of the successful tenderers are taking their farming indoors, growing crops on tiered racks with light emitting diodes (LEDs) replacing sunlight.
Sunpower Grand Holdings was set up by Taiwanese academic Wu Yu-Chien.
Dr. Wu holds a patent in LED technology that allows brightness to be adjusted with a computer, without the use of bulky magnetic components like transformers and inductors.
Partnering Ms. Jean Ee, a Johor-based former banker, Dr Wu will be rolling out his invention for growing hydroponics fruits and vegetables in a real farm setting for the first time.
The technology will enable vegetables like kailan and xiao bai cai, which typically require 45 days to grow, to be harvested in 15 days, said Ms. Ee, 45.
The yield from their three planned buildings is expected to be 900 tonnes a year. One building will hold up to 15 tiers of plants.
“If you leave it to nature, sometimes the weather varies,” said Ms Ee, whose mother is a traditional caixin and herb farmer in Johor.
She and Dr. Wu also intend to build an education centre on their premises.
Another company, Farm deLight, will use its two-hectare plot to expand its 600sqm operation in Boon Lay.
It currently farms herbs and microgreens using red and blue LED lights, while smart controls regulate air-conditioning and the amount of carbon dioxide.
It intends to farm “common leafy greens” like xiao bai cai and kale going forward.
Meanwhile, Cameron Highlands farm operator Vegeasia has joined hands with beansprout farmer Tan Teck Tiang, 51, to set up an outdoor hydroponics system that uses PVC panels, as well as pumps and pipes to supply the crops with nutrients and water.
Vegeasia currently uses the technology in Malaysia, where it has more than 100 hectares of farmland that yields 40 to 50 tonnes of vegetables such as lettuce, caixin, kailan, and tomatoes a day.
Mr. Tan said the S$1 million partnership aims to bring Vegeasia’s “tried, tested and proven” technology to the Republic.
“We (will) save a lot on trial and error,” said Mr. Tan, who has about 15 years’ experience at his uncle’s company, Chiam Joo Seng Towgay Growers. The latter supplies about four tonnes of bean sprouts a day to supermarkets here.
The AVA has high hopes for the eight companies. “We look forward to the contributions of these companies in transforming the local farming sector into one that is productive, innovative and sustainable,” Mr. Melvin Chow, its group director of food supply resilience, said last week.
Its tender launched last August attracted 28 parties.
Among the unsuccessful tenderers was veteran farmer Wong Kok Fah, 56, who wanted to secure more land for high-tech farming “for my next generation” – his nephew Dave Huang, 33.
Mr Wong’s Kok Fah Technology Farm currently operates seven plots spanning nine hectares in Sungei Tengah.
The plots’ leases are renewed on a three-year basis and he produces about 100 tonnes of leafy vegetables like bayam (a variety of spinach), kailan and xiao bai cai monthly through a mix of soil cultivation and hydroponics.
Mr Huang, who joined the business straight out of university, said the unsuccessful attempt is not the end of the road.
It will give him “more time to perfect the system” before the next tender, he declared.
How Two Toronto Women Are Turning Vacant Lots Into Food
How Two Toronto Women Are Turning Vacant Lots Into Food
The co-founders of the Bowery Project use milk crates to temporarily transform empty urban space into mobile farms
By Rashida PowankumarFebruary 20th, 2018
Rachel Kimel and Deena DelZotto, co-founders of the Bowery Project, love working with plants.
They started the non-profit organization because they were especially interested in growing food and educating the public about healthy eating. The Evergreen Brick Works and greenhouse, which specializes in “sustainable practices,” was one of the spaces that inspired them.
"Bowery" actually means "farm" in Dutch. So we wanted to come up with a name not too simplistic as "green in the city" or ‘green spaces downtown,’” Kimel said at a meeting at the Leaside Public Library in East York on Feb. 8.
“In New York, the Bowery was the road that led from the settlements to the farms, hence why we named our project after the New York City street.“
The Bowery Project would not be what it is today without milk crates. All of its produce is grown in “re-purposed milk crates that sit above the land,” its website explains.
The crates are light and mobile, making it easy for anyone to lift. “A farm of up to 5,000 crates can be disassembled and relocated within 24 hours,” which aligns with the mission to “create opportunities for urban agriculture through the temporary use of vacant lots.”
Environmental sustainability is important to DelZotto, a mother of three, who explained the importance of thinking twice before eating unhealthy meals.
“I think that once you have a child, you realize that everything that goes into their mouths becomes a part of their body,” she said. “I think you become more aware of the process — because you see how it grows, maybe you will eat it and want to taste it.”
The Bowery Project has several sources of funding — The Ontario Trillium Foundation, fundraising events, and chefs among them — and benefits many diverse communities, including a Toronto Community Housing neighborhood for single mothers for which Kimel and DelZotto’s organization helps provide three healthy meals a day.
The founders of the project are looking for summer students and volunteers to continue educating the public and turning more vacant lots into farms. If you’re interested, you can find more information at www.boweryproject.ca/what-you-can-do.
Colorado Offers Incentives For I-25 Pedestrian Bridge, Indoor Farm Proposals
Colorado Economic Development Commission members (L to R) Tara Marshall, Denise Brown and Tom Clark listen Thursday to a presentation on a company seeking incentives to grow in the state.
Colorado Offers Incentives For I-25 Pedestrian Bridge, Indoor Farm Proposals
By Ed Sealover – Reporter, Denver Business Journal
Feb 15, 2018
The Colorado Economic Development Commission on Thursday offered job growth incentive money to a large firm proposing to build a pedestrian bridge across Interstate 25 and another newer business that reported just $300,000 in revenue last year but $185 million cash on hand.
The joint offerings — part of a trio of decisions made by the EDC that involved a combined $8.6 million in incentives aimed at bringing 1,498 new positions to the Denver and Boulder areas — demonstrated an increased willingness to bet on new technologies and companies. EDC members also agreed to give $104,215 to a new documentary film being shot by former Colorado Public Radio arts reporter Corey Jones.
The biggest deal of the three offered Thursday involves an unnamed publicly traded provider of information technology products calling itself “Project 5760” — most proposals get pseudonyms as they are being considered — that is looking to add some 1,300 workers to an existing facility in Arapahoe County.
Those jobs would add to 1,500 employees the company already has in Colorado as part of its 18,000-person global workforce and would pay an average of $79,150 annually, said Rebecca Gillis, a global business manager for the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
In addition to growing its local worker base substantially, the company said it would construct a $10 million pedestrian bridge across I-25 near Dry Creek Road to allow its workers to park and cross the highway. EDC member Tom Clark, the former executive director of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., said such an offer by a company was “extraordinary.”
Still, EDC members Tara Marshall and Denise Brown balked at the proposed offering of $4.55 million in strategic-fund money to the company. The two said the total represents most of the $5 million OEDIT receives annually from the Colorado Legislature for that specific fund and would mean that the office would have to curtail its pipeline of other opportunities.
Marshall’s counter-proposal to offer just $3.25 million instead — a figure representing $2,500 per job — was rejected by the commission. Instead, the commission OK'd the $4.55 million in incentives after company officials at the meeting hinted that any reduction in funding likely would mean they would expand instead in Nevada.
“This company has been a strong job creator in the past,” argued Sam Bailey, vice president of the Metro Denver EDC. “This is a highly competitive project, and the competing state is highly skilled competition with the resources to secure a project like this.”
The commission was unanimous in offering $1.02 million in job-growth incentive tax credits to a five-year-old agricultural technology company headquartered in San Francisco company behind “Project Peach.” The unidentified company is looking to build its first full-scale indoor farm where it would harvest food year-round largely for the local market and would hire 43 people at an average annual wage of $84,167.
It did not identify where along the Front Range it would locate the facility, as it continues to scout several possible locations, but acknowledged that the Denver area is competing with the Chicago and Atlanta areas.
Commission members stumbled over the fact that the nascent company reported just $300,000 in revenues last year, far less than would be needed normally to secure such a big incentive from the state. But it has a significant amount of deep-pocketed investors and has raised $185 million in private-equity funding already, calming any fears about the state’s investment.
The commission adding a caveat that OEDIT leaders must be allowed to see the company’s full financial statements in the near future.
“If they had a limited amount of cash in the bank, we would not bring this to you with the financials the way they are,” said Jeff Kraft, OEDIT director of business planning and incentives.
Commissioners also unanimously approved the offering of as much as $3.04 million in job-growth incentive tax credits for “Project Destiny,” a publicly traded company headquartered in Louisville that offers a global video subscription service and wants to launch an in-house film studio to generate original content.
The company, which now has 122 workers in Colorado, would hire 155 more at an average annual wage of $101,903 and also is looking at Arizona and Florida as possible locations for the studio, Gillis said.
This Musk — Elon's brother — Looks To Revolutionize Urban Farming
This Musk — Elon's brother — Looks To Revolutionize Urban Farming
Zlati Meyer, USA TODAY February 18, 2018
Square Roots urban farming has the equivalent of acres of land packed inside a few storage containers in a Brooklyn parking lot. USA TODAY
(Photo: Jennifer S. Altman, for USA TODAY)
NEW YORK – In sunny California, Elon Musk is upending America's auto and space industries. And here, in a cold, gritty section of Brooklyn, his brother Kimbal has embarked on a project that's just as significant in its own way: Trying to reboot the food system.
The younger Musk is the co-founder of Square Roots, an urban farming incubator with the goal of teaching young people how to farm in cities while preaching the importance of locally sourced, non-processed food.
Having shown its potential during the past two years in the parking lot of a shuttered factory near public housing projects of Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant, Square Roots is ready to branch out. It is looking to set up plots — each the equivalent of 2 acres of farmland — in cities across the U.S. They're hydroponic, which means the crops grow in a nutrient-laced water solution, not soil.
The sites in contention, all of which had to pledge support from local governments and businesses, are in Chicago, Denver, Memphis, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Tampa, Atlanta, Dallas, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., and a second site in New York. Musk and Square Roots CEO Tobias Peggs will narrow the list down to 10 later this year.
In Brooklyn, budding agricultural entrepreneurs set up year-round farms inside 10 retired metal ocean shipping containers and grow crops like microgreens, herbs and strawberries.
"I want them to get to know entrepreneurship through food," said Musk in a phone interview, who counts both growing business and food as big passions.
Kimbal Musk is a co-founder of Square Roots. (Photo: Neilson Barnard, Getty Images for New York Times)
In 2004, Musk co-founded The Kitchen Restaurant Group, which opened eateries in Colorado, Tennessee, Illinois and Indiana. Musk, who sits on the board of directors of his brother's electric car and solar power provider maker Tesla, also co-founded Big Green, an organization that installs gardens in underserved schools and teaches children about the importance of eating natural food.
With so much on his plate, Musk leaves the day-to-day running of Square Roots to Peggs. They usually talk twice a day, Peggs said. The two met while working at OneRiot, a social media target-advertising company in Colorado, which Walmart acquired in 2011. Peggs has a doctorate from Cardiff University in Wales in artificial intelligence but can just as easily switch to extolling the virtues of freshly-picked peppery arugula.
"By 2050, there’ll be 9.6 billion people on the planet and 70% of them in urban areas. That’s driving a lot of investment and interest in urban farming. Our thinking was if we start in New York and we can figure out solutions ... then we’ll be able to roll out those solutions to the world," he said.
To initially get set up in Brooklyn back in 2016, Square Roots raised $5 million in — no pun intended — seed money, Peggs explained. For each of the 10 new locations around the country, slightly more than $1 million is needed.
Peggs said the farmers find buyers for their produce, like stores, restaurants, and individuals, though they also inherit the client's list from previous Square Roots participants. Some of Square Roots' staff of 14 help generate leads, too. Thirty percent of what they earn goes to Square Roots, and expenses are another $30,000. That leaves them with an annual profit of $30,000 to $40,000.
A single 40-foot container provides 320 square feet of growing space. It is outfitted with long, narrow towers studded with crops that are hung on tracks from the ceiling in rows, like vertical blinds. The plants get their water and nutrients from irrigation pipes running along the tops of the towers and their sunlight from dangling narrow strips of LED lights. Besides arugula, crops include kale, radicchio, and pak choi.
More: Urban farmers grow veggies in freight containers
More: Farm on wheels will deliver fresh produce to food deserts
"What we’ve proven in the first phase is we can take young people with no experience in farming and get them very, very quickly to grow really high-quality food that people want to buy," he said.
Over the year-long program, the young, mostly 20-something farmers learn about not only agricultural science and farm management but also marketing, community outreach, leadership, and business, according to Peggs. During a typical week, they spend about 15 to 20 hours doing farm work, 10 hours handling the business side and 10 hours getting coached by Square Roots' in-house agriculture expert and the team of mentors the company has assembled.
Last year's group was comprised of 10 people, and this year has six. More than 1,500 individuals have applied to Square Roots, the company said.
The program has attracted participants like Hannah Sharaf, who sells her weekly yield of 25 to 30 pounds of microgreens to office workers for $7 per 2.25-ounce bag. Sharaf, 27, said she is fascinated by "how food affects the body," prompting her to give up a career in international marketing. "I really want to be a farmer. I'm exploring both urban and soil."
"High-profile, really cool projects are important because they draw attention to urban agriculture. They fascinate people. They attract capital, and that helps to grow the sector," said Nevin Cohen, research director of the City University of New York's Urban Food Policy Institute.
Part of the draw is the bold-faced name attached to it: Musk. That could make urban farming a bigger topic in the national conversation about local and fresh food, which also is driven by thousands of small activists, some of whom have been advocating for decades.
"I don’t enjoy the industrial food system. It's definitely not good for America or the world," Musk said, citing high obesity rates, the thousands of miles food has to be shipped and the lackluster taste. "We're very excited to teach America about real food."
But Musk acknowledged that not everyone can afford that — including some of Square Roots' neighbors. At least, not right now.
"It's not something restricted to the urban elite," he said. "Our mission is real food for everyone. We need food to be delicious and young entrepreneurs to be empowered."
Growtainers Expands With Central Market, Looks to New Crops
For just about a year now, Central Market in Dallas has tested out offering produce that was grown on-site in a Growtainer. Evidently, that partnership has gone so well that Central Market is making the relationship more permanent and expanding it with the addition of another Growtainer.
Growtainers Expands With Central Market, Looks to New Crops
By Chris Albrecht | The Spoon
February 17, 2018
For just about a year now, Central Market in Dallas has tested out offering produce that was grown on-site in a Growtainer. Evidently, that partnership has gone so well that Central Market is making the relationship more permanent and expanding it with the addition of another Growtainer.
Growtainers are modified shipping containers that provide a food-safe indoor growing environment. Each one contains a vertical rack system for holding crops, crop-specific LED lighting fixtures, and a proprietary irrigation system. Growtainers come in 40, 45 and 53-foot sizes and are customized for each customer, costing anywhere from $75,000 – $125,000 a piece. The amount a Growtainer can produce depends on the crop.
The Growtainer at Central Market offers leafy greens and herbs grown on-site in a 53-foot container. While he couldn’t provide specific numbers, Growtainer Founder and President Glenn Behrman told me by phone that “demand outpaces supply” for the market’s store-grown produce. “We’ve proven the concept,” he said.
Central Market expanding its relationship with Growtainer helps push the idea of produce grown on-site more into the mainstream. Other players in this sector include Inafarm, which has been installing indoor vertical farming systems at food wholesalers in Berlin. And here at home, indoor farming startup Plenty raised $200 million last year from investors including Jeff Bezos (who happens to run Amazon, which owns Whole Foods).
As on-site farming technology improves and gets cheaper and easier to use, it’s not hard to imagine more stores opting to grow their own fresh produce in-house instead of having it transported across the country.
Behrman says that there are Growtainers all over the world for a variety of agricultural and pharmaceutical customers. He built two Growtainers for the Community Foodbank of Eastern Oklahoma so they could grow their own produce, and he’s talked with both the military and the United Nations about installing Growatiners for them in more remote (and volatile) areas.
One group Behrman hasn’t chatted with is venture capitalists. He laughed when I asked him about funding. “We have no investors, and we’re profitable,” said Behrman. But in the next breath, he said he realizes that his current go-it-alone approach won’t scale. “I think once this Central Market project expands and becomes more mainstream, I will have to look for some funding.”
Until that time, Behrman wants to have Growtainers produce more high value crops. “Lettuce and leafy greens are not that challenging,” he said. Behrman, who’s been in horticulture since 1971, believes Growtainers could be excellent for growing exotic mushrooms that have short shelf lives, or fungi that historically could only grow in particular seasons.
Perhaps after another year or so you’ll see truffles and porcinis grown on-site and offered at Central Market (and elsewhere).