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Full Shelves, Empty Stomachs: Socioeconomic Interventions to Address Food Deserts
Full Shelves, Empty Stomachs: Socioeconomic Interventions to Address Food Deserts
The term “food desert” conjures up a distinct image: an urban area void of supermarkets, where gardens are rare and the only place to buy groceries is a gas station mini-mart. Poverty and food deserts are closely intertwined. Of the 23.5 million Americans living in food deserts, almost 50 percent live below the poverty line. To remedy food insecurity in low-income areas, the federal government has poured millions of dollars into programs that focus on bringing supermarkets to these areas.
This campaign aims to fight the nutrition gap by providing low-income, food-desert neighborhoods with equal geographical access to supermarkets. However, simply opening grocery stores in these areas fails to address the structural causes of food insecurity. Even when healthy options exist in low-income areas, residents often can’t afford them. To address the problem at its roots, policies must put a greater focus on interventions that address socioeconomic disparities, rather than simply subsidizing grocery chains to open in areas where there currently aren’t any.
Many attribute poor eating choices to a lack of access to nearby supermarkets. This suggests that the geographic location of supermarkets plays a key role in the rise of obesity and other public health issues in low-income areas. Attempts by the federal government to eradicate food deserts follow this logic. In the 2014 Farm Bill, Congress approved a dedicated funding stream of $625 million over five years to “increase access to healthy food for underserved areas.” Further, former First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign gave $400 million in tax breaks to supermarkets that open in food deserts.
Such policies assume that opening any supermarket in an underserved neighborhood would cause residents to eat healthier foods given access to those products.
The evidence suggests otherwise. Philadelphia offers a crucial case study that underscores the limitations of this approach. As the epicenter of the food justice movement over the past decade, the city has invested millions in building new grocery stores with healthy food options in areas of concentrated poverty. But mere presence doesn’t lead to complete access:
Only 26.7 percent of residents who “lived near the new grocery store began using the supermarket as their main food source.” Even those who shopped at the new grocery stores didn’t see a significant difference in their food choices—they were still buying the same cheap items they could have gotten at the old grocery store, rather than the healthier ones on the new store’s shelves. In fact, when an upscale supermarket opens up in an underserved neighborhood, it can actually undermine access to healthy food by forcing longtime residents out of low-income neighborhoods through gentrification.
This phenomenon dubbed the “Whole Foods Effect,” has been neglected by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which has yet to fully come to terms with the effect of socioeconomic status on access to food. For example, the USDA refuses to differentiate income-based and geographical access to food in their online “food deserts map.” Hiding this distinction muddles the true nature of food insecurity in areas of concentrated poverty. A recent University of Chicago study that separates income from geographical distance finds that governmental initiatives focused on bringing supermarkets to areas deemed food deserts have only reduced nutritional inequality by 9 percent.
The higher price of healthy food compared to unhealthy, high-calorie foods means that eating habits rarely change as a result of the construction of a new grocery store. People who live below the poverty line are 2.5 times more exposed to fast food than those in the middle class, further compounding the problem of affordable access to healthy choices.
This argument parallels that of Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen. On a global scale, Sen argues that the cause of starvation in famines is rarely a physical lack of sufficient food. Instead, it is “the collapse of the incomes of the poor.” So raising incomes, rather than stockpiling food for the poor, is the only sustainable way to eradicate nutritional disparities.
Though it is tempting and simple to blame access to healthy food on the geographical distribution of supermarkets, that claim does not accord with reality. While food deserts exist in rural areas too, the issue falls most prominently in urban areas, where physical proximity is less likely to be the driving issue.
So how should we address the problem of food deserts from a socioeconomic perspective? Giving tax incentives to large supermarket chains is too blunt a path forward. In fact, there are many more inclusive, sustainable remedies to this problem. One such example is urban farming. While urban farms can rarely feed an entire city, they provide inexpensive fresh produce for the neighborhoods in which they’re located. They can also build community and provide some jobs and economic resources to residents.
The African Alliance of Rhode Island, for example, produces culturally relevant crops and unites African immigrants in Lower South Providence. Simply paying local residents to set up and harvest nutritious food in urban gardens could make meaningful advances in addressing nutrition in low-income communities. Inmate farming programs, which teach incarcerated people sustainable agricultural practices, could also provide both fresh food and employment opportunities in urban gardens. Programs like these address interconnectivity of poverty and employment barriers to healthy food access.
Increasing Supplementary Nutrition Assitance Program (SNAP) benefits provides another solution to the issue of access to healthy food. SNAP offers nutritional assistance to millions of people, forming a domestic hunger safety net. However, the recent budget proposal from the Trump administration calls for more than $213 billion dollars in funding cuts to the program, endangering the already scarce resources impoverished families can devote to buying healthy foods. Further, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, which provides federal grants to support mothers and children who are at risk of food insecurity, has been threatened with cuts.
Benefits funded by these grants can only be used towards nutritious foods, such as fresh fruits and infant formula, in an effort to promote healthy eating, but the program is also at risk of losing estimated $200 million in funding for the 2018 fiscal year. Fighting these cuts and challenging the narrative of waste, fraud, and abuse that is often associated with domestic social policy programs is essential in addressing hunger and the nutritional gap in the United States.
While food insecurity and the accompanying nutritional gap are tied to access to healthy foods in supermarkets, the problem is rooted in deep structural inequality, which limits access to healthy food regardless of geography. Healthy foods need to be both accessible and affordable to fight the proliferation of food deserts; a solution that addresses only one of these aspects will necessarily be incomplete.
Government programs should focus on ensuring that every citizen has the ability to buy healthy food instead of subsidizing the construction of supermarkets in low-income areas. Focusing on this distinction will add hopeful oases to the currently bleak climate of food deserts in America
Very Local Greens' Very Urban Farm
Very Local Greens' Very Urban Farm
Phil Hatcher wants to make friends with salad via his shipping container crops.
Posted By Allison Saunders on Thu, Apr 19, 2018
Phil Hatcher will soon be planting his first round of seeds on the Dartmouth waterfront. | LENNY MULLINS
"My agricultural background is planting peas and stealing peas from my grandfather’s garden growing up,” says Phil Hatcher with a laugh. After 18 years in the film industry, he’s switching gears and getting back to the land. Sort of. This summer Hatcher will launch Very Local Greens, a farm that lives inside a repurposed shipping container that’s been plunked at King’s Wharf on the Dartmouth waterfront.
“This was something I haven’t seen before, something Halifax doesn’t have,” he says of the project, which was inspired by a viral video that lead Hatcher to Freight Farms, makers of the “Leafy Green Machine” AKA Very Local Greens’ home. Aiming to create a local version of Brooklyn’s popular curated (indoor) greens farm, Square Roots, he started crunching numbers.
“I’m kind of going through a little fairytale in my head. I had a dream list in my mind and King’s Wharf was one of my first thoughts,” he says. “I wanted to utilize an unused space. We’re portable, we’re mobile, we’re a crane lift away. We have the privilege to be able to move and adapt with the development.”
Very Local Greens’ sustainable space offers a hydroponic, climate-controlled system that grows its herbs and various greens in vertical towers, watering and feeding them on a schedule. It can help 500-1,000 heads of lettuce grow per week.
“The whole thing is 100 percent traceable and trackable and controllable by an app,” says Hatcher. “The great thing is when I’m at home I can see security footage, adjust my lights, temperature, humidity...right in the palm of my hand. It’s just really smart.”
The aim is for his container farm to work with restaurants, not just providing them locally grown greens, but also growing based on need—and want—if there’s a particular, let’s say, arugula a chef is after. A CSA of some kind is also on the to-do list. Mostly, Hatcher says, he’s just excited to see where the project takes him. (Which is, hopefully, the addition of another container.)
“I think it’ll adapt and become its own thing. We’re just trying to find out where our niche is going to be and grow with it. There’ll be surprises along the way.”
Urban Agriculture Program Helps UW-Madison Students Take Farming To The City
Urban Agriculture Program Helps UW-Madison Students Take Farming To The City
By Allison Garfield | April 12, 2018
Urban agriculture is a very specific term defining a very broad field: agriculture, from gardening to raising livestock, in a city or suburb surrounding an urban space. It is a practice that has spread over time — but it all started in Madison.
In the late 1900s, the city’s planning department was reoriented toward food production, according to Lindsey Day Farnsworth, a postdoctoral researcher of urban agriculture at UW-Madison’s Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems. This shifted how people thought about the role of community gardens and urban farming.
Experts note the distinction between urban farming — which is typically associated with metropolitan food production that is intended to generate a profit — from community or school gardens, which are urban agriculture in the sense that food is being grown in the city. However, the purpose of the latter is not to make money.
Both of these practices are increasing in Madison. Today, more people than ever are growing food in cities, according to the Smithsonian. Cities are where most people live now and Madison is not excluded from this.
“Madison is distinct from a lot of places that we’ve seen an emphasis on urban agriculture in the last decade or two,” Farnsworth said. “There’s a long-standing history of interest in community food projects and food production in general, which is unique.”
UW-Madison recognized the growing participation in urban agriculture, and, as a result, created curriculum explicitly for the field. The course is being developed by various professors but is spearheaded by The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, a program on campus dedicated to cohesive agriculture.
The CIAS research center within the university’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences was built in 1989 to create sustainable agricultural research programs that respond to farmer and citizen needs, according to the center’s website. It added that, consequently, human relationships are at the core of the facility.
F.H. King Students for Sustainable Agriculture is a student organization within CIAS that owns a student farm in Eagle Heights and a rooftop garden at the Pyle Center. Rena Yehuda Newman, the outreach director for the organization, said students should care about urban agriculture and agriculture as a whole because UW-Madison is a land-grant institution, meaning the university received permission from the state to establish the school on federally controlled land.
“One of the founding principles of UW is to create new agricultural knowledge and help distribute that out to the rest of the state, which is really a fantastic and forward thinking philosophy about agriculture,” Yehuda Newman said. “It’s part of what it means to be a Badger.”
CIAS’s goal is to learn how particular integrated farming systems can contribute to environmental, economic, social and intergenerational sustainability. Today, that means urban agriculture, according to Yehuda Newman.
“Urban agriculture is one way of addressing equity and distribution problems,” said Newman. “If it’s too difficult to access fresh produce that’s being imported into the city, allowing people the sovereignty to grow their own food in their own environment is a really strong way to allow that autonomy and agency.”
Steve Ventura, the chair of the Agroecology Program at UW-Madison and an environmental studies professor, leads curriculum development, along with several other professors from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, CIAS and various community partners. They received a grant from the USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant Program to create a school for urban agriculture. The school will have three different modes of delivery: a farm and industry short course, a food systems certificate for undergraduates and hands-on experience with Community Groundworks and The Center for Resilient Cities.
Ventura hopes the school for urban agriculture will be a self-sustaining program before the grant runs out in three years. Though the curriculum is not definite yet, students have expressed interest in the program, he said.
Michelle Miller, associate director of programs for CIAS, said it is immensely important to consider how cities interact with the suburban areas surrounding them when examining urban agriculture. It is important to recognize risks shared between the people who eat the food and the people who grow the food, Miller said, because disparities can arise, like agricultural workers who aren’t paid and don’t have healthcare.
“[This] is a kind of urban agriculture — it doesn’t necessarily mean you are growing something in an urban space but you are conscious of the fact that you are embedded in a rural area and that you have a responsibility to the farmers near your city,” Miller said.
Farnsworth also acknowledged the necessity for urban agriculture curriculum in Madison specifically.
“Madison is distinct from a lot of places that we’ve seen an emphasis on urban agriculture in the last decade or two,” she said. “There’s a long-standing history of interest in community food projects and food production in general, which is unique.”
Madison is relatively small — most directions you go, you hit farmland quickly, Farnsworth said. As a result, Madison has had a robust farmer’s market for over three decades, creating a positive food culture within the city.
A lot of cities that aren’t supportive of urban agriculture believe the best use of land is economic development, Farnsworth said. Because urban farming isn’t extremely lucrative, other city governments need alternative benefits — cost savings at the household level due to backyard gardens and farm-to-school projects encouraging kids to try new foods — to justify using urban land for food production.
Another reason Madison is distinct from other cities is the strong relationship between homegrown foods and citizens that is forged from Madison’s history of farming, according to Olivia Parry, the senior planner at the Dane County Planning & Development Department.
Today, people are more interested in health and what goes into their food than ever before, said Parry, who studied local foods in graduate school.
“Kids [understand] that buying local is helpful to their family’s livelihood and their communities,” Parry said. “There’s this kind of this food patriotism, I think, with buying local.”
Farnsworth spoke along similar lines, saying, “Once that connection [to food] is established, we start make those connections between food and place and nutrition and what we’re putting into our bodies in a lot of other contexts. That starts to become quite transformative, both at the personal level and in terms of the food system.”
The planning department’s proactive measures in the ’90s are echoed today. The Madison Food Policy Council recently developed a working group devoted to urban agriculture. Farnsworth thinks this is part of the reason urban farming in particular has increased in profile recently.
Members of the councils are working with a group of UW-Madison interns to develop a food waste and recovery guide for organizations, businesses and individuals who may have surplus edible products and are looking for an outlet so that it does not go to waste, according to George Reistad, the food policy coordinator for the Mayor’s Office.
Reistad said food has the power to shape the landscape of a neighborhood and a city, as seen in Madison’s Wil-Mar neighborhood, which is comprised of a multitude of restaurants that grow their own produce, the Willy Street Co-Op and locally owned coffee shops and bakeries. However, he said there is an imbalance of these assets between different communities.
“I think there are always disparities between people and need and resources to alleviate that need, food being no exception,” Reistad wrote. “I’ll say this – there are a lot of passionate people who are very giving of their time and money to provide additional services and resources in relation to food and other social determinants of health.”
First US Vertical Farm Receives GAP Certification Three Story Greenhouse Vertical Harvest of Jackson Hole
First US Vertical Farm Receives GAP Certification Three Story Greenhouse Vertical Harvest of Jackson Hole
Passes GAP audit
By: Nona Yehia
JACKSON, Wyo.— Vertical Harvest of Jackson Hole becomes the first vertical farm in the United States to receive GAP certification, joining an elite global group of vertical farms that have received the certification.
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) is a voluntary audit that verifies that fruits and vegetables are produced, packed, handled, and stored as safely as possible to minimize risks of microbial food safety hazards. GAP audits verify adherence to the recommendations made in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (pdf) and industry recognized food safety practices. The certification is important as it’s required by most large-scale distributors and attaining it opens up significant market opportunities.
Vertical farming and urban agriculture are rapidly growing areas in the US and global horticulture. More people are recognizing the clear benefits of bringing food sources closer to the consumer and promoting farming methods that save water, enable year-round production and reduce pesticide use. Creating new markets for food grown in these systems is vital to building a sustainable future.
As Nona Yehia, Vertical Harvest’s Co-founder and CEO explains “ This is a huge achievement for our young farm. We are proud to be one of the first vertical greenhouses in the world to be GAP Certified. Vertical Harvest is committed to food safety and delivering the best quality product to its customers while also creating jobs who need it most in our community.”
About Vertical Harvest
Jackson Hole is home to one of the world’s first vertical greenhouses located on a sliver of land next to a parking garage. This 13,500 sq.ft three-story stacked greenhouse utilizes 1/10th of an acre infill lot to grow and the annual amount of produce equivalent to 10 acres of traditional agriculture.
Vertical Harvest is a sustainable source of locally grown vegetables to sell year-round to Jackson area restaurants, grocery stores and directly to the consumer via MARKET, the on-site retail store. In addition to fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and microgreens, Vertical Harvest produces jobs. Vertical Harvest is an innovative community impact model to employ an under-served Wyoming population: adults with developmental disabilities.
Hong Kong's Rooftop Farms May Not Be Lucrative, But Are A Hit With Overworked Residents
High above downtown studding the city’s skyline. Hong Kong’s bustling, traffic-clogged streets, a group of office workers are toiling away not on a corporate acquisition or a public share offering but on harvesting a bumper crop of lettuce atop one of the skyscrapers
Hong Kong's Rooftop Farms May Not Be Lucrative, But Are A Hit With Overworked Residents
More than 100 metres above Hong Kong’s financial district, office workers are taking food safety into their own hands. But the city’s skyline farms harvest far more happiness than food
April 8, 2018
High above downtown Hong Kong’s bustling, traffic-clogged streets, a group of office workers are toiling away not on a corporate acquisition or a public share offering but on harvesting a bumper crop of lettuce atop one of the skyscrapers studding the city’s skyline. It’s rooftop farming taken to the extreme, and more about reaping happiness than providing food.
The volunteers are picking butter lettuce, Indian lettuce and Chinese mustard leaf in rows of low black plastic planters on a decommissioned helipad on the 146m (480ftt) high roof of the 38-storey Bank of America tower, the scenery: a vertiginous panorama of glass office towers framed by lush mountain peaks and Victoria Harbour.
“It’s pretty dirty but still I really enjoy it,” says Catherine Ng, one of five volunteers who work for the property company managing the tower.
The farm is run by Rooftop Republic, a three-year-old startup whose founders are tapping growing interest in organic food and taking advantage of unused roof space in the cramped, high-rent Chinese city.
Hong Kong, with its skinny office blocks and apartment towers and busy, affluent residents, might seem an unlikely place for rooftop farming to catch on. The finance and trading hub has rural suburbs, but farming only takes up 700 hectares of its land and agriculture accounts for 0.1 per cent of its economic output. Rooftop Republic’s founders say the appetite for their services is growing among Hong Kongers who are seeking a more sustainable lifestyle and concerned about where their food comes from.
“We have been getting more and more interest from people who want to grow their own food,” says Michelle Hong, one of the founders. “A lot of it is triggered by concerns about food safety and the realisation that a lot of the food they consume might be laden with pesticides. I think people want to have more control and also more trust.”
Volunteers grow crops suitable to Hong Kong’s cool winter climate, such as kale, cabbage, radishes and carrots
Hong Kong imports almost all of its food, much of it from mainland China. Public awareness about food safety in the former British colony has risen after countless food contamination scandals in the mainland.
Rooftop Republic has set up on average one farm a month since its founding and now manages 36 covering more than 30,000 square feet (about 2,800 square metres), including one in mainland China, Hong says. It also provides workshops for companies, building owners, schools and community groups.
The Bank of America farm was a milestone because it was the first in the city’s financial district. The company has since set up two more in the area and is looking at a few more sites, Hong says. Vegetables from the tower are donated to a food bank for uses in lunchboxes distributed to the needy. Some of its other farms are at hotels or restaurants, which use the herbs, eggplants and melons for dishes on their menus.
Research shows there is around 1,500 rooftop farmers in the city, cultivating a total area of around 1½ hectares
Plenty of other groups or individuals have started cultivating their own rooftop vegetable gardens, says Matthew Pryor, a Hong Kong University architecture professor who has counted at least 60 and thinks there are a lot more he doesn’t know about.
Pryor’s research found approximately 1,500 rooftop farmers in the city, cultivating a total area of about 1½ hectares. He thinks there’s potential for that to easily grow to 50,000 people working on a suitable rooftop area of 600 hectares.
He helped set up a farm on top of a university building where volunteers, mainly staff, grow tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, lettuce, dragon fruit, papaya, beans, peas, and squash.
But the main product of the farms isn’t edible: instead, they improve the well-being and happiness of Hong Kong’s socially isolated residents
Pryor says he discovered through his research that their main product isn’t edible.
“The rooftop farms here produce virtually nothing” compared to Hong Kong’s overall consumption, Pryor says. “What they do produce, however, is happiness, and this social capital that they generate is enormous.”
The farms can help stressed out, overworked and socially isolated Hong Kongers be happier and improve their wellbeing by letting them hang out with their friends and commune with nature.
The farm on the top of the Bank of America tower’s disused helipad was a milestone as it is the first to be set up in the financial district
Those benefits were on display at another Rooftop Republic farm at airline Cathay Pacific’s headquarters near the city’s airport on rural Lantau Island.
Airline staff planted crops that thrive in Hong Kong’s cool, dry winter growing season, like kale, cabbage, radishes and carrots, which they can take home.
“We’re right by the sea, we have great views of the harbour, at the same time have got great views of the airport. We see planes every two minutes,” says volunteer Prian Chan. “So it’s awesome to be here.”
AP
Rules For Food Safety
Rules For Food Safety
April 13, 2018
Food safety usually intimidates the beginning grower. Cost. Regulations. Liability!. There is a lot to think about. Using Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) helps mitigate the risks associated with operating a food production facility. All farms, indoors or outdoors, are required to have a HAACP plan as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2012 (FSMA). Although it seems complicated, it is mostly common sense.
Here it is, broken down, using the seven guiding principles
Hazard Analysis
With growing, a common hazard is your system water mixing with the finished product. Or it might be something as obvious as foreign objects (like hair or jewelry) getting into your finished product. In other words, where can things go wrong with your process?
Identified Critical Control Points (CCPs) in food preparation
A Critical Control Point (CCP) is a procedure at which control can be applied and a food safety hazard can be prevented or reduced to acceptable levels. For instance, at our farm, the packing process and harvesting process are completely separate (location, equipment, staff) thus reducing the possibility of cross-contamination.
Establish Critical Control Limits for Preventive Measures
These are usually set by a governing body. FSMA says agricultural water used during the growing process is acceptable if less than 126 CFU/100 mL. A preventative measure might be adding a UV filter to your plumbing, which kills most, if not all, the harmful bacteria
Establish Procedures to Monitor CCPs
In the case of hydroponic ag water, test regularly (Say once a quarter) to make sure the e.coli is less than 126. A less expensive option might be to monitor you coliform levels, and then test for specific pathogens when the coliform level rises beyond your four-month rolling average.
Establish the Corrective Action to be Taken When Monitoring Shows That a Critical Limit Has Been Exceeded:
Sticking with the theme of "bad" Ag water, this could be as simple as dosing your water system with 5 ppm of Sanidate, and then re-testing.
Establish Effective Record Keeping System That Document the HACCP system: -
There is a log for everything on the farm.
Establish Procedures To Verify That the HACCP system is Working:
Self auditing on a monthly basis is typically the best approach, but timing is flexible.
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food safety hydroponic specialists nickgreens nickgreens grow team urban farming
How You Can Respond to Complex Consumer Demands for Fresh Veggies
How You Can Respond to Complex Consumer Demands for Fresh Veggies
April 8, 2018 | By: Janeen Wright | Email
Consumers want different colors, shapes, and most of all, lots of flavor in their vegetables. Photo credit: PanAmerican Seed
Demand for greenhouse-grown produce is steadily rising, with sales in the U.S. expected to reach more than $4 billion by 2020, according to a report by Rabobank’s Food & Agribusiness Research & Advisory group.
Consumers’ push for new choices will put pressure on breeders and growers in this expanding market. Considering that most consumers often can’t tell one variety from another, the growers who will have a competitive edge will be those who differentiate.
Proximity to retail will give greenhouse growers an advantage as the locally grown movement plays more into this market.
“We have had many requests from new and old growers wanting to put up indoor facilities in their region to capture local vegetable sales,” says Joe Messer, North American Manager for Hem Genetics, which recently jumped into the vegetable arena with its ‘Sweet Valentines’ tomato.
Geography is not the only driver of hyper-localism. It’s also about the farm-to-table freshness consumers value, because they equate it with higher quality. lēf Farms in Loudon, NH, has experienced this with local chefs who want something different to set them apart from the kitchen next door.
“We have had great success with our restaurant pack,” says Sales and Marketing Manager Donald Grandmaison. “The chefs like having unique blends of greens delivered just 24 hours after harvest because they can serve a higher-quality product and reduce food waste.”
Flavor Sells
Pinpointing what consumers value in their fresh produce will be the key to getting noticed in the fresh produce market. Currently, flavor ranks at the top of consumer preferences and has become one of the distinguishing factors that make a superb vegetable variety stand out from bland look-alikes.
It also comes down to growers becoming familiar with regional market differences in their area, including specific trends and tastes, says Arjen de Haan, Technical Manager-Europe for Oasis Grower Solutions, a supplier that develops new products and solutions aimed at hydroponic growers.
“Growers have often catered to a generic market in the past, but those growers scoring better will be the ones that aim toward regional taste and culture,” he says.
Gotham Greens is one of the pioneers in urban agriculture, with greenhouse facilities in New York City and Chicago. It has experienced regional success by supplying highly perishable leafy greens and herbs to urban consumers. The company can differentiate its products from other brands and growers because it can offer a fresher, better-tasting product with greater transparency.
“Locally grown produce offers the additional benefits of greater shelf life, increased sell-through, overall greater customer satisfaction, and decreased food safety risks,” says Viraj Puri, Co-Founder, and CEO of Gotham Greens. “Recent outbreaks of food-borne illnesses like Salmonella and E. coli have only propelled consumers’ demand for greater transparency around how and where their food is produced.”
Yet, it’s still not enough to claim that produce is locally grown. Growers also need to communicate why their growing practices matter in the production of safe food.
“Consumers want transparent labeling and information on the company growing their food and its ethics,” says Sakata’s Product Development and Marketing Manager for Home Garden and Farm Market Vegetables Tracy Lee. “Consumers also want information on the health benefits of fresh produce. This can be a challenge for companies because making health claims is a tricky business.”
Trending Now: Grab-n-Go, Novelty, and Ethnic Veggies
Increased consumer awareness of how their food is grown has also fueled their interest in organically grown vegetables. According to data from the Organic Produce Network, sales of organic fresh produce items reached nearly $5 billion in 2017. Despite organic vegetables’ rise in popularity, organic doesn’t always equate to healthiest, and there is still some confusion about what organic really means.
Equal in value to consumers is uniqueness and convenience. Mini cucumbers, snack peppers, cherry tomatoes, etc., offer easy, grab-and-go options.
“Heirloom vegetables also work well for fresh-produce sales, and ethnic and novelty vegetables are gaining popularity,” says Josh Kirschenbaum, PanAmerican Seed Vegetable Sales Account Manager. “Incorporating different colors, shapes, and flavors into traditional vegetables is becoming more mainstream.”
PanAmerican’s HandPicked Vegetable and Herb Collection is geared especially for those who supply fresh market farms. One convenience product it is currently developing is a seedless sweet pepper. If grown in a greenhouse, isolated from standard peppers, the fruit will be free of seed. This allows consumers to cook the peppers whole without having to worry about removing the seeds.
Sales of fresh, leafy greens have skyrocketed. lēf Farms’ restaurant pack is popular with local chefs who enjoy receiving fresh greens that are delivered just 24 hours after harvest. Photo by lēf Farms.
Greens Are Where It’s At
Consumer demand for leafy greens, such as arugula and romaine lettuce, and micro and baby greens has exploded. Sakata Vegetables is one breeder focusing on the leafy greens and baby greens markets, to find varieties that exhibit superb flavor when grown indoors.
“In addition to flavor, growers want items that will add a percentage of color to their greens, such as red or gold varieties like yellow-stemmed chard. They are also looking to expand into other areas,” Lee says.
Some of these areas include a focus on herbs such as oregano, basil, and rosemary, and hydroponic leafy greens and herbs that are sold with the roots intact.
“By selling greens and herbs this way, growers avoid many of the food safety concerns that occur with cut leaves, and the consumer gets a fresh product that lasts longer than cut products,” Kirschenbaum says.
As growers venture into these new areas and try to make a name for themselves selling greenhouse-grown vegetables for the fresh market, they will need to adopt the more flavorful, distinctive vegetables consumers crave.
Sharing their stories and focusing more on benefit-driven communication will improve their chance for success.
Berries for Fresh Produce Sales
Berries have also become popular products for fresh produce sales. Consumer awareness is increasing about the vague histories of some imported berries as far as pesticide-use and other production and harvesting methods are concerned. This has led to more demand for berries such as greenhouse-grown strawberries raised on benches/gutters in a clean environment because they are more sustainable and labor friendly than field-grown strawberries, according to Adri Gillissen of ABZ Seeds, the company known for the Delizzimo strawberry.
TOPICS: April2018, Edibles, Gotham Greens, Lef Farms, PanAmerican Seed, Sakata, Vegetables
FreshBox Farms Names Randy Frederick National Accounts Director
FreshBox Farms Names Randy Frederick National Accounts Director
MILLIS, MA – April 4, 2018 – FreshBox Farms, among the nation’s most efficient vertical farming operations, has named Randy Frederick its National Accounts Director.
His goal will be to build profitable business partnerships with key customers in the Grocery, Wholesale Produce, Food Service and Restaurant retail channels.
“We’re delighted to have Randy on board. He brings a wealth of knowledge about what national corporations consider in choosing locally grown greens,” says FreshBox Farms CEO Sonia Lo.
Mr. Frederick most recently was Vice President of National Sales for Freight Farms, responsible for account development in the grocery, restaurant, and wholesale produce channels. He also served in various capacities with SteadyServ Technologies, which focused inventory, order management, and business intelligence systems to serve the needs of the beer industry.
In addition, he was sales director with MHQ, one of the top up-fitters of municipal vehicles in the US and served in various sales and marketing positions with MillerCoors.
FreshBox Farms’ sustainable indoor growing enclosures use no soil, very little water, a rigorously-tested nutrient mix and LED lighting to produce the freshest, cleanest, tastiest produce possible. Unlike lettuce and other produce that are frozen and spend weeks being transported to local stores, FreshBox Farms’ greens are harvested, packaged, and shipped within hours to local grocers.
All FreshBox Farms products are kosher and non-GMO certified, grown without pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. The greens are also GAP (Good Agricultural Practices)-certified by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, which identifies locally sourced products grown, harvested and processed in using practices that are safe, sustainable and don’t harm the environment.
For more information on where to buy FreshBox Farms’ products, visit www.freshboxfarms.com
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Microgreens In The Marketplace
Microgreens In The Marketplace
April 17, 2018
You always have to do research on local Microgreens. Don't ever forget that. Researching on what microgreens are available in the local marketplace can determine where you fit in. You need to develop an idea on what a local market is like, to determine who is buying and who is selling.
One easy way to discover who is growing what, or to see if their is microgreens growers in the area, is to use the internet. What a glorious tool to have! Begin making notes and see if they're sold anywhere. More specifically, farmers markets or grocery stores. If a grower is selling at a farmer's market, it gives you a bit of an opportunity to ask questions about the operation. Grocery stores give you insight on varieties, packaging, branding, and price. Important questions to ask yourself: Do they look fresh? Does the display look appealing? First impressions matter in this business.
As you explore the field, you'll come up with what works best for you, such as varieties in your growing climate and a system that works for you. Nonetheless, you will need a plan for your audience, what kind of microgreens you'll sell, and hopefully, this gives you an idea on your first steps. It may demonstrate that there is little to nothing being sold at the wholesale level, or the farm market level, or both.
It may also demonstrate that consumer demand is low on a specific type of microgreen. This can ultimately lead to you growing and sparking interest if you can get a hold of that certain type of microgreen. If you plan on selling to restaurants, you have to take them around to see how the establishment responds. If you're already selling at a farmer's market, it may be smart to set up a poll or listen to feedback on the likes and dislikes about a microgreen product you may be wanting grow more. This preliminary sales and testing process will get you more ready for larger scale customers.
Finally, researching should never end. Research is an essential tool for any project in this field. You should always be on the lookout for what is happening in the market, what new uses are trending for microgreens, branding, buyers and especially sellers. What has changed since the initial evaluation of buyers, growers and grow techniques? As a business, you have to stay on top of every aspect of your market. It will save you time and money in the future.
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Tags:microgreens growing microgreens urban farming grown with love
Envisioning Innovation Buyer Building Mixed-Use Community Center At Former Polartec Plant
Envisioning Innovation
Buyer Building Mixed-Use Community Center At Former Polartec Plant
April 22, 2018
LAWRENCE — Voices echo through the empty spaces inside 46 Stafford St., joining the thrum of the air ducts that weave a labyrinth overhead. Daylight spills in from rectangular windows that on the outside look massive, but on the inside only manage to illuminate small pools on the expansive stretches of vacant factory floor.
Jitender Makkar walks along the remnants of the rows where workers once produced textiles for Polartec, until the manufacturer announced its plans to close up shop at the facility that straddles Lawrence and Methuen and move its operations to Tennessee.
Polartec put its 559,868-square-foot, two-building site up for auction last spring. Makkar, a California-based real estate broker who got his start with construction and industrial design in India, bought it for $5.35 million.
Makkar's vision for the facility is as vast as the building is large. Touring the space with his fiance Purnima Dey, the two spoke of their plans to turn the facility into an innovation hub and community gathering place. Fittingly, Makkar has renamed the building IndusPAD.
“We want to create an ecosystem where these innovators really thrive,” Makkar said.
The IndusPAD facility includes a basement and two floors of manufacturing and office spaces that Makkar is dividing into 11 “pads” for companies to build out to suit their needs.
The idea is to have innovators and entrepreneurs come to IndusPAD to “develop their ideas and prototypes and go into manufacturing here,” Makkar said, going along with the IndusPad motto: “Innovate. Actualize. Succeed.”
There's plenty of room for industrial uses, like a massive space just through the visitor's entrance on the first floor with 31-foot-high ceilings and 15 loading docks, and another expanse leading off of it that stretches deeper into the cavernous building.
Makkar envisions community spaces, too. A row of huge windows on the side of the building facing Stafford Street would be the ideal setting for a restaurant or sports bar. Another space across the building, near the visitor's entrance, would be great for a brewery, he said.
Ultimately, Makkar envisions the building becoming an industrial mall with “different sections, different businesses doing their different ventures,” filled with both local entrepreneurs and outside companies wanting to make inroads in the area.
Among those expected to set up shop at IndusPAD is Beyond Organic, a Dutch indoor agriculture company, which is working to open a 30,000-square-foot hydroponic vertical farming facility to produce a range of lettuces and herbs. Makkar said he hopes the company will bring in machines in the next few months to start growing “clean” produce, without the chemicals typically found in fruits and vegetables imported to Merrimack Valley grocery stores, bodegas and restaurants from across the nation and world.
“This is going to feed the Merrimack Valley, that's the idea,” said Dey, who is also IndusPAD's public relations director.
Another prospective tenant is working on prototypes to treat diseases affecting the world's banana crop, Makkar said. A medical equipment company has expressed interest in the location, too.
Makkar and Dey spoke of working with area educational institutions to bolster the young workforce with the skills and technical training that would fit the jobs they hope to bring to IndusPAD. They are keen on bringing manufacturing back to the Merrimack Valley, modernized for the 21st-century.
“The people of Lawrence and Methuen, they're hardworking people,” Makkar said. “It is time (for us) to contribute.”
Makkar and Dey intend IndusPAD to be a community partner. Already, they've held events for local groups including the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Lawrence Partnership.
They also want to be patrons of the arts by providing studio space for local artists to grow and thrive, and eventually hope to focus on “industrial art,” according to Makkar.
IndusPAD already has one artist-in-residence: 24-year-old Jonathan Henriquez, a New York native who moved to Lawrence as a child.
Henriquez, who as an artist goes by Jon Hen, is a painter who creates large, colorful and abstract pieces he said are borne from “what surrounds me, the energy that surrounds me, the ups and downs” of emotion.
IndusPAD is allowing him to use space rent-free for several months as the building is renovated. Henriquez, who also works at cafe El Taller on Essex Street, has already set up a studio on the second floor.
As deals are being finalized with businesses, crews are working to remove the equipment and scrap materials Polartec left behind.
Some things will remain, however, like the massive air ducts and pipes. They'll be preserved for aesthetic purposes and industrial uses if needed, but will also serve as a testament to the building's manufacturing history.
While Makkar and Dey are new to the Merrimack Valley, they understand the importance of the building they purchased, and how manufacturing was for so long the bedrock of the region. For years, the plant served as “a manufacturing building of great intensity,” Dey said, with a nod to the Malden Mills buildings before it, which were infamously destroyed by fire in the mid-1990s.
“It's important to preserve it,” she said.
Follow Lisa Kashinsky on Twitter @lisakashinsky.
Tags Commerce Jitender Makkar Agriculture Economics Induspad Building
There’s An Urban Farm Hiding In Brookline Village
There’s An Urban Farm Hiding In Brookline Village
By Emma R. Murphy
emurphy@wickedlocal.com
Posted Apr 3, 2018
Unbeknownst to passersby as they make their way down Route 9 by Brookline Village, is that tucked away in one of the tall, grey buildings that line the road are vibrant microgreens, growing in carefully maintained grow tents.
New to Brookline, Legitimate Farms is an all-indoor, all-hydroponic urban farm growing a variety of microgreens, including mustard, daikon and lavender. The duo behind Legitimate Farms, Mike Becker and Skippy – just Skippy – moved into their space at 71 Boylston St. in August, and began harvesting in late January.
Though just a two-man operation, the farm yields an impressive amount of food. With about 80 shelves of microgreens, the farm produces about 40 pounds of food a day, according to Becker.
This is one of the beauties of microgreens, according to Becker. Rather than wait for the greens to mature to vegetables, the microgreens are ready for harvest in just days – 12 to 14 – and the flavor packs a bold punch.
“The flavor of the microgreen is the flavor of the whole plant concentrated in a tiny plant,” Becker said.
The pair also experiments with other plants and hopes to offer sunflower, which they described as “buttery, delicious and a complete protein.”
From hobbyists to professionals
Before launching Legitimate Farms, Becker and Skippy were not professional farmers; horticulture was more of a hobby. However, the urban farming community is a relative open book according to Becker, and the pair found it was quite easy to learn about different techniques and tools for farming microgreens.
At Legitimate Farms, Becker and Skippy continue that mindset. They are just as eager to share their produce as they are their methods – some of which they’ve developed themselves.
When asked how they came up with the name, Legitimate Farms, Becker and Skippy explained that it resulted from having to clarify that the greens growing on their shelves are really food.
“People always ask us if we grow weed and we have to explain that we’re not, so we say we’re a legitimate farm and it just stuck,” Becker said.
Though growing microgreens started as a hobby, it is social consciousness that fuels the mission behind Legitimate Farms.
Where to find their microgreens
The farm does not currently have a retail license, but those interested can buy through Community Supported Agriculture, CSA, for a $30 membership which buys a half pound box of microgreens per week. Legitimate Farms also sells in bulk to restaurants for $10 per pound. Additionally, Becker and Skippy set up a farm stand at their Boylston Street location from time to time, where those interested can buy a small container of greens for $2, and a large container for $8.
Their purpose is to make food accessible to all income levels.
“We want our food to be for all people,” said Becker.
Addressing food insecurity is personal for Becker, who is from the Philippines where access to food is a growing problem. According to Becker, rice, which is a major crop in the Philippines, is not enough to meet the massive population, forcing the country to import rice from China, which has led to quality issues.
It is a problem that has long been on his mind, Becker said.
Armed with the firm belief that healthy, organic food should be cheaper than fast food, Becker and Skippy plan to accept EBT/SNAP cards.
A vision for the future
As Legitimate Farms gets underway, Becker and Skippy envision expanding to other locations like Washington Square and Fenway, so that each location can serve its micro-community within a 1-to-5-mile radius.
Given the abundance of food that their farm yields, and the small space required, Skippy and Becker feel Legitimate Farms could serve as an example for municipalities like Brookline in how to supplement food served at schools and in the community, by setting up similar farms in Town Hall and other buildings.
“I’d like to see one level of the Hancock building be a farm,” Skippy said.
Green Roofs Improve Our Lives. Why Don't We Have More of Them?
Green Roofs Improve Our Lives. Why Don't We Have More of Them?
Jenna Hammerich, Iowa City Climate Advocates Writers Group
Published April 20, 2018
Every day, it seems, a new building appears in our skyline, whether in Iowa City’s downtown or Riverfront Crossings districts, Coralville’s Iowa River Landing, or in Tiffin or North Liberty. Sometimes the new building is LEED certified — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the rating system used by the U.S. Green Building Council to measure a building’s sustainability and resource-efficiency. A few are even beautiful. But almost all of them have dead, black tar and asphalt roofs. Empty, heat-sink roofs. Wasted space.
Imagine seeing a magnolia tree in full bloom on top of an apartment building or prairie grass swaying in the breeze out your bedroom window. Imagine tending a vegetable garden on the roof of a school or strolling through a meadow on the roof of a hotel.
Despite our county’s recent environmental strides — e.g., Iowa City Council’s endorsing federal carbon fee-and-dividend legislation and mandating that multifamily units provide recycling — only a handful of buildings in our area have green roofs.
Green or “living” roofs — those partially or completely covered with soil and vegetation over a waterproof membrane — provide multiple benefits to individuals and communities. By absorbing rainwater, they reduce erosion, prevent flooding, and filter pollutants. They prolong roofing membranes by protecting them from ultraviolet rays. They conserve energy and lower air-conditioning costs by absorbing and reflecting heat. They reduce noise and air pollution, provide wildlife habitat and sequester carbon dioxide. Plus, research continues to show that visual and physical access to nature improves our health. (In one notable study, hospital patients with views of green space recovered faster.)
Green roofs can function as parks, urban farms, playgrounds, outdoor classrooms and peaceful retreats, even in winter. They can be public or private. They can be installed on most roofs (up to a 45-degree pitch), at various levels of cost, access, and maintenance — from shallow, lightweight, perennial grass plantings requiring little to no maintenance to deeper beds with trees and shrubs. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, simple green roofs cost about $10 per square foot to install and provide a 220 to 247 percent return on investment.
Given that green roofs improve our vistas, our air, our water, our soil, our moods, our health and our roofs; provide food; reduce community resistance to infill; create jobs; increase buildings’ marketability; pay for themselves; and, I would argue, make an area significantly more attractive to young professionals — why don’t we have more of them?
Two reasons, as I see it: lack of understanding and funding.
The U.S. as a whole lags behind the rest of the world in supporting green roofs. Germany has encouraged the industry since the 1970s via incentives and requirements at multiple levels of government, resulting in 10 million square feet of new green roofs every year. The U.S. installs 7 million.
That said, Chicago, Seattle and Washington, D.C., have robust green-roof industries, thanks to green infrastructure mandates, and San Francisco and Denver recently approved initiatives requiring all new and existing buildings meeting certain thresholds to incorporate green roofs.
I urge every jurisdiction in Iowa to develop green roof policies for all new developments. Cities and counties could also advocate for green-roof tax incentives at the state level, plus more funding for cities’ Stormwater Best Management Practices Grants, which financially assist residents who install stormwater features, including green roofs, on their properties. (Coralville, Iowa City and North Liberty currently provide these grants.)
If you’re a homeowner interested in installing a green roof on an existing building, first contact a structural engineer (most architectural firms have one on staff) to ensure that your roof can withstand the weight. While you can do the installation yourself, I recommend finding a certified contractor like West Branch Roofing, T&K Roofing or Country Landscapes, which work with Roof Top Sedums in Davenport. Visit jcgreenroofs.wordpress.com for a list of local financial resources and certified installers.
In this era of climate change, only cities that invest in green infrastructure will thrive. Iowa has embraced renewable energy. Now let’s take the next step and green up our rooftops.
Jenna Hammerich is a member of Iowa City Climate Advocates and a resident of Iowa City.
Fishers Startup Says Its Indoor Veggie Farms Can End Hunger
Fishers entrepreneur is bringing farms into the kitchen. And the garage. And the closet. And anywhere else at home one might have room indoors for small planters of lettuce, carrots or tomatoes.
Fishers Startup Says Its Indoor Veggie Farms Can End Hunger
John Tuohy, john.tuohy@indystar.com
April 6, 2018
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This veggie farm fits in your apartment
A Fishers entrepreneur is bringing farms into the kitchen. And the garage. And the closet. And anywhere else at home one might have room indoors for small planters of lettuce, carrots or tomatoes.
Jonathan Partlow, founder of Aggressively Organic, sells small hydroponic plant growing systems that don’t need sunlight, dirt or pesticides and are grown indoors using just water, nutrients and LED lamps.
Partlow says he has the modest of goal of ending hunger. And he’s being taken very seriously.
The bioscience company last month won two awards at the SXSW (South-by-Southwest) convention in Austin, Texas, the first contestant to win both the Food+City Challenge Prize and the People’s Choice Award.
“One of our biggest goals is to end food insecurity within our lifetime,” said Partlow, 49, an Indiana University graduate from Anderson. “We had to create a system that anyone could afford and use.”
Partlow started Aggressively Organic at Launch Fishers, the tech- and app-focused shared workspace that in just a few years has paved the way for several successful startups.
Now, Aggressively Organic is preparing to move into its own 40,000-square-foot building at 9160 Ford Circle later this month, where it will grow 6 million plants each year. It hopes to hire 200 employees within five years and have 42 indoor farms of various sizes across the country.
The concept is the same as hydroponic systems, also known as vertical farming, that are sprouting around the country and grow crops indoors year-round in controlled settings. But unlike those farms, in which thousands of shelves are stacked in large warehouses for wholesale distribution, Aggressively Organic’s plants are tailored for the individual, with the plants grown in cardboard, flower pot-sized containers.
“They are cheap and so easy a kindergarten student can learn it,” Partlow said. “In fact, we have taught kindergartners to use it in Fishers schools.”
Schoolchildren and various Indiana 4-H clubs already are learning the system, and there are plans to distribute the plants to food banks. More broadly, Aggressively Organic launched a crowdfunding campaign to send 50,000 plants to Puerto Rico to aid Hurricane Maria victims.
The plants need only 16 ounces of water and a patented nutrient mixture that permits them to grow rapidly for harvesting in about 30 to 60 days. Replenishing leafy plants, such as arugula and kale, grow fastest and can be plucked and eaten for weeks. But even cherry tomatoes grow quickly and can last a couple of growth cycles.
“I’ve been eating from the same head of lettuce for a month,” Partlow said.
The plants, which include herbs like basil, can be kept anywhere in the house where there’s extra space. They also take a minimum of supervision.
A built-in advantage to Aggressively Organic’s individual system, compared to large systems, is that each box and plant is self-contained. So, a flaw in the balance of nutrients in a water-recirculating system won’t affect an entire supply of plants, said Chris Chick, Aggressively Organic’s plant physiologist.
Chris Chick, Fishers, helps run Aggressively Organic, a new start-up in Fishers that plans to have about 40,000 square feet of hydroponic growing space, Fishers, Wednesday, April 4, 2018. The company has a system that lets people easily grow their own food in a small household space. (Photo: Robert Scheer/IndyStar)
“Each of the different vegetables has its own nutrient solution, so they aren’t sharing a common one,” Chick said. “If something were to go wrong, you throw away the individual plant, not all of them.”
Ultimately, Aggressively Organic will offer memberships in which subscribers can pay a yearly fee to order six packs of plants, then switch them out after they have been eaten after two or three growth cycles, like dropping off empty bottles for the milkman.
Vertical farms are becoming more common in urban areas as a way to provide locally produced vegetables on a large scale that don't need to be shipped thousands of miles, from California or Arizona, where 94 percent of lettuce is grown. Chick said vegetables lose most of their nutrients within 24 hours after being picked.
Lettuce at Aggressively Organic, a new start-up in Fishers that plans to have about 40,000 square feet of hydroponic growing space, Fishers, Wednesday, April 4, 2018. The company has a system that lets people easily grow their own food in a small household space. (Photo: Robert Scheer/IndyStar)
This week at the company's new headquarters in Fishers, Chick displayed a plant that had been growing for about 35 days that was bursting with two dozen ripe cherry tomatoes from a cardboard box. Broccoli leaves, about a foot long, flowed from a larger box measured about a foot in length. A bite of arugula offered a sharp, peppery flavor much more succinct than the bagged product bought in the supermarket.
"It's picked fresh, so it still has all its flavor," Chick said.
Jeff Barranco, 39, a member of the Anderson school board, who has a small 1.4-acre traditional farm, began growing Aggressively Oganic’s plants in his garage last October. He now has 1,000 plants, including bok choy, tomatoes, hot peppers, basil and lettuce and plans to sell the produce at an Anderson farmer’s market this summer.
“It really is a plug in and play type of system,” Barranco said. “You don’t need a lot of knowledge about farming.”
Barranco keeps the plants in a 8-by-10-foot tent in the garage and spends about $100 a month on electricity for the LED lights. Besides that, little maintenance is necessary.
Barranco said he will tear off some basil or lettuce for salads at dinner and can taste the difference from supermarket-bought food.
“It has a much better taste, it’s fresher and really nice to have right here,” he said.
Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418. Follow on Twitter and Facebook.
Homegrown Solutions: The Rise And Rise Of The Microgreen
Homegrown Solutions: The Rise And Rise Of The Microgreen
We look at the growing trend driving a new foodie revolution
Anastasia Miari | April 7, 2018
Kale plants at the Organic Oasis farm in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National
Forget soggy egg and cress sandwiches cut into triangles. That fleck of green in an otherwise beige lunchtime snack is no longer the preserve of the 1970s housewife. Cress and other fast-growing mini vegetables are so hot right now. The microgreen, as it is now better (and more fashionably) known, has likely been served to you as part of an elegant plate on a multi-course serving menu in a fancy restaurant. It is those tiny leaves delicately handled with tweezers that you see chefs use on programmes such as Netflix’s Chef’s Table or MasterChef, adding a final note of decoration to an expertly composed dish.
“As a part of an entree, microgreens are one of the most important ingredients to make the plate more beautiful. To better serve our clients, we started growing microgreens since 2017,” says Sheikha Al Muhairy of Organic Oasis, an organic-certified farm in Dubai. Touted for their high nutritional value and pot-to-plate efficiency, microgreens are now catching on in circles beyond the cheffing world. The definition of a microgreen is a germinated plant seed with developed roots and shoots of the plant’s first true leaves. “Microherbs provide health benefits because they contain essential fatty acids and fibre,” Al Muhairy says. Typically harvested 14 days after germination, they are fortified with the power needed for the full plant to develop.
“They are packed with flavour as well as a very high concentration of minerals and vitamins,” says Gebran Shoujaa from Italian Food Masters, an importer and distributor of Urban Cultivator’s grow-your-own-at-home microgreen appliances in the UAE. “Researchers have found that in some cases microgreens contain 40 times the level of nutrients than the fully grown plant’s counterparts.”
Working on a new research study with the University of Alberta, the team behind Urban Cultivator maintain that microgreens are well worth incorporating into our diets. The red cabbage has been found to typically contain six times more vitamin C, 40 times more vitamin E, and 69 times more vitamin K microform. Coriander micros are higher in free-radical-fighting, antioxidant-rich carotenoids. Sunflower sprouts are made up of 30 percent protein, while the winners in the battle of the microgreens are mini lettuce seedlings, boasting the highest antioxidant capacity across all varieties, especially if you harvest them seven days after germination.
Coriander, basil, beetroot, broccoli, buckwheat, chia, celery, dill, flax, kale – the list of options is lengthy when it comes to the microgreen. Perhaps this is why chefs have been using them for years to garnish with and add a note of flavour.
“Chefs primarily use microgreens to enhance the attractiveness and taste of their dishes owing to the delicate texture, colour and distinctive flavours of the young vegetables,” says Peter Green, head of food development at Jones the Grocer in Dubai. Now the trend is working its way beyond the fine-dining restaurant scene, into health conscious cafes such as Jones the Grocer who are keen to offer food that is healthy and tastes good. “Microgreens are growing in popularity in the UAE market, with a couple of companies even growing them in Dubai,” Green says. “One example is Badia Farms, which boasts the UAE’s first urban vertical farm cultivating gourmet greens.” Society Cafe & Lounge, Common Grounds, Comptoir 102 and OneLife cafe are among the eateries leading the charge in spreading the microgreens message.
It isn’t just the nutritional value of these mini veggies that is making this particular food trend catch on. Dubai blogger and photographer Samantha Louise Marshall first began growing her own microgreens to use as stylish garnishes on her food shoots, finding the simplicity appealing.
“I grow wheatgrass and cress from time to time in a really simple glass sprouting jar using packets of seeds,” she says. “I love that you just need water and no soil and that they grow fairly quickly and last a few days. If you use them up and want to take a break, you can just clean out your jar and restart when you want. It’s not like a plant you have to maintain, and a packet of seeds is enough for a few batches.”
New shoots need much less growing space to flourish, making growing microgreens and using them in our cooking a practical way of adding an extra dose of the good stuff into our diets. Unlike most vegetables people choose to grow at home, microgreens are as painless and low-maintenance as they come. All you need is a packet of seeds, some minerals to add to them and a jar – and you’re good to go.
“I find growing microgreens to be a great way to unwind and relax in today’s fast-paced environment,” Green says. “Additionally, they are quick to grow and require minimal cost, time and effort. I suggest sourcing a home microgreens kit and growing easier crops such as coriander and basil if it’s your first time.”
If you want to give it a go, companies such as Urban Cultivator are now making it easier for people to grow their own microgreens at home. Hailing from Vancouver, Canada, the team behind Urban Cultivator have developed small-scale indoor hydroponic units to bring the benefits to the masses. “It allows consumers to grow their own organic microgreens indoors, thus obtaining the freshest and most sustainable microgreens someone can get their hands on,” Shoujaa says. Supplying indoor gardens to UAE homes and internationally, the company is helping to catalyse the trend for growing microgreens at home.
Microgreens may well be reducing our carbon footprint, too. Easy to grow, fast yielding plants offer a homegrown solution to climate-damaging imports. “We call it the zero-mile diet because the microgreens do not have to travel halfway across the world to reach the end user any more,” Shoujaa says.
This also means that the microgreens you grow at home are the freshest you will find anywhere, because you consume them minutes or even seconds after harvesting them. They haven’t been air freighted across borders or shoved into the backs of lorries and darkened trucks – you see them grow from seed to shoot. “The freshly cut herbs straight from the punnet are always the best in taste,” Al Muhairysays.
If you are in need of further convincing to give your green fingers a flex, The Micro Gardener blog also highlights the convenience of the microgreen, affirming its adaptability to all climates. When growing microgreens at home, you can’t be let down by adverse weather conditions. All your seedlings need is access to good light, and you can harvest them year round for use in salads, sandwiches, soups and garnishes. As well as being a sustainable, nutrient-dense source of green goodness, your homegrown microgreens can add that final flare of finesse that will make your dish just that bit more flavourful and stylish. Your dinner guests – and Instagram followers – will thank you for it.
The Scope of Growth In Organic Farming In India
Pooja Mehta Dwivedi
Pooja Mehta Dwivedi, Founder, and MD, The Bombay Natural Company
The Scope of Growth In Organic Farming In India
As per industry reports, India organic food market, which currently sized at 6000 crores is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of over 25% during 2016-2021.
27 March 2018 by Pooja Mehta Dwivedi
The last couple of years have seen a massive growth of demand in the organic food industry, especially in the urban and fast-growing markets of India. The organic food industry in India which is currently in its initial stages of evolution is growing at a rapid rate of 25% - 30% Y-o-Y. High disposable income and increased health awareness are the key factors which have resulted in this augmented demand.
With this scenario, the domestic organic food market is projected to touch $1.36 billion mark by 2020.
How different is organic farming from regular farming?
The differences between organic farming methods and conventional farming are the methods used during food production. Organic farming works towards increasing sustainability and biodiversity and needs good soil and air quality. This must then be maintained by using natural growing practices, avoiding harmful chemicals and continued the practice of crop rotation along with other natural farming methods.
Organic agriculture is typically more profitable – up to 35% more than conventional farming. It also provides more rural employment opportunities because organic management is more labour intensive than conventional practices. For workers, though, the biggest advantage is that organic decreases their exposure to toxic agrochemicals.
The demand vs supply analysis of organic food brands in India
The organic food market in India is still at a nascent stage wherein we are noticing an increasing demand from end buyers but due to limited availability the supply remains slow. The major problem faced currently is that organic products are priced at a high rate which makes market penetration challenging. The limited availability of organic foods coupled with the fact that majority of sales is concentrated in larger cities shows that supply chains of organic food from farms to domestic consumers are not very well established. There is a lack of knowledge about organic products leading to a low penetration amongst potential customers.
Role of accelerator programs like Agri-Udaan
Agri-Udaan is a brilliant initiative by the Government of India to attract youth from rural India and train them so that they can add value to farmers produce. This indirectly brings more land under organic cultivation. With the Indian Government committed to the goal of doubling farmers income by 2022, several Indian agri-tech start-ups and ecosystem enablers have come forward to help India regain its status of being the “Golden Bird” using technologies such as AI, BIG Data, ML and more.
Upcoming trends which make organic farming a viable business model
There are of technologies being developed like refrigeration system powered by farm waste, AI Based deep tech solution for crop inspection and agricultural products grading, supply chain optimisation platforms, tech platform for rural entrepreneurs for demand-led agriculture, a wearable plant phenomics device for pre-detection of pests diseases and deficiencies prior to any physical damage to plant. With such innovations, organic farmers can merge nature and human creation to improve efficiency and protect produce.
The trend of organic and healthy eating is catching up again where an increasing number of Indian citizens have chosen a complete chemical free lifestyle and have turned towards eating natural and organic. We are seeing newer organic brands coming up which have traditional processing techniques, and all this is made possible due to the awareness spread by a lot of change makers, NGOs and organic food marketing companies.
As per industry reports, India organic food market, which currently sized at 6000 crores is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of over 25% during 2016-2021. Rising popularity and awareness within the younger generation and millennials is the reason behind the growth. In a country having 1.25 billion citizens, there is immense scope and opportunity for new brands to enter and work mutually for the growth of the industry, thus making it a rewarding opportunity for the investors to enter this space.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors' and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house
Canada: ‘Seed Voyage’ App Connects The Home Grower With The Urban Consumer
Canada: ‘Seed Voyage’ App Connects The Home Grower With The Urban Consumer
Linked by Michael Levenston
Seed Voyage Featured on CTV Toronto. Feb 2018
A grower could make about $500 on 100 square feet per summer
By Dushan Batrovic, Shawn Sowten
Seed Voyage Website
(Must see. Mike)
From their site:
Our platform is designed with one thing in mind – to connect growers and eaters so that they can buy and sell their locally grown produce. The home gardener signs up on seedvoyage.com and inputs two key things – their address and the foods they are growing. The local eater signs up and inputs their region of interest (for example, within 5 km of their house) and the foods they are interested in buying. When the produce is ripe and ready for harvest, the grower will send notification and any eaters with matching preferences will be alerted.
They will confirm purchase and pick up the goods at the growers house. All transactions are electronic so need to make change at the door. There are no fees for signing up, only a small transaction fee when goods are sold. Simple as that.
It’s a no-brainer; amazing quality and flavour. Homegrown foods picked at exactly the right time with no ripening on trucks. Even a generic veggie that is picked a few hours before eating tastes great. But specialized varietals like my Cherokee Purple tomatoes, which I grew last summer…amazing! You’ll start to wonder how those red spheres in the grocery store are even allowed to be called tomatoes. In the end, these are foods that are ultra-local and grown by passionate gardeners feeding their families. The difference in flavour and quality will blow you away.
Future Cities Have Green Roofs
Future Cities Have Green Roofs
Green roofs can provide several benefits, not only to the building itself but also to the city environment. Besides the mitigation of noise pollution or the moderation of temperatures inside buildings, vegetated roofs also help to filter and purify the air and offset overheating generated by the city. In addition, having a permeable surface minimizes the effects of floods and lessens the possibility of leaks. Being really as beneficial as they look the remaining question is: why aren’t we turning every unused and cemented rooftop into green spaces? Well, Copenhagen, San Francisco, and Paris have already started!
Starting at a city scale…
By 2009 Denmark was in charge of the UN Climate Change Conference COP15. During that period the focus on green roofs intensified and the city ended up setting a goal for urban design with green roofs in the Climate Plan of the City of Copenhagen. The mandate of green roofs for all Municipalities buildings was one of the guidelines. But today Copenhagen has more than 40 green roofs installed on a number of different types of buildings from residential condominiums to libraries to cruise terminals.
Also in 2009, Toronto City Council adopted a bylaw requiring and governing the construction of green roofs on new developments. This was first applied to new building permit applications for residential, commercial and institutional development but then extended to industrial buildings in 2012.
This year, 2016, San Francisco became the first city in USA where it is required that new buildings incorporate from 15 to 30 percent of roof space with solar or green roofs
and extending to the whole country…
Curiously, in the year that Paris hosted the COP21, France tried to approve a project law stipulating that any new building in a commercial area would have to install vegetation devices or renewable energy production on all or part of the roof. Although the approval of the law was widespread in 2015, the law for the biodiversity act and green roof statement has been slowed down by the Senate, which claimed lack of study on the negative impact of green roofs. But it seems now it is official and by 2017 “Bringing nature back into the city” with an“obligation for every new commercial development to integrate green roofs OR solar panels”. Some problems might come from this “or” as many developers might be more likely to choose solar, but it’s undeniable that this is a major step in the right direction. In turn Paris is taking this direction seriously as the Mayor Anne Hidalgo stipulated the goal of creating 100 hectares of living walls and green roofs by the year 2020.
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Farms Atop Skyscrapers Gradually Taking Root In Hong Kong
Farms Atop Skyscrapers Gradually Taking Root In Hong Kong
27 Mar 2018
Volunteers pick Indian lettuce on the roof of the 38-story Bank of America tower, in Hong Kong. (AP file photo)
High above downtown Hong Kong’s bustling, traffic-clogged streets, a group of office workers was toiling away on harvesting a bumper crop of lettuce atop a skyscraper.
This is rooftop farming taken to the extreme, and more about reaping happiness than providing food.
The volunteers were picking butter lettuce, Indian lettuce and Chinese mustard leaf in rows of low black plastic planters on a decommissioned helipad on the 146-meter-high roof of the 38-story Bank of America tower.
"It’s pretty dirty but still I really enjoy it,” said Catherine Ng, one of five volunteers who works for the property company managing the tower.
he farm is run by Rooftop Republic, a three-year-old startup whose founders are tapping growing interest in organic food and taking advantage of unused roof space in the cramped, high-rent Chinese city.
Hong Kong has rural suburbs, but farming only takes up 700 hectares of its land and agriculture accounts for 0.1 percent of its economic output. Rooftop Republic’s founders say the appetite for their services is growing among Hongkongers.
"We have been getting more and more interest from people who want to grow their own food,” said Michelle Hong, one of the founders. "A lot of it is triggered by concerns about food safety and the realization that a lot of the food they consume might be laden with pesticides. I think people want to have more control and also more trust.”
Rooftop Republic has set up on average one farm a month since its founding and now manages 36 covering more than 30,000 square feet, including one in mainland China, Hong said. It also provides workshops for companies, building owners, schools, and community groups.
The Bank of America farm was a milestone because it was the first in the city’s financial district. The company has since set up two more in the area and is looking at a few more sites, Hong said. Vegetables from the tower are donated to a food bank for uses in lunch boxes distributed to the needy. Some of its other farms are at hotels or restaurants, which use the herbs, eggplants and melons for dishes on their menus.
Plenty of other groups or individuals have started cultivating their own rooftop vegetable gardens, said Matthew Pryor, a Hong Kong University architecture professor who has counted at least 60 and thinks there are a lot more he does not know about.
Pryor’s research found 1,500 rooftop farmers in the city, cultivating a total area of about 1 ½ hectares. He thinks there’s potential for that to easily grow to 50,000 people working on a suitable rooftop area of 600 hectares.
He helped set up a farm on top of a university building where volunteers, mainly staff, grow tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, lettuce, dragonfruit, papaya, beans, peas and squash.
Pryor said he discovered through his research that their main product isn’t edible.
"The rooftop farms here produce virtually nothing” compared to Hong Kong’s overall consumption, Pryor said. "What they do produce, however, is happiness, and this social capital that they generate is enormous.”-AP
South Bronx Social Entrepreneur Henry Obispo Creates a Green Revolution and Sustainable Design, in Collaboration With Suny Farmingdale Students, for BORN JUICE
South Bronx Social Entrepreneur Henry Obispo Creates a Green Revolution and Sustainable Design, in Collaboration With Suny Farmingdale Students, for BORN JUICE
Born Juice is a plant-based Eatery and Juice bar coming this Summer
April 14, 2018 | Source: Born Juice
South Bronx Social Entrepreneur Henry Obispo creates a Green Revolution and sustainable design, in collaboration with Suny Farmingdale Students, for BORN JUICE
Mr. Henry Obispo
Volodymyr Zadorozhnyy (satorial studios)
NEW YORK, April 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Henry Obispo, a social entrepreneur who has set his future in building the first ever cold-pressed juice bar and plant-based eatery in the Bronx, NY with the help of SUNY Farmingdale Department of Urban Horticulture and Design.
Raised in the Bronx and born in the Dominican Republic, Henry Obispo is a product of a rich cultural topography, a community organizer, and an activist.
Mr. Obispo wanted to take it upon himself to find solutions to the oppressive realities around health in his community, considered one of the largest food deserts and the poorest congressional district in the United States.
After implementing a grant from the USDA, where Mr. Obispo looked for solutions to the food desert realities, access to food became a focal point and an obsession for Henry to create solutions for those social ills. The passion that Mr. Obispo has for his community has prompted Mr. Obispo to dream big and start a business which will benefit everyone in the Bronx.
The 14 students led by Professor Stevie Famulari of Farmingdale Department of Urban Horticulture and Design started designing the space which can be found at 2500 Third Avenue in Mott Haven. Each of the students will design and develop a green concept integrating green technology to promote sustainability.
This space will soon become "Born Juice", a juice bar & Plant-based eatery in the Bronx, which will serve fresh pressed juices, smoothies, vegan bowls, and express casual healthy foods. We all know that juices cleanse the body and is a temporary break from eating solid foods. Fresh juices from fruits and vegetables nourishes the body and is another way of detox which can recharge, rejuvenate and renew the system. The Bronx community has been missing this very important factor in their daily lives. Mr. Obispo has seen this ongoing situation for decades and decided to fill in the blanks.
Mr. Obispo focuses on creating a hyperlocal system, where food is grown and harvested by local youth, used and produced in food served to the community by a local workforce, in the quest to reverse many of the health disparities in one of the largest food deserts in the country.
Mr. Obispo states, "We want a model where you have sustainability, and not just in the food. Everything will be from local gardens, local farmers, and hydroponics, and there will be sustainability in the interior designs, too.”
Born Juice is a revolutionary project because of its zero-carbon footprint model. Born Juice is expected to incorporate green technology in the form of hydroponic gardens to grow the food, which is later harvested for their cold-pressed juices and food.
This project will educate the local youth about urban farming and hyper-local systems to empower the local population riddled with health disparities and awaken them to a new green reality, operating in their own neighborhood.
To learn more about the Born Juice project, please visit: http://www.bornjuice.com/
Contact Info:
Contact Name: Henry Obispo
Born Juice
2500 3rd Ave, Bronx
NY10454
www.bornjuice.com
info@bornjuice.com
Instagram: @bornjuice
Urban Farming Campuses To Bring Food Closer To Consumers
Ambitious plan: Nuffield Scholar Jan Vydra hopes a planned urban farming campus in Melbourne will be followed by others in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Sydney. Picture: David Geraghty
Urban Farming Campuses To Bring Food Closer To Consumers
BETHANY GRIFFITHS, The Weekly Times
April 12, 2018
FIRST-generation Melbourne farmer wants to share his knowledge on urban farming by building a university-like campus in every major Australian city.
Jan Vydra, from Australian Fresh Leaf Herbs, is drawing on his 2016 Nuffield Scholarship research to develop spaces where other farmers and growers can learn about urban farming and see how it works in a real-life setting.
“What we really want to do now is take that concept and build a campus in each capital city, so we can localise produce and provide jobs to people in the industry that’s in a different format,” Mr Vydra said.
Each facility will include vertical farms, teaching spaces and commercial production sites. The Victorian “campus”, which has been designed and already attracted investors, will be the first with plans for others in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Sydney to follow.
Mr Vydra is hoping to break ground at the end of this year.
“We really want to leave a legacy. As much as we want to run a great company and we want to keep our investors happy, we also want to give back to the industry and I think we’re positioned well because we’ve gone through all the trial and error of the technology over 10 years,” he said.
Mr Vydra is the co-founder of Australian Fresh Leaf Herbs, a 3.5ha farm producing $14 million turnover annually across 60 different products.
The business was founded in 2008 with William Pham growing 2000 bunches of basil.
Two years ago Mr Vydra completed a Nuffield Scholarship funded study tour. “I was looking at how we can cultivate more horticulture produce per square metre with less natural inputs,” Mr Vydra said.
“I also picked up a lot of different things about agriculture and how we could actually do it better in Australia and not just about urban farming.”
Visiting Indonesia, Japan, Israel, Holland and the US, Mr Vydra took away lessons on the community and cultural impact of urban farming, as well as how purchasing habits of consumers have changed.
“Something I’m focusing on is how can I get really close to my consumer and how can I get what they need, and how can I be that authentic and trusted producer,” Mr Vydra said.