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"Greening" The Green Monster: Fenway Park Farms
The Boston Red Sox, Recover Green Roofs, and Green City Growers took “going green” to a whole new level
Image Credit: Green City Growers/https://greencitygrowers.com/fenway-farms/fenway-farms-faq/
The Boston Red Sox, Recover Green Roofs, and Green City Growers took “going green” to a whole new level when they transformed Fenway Park (the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball history) into prime real estate for urban farming.
Fenway Farms, the result of their successful collaboration, serves as a benchmark for large-scale urban farming operations. The rooftop garden project started as an initiative sponsored by the Boston Red Sox, who felt compelled to give back to fans and members of the local community in the greenest way imaginable. By turning the rooftop of the Green Monster, a beloved section of the ballpark's seating area, into an urban farm, the team was able to repurpose an underutilized space into a creative way to give back to their community.
Fenway Farms is situated atop a 5,000 square foot roof right above the Red Sox front offices. Completed within a month, the farm installation process only cost $200,000, proving that "going green" doesn't always need to be a costly project.
The farm grows close to 6,000 lbs. of organic produce and herbs every year using a milk crate container growing system. While most of the produce collected from the gardens supplies Fenway Park's in-park restaurants, a significant portion of the fresh produce is donated to the local community through the non-profit food rescue organization Lovin’ Spoonfuls. Fenway Farms further promotes environmental stability by mitigating the effects of air pollution, conserving energy, lessening the impact of the “Urban Heat Island Effect,” and managing stormwater runoff.
Fenway Farms is a true team effort. Recover Green Roofs designed, built, and installed the rooftop farming system, while Green City Growers handles all aspects of farm management. The collaborative work of both companies has won them prestigious environmental awards. In 2017, Recover Green Roofs received the Intensive Institutional Award of Excellence and Green City Growers received the Walden Woods Project’s Environmental Challenge Award in recognition of their work on Fenway Farms.
'Green Monster' Is Taking On A Whole New Meaning At Fenway Park
The luscious green produce at Fenway Park
Stacy Buchanan
August 31, 2018
On a hot summer day at Fenway Park there’s a different kind of team, hard at work, on a very different type of field. High above Yawkey Way, along the 3rd Base side of the stadium, you’ll find Fenway Farms, a 5,000-square-foot working farm that's growing produce that is being served at Fenway and donated to a local food rescue. Instead of Wally or home runs, we’re talking about peas, kale, and scallions, to name just a few of the many varieties of produce growing here.
Jessie Banhazl, CEO & Founder of Green City Growers
Stacy Buchanan
The relatively lightweight milk crate farm was installed by Recover Green Roofs and is managed by Green City Growers (GCG), who also maintain the largest rooftop farm in New England atop the Whole Foods in Lynnfield. GCG was introduced to Linda Henry after winning an award through the Henry Foundation, which led to the Fenway Farms partnership. A spot had already been designated by Henry as a potential green roof, and a little bit of that magic that lives in Fenway must have been at work because the space happened to be furnished with perfect growing conditions for a rooftop farm.
The milk crate system at Fenway Farms
Stacy Buchanan
“The milk crate system was chosen because it is very mobile and modular, like Legos,” says Jessie Banhazl, CEO & Founder of Green City Growers. There are over 2,000 milk crates and the small boxes can be arranged to take up every available space, which is helpful given the unusual angles and shape of the roof. But there’s big return for such a relatively small farming space – the farm currently cultivates about 6,000 pounds of produce annually!
“I’m so spoiled now,” says Fenway’s Executive Chef, Ron Abell. “The care and nurturing [GCG] put into it, the organic nature, it’s incredible.” When asked his favorite part of having Fenway Farms in his operation, Abell says, “The food travels 100 feet and it’s in my kitchen. You don’t have to do much to it and it tastes amazing.”
“Luckily, baseball season happens to align perfectly with the growing season in New England,” Banhazl explains, so the farm operates primarily while the park is in full swing. That means fans can often see the farmers at work, harvesting produce or tending to the crops. It is also one of the most popular stops on the park tour, where approximately 10,000 people a week get to see “the best farm team in baseball” as the guide punned to the group who passed through during our visit.
Fenway’s Executive Chef Ron Abell picks peppers from the rooftop farm
Stacy Buchanan
The farm is split into two spaces. There’s an area of closely controlled farm rows that maintain the strict standards required by the park’s food production company, Aramark, and grows about 35% of the produce served in the EMC Club throughout the season. Then there’s the vineyard vines deck, which grows produce around its perimeter and between event spaces. This area hosts youth and community engagement programs, like the Fenway Rooftop Sessions, and 100% of the produce grown here is donated to Lovin’ Spoonfuls, the largest food rescue agency in New England.
Patrons of the ballpark tour admire the rooftop farm
Stacy Buchanan
Chef Abell, in his 12th season at Fenway Park, creates a new menu at the EMC Club for every home stand. “I like to experiment,” he says. “Being this close to the produce really gets your creative juices flowing and opens your mind to what you can do with it. Like kohlrabi – we use it in root vegetable hash, shaved on to salads, and even pickled – it’s great!”
The culinary team strives to be as zero-waste as possible, using as much of the produce grown as possible – carrot tops in pesto, beet greens in salads, and a variety of preserving techniques for whatever can’t be used fresh during the baseball season. Late-season tomatoes are roasted and frozen for stocks and braises, chilies are turned into hot sauce, and cucumbers and green tomatoes are pickled. “What we harvest here can make its way around to almost anywhere in the ballpark,” Chef Abell said. Look out for items, such as a kale Caesar wrap made with kale from the farm next time you’re at Fenway.
Fresh herbs growing in the vineyard vines club
Stacy Buchanan
The choice of what to grow on this small-scale farm is an annual collaboration between Green City Growers, Chef Abell, and his team. The variety is impressive, producing everything from hearty greens and root vegetables to French breakfast radishes, and of course, copious amounts of scallions for Chef Abell’s infamous scallion pancakes. There are even strawberries that grow twice a season, to the delight of the park’s pastry staff.
Chef Abell garners a lot of creative inspiration and culinary satisfaction from the rooftop farm
Stacy Buchanan
We were lucky enough to visit Fenway on one of the biweekly days when the folks from Green City Growers work on the farm. A few farmers picked the day’s impressive haul, which included 30 pounds of kale, 20 pounds of Swiss chard, and 20 pounds of scallions, as well as heirloom tomatoes, Italian and Oriental eggplant, chives, thyme, mint, sorrel, and parsley.
Heirloom tomatoes growing in milk crates
Stacy Buchanan
They were also planting new mid-season crops of carrots and radishes. One of the farmers is Production Site Specialist Carissa Unger, who talked about the particularly good soil used here. “It’s the best soil I’ve ever worked with. It’s wet and fluffy.” The proprietary organic blend from the Vermont Compost Company was specifically chosen for its light weight, yet superior nutrient and moisture retention. The quality of the soil is one important reason why the farm can successfully grow large plants, such as heirloom tomatoes, in tiny 12x12-inch milk crates.
Production Site Specialist Carissa Unger turns the soil
Stacy Buchanan
This isn’t just another trendy undertaking by a high-profile organization. It’s real food that’s grown and served right at Fenway Park. That’s not to say that the posh location has no bearing on the success of the project. It’s obvious that the budget is plentiful and the maintenance top-notch. Not many projects of this scale go from concept to fruition in about 8 months, but that kind of dedication is exactly what’s making Fenway Park a leader in sustainability initiatives.
The drip irrigation system is the most efficient and sustainable style, distributing the water directly to the roots of the plants, avoiding waste through evaporation. The system also has weather sensors that deactivate the irrigation when it rains. Other sustainability benefits include improved building insulation, help with storm water runoff, and reduced pest-management needs. While the farm still has to contend with some flying pests, not a single four-legged digging creature has made its way up onto the roof, making it a bit easier for the farmers to protect and maintain the crops.
The drip irrigation system at the rooftop farm
Stacy Buchanan
The only unfulfilled wish the team has is even more space to grow a larger percentage of the produce consumed at the park. The obvious success of the project means some form of expansion isn’t out of the question. But for now, partnerships with local farms, such as Ward’s Berry Farm in Sharon, provide larger quantities and produce that can’t grow in milk crates.
And make no mistake, the term 'Green Monster' will continue to take on a whole new meaning in this unique corner of 'America’s Most Beloved Ballpark'. We encourage you to take a hike up to farm to see what’s on deck during your next Fenway visit.
The rooftop farm at Fenway
Stacy Buchanan
Sacramento Is Making Urban Agriculture A Way of Life
California’s capital city has become the nation’s farm-to-fork capital, and in the process is making food more accessible, equitable, and just.
September 12, 2018
As the food movement gains strength and farm-to-fork practices become increasingly popular, many cities across the United States are investing in urban agriculture, both to attract tourists and to improve community health. For example, in Detroit, which The Washington Post has dubbed a “food mecca,” advocates are using urban farms and community gardens to help ease food insecurity. And, in Boston, legislation to make urban farming easier for has contributed to the city’s reputation as a “haven for organic food” and helped make local produce more available to low-income residents.
Yet few places have been more vocal in their efforts to expand urban agriculture as Sacramento, California. In fact, if you Google “farm to fork,” the top result will take you to a website about Sacramento’s initiatives to support local food.
“Farm-to-Fork isn’t a passing fad or a marketing slogan in the Sacramento region—it’s the way we live,” the website explains, noting that the area’s ideal climate, ability to grow food year-round, and 1.5 million acres of active farmland make it an agricultural leader nationally and globally.
Now, as a recent case study from the Berkeley Media Studies Group (a program of the Public Health Institute) shows, advocates are working to expand that narrative. Instead of focusing on primarily on food, they aim to highlight the people who grow and sell it—and to make sure that everyone benefits equally from the area’s bounty.
Photo courtesy of BMSG.
“Sacramento has branded itself as America’s farm-to-fork capital,” Robyn Krock, project manager at Valley Vision, a regional nonprofit that works to improve the livability of the Sacramento region, said at a recent city council meeting. “But,” she added, “the question that gets repeatedly asked is, ‘are we farm-to-every-fork?’”
Krock is just one of many local advocates who are highly committed to equity. They see urban agriculture not just as a feel-good trend for those with money and time to participate, but as a tool for promoting social justice.
Make no mistake: Krock and many other advocates and policymakers are working to ensure the new narrative is not just lip service, that it is rooted in robust community organizing and policy change. The strategies they have undertaken, supported by an infusion of funds from The California Endowment, have helped coalitions of local advocates transform Sacramento’s urban farming landscape in recent years to better support healthy food programs and access.
“I know that this is important,” Brenda Ruiz, a mother, a chef, and a longtime Sacramento resident who is active in the city’s Slow Food chapter, said at a council meeting when an ordinance that would reduce barriers to participating in urban farming was up for a vote. “It’s important for families to have access to fresh food; it’s important for families to consider their neighborhoods walkable and social areas where they can convene and share stories around a garden space; it’s important for our kids and young people to see this as normal for folks to be growing food and exchanging over that.”
Following strong organizing efforts from advocates, the council approved that ordinance in 2015, making it legal for people to grow and sell produce to consumers directly from their properties and from temporary farm stands as large as 120 square feet. A few months later, the council passed another ordinance offering tax incentives for people to convert vacant lots for agricultural use. And in January 2017, following the city’s lead, Sacramento County passed similar regulations, allowing all residents in urban and suburban areas to legally grow and sell produce, as well as keep bees, chickens, and ducks on small lots.
The Fremont Community Garden in Sacramento. (Photo CC-licensed by Annie & John)
“If you don’t have food in your bellies, you can’t do anything else, so I look at it as the foundation of society,” said Chanowk Yisrael, whose family runs an urban farm from their home in Sacramento’s South Oak Park neighborhood.
Crafting the Message, Shaping the Policy
Yisrael and other advocates have been following this foundational approach in their work to make sure that urban ag policies and programs are inclusive, especially for Sacramento residents who live in neighborhoods with less access to fresh, affordable food.
For example, although the city ultimately approved the urban agriculture ordinances, that did not happen without a strong push from local organizers, including through the ordinance language itself. Advocates crafted the language to maximize selling hours and participation—a task that involved rewriting 70-80 pages of zoning code. Although they could have approached the city and asked them to draft an ordinance, that posed some risks.
“[The city’s] first draft is probably going to be more conservative than your goal as an advocate,” said Matt Read, one of the ordinance’s authors. He also noted that the process of drafting and passing policies can help people develop skills in advocating for themselves and their communities. “It’s a really good opportunity for people to learn about local government and the laws that affect the built environment,” he said.
With draft language in hand, advocates then crafted messaging materials, pitched stories to local media, arranged meetings with public officials to get their buy-in, and used a combination of traditional organizing tactics and social media to get a wide range of residents—including immigrant farmers—engaged and willing to testify at council meetings in support of the urban ag ordinances. Advocates delivered 300 signatures in favor of the ordinances and testified about how the policy changes could improve health, equity, and community sustainability, among other issues.
“Right now, barriers such as zoning restrictions and limited land use hinder our communities’ ability to farm and contribute to the local economy,” Sue Vang, who works with Hmong Innovating Politics, a grassroots organization that works with local leaders and underserved communities, especially Hmong and Southeast Asian communities, told the council.
“The urban ag ordinance can help mitigate these barriers and revitalize low-income neighborhoods, provide solutions to blight caused by unmaintained vacant lots, and, most importantly, connect the very diverse—linguistically, racially, ethnically—communities within Sacramento.” Vang also spoke more personally: “It would also give my family the opportunity to sell the produce that my mom grows in her backyard.”
Broadway Sol Gardens in Sacramento. (Photo courtesy BMSG)
As advocates work to make sure that their policy wins translate into increased participation in urban agriculture, they are simultaneously running youth programs to develop the next generation of advocates and make the future of urban farming more robust, diverse, and inclusive.
These include a variety of after-school programs, school gardens, and the development of a new Urban Agriculture Academy, or core learning trajectory, at Luther Burbank High School, which has a student body that is 97 percent youth of color, according to California Department of Education data. Launched in September 2017, the Academy provides a stronger foundation for students who want to enter an agriculture-related career, gives young entrepreneurs the knowledge and skills they need to set up their own small businesses, and increases opportunities for students of color.
“Culturally, we need diversity for the field to innovate and excel,” said Todd McPherson, who was instrumental in creating the Academy and currently works as its coordinator.
Urban Ag Lessons from Sacramento
While more work remains in their effort to increase access to healthy food—and region-wide farming changes may halt the growth of farm-to-fork in Sacramento—advocates have made tremendous progress over the past few years. How, then, can other places push for similar changes? Below are a few lessons from those on the ground in Sacramento.
Collaborate. Collaborate. Collaborate. This includes working not only with other advocates but also with city or county officials and with residents, who should be involved as early in the process as possible. “As an organization that was beat down, but not defeated by the recession, I would say the main way that we survived as an organization was by sharing resources and coming together with other organizations to carry out a project,” said Davida Douglas, executive director of Alchemist CDC, a Sacramento-based nonprofit active in the food space. “I think for a lot of projects it’s necessary in terms of sustainability and feasibility.”
When creating solutions, context matters. Without knowing the history or context of a problem, urban ag advocates risk developing solutions that are ill-informed or short-sighted.
This lesson is especially crucial in regards to race. “Not all [advocates] are aware of structured racialization or institutional racism, and so you end up with unintended consequences,” Yisrael said, referring to zoning restrictions and other policies that have historically fueled segregation and led to the formation of food deserts and “food swamps,” which have an abundance of junk food and a dearth of healthier options, in many low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
Yisrael recalled an example of advocates opening a farm stand without fully understanding the community space in which they were trying to operate. Although the farm stand offered healthy and affordable food options, it was surrounded by convenience stores like 7-11 and other vendors selling foods like fried chicken, doughnuts, and alcohol. “There was no way we could win that fight,” he said.
Stay focused on the big picture, despite setbacks. Social change can take years or decades. Whether it’s establishing a new farmers’ market or passing a series of ordinances that help remove barriers and reshape people’s ideas about what is possible, McPherson emphasized that these victories speak to “the power of small groups” and show that they can accomplish major feats when they work together and persist in the face of adversity.
More lessons from and details about how Sacramento’s healthy food advocates are working to expand urban agriculture are available in the Berkeley Media Studies Group’s full case study.
The Rise Of The Urban Rooftop
With space at a premium, cities are exploring new ways to make better use of their rooftops.
The rooftops of our cities are wowefully under-utilised, despite the constant-battle for land (Image credit: Shutterstock)
With space at a premium, cities are exploring new ways to make better use of their rooftops.
Our cities have never been denser, taller, or busier than they are now, and with that, comes the constant battle for land. Whether you’re a city dweller, developer, transport planner, or farmer, you’re forced to compete for dwindling amounts of available space. And with two-thirds of the world’s population predicted to live in cities by 2050, the stress on urban infrastructure looks set to outpace even the most carefully-laid plans. But if we look at aerial images of any city center, we can quickly spot plenty of unused space – the rooftops. Speaking to Scientific American, Steven Peck from a non-profit called Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, describes the roofscapes of our cities as “the last urban frontier – (representing) 15 to 35 % of the total land area.”
So what can we use this precious resource for? In a growing number of high-density cities, some of it is dedicated to recreation – everything from bars and pools, to soccer pitches and running tracks can now be found atop skyscrapers. Others host smog-eating roof tiles or questionable wind turbines, while in China, a large shopping mall has 25 villas on its roof. But when a rooftop offers access to sunlight, there are two more obvious candidates for its use – agriculture and solar power.
Green Cities
Green roofs have been growing in popularity for more than a decade, and in some cases, growing in scale too – atop a convention center in Manhattan sits the city’s largest, covering an area of 89,000 m2. Usually comprised of planted beds, or carpet-like tiles that encouraged the growth of low profile vegetation, green roofs can provide a habitat for birds and insects in an otherwise hostile environment. They also act as thermal insulation for the building, and reduce storm water runoff that can otherwise cause havoc in urban sewers.
Green roofs come with the added benefit of mitigating the dreaded urban heat island effect, whereby, as a result of heat-absorbing materials like asphalt and concrete, cities can be several degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside. In contrast, trees and green spaces can absorb shortwave radiation, and use it to evaporate water from their leaves – a kind of ‘double cooling’ effect. There are countless studies that back up this idea. One of the most interesting came from researchers at the University of Georgia. In 2015, they showed not only that ‘green’ cities are cool cities, but that networks of small urban green spaces, such as parks, gardens and green roofs, were more effective at reducing a city’s temperature than a singular park of the equivalent size.
In some European and US cities, councils now offer significant financial incentives to developers who install a green roof – in Hamburg, building owners can receive subsidies of 30–60% of its installation costs. And from 2020, green roofs will be considered compulsory for all new, large-scale builds in the city. (CONTINUED...)
uilding-intergrated PVs are growing in popularity. But are they always the best option? (Photo by Thomas Imo/Photothek via Getty Images)
As food security and urban nutrition creep ever-higher on the agenda for the United Nations, there’s also a worldwide movement of using green roofs for hyper-local food production. In regions with suitable climates, hundreds of different vegetables, fruits, herbs and salad leaves can be grown on rooftops. Beehives and chicken coops are also becoming commonplace amongst the high-rises. But not all rooftop farms are equal, as we’ll discuss.
Power Up
But first, what about solar power? With so many cities now divesting from fossil fuels, and the costs of solar panels dropping dramatically, photovoltaic (PV) systems have become the ‘go to’ option for generating distributed power in built-up areas. And, even with standard commercial panels, the energy gains are dramatic. The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have estimated that rooftop PV systems could generate almost 40% of electricity demands nationwide. NREL also developed a very cool visualization tool called PVWatts to help people discover if solar panels would work for them. In 2012, Dutch researchers calculated that building-integrated photovoltaics could deliver 840 TWh of electricity – that’s more than a fifth of the total annual demand for all of the EU-27 countries.
In 2011, a fascinating map was published by the City University of New York. Assembled from images taken by a LIDAR-enabled (Light Detection and Ranging) aircraft, it showed that at the time, 66.4% of New York’s buildingshad roof space suitable for commercial photovoltaic systems. Furthermore, they estimated that, even with NYC’s changeable weather, rooftop installations could meet close to 14% of the city’s annual electricity consumption.
And cities have certainly taken note of this data – in many cases, making such installations compulsory, as in Sao Paulo, where Brazil’s Ministry of Cities announced that future low-income housing developments should include rooftop photovoltaics.
Which one to choose?
There’s no doubt that in both cases, a network of ‘productive rooftops’ could benefit the local community by supplying a portion of a necessary resource – either food or electricity – while also reducing their environmental burden. But is one better than the other? (CONTINUED...)
This was the question posed by researchers from MIT and the University of Lisbon in a recent paper in the journal Cities. Focusing on the rooftops of a mixed-use neighborhood in Lisbon, they carried out a Cost-Benefit Analysis for four scenarios – 1. Open-air rooftop farming, 2. Rooftop farming in low-tech greenhouses, 3. ‘Controlled environment agriculture’ (farming in high-tech greenhouses) or 4. Solar PV energy generation. Starting with existing data on everything from installation costs and resources used, to carbon footprint and yield, they modelled the impact that each installation would have on the local community over a period of 50 years.
The researchers took a footprint of one square meter of roofing, considered a population of 17,500 residents, and for the farms, looked only at a single crop – tomatoes. The fruit is not only incredibly popular in the Portuguese diet – with an average of 10.4 kg eaten per year, per person – there’s also a large body of data available on their growing requirements and yields. For solar power, they considered standard single-crystalline silicon PV modules, arranged on flat or pitched roofs. They also assumed that the PVs installation would act as part of the grid – in other words, though generated locally, the electricity would be distributed via existing infrastructure.
Urban farming might add value to a neighbourhood far beyond what had been previously assumed (Photo by John S Lander/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Here are a few highlights from their study:
The benefits of food production varied according to the supply chain, except for high-tech rooftop farms, which were predicted to be profitable regardless. Open-air and low-tech greenhouses were found to only profit when the crops are sold directly to consumers.
If the demand for tomatoes in Lisbon was to be met through rooftop farming, you’d require 1.89 square meters for organic field cultivation (#1), 0.37 m2 for soil-less cultivation in unconditioned greenhouses (#2), or 0.15 m2 for controlled-environment agriculture (#3)
A rooftops farm could potentially create five times as many local jobs as a rooftop PV system, but would involve much higher operation and maintenance costs
The electricity yield for PVs installed on south-oriented unshaded rooftops was calculated to be approximately 300 kWh/m2/year.
So, both options seem pretty good. But it’s when we look at the bigger picture that the differences start to show. I’ve written about the questionable profitability of urban farming in the past, but that was only ever as measured on individual farmers, which – I say, with the benefit of hindsight – doesn’t make all that much sense in the context of a city.
This study, however, takes a broader, and much more sensible view – it looks at rooftop installations as part of an interconnected network. And it’s which measures the overall value – in terms of economics and the environment – to both the building owner, and the community around it. And by looking at it that way, they concluded that for Lisbon, the use of rooftops for food production could yield significantly higher local value than solar PV energy generation or standard green roofs. Of course, this is very site-specific – in another city, you might come to exactly the opposite conclusion, but that’s kind of the point. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to make cities more sustainable, and anyone who tells you otherwise is massively over-simplifying a complex issue.
There are lots of things that will help anywhere – e.g. moving from private cars to mass transit, making renewable energy the default option, being smarter with how we use water, reducing our reliance on concrete, minimizing our waste footprint, and reserving single-use plastics for very, very specific applications. But when it comes to ‘other’ questions, like should we use our rooftops for energy generation or farming, the answers are a lot less black-and-white. By adopting research like the study I’ve featured here, we can get much closer to making the right decision for our specific circumstances. The authors said that their study “…aims to provide decision-makers with a basis for systematic and integrated comparison of these productive uses of rooftops.” Now, all I hope is that some of those decision makers start using it.
Grow Your Veggies At Home, Without Soil
Koay (left) and co-founder Johanson Chew turned a hobby into a career. (Photos by Low Yen Yeing/EdgeProp.my)
Growing your own vegetables could be fun and help you get the freshest greens to your dining table, but not everyone has the luxury of space to have their own vegetable plot at home.
However, with the hydroponic system, city dwellers could enjoy harvesting their own vegetables even with limited space.
With rising concerns over food safety and security, planting your own vegetables makes perfect sense and City Farm co-founder Jayden Koay believes that growing your own food at home will be the trend of the future for urbanites.
“The best way to keep your vegetables fresh is to keep them alive. The best is to pluck the vegetable, cook and serve it straight away,” he tells EdgeProp.my.
The two-year-old City Farm was initially established to offer fresh vegetables to the public but has evolved into a solutions provider to urbanites who want to become “city farmers”.
The outfit was formed by three electrical engineering graduates from the Malaysia Multimedia University including Koay. Growing their own food was first a hobby but quickly turned into a business. They believe that with the right knowledge and equipment, everyone can be urban farmers.
Unlike conventional planting, hydroponics is a soilless cultivation method of growing plants in a water-based and nutrient-rich solution as well as other inert medium such as rockwool, clay pellets and peat moss as a support to the roots.
Koay notes that the traditional way of using soil could cause soil contamination in the long run, due to the use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers. A polluted plot of land could take around 20 years to undergo natural soil treatment.
Part of the vegetables in City Farm are grown using Nutrient Film Technique.
“As the population grows and new agricultural land becomes scarce, fresh produce will be less and the quality of the produce will degrade. We will then be heavily exposed to preserved vegetables and processed food but all these can be avoided if we could self-supply,” he says.
Challenges
The challenge in maintaining a vertical farm is in ensuring the quality of the water; hygiene management; and pest control.
The hydroponic method may be cleaner and easier to manage than soil planting but it could still attract pests such as mosquitoes and spider mites, hence discipline is required to manage the vertical farm.
The seedling transplantation is another tough process as the seedlings are vulnerable to environmental changes and water quality. The ideal environment is a cold yet well-ventilated environment.
“Those using the balcony to grow their vegetables could choose the wicking system and opt to grow local vegetables which could stand our hot weather. The balcony is suitable for hydroponics as it has good ventilation,” Koay offers.
As for indoor hydroponic systems, air-conditioning and lighting are essential to create a controlled environment. Consumers could choose to plant highland vegetables or micro greens.
For commercial usage, hydroponic vegetables take about four weeks to harvest, but for self-consumption, the vegetables could be harvested in the second or third week.
Micro greens (left) and Ice Plant (right) grown in the hydrotrays
Don’t start planting your favourite veggie
The common mistake among beginners is the tendency to grow their favourite vegetable from the get-go which are often difficult to care for, rather than easier options.
“They will then feel disappointed and give up after a few tries, hence the best way is to start with easy-to-grow vegetables such as Choy Sum, kangkung and Bok Choy as well as herbs such as basil.
“They could move on to the more difficult plants such as tomatoes and chili padi or highland plants such as butterhead and chamomile once they are more equipped with experience and knowledge.
“So far, butterhead lettuce is one of the most challenging vegetables on my list as it requires extra care and grows slowly. The leaves will easily turn yellow or have burnt tips without proper care, hence the price is higher than other lettuces,” Koay says.
According to him, the average cost of hydroponic vegetable planting is around RM40 per pot, including the seeds, nutrients and the reusable equipment.
To encourage the concept of “farm to table”, City Farm has collaborated with 12 café operators in providing hydroponic solutions at their eateries, enabling patrons to purchase the fresh vegetables or pick the vegetables for the restaurant to cook on the spot.
The freshest way of eating vegetables: from farm to table.
“Currently, we have completed two vertical farms in two cafes. One is in Petaling Jaya, the other is in Seri Kembangan,” he says.
The vertical farm comprises multi-tier shelves of hydro trays with planting pots and LED lighting. It enables the café operators to grow at least 28 pots of vegetables, depending on the type of vegetables. Leafy salad greens such as butterhead, Arugula and Green Coral are the most popular vegetables that consumers will purchase off the rack, says Koay.
The vertical farm could also serve as a green wall in the cafe, creating a green and natural indoor environment, he adds.
Besides helping restaurants set up vertical farms, City Farm also organises monthly classes teaching city folk to grow their own vegetables.
Growing your own vegetables provides the pleasure of reaping the fruit from your labour. It can be fun and you do not have to worry about it being unsafe for your health.
This story first appeared in the EdgeProp.my pullout on Sept 7, 2018. You can access back issues here.
VEGETABLES DINING SPACE HYDROPONIC CITY FARM MALAYSIA MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY
Imagining The Impossible: The Futuristic Designs of Vincent Callebaut
New Atlas takes a look at Vincent Callebaut's most interesting architectural designs.
July 24th, 2018
New Atlas takes a look at Vincent Callebaut's most interesting architectural designs (Credit: Vincent Callebaut Architectures)
Sometimes outlandish, often fantastical, but always compelling, Vincent Callebaut's projects range from realizable ideas like towers covered in greenery to conceptual works depicting a near-future in which architecture, technology, and nature are blended to make cities a more pleasant – and sustainable – place to live.
The Belgian architect heads his firm Vincent Callebaut Architectures in Paris, France. Over the years he has developed a recognizable design language that draws inspiration from nature and makes liberal use of honeycomb patterns and complex geometry. He seems poised for greater prominence now though, as at least two of his projects are due to be built in the next few years.
Let's take a look at some of his most interesting designs.
5 Farming Bridges
Now that the so-called Islamic State has been expelled from Mosul, Iraq, the reconstruction of the city can begin. The 5 Farming Bridges proposal involves rebuilding a like number of bridges destroyed during the fighting and using them as residential units and urban farms. Existing rubble would be used as building material, with flying drones and spider-like robots doing the actual construction.
Manta Ray
The Manta Ray proposal envisions a manta ray-shaped ferry terminal in Seoul, South Korea. The remarkable-looking building would float in place to deal with seasonal flooding and sport a huge roof covered with a solar power array, along with a wind turbine farm. Biodegradable waste and high-tech water turbines would transform the river's kinetic energy into power too – all of which would allow the ferry terminal to power itself and send a surplus to Seoul.
2050 Paris Smart City
Created for a competition seeking ideas to turn the City of Light into a City of Green in the coming decades, 2050 Paris Smart City calls for 15 new sustainable towers to be built on the rooftops of existing buildings on the city's famous Rue De Rivoli. The towers would feature residential units and sport dragonfly-shaped solar panels on their facade, providing all required electricity for the project.
Nautilus Eco-Resort
The Nautilus Eco-Resort is a paradise imagined for the Philippines that would allow well-heeled tourists to vacation without polluting the planet (excepting on the flight there, presumably). The whole thing would be arranged into a shape inspired by the Fibonacci sequence and include a dozen spiral hotel towers that rotate to follow the sun. Nearby, a like number of sea snail-shaped buildings would include exhibition spaces and hotels, while at its center would be a large timber building covered with vegetable gardens and orchards.
Tour & Taxis
Callebaut's Tour & Taxis sees the Belgian architect propose a return to his home country to transform a former industrial area in Brussels into a vibrant sustainable community. The area would comprise three ski jump-shaped high-rises that would be topped by solar panels and covered in greenery. Other notable elements include wind turbines, rainwater harvesting, and the production of fruit and vegetables.
Hyperions
Hyperions consists of a cluster of connected timber towers in New Delhi, India, that are named after, and take design cues from, the world's tallest living tree. It will boast extensive greenery and enable occupants to grow their own vegetables on balconies, as well as the facades, the rooftops, and in specialized greenhouses. The interior is taken up by apartments, student housing, and office space, and it will all be powered by solar panels. According to Callebaut, this one is going to be built and is due to be completed by 2022.
Agora Garden Tower
It can be difficult to imagine how exactly all these renders would translate into brick and mortar buildings, but Taipei's Agora Garden Tower shows the way. Sporting a twisting form inspired by DNA's double helix shape, the building twists 4.5 degrees each floor, turning a total of 90 degrees in all. Once completed, it'll feature 23,000 trees, as well as a rainwater capture system and solar power.
Plans Advancing For $16M-$17M High-Tech Greenhouse Along Prince Street Garage
TIM STUHLDREHER | Staff Writer
September 4, 2018
Plans for a hydroponic vertical greenhouse in downtown Lancaster are moving ahead, its backers say, and the facility, budgeted at $16 million to $17 million, could start operating in the fall of 2020.
“This is our flagship project,” said Corey Fogarty, president of the nonprofit Lancaster Urban Farming Initiative.
The aim is not only to produce fresh, healthy vegetables in an environmentally friendly and economically sustainable manner but to employ people with physical and developmental disabilities as part of a diverse, inclusive workforce.
Nona Yehia, co-founder and CEO of Vertical Harvest, the Wyoming-based company partnering on the project, said it has the potential “to create a model that can affect communities all over the globe.”
Lancaster Chamber President Tom Baldrige said he’s impressed by the way the project combines Lancaster County’s agricultural heritage with the area’s expanding high-tech capabilities.
“It sets a vision for our future,” he said.
West Orange Street site eyed
Fogarty is an experienced entrepreneur; he is managing partner of the Federal Taphouse, among other endeavors.
The greenhouse would be built on a narrow strip of Lancaster Parking Authority property on West Orange Street along the facade of the Prince Street Garage.
Fogarty credits former Mayor Rick Gray with originating the idea, saying Gray suggested it when Lancaster UFI met with him a few years ago to discuss rooftop farming.
In 2016, the parking authority board gave the go-ahead for a feasibility study. Last month, after a follow-up presentation, the board agreed to begin contract negotiations for use of the tract.
For a vertical greenhouse, "it's almost uncanny how perfect it is," Fogarty said, with its central location and copious southern exposure.
Indeed, the layout would be almost identical to Vertical Harvest of Jackson Hole, a 13,500-square-foot structure adjoining a parking garage in Jackson, Wyoming. Opening in 2016, it has ironed out various technical kinks and converted skeptics, including a local Tea Party official.
Lancaster would be Vertical Harvest's second location. Originally, a greenhouse similar in size to Jackson's was envisioned here, with a budget of roughly $5 million. The plan has since scaled up considerably, to about 42,000 square feet.
It would be five or six stories high, and roughly 30 feet wide, Fogarty and Yehia said. A rendering shows it extending over much of the block, pedestrians strolling underneath.
It would grow crops year-round, conservatively yielding about 200,000 pounds a year, Yehia said, including vine vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers and the like), leafy greens and microgreens — high-nutrition vegetables harvested early in the growing cycle.
They would be sold to groceries and local restaurants; there would be a small retail store as well. The idea is to complement, not compete with, the area’s existing agricultural operations, Fogarty said.
The facility is expected to create 40 or more full-time-equivalent jobs. In Jackson, about half the work force consists of people with “different abilities,” and the goal here would be the same, Yehia said.
Vertical Harvest of Jackson Hole adjoins a parking garage in Jackson, Wyoming.
Provided
Financing
The $16 million to $17 million project budget has been thoroughly vetted, and incorporates what's been learned from building and operating Vertical Harvest Jackson Hole, Fogarty said: "These are real numbers."
Projections call for breaking even in the third year of operations, he said.
A variety of funding sources are being explored, he and Yehia said, including two state subsidy options: the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Grant and the City Revitalization & Improvement Zone programs.
The project could receive up to $10 million from the former. Funding for the latter would depend on the tax revenue the business generates. A project can only take advantage of one of the programs.
If it turns out that all the startup capital has to be raised from private sources, that’s fine, too, Fogarty said.
“We have private money that’s willing to step up,” he said. “We’re very confident that our money will be in place by the third quarter.”
Design and engineering is to start soon, with a goal of starting construction in the fall of 2019 and opening about a year after that.
Vertical Harvest of Jackson Hole partners with a nonprofit to employ people with disabilities in its work force. Provided
Farming for a crowded world
Vertical farming has attracted extensive interest in recent years. Advocates tout its efficiency and say its small-footprint, high-output model is an idea whose time has come in a rapidly urbanizing world beset by water scarcity, soil depletion and energy challenges.
“It will never replace traditional agriculture, but it can be a supplement,” Yehia said.
Robert Berghage, a professor of horticulture at Penn State, said he supports urban agriculture in all its forms, but cautioned that it can be extremely challenging to make the economics of vertical farming work.
‘It’s tough to compete with a regular greenhouse,” he said. The industry has seen its share of hype and setbacks, and entrepreneurs need to be ruthlessly realistic about their costs and revenue projections.
Fogarty said that's what his team has done.
"We are confident it will be a sustainable business," he said.
Parking authority executive director Larry Cohen said the organization is pleased to help advance a progressive initiative "that should be exciting for everyone in the community."
Randy Patterson, director of economic development and neighborhood revitalization, said city government is supportive of the project.
"We Want To Supply Amsterdam With Locally Grown Food"
John Apesos, GROWx
The future is urban. With a growing population that increasingly clusters in large cities, the looming question is how we are going to feed all these people. And while the acreage of vertical farming is not yet enough to feed the Randstad, the development of this new way of cultivation is not standing still.
In 2011, John Apesos and Jens Ruijg of GROWx opened the first commercial vertical farm in the Netherlands in Amsterdam. In it they grow dozens of varieties of micro vegetables and leaf crops. Every day, fresh vegetables leave the vertical farm on their way to various high-quality eateries in Amsterdam.
Supplying exclusive restaurants
The working day starts at 8 a.m. Until the afternoon the team is busy sowing, harvesting and packing the vegetables. In the afternoon they deliver the products to the customers and gather feedback. "Freshness is very important, we ensure that the harvested vegetables reach the customer within 24 hours," says John. "Most customers order twice a week, and according to our customers, GROWx products have a longer shelf life than vegetables from the ground or from the greenhouse, and they stay in the kitchen for 2 to 3 days." Hugo Engels is sous chef at restaurant Taiko in the Conservatorium hotel and one of the buyers of GROWx vegetables. "The products have a pure flavor and it stays fresh for a longer time. We also think it's important to support local initiatives such as GROWx," he says.
Photo: John Apesos, CEO and co-founder of GROWx
High-tech vegetables from a food factory, is that something that the consumer wants? "People sometimes have an excessively romantic view of the cultivation of vegetables. The reality is different, consumers want nutritious, honest food that does not involve crop protection agents. In a vertical farm we can control the climate very well and limit diseases to a minimum," says John.
Loved by chefs
Micro vegetables are in fact traditional vegetables that are harvested at an early stage. They, therefore, contain a lot of flavor. "Chefs love it, they use it as a functional garnish," says John. "In the past, people used a sprig of parsley or some mint to give color to a dish in restaurants. Nowadays chefs are almost artists, everything revolves around a perfect picture on the plate, paying special attention to color, taste, and structure."
John himself has no agricultural background. During his travels, he saw the consequences of climate change with his own eyes. After studying business administration, he worked at a LED company and became involved in various start-ups. And so he ended up in the Dutch capital. Why Amsterdam? John laughs. "Sometimes people think I brought this idea from America, but the opposite is true: the Netherlands is the hotspot when it comes to horticulture. Wageningen University is known worldwide, just like Dutch seed companies and horticultural suppliers. And all this exists within a radius of 150 kilometers. People from all over the world come here to learn about horticulture and the Netherlands has an excellent climate for innovation."
Future plans
Currently, the Amsterdam vertical farm covers 250 m2. John says there are plans to become 5 to 10 times bigger. The production must then supply a larger geographical area. Export, however, is not in the planning. "Our goal is to provide the city with locally grown food, and if we continue to expand, it would be in the form of a second location in another area."
The article appeared earlier in edition 7, 32nd volume of Primeur. www.agfprimeur.nl.
For more information:
GROWx
John Apesos
john@growx.com
Publication date: 9/4/2018
Urban Farmers Forced Off Land Find New Ground To Grow
With land access threatened, urban farmers find new ways to grow sustainably while being sensitive to concerns of colonization.
With land access threatened, urban farmers find new ways to grow sustainably while being sensitive to concerns of colonization.
By Louisa Chu Contact Reporter Chicago Tribune
The wind-whipped rooftop of a converted warehouse in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor might be the last place you’d expect to find fertile farmland, unless you’re Jen Rosenthal, founder and owner of Planted Chicago.
“I got my start in farming on the rooftop at Uncommon Ground, the restaurant up in Edgewater,” said Rosenthal. It was the first certified organic rooftop farm in the nation.
These days, urban farming is increasingly common, but the burgeoning business sector is not without its challenges, namely space and literal room to grow.
From her rooftop endeavors, Rosenthal began her own business installing and maintaining on-site gardens for chefs and restaurants across the city, including Lula Cafe in Logan Square.
“Three years ago, I took advantage of an opportunity on a little plot of land on the South Side to start also growing crops outright for some of the chefs that were looking for really specific niche ingredients,” she added.
What were among the custom crops she’s grown?
“One of my favorites and unusual were crosnes,” said Rosenthal. “They look like little tiny grubs, but they’re tubers.
“They’re amazing and have this really crunchy, juicy texture, kind of like a raw almond meets a water chestnut.”
But this growing season she’s back on rooftops as a consultant and not on her own farm in North Kenwood.
Jen Rosenthal, owner of Planted. Rosenthal lost her three-year-old plots when her time in an incubator program came to an end.
(Kristen Norman / Chicago Tribune)
“I lost the lease,” said Rosenthal. “It was an incubator system, and I aged out. I think there’s this notion that people think urban farming is so easy. There’s so many empty lots. Like how difficult can it be?”
“It’s not quite as straightforward as one might think.” she added. “And I have been looking for good alternative land access for the three years.”
“It’s an interesting time in urban ag,” said Rosenthal. “It’s important work, and it’s meaningful work.”
“And I know I’m not one of the original pioneers. There are the Ken Dunns and the Erika Allens who are going on nearly two decades of this work.”
I think there’s this notion that people think urban farming is so easy. There’s so many empty lots. Like how difficult can it be?”— Jen Rosenthal, owner of Planted
Erika Allen is the co-founder and CEO of Urban Growers Collective, previously Growing Power.
Allen’s father, Will Allen, is the retired professional basketball player turned urban farmer who founded the original organization in Milwaukee. He won a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant” in 2008. In November 2017, Growing Power closed.
“My dad was retiring, and the organization in Milwaukee had been financially challenged for a while,” said Erika Allen. “It had shifted to less programming and more urban farming, which is very difficult to do without capital.”
Urban Growers Collective is a not-for-profit that works to develop urban farms, but not just for food, though crops include a number of mustard green varieties, as well as herbs for culinary, aromatic and medicinal use.
“We use urban farming as a way to heal communities in terms of trauma and the violence that a lot of our youth and their families experience,” said Allen. “Also as a recovery from the historic impact of structural racism that manifested through the agriculture system.”
“So we’re taking this really broken system of agriculture that exploited labor first through slavery and then through sharecropping and then migrant workers. Now we’re taking that and reclaiming that and using it to create sustainable communities.”
Erika Allen, co-founder and CEO of Urban Growers Collective at the South Chicago Farm in Schafer Park. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
“We’re highly productive as an urban farm, but really we couldn’t do the healing and infrastructure development that we do without philanthropic support.”
“Our goal with this new entity is to really support entrepreneurs, so they’re able to build farms that meet their financial goals and for us not to be in that business of trying to meet our budget with farm sales. We can’t do both.”
But even a pioneer like Erika Allen faces land access issues.
“Our primary farm is our South Chicago farm, 90th (Street) and Lake Shore Drive, right across from the old U.S. Steel site. That’s a 7-acre farm that replaced Iron Street, which used to be our biggest, but we lost that farm.”
“The owner wanted $14 million for the site, and we could not afford that.”
“Luckily we had a funder who’s incredibly generous and believes in us, so we had the resources to do it, but it was really emotional, after 10 years of building, taking an industrial site to a prosperous farm, to have to walk away from that.”
“We were able to relocate all the soil, animals and hoop houses to South Chicago. Now it’s on public land.”
The public land is critical to each farmers' permanence, but new administrations can change policy, perhaps forcing them off land as Rosenthal experienced with Planted Chicago.
“The South Chicago farm is an important model because it’s publicly held land. The farmers we are ‘incubating’ — our incubator is not a two-year incubator, it’s a permanent incubator, meaning those farmers never have to leave the site — they’re in a training program. Once the training wheels are off, they maintain and continue to grow on the farm.”
“It’s our job to replicate the program on other land.”
From hundreds of growing farmers to the other end of the urban farm spectrum you get a one-woman operation, The Pie Patch, a half-acre strawberry farm in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. “I think it’s the only pick-your-own farm in the county,” said owner and farmer Breanne Heath. “It’s definitely one of the only certified organic fruit farms in Cook County.”
“I am a for-profit, but I’ve never actually made a profit,” said Heath. “I don’t think any for-profit farm in the city has yet.”
Like most urban farmers in Chicago, she does not own the land.
“I currently only have a lease that goes until the end of this year. Really for a farmer to really plan, it really should be five to 10 years,” she said.
Heath previously worked the land when it was a Growing Home garden (not to be confused with Growing Power).
“I feel comfortable being in the area because I’m already familiar with it.” she said. “But I am aware of conversations around colonization of the neighborhood. I’m sensitive to that.”
“There is a lot of vacant land, and it should be used for growing food, but I don’t know if it all needs to (solely) be these urban farms,” she added. “That should be decided by the communities themselves.”
The city of Chicago also suggests plazas, landscapes, athletic fields, playgrounds or dog friendly areas too.
“There’s a lot of assumptions like, ‘Oh, everyone wants to grow their own food’ but not everyone wants that. It’s a huge amount of work.”
Back on the rooftop, Rosenthal, a friend of Heath’s, agreed. “It’s hard. People sometimes have a romantic notion.”
“But people connect with farming too. And the more they can and the more they can see a future with it, whether in an urban space or not, means everything right now.”
Despite her experience and expertise, rooftops are not her favorite place.
“It’s more the getting up,” said Rosenthal. “There are a couple where it’s straight up a wall on rung ladders and up through a hatch that you have to open and then climb out of. On some, I have to harness in.”
“I feel a little more comfortable with my two feet planted firmly on the earth.”
The Pie Patch, 5045 S. Laflin St., 773-340-2048, www.thepiepatchfarm.com
Planted Chicago, 773-398-2146, www.plantedchicago.com
Urban Growers Collective; main office (1200 W. 35th St., 773-376-8882, www.urbangrowerscollective.org); 61st Street Farmers Market (6100 S. Blackstone Ave., 773 241-6044, www.experimentalstation.org/market); Sunday City Market Bridgeport (1000 W. 35th St., 773-823-9410, www.sundaycitymarket.com)
lchu@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @louisachu
6 Places Where Soil-Less Farming Is Revolutionizing How We Grow Food
by Greg Beach
If it seems like “hydroponic systems” are everywhere, that’s because they are. Hydroponic farming is one efficient way to grow fruits and vegetables in small spaces without the use of soil. Instead of dirt, plants grow down into water, to which farmers have added the necessary nutrients for plant growth. These are then absorbed, along with water, through a plant’s roots. Light is provided either by the sun or specially designed grow lights, with many sustainable systems powered by renewable energy sources. Aquaponic farming incorporates fish into the soil-less system, using the closed-loop nutrient cycle from fish digestion to their advantage. Some systems even feed nutrients to plants through the air! From water-less deserts to the sun-less underground, soil-less farming is offering new possibilities to feed an increasingly urban, growing global population in a more Earth-friendly way.
1. Stores
Target has collaborated with MIT to create a hydroponics garden in several of its store, offering produce directly to customers.
With consumers increasingly conscious of their environmental impact, many stores have realized that going green is good for business. Big-box store Target began a series of trials in spring 2017 in which vertical, hydroponic gardens were installed in various Target locations to provide customers with the freshest possible produce. In collaboration with MIT Media Lab and Ideo, Target designed a system that is capable of growing leafy greens and herbs with minimal water usage. The company hopes to someday branch out into other crops, such as potatoes, zucchini and beets. MIT may even offer Target use of rare heirloom tomato seeds for its project. Meanwhile, IKEA has teamed up with Denmark-based SPACE10 to design high-tech hydroponics systems in-stores and in homes.
2. Deserts
Sundrop Farms uses solar energy to desalinize water that is then fed into its hydroponics system.
In preparation for a future dominated by climate change, in which oil becomes a lesser part of the world’s energy diet, Saudi Arabia has taken several major steps to build a more sustainable system in its challenging desert region. One such move is the rethinking of many traditional farming practices, especially focused on reducing water usage. A farm in the town of Jeddah uses neither water nor soil, rooting plants in mid-air while providing their nutrients through a mist. Designed by AeroFarms, the system is the first aeroponic farm in the Middle East and hopes to someday acquire all its water needs through capturing humidity in the air.
Related: The future of food: how dry farming could save the world
If a desert farm chooses to go hydroponic, there are ways to grow without draining freshwater supplies. In arid South Australia, SunDrops Farms grows 15% of the country’s tomato crop through a solar-powered hydroponic system. To eliminate the use of precious freshwater, SunDrops sources its water from the nearby saltwater gulf, which is then desalinated through the reflected heat of the sun.
In a very different kind of desert, soil-less farming helps growers from the Arctic to Antarctica make the most of a short growing season.
3. Cities
Farm 360 grows sustainable, local food in a hydroponic system that provides local jobs.
As the global population becomes more urban, cities are investing in more local food production systems that offer economic development opportunities and reduce a city’s carbon footprint. In a warehouse on the Near East Side of Indianapolis, Farm 360 are growing vegetables on a hydroponic system that is exclusively powered by renewable energy and uses 90 percent less water than traditional farming methods. The harvest is sold in local grocery stores while the farm supports dozens of living-wage jobs to residents of the neighborhood.
In even the most isolated urban areas, soil-less farming finds a home. With its ability to receive vital supplies and support a functioning economy severely restricted by the Israeli blockade, Gaza has stepped out onto the rooftops to grow its own food. Beginning in 2010, a United Nations-funded urban agriculture program equipped over 200 female-headed households with fish tanks, equipment, and supplies to build and maintain an aquaponics growing system. This initial spark has encouraged others to create their own and to teach others of this valuable skill.
4. The Underground
Tiny mushrooms sprouting at the underground farm La Caverne.
Farming without soil can often take place beneath the soil. In Paris, Cycloponics runs La Caverne, a unique urban farm that grows mushrooms and vegetables in an underground, formerly abandoned parking garage. The farm’s hydroponics system uses special grow lights to ensure the vegetables have what they need to survive. The mushrooms grow in a special medium and, through their respiration, provide valuable CO2 for the plants to thrive. La Caverne may have found inspiration from Growing Underground, London’s first underground farm. On 2.5 acres of unused World War II-era tunnels, Growing Underground produces pea shoots, several varieties of radish, mustard, cilantro, Red Amaranth, celery, parsley, and arugula.
Related: 7 agricultural innovations that could save the world
Honorable mention: shipping container farms. Although these may be mobilized on the surface, they may as well be underground due to the closed roof of most shipping containers. The solar-powered hydroponicsLA-based Local Roots can grow the same amount of vegetables, at cost parity, with 99 percent less water than traditional farming.
5. On the Water
GreenWave grows seaweed and shellfish in an innovative design system.
Some soil-less growing operations take it a step further, leaving the ground behind entirely and opting for a farm floating on water. Barcelona-based design group Forward Thinking Architecture has proposed a progressive solution to the decreasing availability of arable land by creating floating, solar-powered farms. Using modules that measure 200 meters by 350 meters, Forward Thinking’s design allows for expansion and custom configuration of farms. Each module has three levels: a desalinization and aquaculture level at the bottom, then a hydroponic farming level, topped off by a level of solar panels and rainwater collection. The company estimates that each module would produce 8,152 tons of vegetables a year and 1,703 tons of fish annually.
Related: NexLoop unveils water management system inspired by spiders, fungi, bees and plants
Greenwave takes an alternative approach to soil-less, floating farming by combining the cultivation of shellfish and seaweed, both profitable crops that also help to clean the aquatic environment and absorb greenhouse gases. The farm requires little external input, pulls carbon dioxide from the air and water, and consumes excess nitrogen that could otherwise result in algal blooms and dead zones.
6. Your Home
Urban Leaf offers a kit to turn glass bottles into miniature, soil-less gardens.
Yes, you too could get in on the soil-less action. Whether you prefer to DIY or you’d rather something more straightforward, there are options for every style.
Lead image via Depositphotos, others via MIT OpenAg, Sundrop Farms, Esther Boston, Cycloponics, GreenWave, and Urban Leaf
5 Urban Farms Around The U.S. Changing Their Communities For The Better
In abandoned lots, in parks, on rooftops, and even in hospitals, urban farming is thriving.
BY KOTY NEELIS
In abandoned lots, in parks, on rooftops, and even in hospitals, urban farming is thriving. As more people want to know where their food comes from, community leaders across the country are seeking creative ways to grow fresh produce for residents in their city. But urban agricultural does more than just provide access to locally grown food — it boosts economic growth, lowers carbon emissions, and tackles issues surrounding environmental degradation, public health, poverty, and more by giving people greater control over the food system.
From quarter-acre farms run by elementary students to green roof gardens feeding thousands, here are a few urban farming projects aiming to make their community a better place.
1. Detroit Dirt
Detroit Dirt's mission is to create a zero-waste mindset throughout communities and drive forward a low-carbon economy. It's a compost company that helps complete the “circle of life” in food production by regenerating waste into resources. Pashon Murray, the leader behind the composting revolution in Detroit, is diverting tens of thousands of tons of food waste a year away from landfills and into a closed-loop composting system Murray built entirely from the ground up.
2. Boston Medical Center
As more hospitals move towards growing their own food for their patients and the community, one New England hospital has become a leader in this movement by placing a farm right on the hospital's rooftop. Boston Medical Center is not only the largest rooftop farm in Boston, but it's also first hospital-based rooftop farm in Massachusetts. The 7,000 square foot farm grows more than 25 crops and aims to generate 15,000 pounds of food every season, along with a couple of beehives to produce honey.
3. Ohio City Farm
Located in Cleveland, Ohio, Ohio City Farm is one of the largest contiguous urban farms in the United States. With over six acres, the farm aims to provide fresh, local, and healthy food to Cleveland’s underserved residents, while also boosting the local food economy and teaching the community about healthy eating. It's also home to Refugee Response, an employment training program that helps the city’s newest immigrants acquire the needed skills to succeed in their new communities by growing and selling organically farmed fresh produce
4. SAVOR…Chicago
Located on top of McCormick Place (the largest convention center in North America), this roof top farm is the largest soil-based rooftop farm in the Midwest, according to the Chicago Botanic Garden, which maintains the farm through its Windy City Harvest program. SAVOR serves about 3 million people a year at McCormick Place and has been recognized for its sustainability leadership and innovation including Green Seal Certification and International APEX certification in sustainability.
5. Acta Non Verba
Located in Oakland, CA, Acta Non Verba is a youth urban farm that's planned, planted, harvested, and sold by local elementary and middle school-aged kids. Founded and led mainly by women of color from the surrounding neighborhood and larger community, the quarter-acre nonprofit farm aims to challenge oppressive dynamics and environment with urban farming. ANV designs their monthly farm days, camps, and after-school program, so that young children have the opportunity to experience nature in a safe and welcoming green space, learning, creating, and accessing healthy, nature-based experiences that will empower them.
Way To Grow: Urban Farms Are An Amenity At Many Developments
2018 Margaret Jackson, Bisnow Denver
As people increasingly demand to know where their food comes from, more developers are jumping on board to integrate urban farms into their projects.
Courtesy of Tracy Weil
RiNo Art District Creative Director Tracy Weil grows heirloom tomatoes at Farm 39 in RiNo
Take S*Park. Named for its heritage as Sustainability Park, the 99-unit residential project in Denver’s Curtis Park neighborhood includes a 7,200 SF greenhouse with 340 aeroponic towers that will grow leafy greens.
The greenhouse will be operated by Altius Farms, which will offer residents a vegetable subscription program, greenhouse tours and classes and community dinners with Denver celebrity chefs. Altius also will provide neighborhood restaurants with produce from the greenhouse.
Courtesy of Altius Farms
Altius Farms will grow leafy greens on towers like these at Scissortail Farms in Tulsa, Okla.
Altius Farms founder and CEO Sally Herbert said the tower system at S*Park will produce 75,000 pounds of leafy greens a year — the equivalent of 1.5 acres of conventional farming each month. The towers use 10% of the water of a traditional farm and produce 10 times the yield, and the produce is much fresher than what consumers find in grocery stores, she said. Colorado imports 97% of its produce, and after it spends seven to 14 days in transport, between 20% and 40% of it is discarded.
“When restaurateurs receive produce that’s come in from Arizona or California, it’s been harvested early and gets wilty or bruised,” she said. “You have to throw away the crappy stuff.”
NAVA Real Estate Development is taking a different approach at Lakehouse, its 12-story, 196-unit condominium project at Sloan’s Lake. The produce from its second-floor garden will be available only for residents of the 12-story building.
“We are growing a certain amount of vegetables and herbs on-site that will be professionally managed and harvested,” NAVA co-founder and CEO Brian Levittsaid. “We’ll have a harvest room where people can be part of a harvest. There will be opportunities where people can reach over and pick something and put it in their salad. There will be a juicing center and sauna where people can sit and enjoy the juice.”
Bisnow/Margaret Jackson
The greenhouse at S*Park will provide produce to residents and nearby restaurants.
The garden is just one component of NAVA’s efforts to ensure a healthy environment for residents of Lakehouse, which is seeking Well Building certification. It also must meet standards for air and water quality and fitness, among other things.
Urban Ventures has launched a wellness program that includes food production at Aria Denver development. Aria Denver has partnered with Regis University to launch the Cultivate Health program at its development in northwest Denver. Food production, in both gardens and greenhouses in the neighborhood, is just one component of the program, which is designed to support the health and wellness of residents living in the multi-generational, mixed-income community. Its food production partners are UrbiCulture Farms and Groundwork Denver.
Courtesy of Tracy Weil
Farm 39 in RiNo sells about 8,000 tomato plants a year.
Urban farming is a growing trend both in new developments and city neighborhoods.
Artist Tracy Weil, creative director of the RiNo Art District, co-founded Heirloom Tomato Farms with Carolyn Jansen in 2004 when they weren’t able to find the produce they wanted. They started with 175 plants, which they sold and gave to friends. Weil was on the board of The GrowHaus, a nonprofit indoor farm, marketplace and educational center in Denver’s Elyria-Swansea neighborhood. The GrowHaus, based in a historic 20K SF greenhouse, agreed to give him enough space to expand to 1,200 plants.
But then aphids from the herbs in The GrowHaus infested Weil's tomato plants, so he built his own greenhouse — Farm 39 — on an eighth of an acre at 3611 Chestnut Place in RiNo. Jansen started The Sparrow in Capital Hill. The combined farms are known as Heirloom Tomato Farms. Now, people line up every spring to purchase some of the 8,000 plants the two farms grow before they sell out.
“It’s been kind of a nice supplemental income,” he said. “As an artist, I wanted to diversify my income stream.
Urban Farming Popularity On The Rise In Columbus
I feel like it's like a huge privilege to be able to have a space where I can farm in the city.
by Rachael Penton
Thursday, July 19th 2018
“We have summer squash, dill, collards, tomatoes." Marcie Todd’s urban pocket farm is nestled in between the homes of Ann Street. "People come through every day and they're like oh I didn't even see this here!"
Todd has built the farm on land that she leases from the city where a vacant house was town down. “I feel like it's like a huge privilege to be able to have a space where I can farm in the city." Michael Hogan with the OSU extension says urban for-profit farms like Todd’s are growing in Columbus. "About 4 or 5 years ago we had 4 or 5 in the city limits of Columbus, and this summer there are 30 that we know of."
In addition to being a source of income for the farmers the garden provides fresh produce in an area where there isn't always a lot. "When I saw the garden going in I thought this is just awesome," says neighbor Michelle Schultz.
Rachael - Urban ag farm.jpg
Todd donates 15 percent of everything grown on the farm. "I feel like it's really important to give as much from the urban site to our community as we can." She sells the rest to the neighbors- who are enjoying watching the garden grow. "I think it's going to do a lot to make people take notice and maybe take more pride in their properties when they see something like that happening in their neighborhood."
More information on The City of Columbus Land Bank Community Garden Program on their website here.
Why We Need To Rethink How We Produce Food
With rapid urbanization sweeping Asia-Pacific, the food industry is under pressure to feed 4.5 billion people with nutritious food that doesn’t cost the Earth.
As the world's population slowly but surely shifts to cities, urban farming has gained popularity as a solution to food security challenges. Image: Pixabay
By Zafirah Zein
10 September 2018
Feeding today’s world produces a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. With the accelerating pace in which people are moving from countryside to the city, changes in land use and the agriculture industry could amount to 70 percent of total emissions by 2050, according to projections by the World Bank.
“Where we are in agriculture is 30 years behind the other sectors,” said Dr. Juergen Voegele, senior director of food and agriculture practice at the World Bank. “We need to rethink the way we produce our food in a very fundamental way. We cannot solve climate change unless we change the way we produce our food.”
He was addressing business leaders at a panel discussion titled Food to Nutrition: Affordable Access for a Growing Asia, part of this year’s Ecosperity conference. Organised annually by Singapore investment firm Temasek, the conference explores how businesses can provide sustainable solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.
Joined by other industry leaders, Voegele spoke urgently of displacing the food system now regarded as one of the biggest impediments to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, a series of ambitious targets to make the world a fairer, more equal and environmentally balanced place by 2030.
Increasing urbanization is projected to cause a loss of 2 million hectares per year. Most of that land is arable farmland that has traditionally put food on our plates. Moreover, as more people move to cities, fewer will remain on farms, painting an uncertain future for agriculture.
2.3 billion new middle-class consumers are predicted to emerge by 2030, with Asia-Pacific holding 90 percent of the growing number of people with greater purchasing power. In the region’s largest country, China, economic growth and changing tastes have resulted in a surge in demand for food, especially animal protein.
“Today we have a relative food shortage globally,” said Dr Koh Poh Koon, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. “Already we are overconsuming more than what we produce.”
Asia-Pacific is experiencing a growing health crisis, with rising obesity rates among children. Shortages in nutrition and disparities in access to healthy foods have led to more than 40 percent of adults in the region being overweight or obese.
Coupled with the rising constraints of dwindling labor, climate change, and land degradation, the mismatch between demand and supply and the troubling state of health poses the question: how do we sustainably feed a rapidly growing Asia with nutritious and affordable food?
Reforming agricultural production
Growing food in cities could boost food security by making local sources more accessible and improving cost efficiency, experts at Ecosperity said. Across Asia, urban farming through the innovative use of existing infrastructure has taken off. In Singapore, alternative methods such as hydroponics and aeroponics have become a popular way to increase and diversify food supply. More underused spaces in the city such as rooftops are also being transformed into urban gardens.
However, with the high capital needed to support urban farms, challenges to its adoption persist, especially in developing countries where resources are less accessible for the underprivileged.
Cutting down on food waste
According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Association of the United Nations, if food wastage was a country, it would be the third largest emitting country in the world. Despite the alarming contribution food waste makes to climate change, its environmental and economic costs are mostly lost on consumers.
In Asia, there has been a wave of policies and initiatives aimed at reducing the carbon footprint left by discarded food. Seoul is one city imposing the true cost of food waste on its population. A 2013 policy implemented in Seoul meant that citizens would pay for recycling services according to the amount of food they disposed of. Since then, food waste has decreased by 10 per cent and the policy has been introduced to 16 other cities in South Korea. In China, the grassroots-led “Clean Plate Initiative” also pushes for zero food waste when dining out.
Speaking at Ecosperity, Patrick Yu, president of COFCO, China’s largest food processing company, advocated for government regulation in managing the country’s food waste mountain. “If we can structure the restaurants so that all the waste can go to a certain place, we can aggregate the treatment of food waste. It’s important for government to play that role,” he said.
Today’s consumers prioritize safety amid concerns of food fraud and malpractice in recent years, particularly in China. Dr. Koh proposed government legislation and more research to eliminate breaches in safety regulations in the food industry.
China, for example, introduced the Food Safety Law after several high profile cases. Chinese multinational Alibaba also announced last year that it was exploring using blockchain technology to map food products along their supply chain for businesses to trace where their products are at every stage of production.
Making the transition to better nutrition
As cities have grown, so has the consumption of processed and fast foods. Indonesia is a case in point, where processed meat and poultry markets have expanded at a growth rate of 27 percent per year between 2011 and 2015.
Investing in research into fresh foods and nutrition education might go a long way to influence people to eat healthily. Through redevelopments in packaging and labeling, nutritional information could appear more appealing to the average consumer. “Free-from” foods are already paving their way to the mainstream as they are increasingly perceived across Asia as premium, healthier products.
Food experts at Ecosperity painted a troubled picture of the future of food, one where demand has outstripped supply while causing grave damage to the earth. Nevertheless, consumer mindsets are changing and businesses are adapting to new demands.
“Consumer trends are pushing us to find out where their food comes from, the companies behind it, and the farmers who grow it, and whether these are following the right practices,” said Ehab Abou-Oaf, regional president of Mars Wrigley Confectionery in Asia-Australia, Middle East and Africa.
As such, the food system is making incremental changes towards a sustainable future. But is this enough? As Voegele pointed out, business-as-usual for agriculture is slight, continuous improvement – and that won’t fix the food system. If the energy sector had moved at the same pace as agriculture, we wouldn’t have the solar panel or windmill, he said.
Greater support for technology and education in sustainable practices and behaviours is needed to drive momentum towards a more sustainably fed world. “Nutritional outcomes are so out of whack that 50 per cent of the world’s population is currently malnourished,” said Voegele.
“We need to see investment in truly sustainable food systems. This would incentivise the private sector, which has been outcompeted by a public focus on food.”
Voegele concluded: “Agricultural policies are ready to be disrupted. They’ve been politically difficult to touch, but that has to change.”
A Farm Is Coming To Downtown Shreveport. For Real
Tiana Kennell, Shreveport Times Published August 21, 2018
Hydroponic gardening is good business. BART BOATWRIGHT/Staff
Hydroponics uses water, LED lights and nutrients, but no soil, to grow plants.
Catching a bus to a market miles away from home and then hauling armfuls of groceries back may not be the ideal shopping scenario. But it’s a reality many residents in downtown Shreveport and other “food desert” communities live every day.
Michael Billings, a resident of downtown Shreveport, realized he lives in a food desert — an urban neighborhood lacking affordable, fresh and quality food. Many of his neighbors are older, physically unable to travel or have limited modes of transportation, he said.
He plans to lighten the load for his neighbors by bringing fresh produce to their doorstep within minutes through his business, Cotton St. Farms.
Billings is flipping a vacant building in downtown Shreveport — once used as a mechanic’s shop and computer server office — to open an indoor hydroponic farm.
Cotton St. Farms will take urban farming to the next level by using a soil-less gardening technique to grow the leafy greens and herbs in an environmentally friendly, controlled environment.
Billings talked to The Shreveport Times to explain hydroponics and how it will help downtown residents and other local communities acquire fresh, quality produce.
Why found Cotton St. Farms?
Billings is a member of the family that owns and operates DixieMaze Farms in rural north Caddo Parish. He and his father discussed alternative farming methods, prompted in part by the lack of fresh produce in his downtown Shreveport neighborhood.
That led to hydroponic farming. Through hydroponics, he would bring the farm to the “food desert.”
Cotton St. Farms will partner with local farms, beekeepers and others to sell and deliver fresh vegetables, fruit, meat and more.
“We’ll be growing leafy greens and herbs, some vegetables, and we work with local farmers to provide produce for delivery or pickup downtown,” Billings said.
Cotton St. Farms' first day of operation has not yet been announced. Consumers may stay up to date on the farm's progress at cottonstfarms.com.
Cotton St. Farms will grow herbs and vegetables, as well as partner with local farms, beekeepers and other businesses to supply fresh produce and more. (Photo: Tiana Kennell/The Times)
What is hydroponic farming?
The U.S. Agriculture Department defines hydroponics as “growing plants in a nutrient solution root medium.” No soil is used.
“You’ve seen them in five-gallon buckets with rocks," Billings said. "Our (way) is vertical and has a foam material in it."
In his method, Billings will suspend plant roots in a medium that allows both air and nutrient-rich water to circulate.
"They’re never drowned, but they constantly have just the right amount of oxygen, water, nutrients and that allows us to grow it soil-less.”
Is hydroponic farming new?
Billings researched how other urban communities are using hydroponics to improve access to food sources. In Detroit, he found some urban farmers use vacant manufacturing warehouses for hydroponic farming.
“We are not inventing, in any means, hydroponic farming,” Billings said. “They’re popping up all over the nation."
Seedlings will be used to begin the soil-less farming process at Cotton St. Farms. (Photo: Tiana Kennell/The Times)
How does growth begin?
Planting and growing begins with seedlings placed into starter cubes that are then put into trays like muffin tins — without soil. Water is pulled into the cubes. When the plants are tall enough, they are placed in hydroponic channels between two long, metal trays that then are locked onto a vertical tower. Under grow-lights, the seedlings grow horizontally. Then the plants are harvested.
Cotton St. Farms will grow vegetables and herbs from vertical towers in its indoor hydroponics farm in downtown Shreveport. (Photo: Tiana Kennell/The Times)
"If you imagine library stacks, (the towers) will be eight feet tall and six to eight feet long," Billings said. "We’re going to build our own equipment. They’ll be double-sided and the lights will be suspended on a rail system with two of them traveling back and forth."
Specialized lighting equipment will help create the ideal growing environment for vegetables and herb. (Photo: Tiana Kennell/The Times)
Is it environmentally friendly?
The grow lamps use LED lights and the farm will be highly water efficient, Billings said. The only water loss is in evaporation and plant consumption.
"Our carbon footprint is super low," he said. "It’s artificial sun, but the same spectrum. We’re allowing the vegetables to get everything they need to grow super-fast but develop on their own."
Successful growth will come by controlling and monitoring all elements of the growth process.
"It’s a closed system. Every seven to 10 days we flush the system so we don’t have fungus built into it, but it’s clean, pure water," Billings said. "We have sensors that will detect the nutrient level and electrical levels of the water — if water becomes too murky or too filled with nutrients. We create the perfect growing environment."
What will be grown?
“Off the bat, we’ll be growing kale, spinach, lettuce, lots of cooking herbs, micro greens, alfalfa, beans, edible flowers and possibly some mushrooms,” Billings said. “Once we’re up and going, we’ll extend that to heritage tomatoes, some really cool cucumbers.”
What won’t be grown?
“A lot of the traditional produce isn’t really cost-efficient to grow indoors because you have such a big plant and then you have one ear of corn. One square foot is one ear of corn, and I can’t sell two ears of corn for very much," Billings said.
"Depending on how it’s set up and the efficiency of the vegetable, it kind of limits you. You can grow almost anything hydroponically, but you don’t really want to on a commercial level.”
Does hydroponic produce taste the same as traditionally grown produce?
“It’s absolutely delicious — big, full-bodied plants. They’ve grown with the exact amount of nutrients, the exact amount of water, the perfect light spectrum," Billings said. "It's a reason why plants grow in certain times of the year — because they require certain spectrums of light. We put all that and make a perfect growing environment."
Hydroponics is a natural way of farming without the fungicides, herbicides and pesticides, Billings said, which creates "a very clean environment."
"Grocery stores pick the tomato green because it has to live for a week before it gets to the grocery store," he said. "And before it goes to the grocery store it’s bombarded with chemicals to ripen it. Then they put it on the shelf."
Billings said garden vegetables taste better they're naturally ripened.
"It takes time to build the minerals and vitamins inside vegetables and leafy greens. If you shorten that process, you don’t get all of it and that’s where the taste is."
How fresh are your ingredients compared to a big grocery store's?
Products are picked within 24 hours so they’re fresh for customers, Billings said.
"You go to the grocery store and that little container of herbs is $4. Those herbs have been sitting there a couple of weeks," Billing said. "Imagine getting herbs that were cut an hour before you got it. If you want to cook with rosemary, oregano, basil — it was living minutes before you put it in your spaghetti sauce. You’ll taste the difference.”
How will cost compare to grocery stores?
Products will be available for purchase at the downtown store or available for delivery through On The Go Delivery and Waitr.
The prices will be comparable to those at Whole Foods Market, Billings said, but slightly higher than those at Walmart.
How sustainable is hydroponic farming?
"If I’m able to sell everything we grow, it comes out to about $1 million in sales a year out of this location — not $1 million in profit," Billings said.
The idea behind urban farming is not needing 100 acres or more to produce fresh fruits and vegetables, he said. The hydroponics farm will have a smaller production rate, so Billings plans to work in tandem with other local farms.
"We will never replace traditional farmers," he said.
Michael Billings is the CEO of Cotton St. Farms, a hydroponics grow house to begin operation in downtown Shreveport. (Photo: Tiana Kennell/The Times)
5 Urban Farms Around The U.S. Changing Their Communities For The Better
In abandoned lots, in parks, on rooftops, and even in hospitals, urban farming is thriving. As more people want to know where their food comes from, community leaders across the country are seeking creative ways to grow fresh produce for residents in their city
By Koty Neelis
In abandoned lots, in parks, on rooftops, and even in hospitals, urban farming is thriving. As more people want to know where their food comes from, community leaders across the country are seeking creative ways to grow fresh produce for residents in their city. But urban agricultural does more than just provide access to locally grown food — it boosts economic growth, lowers carbon emissions, and tackles issues surrounding environmental degradation, public health, poverty, and more by giving people greater control over the food system.
From quarter-acre farms run by elementary students to green roof gardens feeding thousands, here are a few urban farming projects aiming to make their community a better place.
1. Detroit Dirt
Detroit Dirt's mission is to create a zero-waste mindset throughout communities and drive forward a low-carbon economy. It's a compost company that helps complete the “circle of life” in food production by regenerating waste into resources. Pashon Murray, the leader behind the composting revolution in Detroit, is diverting tens of thousands of tons of food waste a year away from landfills and into a closed-loop composting system Murray built entirely from the ground up.
2. Boston Medical Center
As more hospitals move towards growing their own food for their patients and the community, one New England hospital has become a leader in this movement by placing a farm right on the hospital's rooftop. Boston Medical Center is not only the largest rooftop farm in Boston, but it's also first hospital-based rooftop farm in Massachusetts. The 7,000 square foot farm grows more than 25 crops and aims to generate 15,000 pounds of food every season, along with a couple of beehives to produce honey.
3. Ohio City Farm
Located in Cleveland, Ohio, Ohio City Farm is one of the largest contiguous urban farms in the United States. With over six acres, the farm aims to provide fresh, local, and healthy food to Cleveland’s underserved residents, while also boosting the local food economy and teaching the community about healthy eating. It's also home to Refugee Response, an employment training program that helps the city’s newest immigrants acquire the needed skills to succeed in their new communities by growing and selling organically farmed fresh produce
4. SAVOR…Chicago
Located on top of McCormick Place (the largest convention center in North America), this roof top farm is the largest soil-based rooftop farm in the Midwest, according to the Chicago Botanic Garden, which maintains the farm through its Windy City Harvest program. SAVOR serves about 3 million people a year at McCormick Place and has been recognized for its sustainability leadership and innovation including Green Seal Certification and International APEX certification in sustainability.
5. Acta Non Verba
Located in Oakland, CA, Acta Non Verba is a youth urban farm that's planned, planted, harvested, and sold by local elementary and middle school-aged kids. Founded and led mainly by women of color from the surrounding neighborhood and larger community, the quarter-acre nonprofit farm aims to challenge oppressive dynamics and environment with urban farming. ANV designs their monthly farm days, camps, and after-school program, so that young children have the opportunity to experience nature in a safe and welcoming green space, learning, creating, and accessing healthy, nature-based experiences that will empower them.
"New Responses To The Way We Grow Food Are A Must To Respond To The Challenges Of The Future."
Nona Yehia, Vertical Harvest
With rising global urban populations, existing food infrastructure systems are rapidly becoming unsustainable. Some of those looking for alternative solutions note food’s potential to act as an organizer of urban systems and catalyst for change. Tapping into this potential, architects and designers have been using urban farming as a vehicle to speculate about “green” futures. However, sustainability is often sidelined in photorealistic images where designs are ‘decorated’ with organic matter, designs that are unlikely to be viable.
Architecture should and can go beyond that image, as it provides the built accommodation for both plants and people, and hence plays a crucial role in creating the important social, economic and ecological infrastructure for sustainable and healthy cities. During this session, the opportunities and challenges in optimizing this role - in cooperation with other stakeholders and disciplines - is discussed and explored. What is the role of design in realizing sustainable food production and promote health in metropoles? Do architects need to play a leading role in developing sustainable urban farms that bring benefits for all?
Wageningen University & Research asked it to Nona Yehia, Co-Founder/CEO of Vertical Harvest, and Principal at GYDE Architects.
I envision a future where vertical greenhouses are an integral part of the urban fabric, that cities have embraced this model as a necessary tool to achieve sustainable and successful futures.
By 2050, 80% of the world’s population will live in cities, this fact is at once a substantial challenge and an opportunity.
"New responses to the way we grow food are a must to respond to the challenges of the future."
At the same time, food deserts, where affordable and healthy food is difficult to obtain, are becoming more common in urban neighborhoods. Add to this the fact that available land, healthy topsoils, and water are becoming scarce commodities, and that costs of energy and transporting food are increasing, new responses to the way we grow food are a must to respond to the challenges of the future.
Architect and visionary
I’m an architect, and from my professional view, I see the opportunities in this field are much more than just about creating space. Architecture has the potential to respond to a community need, but at the same time, reflect a community’s values and have great impact beyond the limitations of the building. It is this belief that architecture can be the physical act of social change that cemented my dedication to the idea of vertical farming. In the past ten years, the focus of my work has been to create a viable model to build cost-effective hydroponic vertical greenhouses in urban areas that not only act as innovative, environmentally sustainable models for growing fresh food but have a substantial social impact.
Innovative investment
We need innovative partnerships to support this vision. At this juncture, urban food production in the form of vertical farming is challenged by the cost of land, capital costs and the cost of energy. Public/private partnerships with vertical farming businesses and municipalities can help mitigate these barriers to entry by working with operators to secure unused land, invest in this unique and productive type of public infrastructure, and create opportunities to use renewable energy. Our cities' leaders need to invest in tools to help drive the impact they want to see in their communities.
Sustained success
Commercial scale urban agriculture, much like traditional agriculture, is riddled with potential pitfalls and challenges. How to run a successful vertical farm, and then following - how to sustain that success is based on experience. In this nascent and exciting industry, it is by learning from each other’s experiences that we will be able to collectively achieve and sustain success of the industry as a whole. Until the industry is able to embrace a truly collaborative approach, we will be vulnerable to the multiple challenges that we all face.
"It is by learning from each other’s experiences that will we be able to collectively achieve and sustain success."
Year round fresh produce
Vertical Harvest of Jackson Hole in Wyoming USA responds to two significant needs in our community: Jackson has a 4-month growing season and imports the majority of its produce from outside of Wyoming. Jackson is now home to one of the world’s first vertical greenhouses located on vacant land next to a downtown parking garage. This 13,500 sq. ft. three-story stacked greenhouse utilizes a 1/10 of an acre to grow an annual amount of produce equivalent to 10 acres of traditional agriculture. Our project enables the community to grow produce 365 days a year despite difficulties posed by the harsh climate.
Do good, do well
Our community impact model cultivates an empowered, healthy, sustainable, and connected community. We sell locally grown, vegetables year-round to Jackson restaurants, grocery stores and directly to consumers. In addition to fresh produce, Vertical Harvest produces jobs for individuals with different abilities. Our mission is simple – we provide consistent, meaningful employment for people with disabilities (typically a 78% unemployment rate) by cultivating nutritious food for the community. Our impact is much larger – we utilize public/private partnerships as a model to create positive economic and social impact for communities.
We do good by doing well.
One of the primary reasons vertical farms fail is due to labor challenges, however, we are resisting the trend of moving towards greater automation and are instead looking at our labor model as an opportunity to achieve success. Employees benefit from multiple dividends; this a positive effect on our co-workers, the company’s bottom line and the community. We do good by doing well.
Metric-driven growers
We see ourselves as growers first and foremost. Technology with regards to vertical farming is advancing at an astonishing rate, and while efficiency and optimization in production is always a key priority, understanding how to evaluate all of the options available to our farms is particularly challenging. Our dual mission of employing a unique population in conjunction with growing as much food as possible resulted in multiple efficiencies and innovations in our design that strengthens the bottom line of everything we are doing.
Vertical Harvest is essentially 3 greenhouses stacked on top of one another – this creates different microclimates on each floor. This structure allows for the development of a portfolio of crops that have different price points as well as risk factors. Take our lettuce carousels: these are continuous rotating systems that span the vertical southern façade of our building as well as move horizontally into the 30’ depth of our building.
These unique growing systems solve three problems at once. They balance natural and artificial light, essential to managing energy costs, add a fourth floor to our three-story greenhouse, and finally bring the plant directly to our farmers for transplanting and harvesting. We strive to use this metric to evaluate all of our choices in terms of technology.
Source: WUR
Publication date: 9/5/2018
Giant Las Vegas Vertical Farm To Produce 1 Million Pounds Of Produce Each Year
Associate Editor, UK | Contactable via charlotte@livekindly.co
Posted by Charlotte Pointing | Sep 1, 2018
- A new indoor vertical farm is on a mission to supply the Las Vegas restaurant scene with fresh, locally-grown sustainable crops.
Oasis Biotech, the new vertical farming facility, uses LED lighting technology to grow non-GMO, pesticide-free crops, such as arugula, green sorrel, and romaine, which are planted by tweezer one seed at a time. According to the company, this method of growing produce is far more environmentally-friendly than traditional farming methods.
“We want to redefine the meaning of fresh produce to Las Vegas,” said chief operating officer Brock Leach in a statement. “We are now living in a world where the produce your family consumers will be grown in the same city in which they live.”
Using hydroponic farming, a process that involves growing plants in no soil, the indoor agricultural system recycles 100 percent of its nutrients and unused water, saving around 90 percent more water than crops grown a field. The facility aims to produce more than one million pounds of produce annually.
The facility, which is based in an old industrial property, will also reduce the amount of environmental damage caused by delivery trucks due to its focus on supplying local restaurants. As reported by Business Insider, the Las Vegas Sustainability Atlas discovered in 2014 that 92 percent of the city’s food was brought in by truck, with only 8 percent grown locally.
While Oasis Biotech has no current plans to deliver produce directly to customers, it is hoping to distribute to local grocers in the near future, in addition to its current supply deal with restaurant and casino group Evercress.
Giving back to the community in more ways than one, Oasis Biotech will not only provide Las Vegas residents, chefs, and restaurants with sustainably produced crops but the new facility, opened in July, will also create more job opportunities. So far, the company has employed over 130 new workers in Southern Nevada, and it intends to keep going, hoping to give the city’s agricultural industry a kickstart.
From New York to California, vertical farming companies are slowly cropping up across the U.S. Last year, NY-based Bowery raised $20 million in funding to build a second farm in New Jersey. Last March, Princeton University’s Vertical Farming Project announced a partnership with New Jersey’s Hopewell Elementary School. The school’s hydroponic “farm-to-cafeteria” program will teach students about sustainability and growing their own food.
And in August, San Francisco-based Plenty debuted its produce at the city’s popular music festival; Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park. The company shared samples of its locally grown leafy green produce with festival goers, hoping to make a name for itself ahead of launching its very own veg box delivery service.
Image Credit: Local Roots
Stories From Around the Food System
How to go from City Living to Urban Farming in Six Months [Northeastern]
Do you know where your leafy greens come from? If you’re dining at a restaurant in Boston, there’s a good chance the salad greens you’re eating have been grown by two friends inside a small apartment in the city’s South End neighborhood.
Urban Farmers Forced Off Land Find New Ground to Grow [Chicago Tribune]
The wind-whipped rooftop of a converted warehouse in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor might be the last place you'd expect to find fertile farmland, unless you're Jen Rosenthal, founder and owner of Planted Chicago.
Urban Agriculture Could Transform Food Security [SciDev.net]
Using science, technology and innovation (STI) could help promote the use of urban agriculture to sustain food and nutrition security in African cities, experts say.
Helping the Homeless Through Farm-to-Table Training [Great Big Story]
There’s a San Francisco garden growing more than just produce. In a city plagued by homelessness, the Farming Hope Initiative offers urban farming and cooking training to those without a place to live.
The Water Wars of Arizona [New York Times]
Attracted by lax regulations, industrial agriculture has descended on a remote valley, depleting its aquifer — leaving many residents with no water at all.
Weird New Fruits Could Hit Aisles Soon Thanks to Gene Editing [Guardian]
Smooth or hairy, pungent or tasteless, deep-hued or bright: new versions of old fruits could be hitting the produce aisles as plant experts embrace cutting-edge technology, scientists say.
Giant Indoor Vertical Farm Launches Just East of Las Vegas [CNBC]
An indoor vertical farm that uses 90 percent less water than conventional growers is about to launch in Las Vegas and will be able to supply nearly 9,500 servings of leafy green salads per day to casinos and local restaurant chains.
Meriden Aquaponics Scores $500K for New Haven Expansion [Hartford Business]
Meriden-based Trifecta Ecosystems, an aquaponics technology company and indoor farm, has received a $500,000 investment to grow its aquatic systems in the New Haven region.
Dubai Will Be Home To the World’s Biggest Vertical Farm [Smithsonian]
An indoor megafarm might be the best way for the United Arab Emirates—a country that imports an estimated 85 percent of its food—to attempt to feed itself
The Quality Standards for Hydroponic Lettuce
While hydroponic crops have a lot of external benefits like water savings and food safety, those benefits are not shown when a hydroponic butterhead is graded
By Tyler Baras
Living Butterhead Lettuce in Retail Clamshell
“Voluntary U.S. grade standards are issued under the authority of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, which provides for the development of official U.S. grades to designate different levels of quality. These grade standards are available for use by producers, suppliers, buyers, and consumers. As in the case of other standards for grades of fresh and processed fruits, vegetables, and specialty crops these standards are designed to facilitate orderly marketing by providing a convenient basis for buying and selling, for establishing quality control programs, and for determining loan values.” (From the United States Standards for Grades of Greenhouse Leaf Lettuce)
Voluntary USDA grade standards designate different levels of quality in agricultural products. The USDA has official standards used to grade a lot of different crops including leafy greens like Greenhouse Leaf Lettuce, Field Grown Leaf Lettuce, Kale, Beet Greens, Collard Greens, Dandelion Greens and Mustard Greens. The standards for butterhead lettuce currently fall under the same standards used for Iceberg lettuce. Although the U.S. Standards for Grades of Lettuce do acknowledge the significant differences between the two types of lettuce, they are still grouped under the same standards. And there is no mention of living lettuce in the U.S. Standards for Grades of Lettuce, while living lettuce is one of the primary crops grown by hydroponic leafy greens growers. If the hydroponic lettuce industry is to grow beyond the premium product niche and enter the ‘real world’ of lettuce production, it would be helpful if hydroponic growers decided upon grading standards appropriate for hydroponically grown lettuce.
When hydroponic lettuce growers try to compete against field growers they almost never win in the battle for price per pound. Field growers can sell heads of lettuce wholesale under $0.75. Large hydroponic lettuce growers (3+ acres) can get their price per head close to $0.90. Field lettuce is generally packed in a 24 count box that will weigh 50+ pounds. The heads are easily 1 to 2 pounds. Hydroponic lettuce is often packed in a 6 or 12 count box and the heads rarely weigh over 10 ounces (0.625 pounds).
While hydroponic crops have a lot of external benefits like water savings and food safety, those benefits are not shown when a hydroponic butterhead is graded with the U.S. Standards for Grades of Lettuce. To preserve the narrative around hydroponic lettuce, it may be necessary to have USDA grading standards specifically for hydroponic lettuce so the crop does not lose some of its value when it enters the larger lettuce market that puts it ‘head-to-head’ with field grown crops.
USDA grade standards are helpful in international trade. The U.S. has one of the biggest lettuce importers on the northern border… Canada! (See Stats). Currently most hydroponic lettuce growers sell to local markets or if they are one of the larger hydroponic lettuce growers they might sell to a grocery store chain or produce broker that distributes their product in multiple states. I have seen living butterhead lettuce from Canada in the U.S. but I’m not aware of any U.S. hydroponic leafy greens growers shipping internationally. I would think that the increased shelf-life of living lettuce would be an advantage in international trade since lettuce is highly perishable.
The Standards for Butterhead Lettuce Quality
What should a USDA Grade A butterhead lettuce look like? How big should it be?
I’ve seen a wide range of targets from growers across the US and internationally. The majority of US hydroponic butterhead growers target a head that is between 5 oz. and 8 oz. (with roots attached). Many aquaponic and indoor vertical farms sell heads closer to 5 ounces. Many of the larger hydroponic lettuce growers (1+ acre greenhouses) target heads between 6-8 ounces. I’ve seen some greenhouse lettuce growers target 10 ounce heads. In Europe, it is common to see butterhead lettuce over 1 pound. In Japan, it is common to see living lettuce sold at less than 5 ounces. The market standards for hydroponic butterhead lettuce minimum weight vary but generally the bottom line is the head should not bobble around when packaged in a clamshell. Most living lettuce labels do not even state a minimum weight, instead the label might have “1 Count” or “1 Head”. Beyond weight there’s the more qualitative traits like leaf texture, leaf color and head formation. Check out these unofficial visual aids provided by the USDA to help grade romaine and lettuce. What would a visual aid for hydroponic butterhead lettuce look like?
Here are some of my favorite butterhead lettuces I’ve grown over the years, which do you think looks most like a ‘standard’ butterhead?
This article is property of Urban Ag News and was written in cooperation with Tyler Baras.