Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
iGrowGroupE, LLC
It is the goal of the iGrow and the Chromatic Clouds entities to normalize the integration of cannabis and indoor vertical and urban farming into the global economy
iGrowGroupE, LLC
It is the goal of the iGrow and the Chromatic Clouds entities to normalize the integration of cannabis and indoor vertical and urban farming into the global economy by focusing on our customers and providing them with education in business development, compliance with rules and regulations, standardization of policies and procedures, and the widest selection of cannabis/vertical farming goods and services available.
It is our aim to provide our consumers with the most comprehensive selection of products and services at the most competitive prices in an effortless and streamlined online experience.
1. As freelance entrepreneurs rapidly enter this field, they lack fundamental business expertise that is vital to sustain a profitable business. In other words, the art of knowing the “business behind doing business” is lacking.
Chromatic Clouds/iGrow solves this problem by offering a forum where freelance entrepreneurs can have easy access to the “nuts and bolts” of building and sustaining a business; simply put, the “business behind doing business.” For example, Chromatic Clouds/iGrow offers business advice on the embryonic, early development stages of a business, its gradual development, acquiring entrepreneurial and leadership skills, raising capital, and exit strategies.
2. Cannabis regulations differ between states while remaining illegal under federal laws. Failure to stay abreast of the rules and regulations can be detrimental to a cannabis business as it may suffer increased fines, and worse yet, loss of a license.
Chromatic Clouds, through its network of in-house and Preferred Providers, will advise clients on the changing laws, rules, and regulations governing the cannabis industry in every state where cannabis is legal.
3. The market has not yet defined a convenient, affordable, and comprehensive system with which to network with and advertise to existent and potential players in the industry and sell to them using auction software.
The iGrow Market solves this problem and is a one-stop-shop for all things cannabis/vertical farming. Our ecosystem will host an interactive community of freelancers, businesses and consumers in a variety of practice areas that service cannabis/vertical farming clients, including entrepreneurship, legal, compliance, sales and marketing.
The iGrow platform offers goods and services in cannabis/vertical farming industry-related categories such as health and wellness, bath and beauty, CBD products, hemp products, vaping, grow products, aquaponic, hydroponic and aeroponic equipment, container farms, LED lights, and nutrients.
We want to be viewed as the eBay, Shopify and Upwork of the cannabis/indoor farming industries. We will incorporate auction software into our marketplace and allow users to set up their own store, buy, sell and bid on products and services. Our user-friendly site allows businesses and consumers to sell B2B, B2C, and C2C. Producers, wholesalers, retailers, and manufactures will be given the ability to liquidate and reduce inventory in this auction setting. Our hope is to commoditize the cannabis/vertical farming industries.
4. We will also have a section of the platform that instantaneously connects extraction facilities (labs) with manufacturers (buyers) for hemp cbd. We will bring together both Labs and Buyers in a system that standardizes compliance and ensures accurate testing for hemp cbd products. Buyers will be electronically vetted for proof of funds, which will be displayed on a central depository for labs to view.
An escrow system will be put in place. Labs will provide information obtained through their seed to sale system to a central depository giving the Buyer the ability to see the cannabinoid profile, THC levels, and source for individual batches. All information including Certificates of Analysis will be on the site and displayed as soon as the Lab registers as one of our Preferred Providers. In addition to sales, Buyers will be able to bid on CBD in live auctions.
5. We are setting up a cannabis and indoor vertical and urban farming funding entity.
6. Our in-house team will be setting up vertical grow facilities for clients.
7. We are also in the process of entering into strategic partnerships with companies, some of which are publicly traded.
Please visit our site igrow.news
Please look at our demo site, pitch deck and demo marketplace for Chromatic Clouds. We are in the process of redoing all of this.
Please see the iGrow article in the Washington Times
https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/10/igrow-news-informing-the-world-on-vertical-and-urb/
iGrow News
iGrow News
iGrow News Is an online digital platform which allows individuals, companies, universities, and researchers of the urban indoor farming industry to connect, ask questions and network with other industry individuals in their field, in order to gain knowledge as well as spread knowledge.
To research topics that may be of interest, scan the industry activity and to get the latest in industry news, check out what your fellow urban farmers are doing by keeping up with the activity on iGrow News.
We have a product that allows you to connect worldwide and facilitate business like never before in the history of urban farming.
American Association of Urban & Indoor Farmers
Who Are We?
The Urban & Indoor farming movement is expanding by the minute. For this movement to live up to its potential, it needs the tools to grow and thrive. That’s where we come in.
For our community to thrive and reach our fullest potential together as professionals and consumers in a unique movement, we need to work together. We need to connect, build relationships, and create a better business environment that benefits everyone.
Connect with us on iGrow News, Join our mailing list, so that you will be notified when The American Association of Urban & Indoor Farmers will be accepting applications for membership.
We realized early on at iGrow News that we wouldn’t just be a platform for the produce industry; Just as professionals in the produce business, consumers of produce also need a reliable and informative resource in order to keep informed of the latest innovations.
We are currently developing the consumer portion of our site.
Soon you will be able to create a profile and interact with not only like-minded produce consumers but also professionals in the industry.
iGrow News is developing iGrow Funding to assist the indoor farming community with their financing requirements.
Could the Future of Farming be Vertical?
Vertical farming is greener and more efficient than traditional agriculture, writes Natalie Mouyal
Photo: BrightAgrotech, Pixabay
Vertical farming promises a more sustainable future for growing fruit and vegetables. Instead of planting a single layer of crops over a large land area, stacks of crops grow without soil or sunlight.
The nascent technology enables farmers to grow more food on less land. Among the benefits, it reduces the environmental impact of transportation by moving production from the countryside to the cities, where most people live.
Dilapidated warehouses and factories around the globe are being transformed into urban farms to grow salads and other leafy greens at a rate that surpasses traditional farming techniques. LEDs provide the lighting plants need to grow, while sensors measure temperature and humidity levels. Robots harvest and package produce.
At one vertical farm in Japan, lettuce can be harvested within 40 days of seed being sown. And within two towers measuring 900 m2 each (actual cultivation area of 10 800 m2 and 14 400 m2), the factory can produce 21 000 heads of lettuce each day.
Indoor farming is not a new concept, as greenhouses have long demonstrated. It has existed since Roman times and can be found in various parts of the world.
Greenhouses are described in a historic Korean text on husbandry dating from the 15th century and were popular in Europe during the 17th century. In modern times they have enabled the Netherlands to become the world’s second largest food exporter.
Vertical farming offers a new take on indoor farming. Popularized by the academic Dickson Despommier, its proponents believe that vertical farming can feed millions of people while reducing some of the negative aspects associated with current agricultural practices: carbon-emitting transportation, deforestation and an over-reliance on chemical fertilizers.
Vertical farming is defined as the production of food in vertically stacked layers within a building, such as a skyscraper or warehouse in a city, without using any natural light or soil. Produce is grown in a controlled environment where elements including light, humidity, and temperature are carefully monitored.
The result provides urban dwellers with year-round access to fresh vegetables since they can be grown regardless of weather conditions, without the need for pesticides and have only a short distance to cover, from farm to plate.
Initially conceived by Despommier with his graduate students as a solution to the challenge of feeding the residents of New York City, vertical farming has since taken off around the world, most notably in the United States and Japan. According to the research company Statista, the vertical farming market is expected to be worth USD 6,4 billion by 2023.
High-tech farming
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, food production worldwide will need to increase by 70% by 2050 to feed a projected global population of 9,1 billion. Vertical farming seeks to address the dual challenges of feeding a growing population that, increasingly, will live in urban centres.
By repurposing warehouses and skyscrapers, these ‘high-tech’ greenhouses reuse existing infrastructure to maximize plant density and production. One vertical farm in the United States claims that it can achieve yields up to 350 times greater than from open fields but using just one percent of the water traditional techniques require.
In general, two methods for vertical farming are used: aeroponics and hydroponics.
Both are water-based with plants either sprayed with water and nutrients (aeroponics) or grown in a nutrient-rich basin of water (hydroponics). Both exhibit a reliance on advanced technology to ensure that growing conditions are ideal for maximizing production.
So as to produce a harvest every month, vertical farms need to control the elements that affect plant growth. These include temperature, requisite nutrients, humidity, oxygen levels, airflow and water.
The intensity and frequency of the LED lights can be adjusted according to the needs of the plant. A network of sensors and cameras collects data with detailed information about the plants at specific points in their lifecycle as well as the environment in which they grow.
This data is not only monitored but also analyzed to enable decisions to be taken that will improve plant health, growth and yield. Data sets sent to scientists in charge of the growing environment enable decisions to be made in real-time, whether they are onsite or at a remote location.
Automation can take care of tasks such as raising seedlings, replanting and harvesting. It can also be used to provide real-time adjustments to plant care. One factory plans to automate its analytical process with machine learning algorithms so that real-time quality control can take into account a diverse range of data sets.
While each of these farms will implement varying levels of technology, it can be expected that as these technologies become more widespread, their adoption will increase. The use of artificial intelligence and cloud computing is not yet extensive but is likely to become increasingly important to ensure production yields remain high.
Growing pains
Despite the enthusiasm for vertical farming, its business model is not yet proven. The initial investment needed to launch a vertical farm and the electricity required to power the 24-hour lights, sensors and other technologies can be costly.
Depending on the source of the electricity used to run the equipment, it may not necessarily prove environmentally cleaner than traditional farming techniques. For this reason, a shift towards renewable energy sources could support the claim that these farms have a positive environmental impact.
At this stage, vertical farms are used primarily for growing crops that attract high market prices, such as herbs, medicinal plants and baby greens. They have not been used to grow the wheat, beans, corn or rice which feed much of the world. Its scale is not yet sufficient to meet food demands.
Vertical farming is still in its infancy. No large scale studies have yet been completed to allow a full comparison with traditional farming techniques. Despite this, it has generated much enthusiasm and, more recently, significant financial support, which may enable vertical farming to create a niche market for the supply of fresh produce to city dwellers.
Tackling the Food Crisis with a Borderless Collaboration
At Omron, opportunities to engage with new challenges are abundant
After graduating from university in London, Kassim Okara joined the largest specialist distributor of control and automation products in the UK, where he worked on numerous large-scale projects. He decided to leave however, to join Omron Electronics as field sales engineer in 2015, as he had always felt that he wanted to contribute to society from a business development standpoint.
At Omron, opportunities to engage with new challenges are abundant; the varying projects involve not only control equipment but also healthcare and mobility as well as initiatives to actively employ disabled persons.
At that time, Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) had begun working on automated vertical farming to optimize crop production. Based at the James Hutton Institute in Scotland a leading crop science and research institute, the opportunity to collaborate was one of the key considerations in this location. To advance the efforts to practical application level, IGS needed an automation solutions provider.
In search of a suitable provider, IGS found Omron. In addition to its solutions, Omron's commitment to social responsibility attracted them into collaboration.
With the addition of Omron's automation technology to the expertise and knowledge of the two organizations, the first-ever UK project for automated vertical farming using IoT was initiated. Kassim was assigned as project leader on Omron's side. His passion for his work increased by the day as he deepened his understanding of his partners' enthusiasm toward the project.
In the beginning, developing an understanding of the project was particularly challenging, as it was unprecedented so that previous case studies could not be found. Despite this, Kassim took on the project, led by his determination to respond to social needs through business.
Publication date : 10/29/2018
Mushroom Company Execs Join Crop One Advisory Board
Crop One Holdings, whose vertical farms company FreshBox Farms grows leafy greens, has added executives from The Giorgi Cos. Inc., parent of mushroom grower Giorgio Fresh, to its advisory board.
October 28, 2018
Crop One Holdings, whose vertical farms company FreshBox Farms grows leafy greens, has added executives from The Giorgi Cos. Inc., parent of mushroom grower Giorgio Fresh, to its advisory board.
Joe Caldwell, president of Giorgi Mushroom Co. and Giorgio Fresh, said the company is “very interested in the potential of vertical farming to transform the fresh produce industry,” in a news release.
Caldwell joined Giorgi Mushroom in 2017, after more than three decades at Monterey Mushrooms.
Brian Loiseau, senior vice president of sales, marking and research and development for Giorgio Foods Inc., also has joined Crop One’s advisory board. He has more than two decades of consumer packaged goods marketing experience, and was involved in the recent launch of Giorgio’s Savory Wild Portabella Jerky.
“We look forward to leveraging our own go-to-market experiences to help Crop One bring exceptional quality produce to everyone’s kitchen tables,” Loiseau said in the release.
Can Cities Produce Enough Food To Feed Their Citizens?
By Dan Nosowitz | October 11, 2018
An urban rooftop garden. YuRi Photolife on Shutterstock
The areas in and around American cities may not scream “farming powerhouse.”
As cries for local food ring louder and louder, many have begun looking to flashy new urban farming missions: rooftop gardens, vertical farms inside abandoned factories or warehouses, that kind of thing. But a new study from the University of Minnesota finds that urban areas already produce a lot of food—the challenge is matching local producers with local consumers.
The study looked at “metropolitan statistical areas,” or MSAs, and compared both their production and their demands for milk, eggs, fruits, and vegetables. MSAs are a sort of confusing metric, but essentially they refer to a county with a population of at least 50,000, plus any surrounding areas that depend in large part or can be considered part of that urban county area. New York City, for example, includes both Newark and Jersey City as part of its MSA. Los Angeles includes Long Beach and Anaheim, and Miami includes Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.
Food production in these areas is a lot more robust than you might think. Much of the country most associated with farming—the bread basket, for example—is not, primarily, growing crops for direct human consumption. Corn and soy are processed into animal feed or oil or various other products. Near cities, in places without the vast quantities of land required to make a living growing monocrop grain, farmers are more likely to produce eggs, milk, fruits, and vegetables.
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The study found that 20 percent of MSAs already produce enough milk and eggs to feed their individual populations. For fruits and vegetables, that number drops to 10 percent, which is still pretty significant, considering that the vast, vast majority of the American population lives within an MSA.
Those findings vary, of course, by location. Upstate New York, the Philadelphia area, and parts of Wisconsin and Michigan are capable of being fully self-sufficient in dairy. South Florida is already self-sufficient in oranges, and the Seattle area is taken care of for apples.
The authors of the study hope that it can be used to more carefully measure what a community needs and what it has, or could easily have, and try to balance those supplies and demands. Understanding the food needs of a given area can help reduce transportation fees and pollution as well as encouraging local farmers to grow what their community really wants.
Vertical Farming And 'Soft Power'
By Edward Timperlake - - Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Whatever one’s religious belief, all can acknowledge that World War II was the closest humanity has come to unleashing what is symbolically known as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: war, famine, pestilence and death.
However, that Hobbesian view of humanity can be offset by walking along a unique “trail” in D.C., called “The Peace Trail,” on our National Mall. https://www.usip.org/peace-trail-national-mall
One of the central points of note on the Peace Trail are four bronze statues. Two are known as “The Arts of War” and flank the entrance leading from the Lincoln Memorial to Memorial Bridge, crossing over the Potomac River to Arlington Cemetery. The second two statues, “The Arts of Peace,” flank the road that runs parallel to the Potomac River.
The Arts of War have one word on each statue: “Valor” on one, “Sacrifice” on the other — appropriately so, given that the Memorial Bridge leads to Arlington Cemetery.
The Arts of Peace have carved in their stone bases “Aspiration and Literature” on one and “Music and Harvest” on the other.
No better connection of words embodies the power of human nature’s resiliency with pure joy as when these words, “Music and Harvest,” are joined together.
Those words take on additional importance when one reads that the stone castings were done in Naples, Italy, and they are a gift from the Italian people to the American people in 1950, just four years after the horrors of World War II.
From Roman engineers building roads and aqueducts to help harvests to the great “Green Revolution” beginning in the 1950s and continuing to this day, some of the best minds in the world have sought to meet the challenge of feeding humanity.
One key leader was Norman Borlaug, an American agronomist who is often called the father of the Green Revolution and who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for increasing food production. His efforts to develop — and deliver — high-yielding varieties of cereal grains to India and Pakistan are credited with saving as many as a billion people from starvation. Additional elements of the revolution were helping farmers improve their irrigation techniques and get access to man-made fertilizers and pesticides.
Imagine, one brilliant man saving a billion lives! Thus, all people can appreciate that the advances in agriculture are a genuine “soft power” contribution to world peace: Impoverished nations will not have to fight for basic survival if they can simply feed their citizens.
From the great land-grant institutions to scientific research labs and schools such as Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Science, research pioneers have played an important dynamic role in advancing knowledge in growing nutritious food.
Now, agriculture in the 21st century is entering the practical and achievable dimension of vertical farming. This phrase — describing growing plants in multistory buildings rather than on a horizontal farm — was actually coined in 1915. But thanks to renewed efforts in development, it is now possible to move from the scientific linear approach of advancing yields from a horizontal farmer’s field to going vertical. This is a true step-function into creating a “fourth Agriculture Revolution.”
There is tremendous promise when the best innovations of the Green Revolution are integrated into vertical farming, especially in urban and suburban settings.
Food insecurity is a concern for anyone living in a city. Poor quality, limited options and a fragile supply line are only some of the challenges in feeding people.
Looking at agriculture more broadly, many practices that have been used for decades — and even thousands of years — are breaking down and are ultimately unsustainable. Fertilizers produce chemical runoff that is polluting the water supply. This, in turn, has led to a number of aquatic “dead zones.” Huge amounts of water and land are needed to keep pace with the population.
Vertical farming can address these concerns in ways that greenhouses and regular urban farming can’t.
Picture several high-tech greenhouses stacked on top of each other. Now add in hydroponics, a fairly familiar growing technique that uses a third the amount of water required by regular agriculture.
Now think about a vertical farm using aeroponics, a technique that needs only a third the water of hydroponics and recycles the water so it can be used over and over.
Moreover, unlike some vertical farms, a new approach is to design the building to fully maximize sunlight to grow plants, with OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes) as a supplement. OLED is like a protein bar for plants whereas sunlight is like dinner with all the fixings.
With greater use of vertical farming, some of the farmlands that are currently used in agriculture could be returned to a more natural state of better soil through carbon sequestration.
This, plus reduced water needs; multiple annual harvests; recycled waste; crops protected from disease and the elements; and real 21st century jobs, are just some of the benefits that can be brought by vertical farming.
• U.S. Marine Fighter Pilot Edward Timperlake, who owns a farm in Rappahannock County, Virginia, served in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and is a former assistant secretary with the Department of Veterans Affairs and former director of technology assessment in the Department of Defense. He has co-authored four books, including “Rebuilding American Military Power in the Pacific: A 21st-Century Showdown” (Praeger, 2013), and currently writes for Defense.info.
AI Does Food - TEDx Talk by Joel Cuello:
AI will help realize Cuello’s Law, which is the projected industry goal that crop productivity per unit resource use in a tech-dense vertical farm must double every 4-5 years.
The Global Marshall Plan for AI-based Food Production is introduced to provide capacity building so that no nation is left behind in AI-based food production, making sure that AI will be used to produce food sustainably, not only for some, but for all of us on the planet.
Joel Cuello is a Professor of Biosystems Engineering and Director of the Global Initiative for Strategic Agriculture in Dry Lands (GISAD) at The University of Arizona. A globally recognized expert in the engineering of sustainable biological and agricultural systems, Joel has designed various engineered systems, including those applied in bioregenerative space life support, industrial mass production of algae cultures, and vertical farming. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
As Director of The New School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Mike Evans Wants to Create an Environment Where Creative Collaborations Lead to Innovative Discoveries
As director of the new School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Mike Evans wants to create an environment where creative collaborations lead to innovative discoveries.
Mike Evans grew up in rural Pittsylvania County, Virginia, where he spent his summers pulling tobacco and running a soybean drill for his grandparents and neighbors.
He saved enough money during those hot summers to buy his first car — a 1980 Ford Pinto — which he proudly parked in the Cage during his first year at Virginia Tech. He’d been exposed to the university through his high school’s Future Farmers of America program, which brought him to campus to take part in horticultural competitions.
As a student majoring in horticulture, he fell in love with researching the plants he’d been surrounded by his entire life. The intensive laboratory work he did during his undergraduate years at Virginia Tech prepared him well for the rigors of graduate school at the University of Minnesota, where he earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D.
Evans went on to a career in higher education that involved research to help industries thrive, Extension outreach programs that impacted local communities, and academic programs that prepared the next generation of students for the challenges of facing the world.
Now, the Hokie alumnus has returned to Virginia Tech to use all the skills he’s acquired to lead the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ latest strategic initiative.
Evans is the director of the newly formed School for Plant and Environmental Sciences, which combines three former departments — horticulture; crop and soil environmental sciences; and plant pathology, physiology, and weed sciences — under one administrative roof.
“When we bring people together you get something new called ‘creative collisions.’ These intersections lead to innovation on a level that changes the paradigm of what is possible,” Evans said. “We want to create an environment in the school where the silos are broken down and people are interacting in unique ways to allow opportunities for more of these creative collisions to occur. This benefits everyone from students and professors to industry leaders and local producers.”
Though faculty and administration have been involved in planning the school via committees, public forms, and other outlets for three years, it becomes officially operational on July 1.
“Mike’s experience makes him the perfect person to lead the school and help our faculty, staff, students, and Extension professionals find new ways to work together to make an even greater impact on our college, the state, and the world” said Alan Grant, dean of the college.
Evans most recently worked at the University of Arkansas, where he was an interim associate dean in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences. Prior to Arkansas, Evans was a professor at Iowa State University. At both institutions, he was a horticulture faculty member, teacher, and researcher who focused on controlled agricultural environments, such as greenhouses, and how to use hydroponic techniques to increase yields of food crops. He started his career as a researcher at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center with the University of Florida where he conducted research and Extension programs related to greenhouse crops and ornamental plants.
Evans points to projects he did as a horticultural researcher that show how collaboration can lead to greater impact.
A few years ago, he was researching how lettuce is best grown in a controlled environment using hydroponics. He started to talk with a plant pathologist who was trying to find ways to combat powdery mildew on spinach. The two began to collaborate on ways to grow the spinach in a greenhouse, which allowed for faster growing cycles. This development in the greenhouse helped the plant pathologist do quicker scientific trials than it would have been possible in the field. The teamwork between disciplines was what made the solution possible.
“You never know what innovative, cross-disciplinary solutions are possible until you tear down the walls that exist and build a space where ideas can freely flow — and new ideas can be born,” he said.
Similarly, the school will merge three former departments and bring researchers, faculty, and staff together to use their diverse experiences and skillsets to tackle issues ranging from increased crop production to ways to grow healthier food throughout the world.
None of the majors or degrees offered by the three former departments will change, though Evans said the school will explore creating new majors that build upon the expertise of the faculty and meet the demands of students and industry. All clubs and student organizations will remain as they currently operate. The school also will focus on ways to expand the college’s physical footprint, such as constructing new greenhouses or the future Human and Agricultural Biosciences Building 2.
“I believe that by creating a space where new relationships can form and risk-taking in the name of innovation is encouraged, there is unlimited potential to make a lasting impact in plant and environmental sciences,” he said.
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Cities Can And Must Work To End Food Deserts Within Their Communities
By Mayor Debra March - - Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Limited access to healthy food continues to affect urban communities across the U.S., including the City of Henderson, Nevada, where I am privileged to serve as mayor.
Nearly all of the food consumed by the 2.1 million residents and 42 million annual visitors to the Las Vegas Valley, where Henderson is located, comes from somewhere else. This is a necessity given the environment of our drought-burdened Mojave Desert home, which makes growing fruits and vegetables for residents and visitors challenging.
In addition, many economically challenged areas across the nation, including our own, lack access to supermarkets with affordable fresh vegetables, fruits and other nourishing foods, so residents rely on neighborhood corner stores and fast-food chains that offer few fresh food options. As a result, despite being a vibrant community with a robust economy, safe neighborhoods and high student achievement, Henderson is not immune to the development of food deserts or food insecurity.
But hope is on the horizon. Among the strategies we are implementing to increase access to healthy food in economically challenged neighborhoods is the incorporation of urban vertical farming. This is an innovative process that sustainably produces exponentially greater numbers of crops while using significantly fewer land and water resources, making it a viable option for our desert home.
Even under normal conditions, our hot and arid climate — which averages less than 4 inches of rain a year — make it very challenging to grow produce. But through hydroponic watering and microclimate controls for crop cultivation, vertical farming can use up to 90 percent less water than traditional farming methods. This is a critically important benefit for a region that finds itself in the 18th year of a serious drought, with no relief in sight.
Vertical farming is an emerging industry, and the private sector is eager to encourage its development as evidenced by an increasing number of vertical farms being built across the country. And just recently, Oasis Biotech opened its doors in Las Vegas, joining Urban Seed Inc., which opened in 2016.
Oasis Biotech, located near Henderson, is producing 9,500 servings of green salads per day from its 200,000 square-foot facility that houses the equivalent of a 34-acre traditional farm. The healthy food produced there supports local resorts, casinos and a national supermarket chain. Before this development, all local produce was usually supplied by distant farms in California and Arizona. In addition to added cost, produce shipped to Southern Nevada often loses vital nutrients and freshness during transport.
Being able to access locally produced and vertically farmed leafy greens and fruits for their restaurant salads allow these resorts to decrease reliance on produce shipped by truck or train. This change helps reduce air pollution and cuts carbon emissions while also promoting increased water conservation and sustainable farming techniques.
In addition, vertical farms like Oasis Biotech and Urban Seed Inc., will be able to tailor their produce to the specific need of its resort and supermarket partners and go from farm to table in 24 hours, which will create more nutritious, better tasting and diverse options for their clientele.
Henderson is taking a multifaceted approach to resolving issues that contribute to the lack of fresh produce experienced by our residents — an issue that can often lead to major health concerns including diabetes, hypertension and low student performance.
We recognized the importance of working with community stakeholders to effectively meet the challenge of providing all residents with access to healthy food. We incorporated this goal into the City’s “Henderson Strong” comprehensive plan and made this healthy food strategy a key component of the revitalization plan for Pittman, one of the City’s oldest underserved neighborhoods.
Part of this approach also includes working to attract new supermarkets and expanding existing stores. We’re also supporting school and community gardens and mobile farmers markets. The City Council also will consider an urban agriculture ordinance to support and facilitate larger scale and more sustainable food production — like vertical farming — in our city.
We have an exciting opportunity that will allow us to address the challenge of food deserts and food insecurity in our urban centers with vertical farming that takes place 365 days a year and produces food closer to where it’s consumed. But we must keep in mind that continued growth of this industry will not be possible without the assistance of public and private funding to support the infrastructure needed to develop it.
While there is no quick and easy panacea for the lack of healthy food options that residents across the nation face on a daily basis, forward-thinking municipalities like Henderson are actively implementing community-supported programs and exploring new technologies like vertical farming that will provide our most vulnerable families with healthier options.
• Henderson Mayor Debra March, a former councilwoman, was elected to Nevada’s second largest city in 2017. Please follow @debra_march and @cityofhenderson.
Skyscraper Farm: Army Ranger Takes Aim At Global Hunger
By Skyscraper Farm - Thursday, October 11, 2018
Everyone knows what’s coming: The agricultural sector will face enormous challenges to feed the 9.6 billion people projected to inhabit the planet by 2050. In order to do so, food production must increase by 70 percent in spite of the limited availability of arable lands. Another 8.5 million square kilometers, or land the size of Brazil, are needed.
Not only is land needed but there are also increasing needs for fresh water — more than 70 percent of the world’s fresh water already goes to agriculture. As Skyscraper Farm CEO Nick Starling puts it: “We don’t have a water crisis. We have a water allocation crisis.”
Society has responded to these challenges with three innovative shifts: new farming techniques, younger farmers to pioneer them and utilizing technology to make fulfillment easier. Vertical farming refers to the practice of growing crops indoors in vertically stacked layers or on vertically inclined surfaces inside structures like warehouses, shipping containers or even skyscrapers.
These indoor farming systems are designed to maximize crop yields while minimizing environmental impacts. Moreover, by bringing farms closer to where people live, this farming method is expected to be both efficient and cost-effective by reducing transportation expenses and environmental damage.
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Agricultural Mixed-Use: Revolutionizing Farming
Indoor farming has its challenges: Most methods consume a surplus of energy, calling into question the impact on sustainability, or are located too far from urban centers where populations need it most. Thankfully, one firm is ready to bridge the gaps.
Skyscraper Farm, LLC, is a Virginia-based business venture dedicated to vertical farming. Founded by Nick Starling, an Iraq invasion war veteran, its vision is to bring sustainable, cost-effective agricultural products to city centers and remote sites in the U.S. and abroad by combining cutting-edge vertical farming with high-end, attractive, mixed-use real estate.
Skyscraper Farm specializes in the construction of urban, mixed-use buildings that feature an indoor, vertical farm that uses primarily sunlight to grow plants and has the capacity to have 20 harvests a year.
The Company has designed three types of buildings: a four-story facility that is solely outfitted for growing space, a mid-rise built on top of grocery stores, and a 52-story skyscraper that includes residential condos, commercial office space and restaurants.
A National Security Perspective On Vertical Farming
By Dr. Robbin Laird - - Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Since the very earliest wars, battlefield commanders have known that a successful strategy is to use food as a weapon. Vertical farming is a bold approach that will become a critical national asset — and will require protection.
Vertical farming — growing multiple crops in specially designed tall buildings in urban and suburban areas — is taking international farming into the 21st century. As urbanization accelerates in the 21st century and as many of the world’s urban areas are by seas, ensuring the security of these areas — inclusive of provision of basic quality of life, such as food — is a key requirement and challenge.
When nations go to war, history has shown that control of sea lines of communication is an essential element of strategic war planning. Consequently, the most visible aspects of a nation flexing its muscle are airplanes and ships rather than other dimensions of national security such as the industrial heartland and the great agricultural farms.
However, history shows that the free movement of all logistics, including agriculture products, during times of crisis and actual war can be the key to eventual victory.
With vertical farming, the output of food is significantly larger than horizontal farm land. So fully understanding the need to militarily protect vertical farms as a critical national asset, greater output means much greater sustained deterrence.
An additional aspect of modern continental war is that flat or slightly rolling farmland is often a perfect battlefield for mechanized war. Tank engagements with infantry and combined arms artillery fires are very destructive of harvests. That is the tragedy of Poland’s and Ukraine’s topography.
This is where 21st century vertical farming can make a major difference.
Vertical farming’s infrastructure directly supports defense and security by reducing stress on transportation and delivery systems.
And one of the most important aspects of this infrastructure is the ability to provide for self-sufficiency without the need to rely on global supply chains and long-distance shipping. By removing chokepoints for provision of basic sustainment of a nation, national security is enhanced and defense demands are reduced.
And for a country like the United States, which is a large federal system with several key urban areas defining its global reach, enhanced autonomy within those urban areas is paramount. Vertical farming provides both a self-sustaining flexible farming infrastructure for urban populations and increased redundancy to support operations from a variety of points of operation for U.S. forces. Global military installations with self-sustaining vertical farms might be a way for future mitigation of the need for global transportation of agriculture products.
Put in other words, the success of the vision of vertical farming is part of a 21st century renaissance in reshaping the infrastructure for the security of the nation. And when that vision is implemented in the urban areas of our partners and allies, an overall enhancement in infrastructure security is clearly on the way.
Moreover, by introducing vertical farming in dense and packed urban areas in Third World nations, poverty could be reduced as well the demand side on countries like the United States that are often required to provide global assistance.
In short, agility in a much more efficient supply coupled with a commiserate reduced demand on the transportation system are major enhancements to the theory and practice of combat logistical planning to the national security system — these are part of the benefits that can be delivered by vertical farming.
• Robbin F. Laird, Ph.D., is a senior military and security analyst and author of 16 books. He is a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors (https://breakingdefense.com) and Editor of Defense.info, which looks at the changing global strategic environment.
Vertical Farming: Bursting With Promise -- But Unknown Costs
By Dr. Michael Evans - - Wednesday, October 10, 2018
The production of food crops such as fresh greens (like lettuce and arugula) and herbs (such as basil) in vertical production facilities is part of a larger field of agriculture often referred to as controlled environment agriculture (CEA). In addition to production of these types of crops in vertical facilities, production also occurs in such facilities as greenhouses and plant factories inside of converted warehouses and shipping containers. The types of crops most commonly grown in CEA production include tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, strawberries and fresh greens and herbs.
Depending on the crops being grown, different types of production systems might be used in CEA, but the most common systems are nutrient film technique, floating beads, Dutch bucket systems and various types of gutter systems. These systems might be true hydroponic systems — in which the plant roots are suspended in a static or recirculating fertilizer solution — or a system that uses an artificial soil or substrate in which the plant roots grow.
Across all of the types of controlled environment structures, systems and crops, the production of food crops in CEA has been experiencing rapid growth in the U.S. In fact, Rabobank, a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company, reported that the value of U.S. greenhouse-grown food crops exceeded $3 billion in 2013 and is expected to exceed $4 billion by 2020.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s statistics also support the conclusion that greenhouse-grown produce production has been rapidly increasing. Many factors have been reported to be responsible for the growth in greenhouse food crop production including reducing water and fertilizer inputs needed to grow crops, an ability to better program and have predictability of crops in CEA versus open fields, the ability to grow crops year-round and thus better serve the local markets, the ability to potentially better use biorational disease and pest control, the ability to grow food crops on nonarable land, the ability to produce higher volumes of produce on limited land (especially with vertical farms), and the potential for reducing food safety issues as compared to open field production.
In addition to these factors, the growth of CEA was reported as being fueled by market and human factors. Karen Halliburton Barber of Rabobank noted in a report that, “There is a growing preference among U.S. retail and food service buyers for greenhouse produce.” She also noted that, “The buyers are seeking the quality and reliability of supply that greenhouse products provide.”
As a type of CEA, vertical farming affords the opportunity to produce larger volumes of these crops per area than traditional field production. This is achieved by both the potential for year-round production and the multiple levels of production systems employed. Vertical systems also allow for the production of produce crops in areas where land is very limited or very expensive as is often the case with highly urbanized areas. However, compared to both field production and even traditional greenhouse (single level production) hydroponic production, the fixed costs and variable costs of production will be different for vertical farming. Some costs are likely to be significantly higher while others might be lower. Costs are likely to be spread over higher levels of crop production.
It is important to understand these costs. It is important also to understand the market. What is the target market? What crops does the market want? How large is that market and what are the prices for a given product that the market will tolerate are all important questions before deciding to move forward with any type of CEA operation — including vertical farms. Having a strong understanding of the crops to be grown, the level of production achievable, the costs of production and the market will increase the chances for a successful CEA business venture.
• Michael Evans, Ph.D., is director of the School for Plant and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech (@VTCals).
Quincy, Illinois - Barb Wehmer Has A Suggestion When Space Is Short But Gardening Interest Isn't.
By Deborah Gertz Husar Herald-Whig
August 20, 2018
QUINCY - Barb Wehmer Has A Suggestion When Space Is Short But Gardening Interest Isn't.
Try a vertical garden.
"It makes sense to garden upright," Wehmer said.
The Quincy native worked with vertical farming and an urban green roof in downtown St. Louis designed to grow produce to help feed the poor. After changes in the St. Louis-based company and the death of her husband, Wehmer decided to come back home after 35 years away -- and bring the same ideas to the Quincy area.
"Like anything in life, it's wonderful if you can find a job and something you love and have passion behind," she said. "This kind of thing can change the world. If one kid would learn how to garden and teach his brothers and sisters, it would just take off. But first somebody has got to teach it."
Wehmer works with people in the sustainable, organic and live growing industry and her business, Sustainable Sales, offers products at sustainablesales.net to support that including living walls, essentially a vertical framework that can be planted to flowers, herbs or vegetables in settings including homes, businesses and schools.
"What I really love is teaching children how to garden and farm at school. They can take that knowledge home to their families," she said. "Kids have to learn now everything comes from the grocery store."
Wehmer hopes to tap into an "upsurge" in interest in community gardening efforts in Quincy and beyond and in teaching skills people can use to sustain themselves and their families. Growing your own produce also lessens food safety concerns and the cost of buying food.
"Kids love this sort of thing," which fits into the growing farm to school movement, Wehmer said, and because the living walls are handicapped-accessible, "any child with special needs can wheel up to this unit."
Easy accessibility also benefits senior gardeners. With nursing home residents, Wehmer points to a study that found gardening was one of the things they missed the most. "This unit can be put on casters and can be used inside or outside," she said.
Planted into compost, the living wall "is completely hand water able," she said. "It has an integral drip irrigation line that you can plug in or water by hand just like you water the garden."
The Quincy area -- with its proximity to farmland, support of farmers market and strong base of knowledgeable gardeners -- is a prime location for Wehmer's passion which can find financial support from a variety of sources.
Grants are "available to Head Start, daycare, preschool and grade school up to high school" to cover costs involved, she said. "I just need to get a school to say to me 'show us how to do it.' I've got it ready to go. I've done all the research."
British Startup Wins 100,000 Euros For Indoor Agriculture Method
The startup LettUs Grow from Bristol (UK) beat 844 other startups to win €100,000 in the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge, hosted in Amsterdam. During the final, Co-founder and Managing Director Charlie Guy convinced the international jury that their indoor agriculture method, in which the roots of the crops are suspended in a dense nutritious mist, was a winner.
LettUs Grow’s technology can be utilised by greenhouses and vertical farms. Contrary to methods where crops are grown in soil or water containers, LettUs Grow lets the roots hang in a dense, nutritious mist. This results in a better harvest, and significantly less water and energy consumption. Also, by growing the crops closer to the consumer, the carbon emissions caused by transport decrease as well.
The Managing Director of LettUs Grow, Charlie Guy, said: “The recognition of the Green Challenge shows that we are developing a viable solution to the many problems that our global agricultural systems will face in the future, from water shortages to the effects of extreme weather. We allow farmers to protect their crops, diversify what they are growing and massively reduce their ecological footprint.”
With this sum of money, LettUs Grow can further develop their business. Ben Crowther, CTO of LettUs Grow, had this to say about the awards: “The support we've had from Green Challenge will allow us to accelerate the development of our technology, bring about a real step change in agricultural productivity and reduce the resource cost of fresh produce for farmers all over the world.”
In addition to LettUs Grow, the Dutch startup AquaBattery and American startup AlgiKnit will take the same amount home. The first prize of half a million euros goes to the air bubble curtain that combats plastic pollution in our seas by startup The Great Bubble Barrier from The Netherlands. The runner-up prize of EUR 200,000 is for the textile recycling marketplace by startup Reverse Resources from Estonia. This brings the total prize pool of one of the biggest sustainability competitions in the world to EUR 1 million. In addition to the prize money, all five finalists will receive six months of expert coaching to improve the likelihood of their businesses succeeding.
Charlie had this to say about the awards: “It was a brilliant experience to stand up on stage in front of so many people who share the same passion for sustainable enterprises.
“Although the stakes were high, there was a fantastic atmosphere because everybody taking part was already a winner, and anything else we could of won would have just been a huge bonus.”
This year, a record number of 845 entrepreneurs from 100 countries submitted their sustainable business plans aimed at combating climate change. Last year, the Rwandan startup EarthEnable won the EUR 500,000 first prize with their sustainable alternative to cement.
For more information:
LettUs Grow
lettusgrow.com
Publication date : 9/24/2018
US (MD): South Mountain MicroFARM Increases Lettuce Yield By 60% And Microgreens Yield By 10%
South Mountain MicroFARM is a 100% LED-lit, aquaponic leafy greens cultivator in Maryland. The 7,500 square foot greenhouse is situated on the Sellers family’s 22-acre Christmas tree farm. Two-thirds of the greenhouse contains media beds, hydroponic channels and vertical racks that grow a wide range of lettuces, herbs, and microgreens. The remaining one-third houses tanks of tilapia. For Levi Sellers, South Mountain’s Head Grower, building the greenhouse was a homecoming in multiple ways. Levi has lived many lives - he’s worked in a hydroponics supply shop, as a mountaineering guide, and an EMT. But he felt agriculture calling him back to the family farm.
Building an energy-efficient greenhouse
One of the biggest challenges to growing year-round in Maryland is the summer heat and humidity. As a result, the greenhouse was designed with the west-facing wall open for ventilation, so that the winds that blow from west to east can passively cool the greenhouse. Levi installed shade cloths to further soften the relentless heat and light of Maryland summers. Vertical fans help control humidity levels. The lower heat output of the LumiGrow fixtures made them the practical choice for Maryland’s climate.
“When it’s 80% humidity and 100 degrees outside, there’s not a thing you can do. If it’s a cloudy day, you still need to run your lights so that you don’t lose production," explains Levi, "If we were using HIDs, we’d just be increasing our heat more. It’s much harder to control. We really like that we’re able to run our lights on cloudy days and not worry so much about the heat.”
Choosing LumiGrow has also allowed South Mountain to save on upfront infrastructure costs. Installing HID fixtures would have required them to install an additional electrical service panel and purchase a larger backup generator. When the power goes out for extended periods of time during the summer, the lower power draw of the LumiGrow fixtures makes it possible to run both the fish tanks and the lights on the farm’s existing generators. South Mountain MicroFARM also received a 40% utility rebate for purchasing energy-efficient lights, which made the price competitive with HID.
For South Mountain, the benefits of choosing LEDs over HPS were clear. LumiGrow’s high standard of customer service made the choice a no-brainer.
“We looked at several of your competitors, but they weren’t offering the same spectrum adjustability and their customer service wasn’t as good as what I experienced with [our Account Manager] Mike," recalls Levi.
Picture-perfect lettuce
According to Levi, South Mountain’s heads of lettuce are a lot bigger and denser than their hydroponically grown competitors at the grocery store. South Mountain’s lettuce fills the package better, making them more attractive to the end-consumer.
“When I compare photos of our greens grown under LEDs to others' grown with the same aquaponics system who went with the manufacturer’s recommendation to use HID, our LED-grown lettuce looks so perfect and pristine that it almost looks fake,” says Levi.
Levi runs his fixtures year-round to maintain the specific DLI that produces the uniform, picture-perfect plants that consumers are looking for. He tries to maintain about 18 hours of light per day, so the energy savings from his LumiGrow fixtures make a big difference. DLI and photoperiod are both key factors in biomass generation - the higher the DLI, the more biomass produced per plant lifecycle.
Levi’s LumiGrow fixtures have had a huge impact on his lettuce crop - they reach harvest size in 40-50 days, shaving up to 33% off the crop production cycle. This allows Levi to fit in more turns. Levi has also had great results with his microgreens - his LumiGrow-lit trials were ready to harvest 2-3 days earlier than his unlit microgreens. The LumiGrow-lit trays also produced approximately 10% more material per tray.
Levi has also experimented with allowing the heads of lettuce to grow for the full 55-60 days. He found that the LumiGrow-lit lettuce was 40-60% heavier. Restaurants buy lettuce by the tote, so heavier heads of lettuce allow South Mountain to reach the tote weight that restaurants expect with fewer heads of lettuce. All of this means more revenue for South Mountain MicroFARM.
In addition to producing a better-looking, more marketable product, South Mountain MicroFARM uses 75% less energy than their friend’s similar-sized greenhouse.
A pink beacon of sustainability
Initially, Levi had some concerns about what the locals would think about the greenhouse’s vivid hue illuminating the side of the mountain. His fears were unfounded. While the locals often jokingly ask if the farm is having a rave without inviting them, the truth is that they love the pink glow. Their kids adore how it stands out at night and proudly use it as a landmark when telling their friends where they live.
“It acts as a form of advertisement for us, and it’s really sped up the word of mouth advertising about our business and what we’re doing,” says Levi, “We’ve built our brand around being very sustainable and eco-friendly. We focus on every detail, down to the fish feed to make sure it’s locally sourced and sustainably grown. And what better way to show people that than an uncommon glow of pink from our greenhouse? The pink glow means we’re doing something different.”
For more information:
LumiGrow
800-514-0487
info@lumigrow.com
www.lumigrow.com
Publication date : 9/24/2018
Freight Farmer Q&A: Bee's Greens Company
8 Questions with Lizzy Porter of Bee's Greens Company!
We caught up with Lizzy of Bee's Greens Co. to learn more about her island farm in Waipahu, Hawaii!
One of the best things of being part of the Freight Farms team is talking to our farmers and hearing about their successes, customers, and challenges as they pursue a variety of container farming ventures. They are a wealth of information, so we're sharing some of their stories with you!
“As an island in the middle of the Pacific, importing comes at great environmental and food quality cost.” — Lizzy Porter
Freight Farms: What’s the story behind your Freight Farms project?
Lizzy Porter: My Freight Farms project was born from an interest in the future and emerging exponential technologies, and developed into what it is today after learning about contemporary food issues in Hawaii. I learned about Freight Farms while on a path of learning about how existing big industries could be decentralized and democratized. I began to understand more about current food insecurity issues in Hawaii - where more than 80% of food is imported; where arable land can be hard to come by; where tropical weather can surprisingly and significantly impact a growing season.
As an island in the middle of the Pacific, importing comes at great environmental and food quality cost. With the Freight Farms technology in mind, I found there was an opportunity to participate in a futuristic pursuit while helping with contemporary issues. Not to mention, I was pretty ready for an excuse to move to a beautiful tropic island. Thus, Bee’s Greens Company, operating in Hawaii for Hawaii, came to be.
FF: What, if any, was your experience with farming before becoming a Freight Farmer?
LP: Not much! I had a personal vertical hydroponic gardening system before becoming a Freight Farmer, but would not say I had experience with farming, let alone on a commercial scale. However, I grew up very comfortable with life sciences and technology so was ready for the challenge. I also believe that success often comes from delegating to others whose strengths complement your own - so was confident that if I was struggling, I could always find someone or a team with different skills and experiences to make the project thrive.
Lizzy with her brother and dad, who help her out at the farm!
“The support of my family, the Freight Farms team, and the Freight Farms community has been absolutely instrumental in helping me overcome challenges of getting started and finding my footing.”
— Lizzy Porter
FF: What reaction do you typically get from people when you tell them what you do for a living?
LP: Surprise and genuine interest! I love that my answer is not traditional, whether I’m talking to someone on a corporate path, in the agricultural field, or pretty much any other avenue. It usually makes for a fun conversation about the future, unconventional passions, and potential solutions to contemporary issues - and inevitably ends up with looking us looking a dates to schedule a tour of the farm.
FF: How did you find customers to buy your produce?
Just one fun farmers market sign!
Photo: Bees Greens Co. on Instagram
LP: We’ve found our customers through farmers markets! We sell the majority of our greens to both patrons of the markets as well as other vendors at the markets. Other customers have come through by looking for like-minded companies.
FF: What’s your favorite crop to grow and why?
LP: My favorite crop is probably the Butterhead Rex. It is well loved here but doesn’t normally grow year-round, so the communities I serve are familiar with it and excited to see it when they hadn’t expected to. It’s also just the right amount of tender and beautiful.
“With the global culture and awesome technology that we have in 2018, it is unrealistic and uncreative to just decide that a society can only have the food that grows well traditionally in that location.”
— Lizzy Porter
Photo: Bees Greens Co. on Instagram
FF: What’s the most pressing issue in food and agriculture that you’d like to see solved?
LP: On a personal and local level, I think a very pressing issue is food security in Hawaii. 80% or more of food is imported to the islands from 3000 miles away, which means quality loss, environmental costs, and an economic loop that is not benefiting the local community as it could. The challenge is that, because the imported produce is produced in very large commercial scales, it can remain cheaper than fresh, low impact, local food.
With the global culture and awesome technology that we have in 2018, it is unrealistic and uncreative to just decide that a society can only have the food that grows well traditionally in that location. Things like the Freight Farms’ LGM provides a great opportunity for global selections of locally produced, consistent, high-efficiency, low impact goods.
We completely agree with Lizzy! Check out our blog, Freight Farming Over Freight Shipping: Bringing Local Back to the Island for more insights into the problems island communities face today.
Lizzy working in her farm–you'd never know she didn't have any previous growing experience!
FF: What was the most challenging part of becoming a Freight Farmer and how were you able to overcome it?
LP: The most challenging part of this project was moving into a field that was relatively new to me, having never been involved in commercial farming before. The support of my family, the Freight Farms team, and the Freight Farms community has been absolutely instrumental in helping me overcome challenges of getting started and finding my footing. Now that we’ve been operational for a while, that support has been epically supplemented by the help and knowledge of great employees, and getting to share our stoke and passion with our customers and community.
“Passion is contagious, and I’ve found the best way to keep the stoke is to share it! ”
— Lizzy Porter
FF: What’s the best piece of advice you can give to people interested in becoming Freight Farmers?
LP: Passion is contagious, and I’ve found the best way to keep the stoke is to share it! A new business venture can at times be a grind, but if you can find the pieces of being a Freight Farmer that are most interesting to you – i.e. the parts that blow your mind - those are what you want to hang onto and share with others to blow their minds in turn. A significant amount of my sales and new connections have come from when I get on a roll, talking about how cool the system is, and why it’s important for now and for the future. Sharing my excitement and having it reflected back to me has been endlessly inspiring and motivating.
Government of Aruba Approves Vertical Farming Project Using Affinor Growers' Technology
The technology will allow VDA Vertical Designs Aruba VBA to produce crops year-round in Aruba's tropical climate while utilizing land that, previously, could not be utilized for farming
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 10, 2018 -
Affinor Growers Inc. ("AFI" or the "Company") (CSE:AFI, OTC:RSSFF, Frankfurt:1AF) is pleased to announce that on Aug 9, 2018, the Government of Aruba held a press conference to announce they have approved VDA Vertical Designs Aruba VBA to build a vertical farming project in Aruba, using AFI's vertical farming technology.
The technology will allow VDA Vertical Designs Aruba VBA to produce crops year-round in Aruba's tropical climate while utilizing land that, previously, could not be utilized for farming
The Company had previously announced, on February 21, 2018, that it had signed an exclusive license agreement with Vertical Designs Aruba Inc. Due to some legal obstacles during the incorporation process, VDA Vertical Designs Aruba VBA was incorporated in place of Vertical Designs Aruba Inc. The Company and VDA Vertical Designs Aruba VBA are in the process of finalizing a new amended licensing agreement. The licensing agreement is expected to be completed early next week.
Nick Brusatore, CEO, commented that "This is absolutely thrilling news for the Company, VDA Vertical Designs Aruba VBA and the country of Aruba. Not only will this project have a substantial, and lasting, economic impact on Aruba, but this will be the first step in revolutionizing the farming industry in the Caribbean. This is the perfect showcase for our vertical farming technology and we hope this will act as a catalyst for other vertical farming projects around the world."
About Affinor Growers
Affinor Growers is a publicly traded company on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol ("AFI"). Affinor is focused on growing high quality crops such as romaine lettuce, spinach, strawberries using its vertical farming techniques. Affinor is committed to becoming a pre-eminent supplier and grower, using exclusive vertical farming techniques.
Neither Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release may contain assumptions, estimates, and other forward-looking statements regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and are subject to factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control that may cause actual results or performance to differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
For More Information, please contact:
AFFINOR GROWERS INC.
"Nicholas Brusatore"
CEO
AccorHotels Now Using 600 Onsite Urban Food Gardens
Hospitality giant Accor Hotels has announced that it is on track to install urban fruit and vegetable gardens at 1,000 of its 4,500 global hotels by 2020
9 August 2018, source edie newsroom
Hospitality giant AccorHotels has announced that it is on track to install urban fruit and vegetable gardens at 1,000 of its 4,500 global hotels by 2020, as part of its commitment to cut emissions from food transportation and reduce its food waste output.
The urban vegetable garden at Novotel London Waterloo produced enough pesticide-free basil to stock the kitchen all summer
The hotelier has today (August 9) revealed that it has fitted 600 of its locations worldwide with the gardens, which supply fresh vegetables, herbs and salads to be used in its restaurant and bar menus, putting the chain on track to meet its target of installing 400 more over the next two years. To date, 26 of these gardens are at UK branches, including the Novotel hotels in Canary Wharf, Paddington and Waterloo.
AccorHotels said in a statement that the move to build the gardens would help the company meet its target of reducing food waste from its restaurants – which collectively serve more than 150 million meals each year - by 30% by 2020, while boosting the traceability, and reducing the environmental footprint, of its produce supply chains.
“As a group that produces a lot of food for our guests across the world, it is vital that we play our part in reducing food waste and investing in sustainable food systems,” AccorHotels’ chief operating officer for Northern Europe, Thomas Dubaere, said.
“Our hotels are encouraged to source local produce, reducing the environmental impact from their food purchases and providing outlets for farmers to sell their produce.”
As well as shortening the produce supply chain, AccorHotels claims that installing urban gardens has improved the biodiversity and air quality in the areas surrounding its hotels, reduced the urban heat island effect and urban runoff and provided better heat and sound insulation to buildings which have rooftop gardens.
In addition to produce from onsite, pesticide-free gardens – which make use of hydroponic, aquaponic and vertical farming innovations to thrive - AccorHotels regularly uses honey produced from beehives on hotel rooftops across its restaurants. For example, the Novotel London Tower Bridge has recently been fitted with hives on its rooftop garden, with AccorHotels estimating that this will enable kitchen and bar staff to harvest 30kg of honey by the end of 2018.
Branching out
AccorHotels’ commitment to build urban gardens at its hotels forms part of the chain’s Planet 21 sustainability strategy, which was launched in 2012 and sets out a range of 2020 targets across topics such as eco-design, energy efficiency and water stewardship, alongside sustainably sourced food.
The strategy additionally includes the company’s Plant For The Planet initiative, which has seen AccorHotels commit to plant 10 million trees by 2021 through a string of global agroforestry and reforestation projects.
As of 2016, it has planted five million trees in 26 countries through the initiative – but Dubaere noted that the need to champion sustainable agriculture in a city environment had grown since Plant For The Planet launched in 2009.
“Our backing of agroforestry projects supports sustainable food production in rural areas, but almost 70% of the global population will live in cities by 2050, so we also feel it is important to mitigate the increasing consumption in urban areas,” Dubaere added.
The launch of the urban garden initiative came after AccorHotels last year became a signatory of WRAP’s Courtauld Commitment 2025, committing to achieve at least a 20% reduction in food waste and greenhouse gas emissions. To date, more than XYZ companies across a range of sectors have signed up to the commitment, with signatories representing 95% of the UK food market.
Sarah George
The World’s First “High-Tech Eco Village” Will Reinvent Suburbs
A half-hour commute from Amsterdam, a piece of farmland is slated to become a new kind of neighborhood. Vertical farms, along with traditional fields and orchards surrounding homes, will supply food to people living there. Food waste will turn into fish feed for on-site aquaculture. Houses will filter rainwater, but won’t have driveways. A “village OS” tech platform will use AI to simultaneously manage systems for renewable energy, food production, water supply, and waste.
The 50-acre neighborhood, which will be nearly self-sufficient as it collects and stores water and energy, grows food, and processes much of its own waste, was initially planned for construction in 2017. The developers, called ReGen Villages, struggled with red tape–the area, on a piece of land that used to be underwater but was reclaimed in the 1960s when a seawall was constructed–has regulations that make it difficult for someone other than an individual homeowner to build on land that is mostly used for farming now. But after the project finally got government approval this month, it’s ready to take its next steps.
![[Photo: ReGen Villages]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57c8695d5016e11e71be1d83/1534760237080-2520TS7R23O8T7ZR9D2M/eco+village-2.jpg)
[Photo: ReGen Villages]
“We can connect a neighborhood the way it’s supposed to be connected, which is around natural resources,” says James Ehrlich, founder of ReGen Villages. If the project raises the final funding needed to begin construction, what is now a simple field will have new canals, wetlands, and ponds that can soak up stormwater (the area is seven meters below sea level, and at risk for flooding) and attract migrating birds. The land will be planted with trees, gardens, and food forests. Vertical gardens inside greenhouses will grow food on a small footprint. The 203 new homes, from tiny houses and row houses to larger villas, will provide needed housing in an area where the population may double in 15 years. The houses range in cost from 200,000 to 850,000 euros.
As cities become increasingly expensive and crowded, Ehrlich believes that this type of development may become more common. “In the last few years, we’ve really seen that the market has shifted and that there’s a hollowing out of cities,” he says. “They are really expensive and the quality of life is going down, and as much as millennials or younger people really want to be in the city, the fact is that they can’t really afford it . . . the trends are really moving toward this kind of neighborhood development outside of cities.”
![[Photo: ReGen Villages]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57c8695d5016e11e71be1d83/1534760323234-E8PYCK6PT7ZLEV48UXZ5/eco+village-3.PNG)
[Photo: ReGen Villages]
There’s also a need to rethink infrastructure so it works more efficiently, with a lower environmental footprint. The new development considers everything–from electricity to sewage–as an interconnected system, and software links the pieces together. Electric cars, for example, which will be parked on the perimeter of the neighborhood to keep streets walkable, can store some of the extra power from the neighborhood’s solar panels and other renewable energy.
The neighborhood works differently than most. Because of the expected arrival of self-driving cars in coming years, and to encourage walking and biking, the houses aren’t designed with parking; a new bus line along the edge of the neighborhood, with a dedicated bus lane, can take residents to the town of Almere or into Amsterdam. (As in other parts of the Netherlands, separated bike paths also connect to the city.) Water will come primarily from rain collection. The on-site farming, including raising chicken and fish, will supply a large portion of the local food supply. If neighbors volunteer for the community–to garden, or teach a yoga class, or provide elder care, for example–the community will use a blockchain-based time bank to track their hours, and then provide a discount on their HOA fees.
![[Photo: ReGen Villages]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57c8695d5016e11e71be1d83/1534760367146-N6LO14QFMR1T625FFX3A/eco+village-4.jpg)
[Photo: ReGen Villages]
A “living machine,” a system that uses plants and trees to filter sewage, and a separate anaerobic digester, can handle the neighborhood’s sewage and provide irrigation or water reused in energy systems. A system for processing food and animal waste will use black soldier flies and aquatic worms to digest the waste and create both chicken and fish feed. Other household waste–like cans and bottles–will be handled by the municipal recycling system, at least initially.
It’s a design that Ehrlich believes is feasible elsewhere, though it may not easily fit into existing regulations, and it would need political support. (Some other “agrihoods,” neighborhoods with built-in farming, do already exist, like Kuwili Lani in Hawaii, which also uses renewable energy and harvests some rainwater.)
“We know that governments around the world are in a desperate situation to build probably over a billion new homes around the world,” he says. “It’s a terrible housing crisis. At the same time, they wrestle with a number of things: the commercial interest of farmers, the commercial interests of traditional real estate developers, material companies who have a way of doing things that they’ve been doing for 100, 150 years. Most of the rules on the books relate to this district-scale thinking–of grid-based electricity, of district-scale water, of district-scale sewage.”
Financing is another challenge: While typical real estate developers look for large rates of return and quick exits, ReGen Villages plans to stay involved in its developments and get long-term, single-digit returns. The company is still raising the last round of money needed for the new development. Because Almere has regulations that don’t allow for high density, the initial development will also be more expensive. But once it’s built–something that Ehrlich expects to happen in 2019–others can follow more quickly. “We have access to a lot of really big money that’s waiting for us to finish the next pilot, and so we need the proof of concept,” he says.
The company has plans to build future developments near cities like Lund, Sweden, and Lejre-Hvalso, Denmark, and it ultimately hopes to bring a low-cost version of the neighborhoods to developing countries. “We can imagine going to rural India, sub-Saharan Africa, where we know the next 2 [billion] to 3 billion people are coming to the planet, and where we know that hundreds of millions of people are moving into the middle class,” he says. “And [we want] to get there as quickly as we can to provide new kinds of suburbs, new kinds of neighborhoods.”