Ensuring Singapore's Food Security Despite the Odds

Image from: Reuters

As with most issues that impact national security in Singapore, it often seems that the odds are stacked against us.  Food security — access to safe and nutritious food — is a challenge on several fronts. 

Singapore is a small city-state with limited resources, with only 1 per cent of land available for food production, and over 90 per cent of food is imported from an increasingly disrupted world. The Covid-19 pandemic has further amplified the gravity of safeguarding food security.  The city-state has been proactively planning for long-term food security through the Singapore Food Agency’s (SFA) strategy of “three food baskets” — diversifying food sources, growing locally and growing overseas.  This approach has served the Republic well in securing a supply of safe food.

DIVERSIFIED SOURCING IS KEY

Singapore’s food importers leverage the nation’s connectivity and the global free trade environment to import from multiple sources in about 170 countries and regions worldwide.  Should there be a disruption to any one source, importers are able to tap alternative food sources and ensure supply remains stable. Lockdown measures brought about by Covid-19 underscored Singapore’s vulnerabilities to supply disruptions in food. 

It was not by luck that the Republic’s food supply remained stable and market shelves continued to be promptly restocked — it was the result of a deliberate whole-of-government strategy to diversify food sources. To keep the nation’’s diversified food supply lines intact amid the Covid-19 global pandemic, SFA worked closely with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) to monitor Singapore’s food supply situation. Together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these economic agencies worked with like-minded countries to maintain open trade links.

LOCAL PRODUCTION AN IMPORTANT BUFFER

SFA drives innovation in local farms with the ambitious goal of producing 30 per cent of Singapore’s nutritional needs by 2030 as part of our “30 by 30” plan.  To meet this goal, we need a holistic and long-term approach to space-planning, boosting agri-food technology and developing local agri-specialists. To facilitate and support the establishment of high-technology and productive farms in Singapore, SFA tenders out land based on qualitative criteria such as production capability, production track record, relevant experience and qualifications, innovation and sustainability.

In addition, a masterplan for the greater Lim Chu Kang (LCK) region, spanning about 390ha of land, will be undertaken in consultation with stakeholders over the next two to three years.  The redeveloped LCK agri-food cluster will produce more than three times its current food production.

Building on the above efforts to grow Singapore’s high-tech agri-tech sector, SFA will continue to partner with the Economic Development Board and ESG to attract best-in-class global agri-tech companies, as well as to nurture promising homegrown agri-tech companies into local champions and help them to expand overseas.

EXPLORING ALTERNATIVE, UNDERUTILISED SPACES

Urban food solutions are expected to play a key role in global food security.  While there are progressive enterprises operating out of farmlands and industrial estates, some agricultural game-changers are also taking root in unconventional areas — indoors, on rooftops and in underutilised spaces.

SFA worked with the Singapore Land Authority to introduce an urban farm at the former Henderson Secondary School site, which was transformed into Singapore’s first integrated space comprising an urban farm, childcare centre and nursing home within a state property.  The farm space within the site was awarded in May 2019 to social enterprise City Sprouts, and it has become a vibrant destination for the young and old to learn about urban farming and enjoy a relaxing day out.

Citiponics, the first commercial farm located on a multi-storey car park in a residential neighbourhood, harvested its first yield of vegetables in April 2019.  In September 2020, another nine sites atop multi-storey car parks were awarded for urban farming. 

The successful bidders included proposals for hydroponic and vertical farming systems with a variety of innovative features, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain technology and automated climate control.  These sites have the potential to collectively produce around 1,600 tonnes of vegetables annually.

Image from: Ciitiponics

TAPPING TECH

The Agriculture Productivity Fund (APF) supports local farms in their capability development and drive towards higher productivity.  Through APF, SFA co-funds the adoption of farming systems to better control environmental variables, test-bed technologies and boost production capabilities. Between October 2014 and September 2020, a total of almost S$42 million has been committed to 115 farms.

The Covid-19 pandemic presented greater impetus to speed up local food production capacities. In September 2020, SFA awarded S$39.4 million to nine companies under the 30x30 Express Grant to quickly ramp up food-farm outputs over the next six months to two years. With advanced robotic and digital systems increasingly being used in farming, Singapore’s vegetables farmers have also become innovative agri-engineers and specialists in their own right.

With support from the 30x30 Express Grant, urban farming engineering solutions firm Indoor Farm Factory Innovation will set up an indoor vegetable farm with a vertical integration growth system up to 8m in height in a fully controlled and pesticide-free environment.  The farm will leverage artificial intelligence farming systems integrated with IoT monitoring, dosing irrigation and an advanced environmental control system to achieve optimum growing conditions all year round.

Seng Choon, a chicken egg farm that has been in business for more than 30 years, has also proved itself a modernist in its operations.  The company uses a computer that scans eggs to ascertain if they are clean; while feeding systems, temperature controls and waste cleaning systems have been automated with SFA’s support. Singapore’s efforts at ensuring food security would not be complete without support from consumers.  To boost recognition of local produce among consumers, SFA brought the industry and public together to create a new “SG Fresh Produce” logo. 

Farmers have been using this emblem on their packaging since August 2020. A website was also launched to provide a trove of information on locally farmed food. While the Covid-19 pandemic has led to import restrictions, it also helped to accelerate support for local produce. With public support for local farmers and other key measures, Singapore can beat the odds in ensuring food security in this ever-evolving, ever-disrupted world.

Feeding Leeds: A Fair and Self-Sustaining Food System for the City

Image from: University of Leeds

A bold vision for feeding the population of Leeds would transform the city into a far more food secure, fair and sustainable place to live.

Analysts from the University of Leeds’ Global Food and Environment Institute studied the city’s food system to assess its resilience in the face of supply chain and delivery disruptions caused by severe weather, climate change and events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit.

The urban food system includes all the activities involved in the production, distribution and consumption of food within a city. 

They mapped and analysed publicly available data relating to agricultural production and human health in the metropolitan district and discovered that 48.4% of the city’s total calorific demand can be met by current commercial food production activities. 

This is relatively high for such an urbanised space, but there is little diversity in what is being produced. Three cereal crops (wheat, barley, oats) dominate the Leeds production system, reflecting a post-war food system that focused on energy supply. This means that most of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the city are transported in from elsewhere. 

The researchers’ findings also show that the most deprived areas of the district, which have higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, are also likely to be the first to be impacted by supply disruptions. The resulting food shortages can increase prices, and people on low incomes may not have the option to travel to larger supermarkets or afford to bulk buy. 

The researchers say there are no quick and easy options for significantly increasing the security, fairness, or sustainability of the food system supplying Leeds. 

But they say the metropolitan district’s sizeable number of farmers, manufacturers, suppliers, and food services could all contribute to improving its food resilience by creating a system which provides easy access to healthy foods, shares energy, reuses water and nutrients and repurposes local infrastructure and resources. 

Caroline Orfila, who led the study, published today in the journal Food Security, is Professor of Plant Biochemistry and Nutrition in the School of Food Science and Nutrition. She said: “Our work demonstrates the inequalities in food production and dietary health. 

“The local food production system can only provide around 50% of the calories needed by the population, highlighting that ‘eating local’ is not currently possible for everyone. In particular, the local food system would not provide sufficient protein or fats. The lack of food diversity suggests current food production is also unlikely to meet vitamin and mineral requirements. 

“Any disruptions to food production, distribution or retail, from flooding, longer term climate change, COVID-19 or Brexit, is likely to impact those in deprived areas the most. 

“Disruptions tend to cause shortages in some food categories, which then increase food prices. People on low incomes spend more of their income on food; any increases in food prices will limit what they can afford to buy. 

“People in deprived areas have limited choice of where to buy foods, they may not have private transport to access larger supermarkets or access to online shopping. They may also not have the cash flow or storage space to buy items in bulk, relying on what is available. 

“Interventions are needed to level up those areas.” 

Researchers identified more than 1,000km2 of warehousing, derelict land, and unused floor space in abandoned buildings, with direct or possible connections to renewable energy and water. 

Half of this land lay near food banks, community centres and numerous food processors and outlets. 

The land could potentially be used for no waste innovative farming techniques, including vertical food farms, where crops are grown in vertically stacked layers; green walls, where plants grow on vertical surfaces, and rooftop agriculture, where fresh produce is grown on top of buildings. 

The study found that within the metropolitan district of Leeds there is substantial food activity with more than 5,500 businesses and charities supplying fresh and prepared food, including fast food providers, restaurants, and supermarkets. Some 23 food banks are located within the inner-city area. 

There are almost 100 hectares of allotment controlled by Leeds City Council, and approximately 39 hectares of private allotment and community growing areas in the Leeds Metropolitan District. 

Lead author Dr Paul Jensen, also from Leeds' School of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds, said: “We found there are numerous underutilised city assets that could be incorporated into a resource efficient urban food ecosystem, which could include a mix of vertical farming, hydroponics, or more conventional growing methods. 

“Most notably, many of these areas are within those suffering most from food poverty, diet related health issues and a limited intake of fruit and vegetables - those who are usually the first to suffer during a crisis situation.” 

The research identified locations for ‘food hubs’ that connect producers to consumers and discuss the need for a coordinated approach between producers, government, charitable groups and consumers in creating a more sustainable food system. 

The research was carried out with FoodWise Leeds, a not-for-profit campaign by Leeds City Council, the University of Leeds, businesses and charities to address food health and sustainability issues. 

FoodWise Leeds co-ordinator Sonja Woodcock, said: “This past year has highlighted how vulnerable the local food system is. Taking a coordinated approach and implementing available policy levers, such as including local food within public procurement contracts, increasing access to land for both commercial and community food growing, as well as investing in cooking and food skills will help to create a more resilient and fair local food system.” 

Professor Orfila added: “These findings are significant because it shows the vulnerability and inequality of UK cities and urban food systems. The situation in Leeds mirrors the situation in many other cities worldwide.” 

Professor Steve Banwart, Global Food and Environment Institute Director said: “The results of this study provide essential evidence to guide access to nutrition for the entire population. The project dramatically changes our view of what is a city and what is a farm and catalyses our partnerships to build a more resilient community.”

Further Information

‘Mapping the Production-Consumption Gap of an Urban Food System: An Empirical Case Study of Food Security and Resilience’ and is published on 8 February in the journal Food Security. It is available online here:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12571-021-01142-2. 

For media enquiries, contact University of Leeds press office via pressoffice@leeds.ac.uk.

Advice For New Vertical Farmers: Grower Spotlight on Andrew Worrall

Last week we spoke about running a farm at LettUs Grow. What excites you about vertical farming? 

It’s the future of the industry. Also, the amount of salad that these farms can produce for their local community. We want to be able to eat salad all year round and we import to make that happen. However, just a small farm can easily provide for its local community, very efficiently and all year round. The sustainability element is also exciting: with our salad there’s no food miles, it’s very minimalistic. You could use an electric van or bike to distribute this crop if you wanted to. It’s a step forward in terms of what we need to do to take care of our planet. 

What do you think are the biggest downsides to vertical farming?

It’s still a new technology and it can be expensive. The biggest roadblock facing the industry is that we need more people and companies to collaborate together to make sure we can build these farms at a sensible rate, so we can provide farms to anyone. We want to be able to provide farms to people, communities and countries that don’t have a lot of money, so that they can provide affordable fresh produce to local people. 

How has vertical farming impacted your life?

Massively!  I wanted to find my passion, a job that I loved - that was very important to me. It’s satisfying to be in a position now where I’m very happy to be doing what I do and I look forward to going into work. I was happy to make the move from London to Bristol. I would have moved even further if it meant being able to continue working within this industry.

Image from: LettUs Grow

How do you see vertical farming playing a part in the future? 

When indoor farming first came about, it had a reputation of being competition for outdoor farming, which just isn’t the case. There’s so much we can’t grow that outdoor farming can provide, such as cereal crops. I’m glad we’re at a stage where indoor and outdoor farms can start to work together to optimise both methods. With these new relationships, there should be a good increase in the amount of indoor farms you’ll be seeing. What LettUs Grow offers with DROP & GROW™ is an exciting project because that’s a 40ft shipping container which can be placed pretty much anywhere. It’s not that big - it could go in a car park or behind a restaurant, but actually provide quite a lot of salad to that area. 

How much of our food should be grown this way? 

Good question. If you had asked me a while back I would have just said salad, but now I’ve changed my mind. Indoor farming can have a massive impact on propagation, especially aeroponics, because of how we aerate and nourish our roots. We could start lettuce for greenhouse projects and we can also propagate tomatoes, strawberries and tree whips. Propagating trees in this way could potentially be hugely beneficial and it’s something we want to do more of. 

We can also quickly grow large amounts of microgreens, baby leafs, herbs and we can grow fruiting crops like strawberries. We are slowly chipping away and it’s really exciting. I’m waiting to see if I can ever say I’ve grown or propagated every crop that can be grown in these farms! 

What do you think are the biggest benefits of vertical farming? 

How fast these crops can grow! The turnover can be as short as 5 days from seed, depending on the crop. Also how clean it can be - I’m very dedicated to making sure these farms are built to ensure they are easy to be maintained and clean. The most exciting part is the crop growth rate though - it’s incredible how fast our crop grows from seed to plate. In a very well maintained growing calendar, which Ostara® is great for supporting, you can optimise your beds so that the day you harvest can also be the day you germinate onto that same bed. Your farms can be forever providing salad at very fast rates. 

Image from: LettUs Grow

What was the biggest change you encountered during your years indoor farming?

Moving from being a production grower to an R&D grower. It has been a great change! As a production grower I knew what I needed to know about growing the plant safely and getting it onto a plate so it was good for the consumer. Now I’m fully optimising, learning and understanding the plants completely, so that I can help the grower that I used to be. We spend a lot of time on crop recipes to make sure that whoever we sell our farms to can start up very quickly and they won’t have to spend months developing their crops. If they have the customers and clients behind them, they can buy DROP & GROW and start producing salad as soon as it's been commissioned. 

What was the biggest change you encountered in the industry?

More and more people are speaking about what’s going on in the industry and getting involved. I get so many messages on LinkedIn with people who want to get into this career. It’s exciting to see that indoor growing is a career people can access now. When I was developing my skills I didn’t know I would end up in indoor farming. There are more opportunities than ever before. For example, our Crop Technician is doing a placement here for 2 years. The aim is that they can gain the skill sets and knowledge they need to then go off and do the same practice in any farm they want. 

What advice do you have for people who are looking to start a career in growing? 

Reach out to companies who are already out there. You could start off part-time or as an assistant. If you are patient and dedicated then it’s a journey I promise you won’t regret. It takes a lot of work, but the outcome is amazing - you’ll be learning so much about this new technology. You’ll also build great relationships: there are so many amazing people in this industry who are so interesting, with different backgrounds, who are willing to share their knowledge. You can always learn more and other people are a great source of that. 

What about for those looking to start a vertical farming business?

Do your homework.  There are people out there who you can reach out to and it’s very easy to get information. It’s very easy to get excited about the idea and jump straight into it, because it is exciting and can be very rewarding, but it’s really important to do it step by step. Know how to scale properly, learning the differences between a small and larger farm. Understand how many people you’ll need and the logistics. I’d also advise people to get some practical work experience before you buy. You want to start the company knowing the tricks of the trade. 

Image from: LettUs Grow

LettUs Grow Blog: www.lettusgrow.com/blog/advice-for-vertical-farmers

Pure Flavor® Receives International Taste Award For New Cloud 9® Tomato

Leamington, ON (February 1st, 2021) – While consumers continue to look for more healthy snacks in the fresh produce aisle, greenhouse vegetable grower Pure Flavor® is launching their new Cloud 9® Bite-Sized Fruity Tomatoes to help meet the growing demand for consistently flavorful options. After extensive product trials and consumer taste testing, many are heralding the new tomato variety as an everyday snack game changer.  

“We taste hundreds of tomatoes every year searching for something special - unique colors, shapes, sizes, but most importantly flavor. From the first taste of the Cloud 9® variety, we knew we had found it”, said Jamie Moracci, President. With fruit like flavor, the new Cloud 9® Tomatoes are going to redefine what snacking tomatoes should taste like as an everyday item, not just as color in a salad. “We have created the Cloud 9® Standard for quality and look forward to consumers enjoying this premium and hand-selected bite-sized tomato every day”, said Moracci. 

 Strategically grown in high-tech greenhouses in Canada, USA, and Mexico, Cloud 9® Bite-Sized Fruity Tomatoes are available year-round. With a distinct color, unique shape, and a fruit-like flavor profile, Pure Flavor® has conducted extensive product trials in key growing regions to create the appropriate growing formula to consistently produce an exceptional snacking tomato. 

“From the first bite, you know this will be memorable: it’s a fresh snacking experience that comes from an unwavering commitment to quality”, commented Matt Mastronardi, Executive Vice-President. Available in a variety of formats, Pure Flavor®’s award-winning Cloud 9® Tomato is available starting February 1st to be shipped throughout North America. “We hand-select a limited quantity of the most vibrant tomatoes so you can enjoy bold, balanced flavor that sweetens any snack or homecooked meal”, said Mastronardi. 

Pure Flavor® recently received the prestigious Superior Taste Award Certification from the International Taste Institute (Brussels, Belgium) for the Cloud 9® Tomato. The reviewing Jury, consisting of more than 200 renowned European Chefs & Sommeliers from over 20 countries, critically tested & analyzed the Cloud 9® Tomato and highlighted these characteristics to award the product the Superior Taste designation: 

• Very clear, ripe tomato flavor with a marked sweetness; the taste lingers for a long time on your palate

• These tomatoes have an original shape, and the size makes them ideal as a snack or for use in the kitchen

• An intense red color with a soft texture and sweet taste; nice and juicy – good balance between sweetness & acidity

• The product is very versatile; can be used in numerous different recipes and types of cuisines, suitable as a snack, in pasta, salads, stews, with various proteins (beef, poultry, fish), or even a Gazpacho

 “It’s a strict process where all products are blind tasted; this means that the samples are anonymized, we do not see the packaging and do not know the brand name nor the producers’ name - we don’t even know from which country the product comes from. This forces us to be completely objective as we do the sensory analysis. Only truly good products are certified”, stated Stijn Roelandt – Sous-Chef at Hof van Cleve, 3 Michelin stars and member of the Jury, International Taste Institute. 

The launch of a sweeter snacking tomato comes at a time when consumers are looking to enjoy a wider variety of healthy foods to eat at home. Cloud 9® offers consumers a healthy new snack option that will “make life’s sweetest moments even sweeter” – figuratively and of course, quite literally.  

Video #1: https://youtu.be/CrsCQTszdp0 

Video #2: https://youtu.be/hQIwq8M2Tfs  

“The award-winning Cloud 9® tomatoes burst with a fruity sweetness that enriches any dish or eating occasion, every recipe you create deserves to be a showstopper”, said Chris Veillon, Chief Marketing Officer.  

In anticipation of the new product launch, Pure Flavor® spent the last 16+ months developing the Cloud 9® brand to ensure that consumers could go beyond the package to enjoy all aspects of the tomato.  

“Our team has developed dozens of recipes, conducted in person tasting surveys before the pandemic and hundreds of digital preference surveys during the Love For Fresh campaign late last fall, to creating engaging web & social content in lifestyle situations – we needed to effectively communicate that Cloud 9® is not just another salad topper, it’s the sweetness you crave with the quality you deserve. We think it’s a tiny taste of heaven™”, said Veillon. 

To learn more about Cloud 9® Bite-Sized Fruity Tomatoes, please visit: https://www.pure-flavor.com/cloud9/  

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About Pure Flavor® - 

Pure Flavor® is a family of greenhouse vegetable growers who share a commitment to bringing A Life of Pure Flavor™ to communities everywhere. Our passion for sustainable greenhouse growing, strong support for our retail & foodservice customers, and focus on engaging consumers is built on a foundation drawn from generations of growing expertise.  

We are the next generation of vegetable growers, inspired to put quality, flavor, and customers first by providing greenhouse-grown vegetables from our farms that are strategically located throughout North America. 

About the International Taste Institute –  

The International Taste Institute, founded in 2005 and based in Brussels, Belgium, evaluates and certifies the taste of food and drink from all over the world. Its jury is composed of over 200 renowned Chefs and Sommeliers from 15 European culinary or sommeliers associations.  

The Taste Institutes performs objective sensory evaluation: its jury follows a rigorous blind tasting methodology in which product samples are anonymized to avoid any bias in the scoring. In addition to the scoring of the various sensory analysis criteria, the jury provides comments and eventually suggestions for further product improvement or food pairing suggestions. 

VIDEO: Take A Virtual Tour Of The New Controlled Environment Ag Center At The Ohio State University

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January 27, 2021

Urbanagnews

Dr. Chieri Kubota, the Director of the new center focusing on controlled environment agriculture and protected cultivation hosted this event to introduces the programs and membership.

What OHCEAC is unique about is that we are an integrative, interdisciplinary, and inclusive team conducting collaborative research to respond to CEA stakeholder needs. Our focus inclusively covers various production systems and crop types. We use the terminology of CEA as having a very broad meaning including soil-based or soilless systems under various types of climate control or modification structures.

WIA Virtual Meet Up

WIA Virtual Meet-Up Come with your ideas,

thoughts, and questions as

we brainstorm in small groups to strategize on

Career Advancement.

This topic-driven Meet Up will be held

Tuesday, January 26th, 5:00 PM CST.

Register via our Home Page

Know someone that would benefit from a Meet Up?

Please spread the word.

See you there!

Women in Agribusiness Team
eventinfo@highquestgroup.com

USDA Seeks Members For New Urban/Indoor Ag Committee

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by Chris Koger

January 7, 2021

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(Courtesy AeroFarms )

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking members for a new advisory committee for urban agriculture.

The dozen members of the board will advise the agriculture secretary on issues relating to urban/indoor/vertical farms and identify barriers to establishing them.

“This group will underscore USDA’s commitment to all segments of agriculture and has the potential to support innovative ways to increase local food production in urban environments,” Bill Northey, USDA’s undersecretary for farm production and conservation, said in a news release.

The members will represent:

• Four growers, two from an urban area/cluster and two who use innovative technology;

• Two people from a university or extension program;

• One person from a nonprofit organization, which may be a public health, environmental or community organization;

• One person from of business and economic development, such as chamber of commerce, city government or planning organization;

• One person with supply chain experience, such as a good aggregator, wholesaler, food hub, or a background in a direct-to-consumer program;

• One person from a financing entity; and

• Two people with experience in urban, indoor or other emerging agriculture production practices, as determined by the USDA.

Nominations are due by March 5, and should include a cover letter, resume and a background form.

Send them to Ronald Harris, Designated Federal Officer, Director of Outreach and Partnerships, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Room 6006-S, Washington, D.C. 20250, or mail them to Ronald.Harris@USDA.gov.

The NRCS oversees the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production, which was established by the 2018 farm bill.

2-Acre Vertical Farm Run By AI And Robots Out-Produces 720-Acre Flat Farm

Plenty is an ag-tech startup in San Francisco, co-founded by Nate Storey, that is reinventing farms and farming. Storey, who is also the company’s chief science officer, says the future of farms is vertical and indoors because that way, the food can grow anywhere in the world, year-round; and the future of farms employ robots and AI to continually improve the quality of growth for fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Plenty does all these things and uses 95% less water and 99% less land because of it.

In recent years, farmers on flat farms have been using new tools for making farming better or easier. They’re using drones and robots to improve crop maintenance, while artificial intelligence is also on the rise, with over 1,600 startups and total investments reaching tens of billions of dollars. Plenty is one of those startups. However, flat farms still use a lot of water and land, while a Plenty vertical farm can produce the same quantity of fruits and vegetables as a 720-acre flat farm, but on only 2 acres!

Storey said:

“Vertical farming exists because we want to grow the world’s capacity for fresh fruits and vegetables, and we know it’s necessary.”

Plenty brought the farm indoors to create a better future for people and our planet. We need to triple the production of fruits and vegetables if we want to ...

Plenty’s climate-controlled indoor farm has rows of plants growing vertically, hung from the ceiling. There are sun-mimicking LED lights shining on them, robots that move them around, and artificial intelligence (AI) managing all the variables of water, temperature, and light, and continually learning and optimizing how to grow bigger, faster, better crops. These futuristic features ensure every plant grows perfectly year-round. The conditions are so good that the farm produces 400 times more food per acre than an outdoor flat farm.

Storey said:

“400X greater yield per acre of ground is not just an incremental improvement, and using almost two orders of magnitude less water is also critical in a time of increasing environmental stress and climate uncertainty. All of these are truly game-changers, but they’re not the only goals.”

Another perk of vertical farming is locally produced food. The fruits and vegetables aren’t grown 1,000 miles away or more from a city; instead, at a warehouse nearby. Meaning, many transportation miles are eliminated, which is useful for reducing millions of tons of yearly CO2 emissions and prices for consumers. Imported fruits and vegetables are more expensive, so society’s most impoverished are at an extreme nutritional disadvantage. Vertical farms could solve this problem.

Storey said:

“Supply-chain breakdowns resulting from COVID-19 and natural disruptions like this year’s California wildfires demonstrate the need for a predictable and durable supply of products can only come from vertical farming.”

(Credit: Reuters)

Plenty’s farms grow non-GMO crops and don’t use herbicides or pesticides. They recycle all water used, even capturing the evaporated water in the air. The flagship farm in San Francisco is using 100% renewable energy too.

Furthermore, all the packaging is 100% recyclable, made of recycled plastic, and specially designed to keep the food fresh longer to reduce food waste.

Storey told Forbes:

“The future will be quite remarkable. And I think the size of the global fresh fruit and vegetable industry will be multiples of what it is today.”

Plenty has already received $400 million in investment capital from SoftBank, former Google chairman Eric Schmidt, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. It’s also struck a deal with Albertsons stores in California to supply 430 stores with fresh produce.

Ideally, the company will branch out, opening vertical farms across the country and beyond. There can never be too many places graced by better food growing with a less environmental cost.

Here’s a TechFirst podcast about the story behind Plenty:

Published by Dani Kliegerman for iGrow.News

Start-Up Launches London’s First Delivery Service For Vertically-Farmed Eco-Friendly Greens

Crate To Plate Says All Its Greens Are Picked

Within 24-hours of Being Delivered To Your Door

Crate To Plate grow greens both vertically and horizontally, without soil, inside giant crates on the Isle of Dogs / Crate To Plate

A start-up is offering to deliver vertically-farmed vegetables to Londoners homes within 24 hours of harvesting in a first for the capital.

Crate to Plate, founded by former banker and scion of the supermarket dynasty, Sebastien Sainsbury, currently grows all its leafy greens inside three giant shipping containers on the Isle of Dogs.

The type of indoor farming the start-up uses has been tipped as the future of food production, and investors have spotted the trend.

The company, launched in London earlier this year, grows salad and herbs using hydroponics - which means seeds are grown year-round on vertical and horizontal racks without any soil or pesticides. The amount of water, light and “specially mixed” nutrients each kale or basil plant receives is carefully controlled. 

(Crate To Plate staff include agriculture MA students / Crate To Plate)

The process uses around 95% less water than traditional farming, in a tiny space.  In recent film A Life on Our Planet, David Attenborough recently warned of the critical importance of moving away from exhaustive farming practices to innovative solutions.

At the height of the November lockdown the team - which includes agriculture MA students - branched out into high-end “leafy veg box” deliveries spanning Zones 1-3.  Each delivery is made on electric vehicle.

A £15 variety “farm to table” box will buy you 3 lettuce varieties, 3 bags of other leafy greens and 4 herbs - all harvested within 24-hours of arriving at your door.

Crate To Plate is now planning to expand around the capital. A second site is opening in Elephant & Castle in the new year, and the firms aims to have up to 15 “farms” by 2021. Each will produce up to six tonnes of fresh food per year.

Sainsbury, who previously founded the Hush Restaurant and organic baby food company Goodness Gracious, told the Standard he began exploring the business idea in 2015, after visiting a hydroponic farmer in Canada.

“I’m all about food wattage. One of the reasons I set up this business is for the environmental sustainability element of it. “Now technology has enabled us to move from growing on one row [as on the Canadian farm ] to growing both vertically and horizontally,” he said. Of the veg boxes, he said: “I did a bit of research and Londoners’ searches for ‘where does my food come from?’ increased by 40% in the pandemic.

“The pandemic was an opportunity to focus on home delivery. We’ve been sold out every week.”

“Everyone is talking about 15 minute cities now. Effectively that was what I was talking about - I want everyone to be able to get fresh leafy greens no more than a mile away from where they live.”

Critics of vertical farming have said it is just too expensive a method to realistically become the future of UK farming. But Sainsbury said the team is already working with farmers around the country to get them on board, with the aim of eventually expanding UK-wide. 

By Naomi Ackerman | @nomiackerman

Published by Dani Kliegerman for iGrow.News

Food Trends Suppliers Should Know to Stay Ahead of the Curve in 2021

From insects and pumpkin-seed oil to Brad Pitt-branded wine and transparent packaging, these are the food trends expected to take the U.S. by storm in 2021.

What Will People Be Eating in 2021?

It’s predicted that Americans will be consuming a lot more of the following foods and drinks in 2021: 

• Insects — According to Forbes, 2.5 billion people around the world eat cooked or raw insects regularly. Many in the U.S. still consider the concept of insect consumption a little grotesque, but attitudes are expected to shift in the coming months with several startups, including Exo cricket protein bars in New York, securing significant funding from investors.

• Boxed wine — It’s hard to believe that boxes of wine were considered classy before they were tacky. But in 2021, consumer appreciation for boxed wine is predicted to return. It’s easier to store, cheaper to transport, generates half the carbon dioxide emissions, and has a longer shelf life than its glass-bottled counterparts.

• Alternative oils — Whole Foods Market predicts that consumers will become more experimental in their use of oil, choosing walnut, pumpkin seed, and sunflower seed oil over traditional options like olive oil.

• Celebrity alcohol — There was an arguably better time when everyone knew someone who wore the Britney Spears perfume. But in 2021, it’s all about Brad Pitt’s rosé and Cara Delevingne’s prosecco, as alcohol brands and vineyards look to drive revenue through partnering with big-name celebrities.

• Kombucha — Kombucha is a fermented, lightly effervescent, sweetened black or green tea drink that first hit the mainstream in 2018. Since then, its health benefits have been lauded, and the drink has been growing in popularity. It’s gluten-free and can be filled with live probiotic cultures.

• Sweet and Umami — The Green Seed Group suggests that the big flavor combination of 2021 will be umami and sweet. Think rice infused with fish sauce caramel and nori and pork floss.

How Will People Be Eating in 2021?

It’s not just what people eat and drink that will change in 2021, but the entire culture surrounding it.  

COVID-19 has contributed to a rise in passionate amateur chefs. With so many people spending much of 2020 stuck at home with extra time on their hands, cooking has become something of an outlet. Indeed, 74% of respondents to a Sensodyne/OnePoll survey said they used cooking as a coping mechanism to manage the stress of being at home, 44% have learned a new recipe, and 32% have taken online cooking classes.

Reduced access to on-the-go, takeout food has seen breakfast truly become the most important meal of the day, and the demand for interesting and diverse breakfast recipes will increase into 2021. Cooking enthusiasts are also investing more time and effort in making baby food and looking for creative takes on staple meals.

Coupled with this newfound enthusiasm for cooking is, unsurprisingly, a newfound enthusiasm for health and wellbeing. Forbes reports that 54% of American consumers care more about the healthfulness of their food and beverage choices in 2020 than they did in 2010. This will see demand for superfoods, probiotics, and supplements grow in 2021, with many food suppliers already incorporating functional ingredients like vitamin C which promise to support the immune system. In a June 2020 survey conducted by GlobalData, 23% of global consumers confessed to stockpiling vitamins and supplements.

COVID-19 has certainly driven Americans to evaluate the relationship they have with food and drink but, fortunately, extreme diets and food fads are expected to lose popularity in 2021. Instead, people are expected to take a healthier and more sustainable approach to healthy living by embracing balance and moderation.

How Will Food and Drink Be Packaged in 2021?

Before COVID-19, food and drink packaging was headed in a very sustainable direction, with consumers increasingly concerned about excess waste and ocean-bound plastics.

But the pandemic has led to increased concerns about biosafety, particularly surrounding the packaging of food and drink. In recent years, many retailers have committed to eliminating unnecessary packaging, but some of these efforts will likely be undone in 2021 due to health and safety concerns and retailers’ desire to reassure their customers. Starbucks, for example, banned the use of reusable cups at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak.

Despite these setbacks, developments in sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging will continue in 2021.

Other trends will include an increase in transparent windows within food packaging that allow consumers to assess product quality, and QR codes, which can verify product and ingredient claims.

How Will Attitudes to Sustainable Living Change in 2021?

More than two-thirds of consumers want to ensure their everyday actions have a positive impact on the environment. This includes an interest in sustainably produced items, and a shift towards the consumption of plant-based proteins: in 2020, 28% of Americans ate more proteins from plant sources than they did in 2019. Another sustainability trend will see food suppliers up-cycling underused ingredients in a bid to reduce food waste.

Although the year 2021 won’t include a country-wide shift to veganism, retailers can expect increased demand for plant-based food as consumers commit to a more balanced diet and look to reduce their meat and dairy intake.

Image Credit: Rido / Shutterstock.com

Laura Ross Dec 15, 2020

AppHarvest’s Mega-Indoor Farm Offers Economic Alternative To Coal Mining For Appalachia

Inside AppHarvest's 60 acre state-of-the art indoor farm in Morehead, KY.

In the first year of business, Jonathan Webb and his growing team at AppHarvest are riding high on what he calls the “third wave” of sustainable development: high-tech agriculture, following the waves of solar energy and electric vehicles. Since launching the concept in 2017, Webb and AppHarvest have raised more than $150 million in funding while building and opening one of the largest indoor farms in the world on more than 60 acres near the Central Appalachian town of Morehead, Kentucky.

For Webb, who grew up in the area and has a background in solar energy and other large-scale sustainable projects, AppHarvest is both a homecoming and a high-profile, purpose-driven venture that addresses the need for additional production to feed a growing population and reduce imported produce. 

Webb’s vision for AppHarvest was inspired in part by a National Geographic article on sustainable farming in the Netherlands, where indoor growing is part of a national agriculture network that relies on irrigation canals and other innovations. He traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to see the farmers in action, then decided it was a venture he wanted to pursue — in his home state of Kentucky, where the coal industry is in decline and unemployment levels are on the rise. 

“Seeing that the world needs 50% to 70% more food by 2050, plus seeing that we’ve shifted most of our production for fruits and vegetables down to Mexico — produce imports were tripled in the last 10 to 15 years,” he says. “I would go to a grocery store, pick up a tomato, and it could be hard, discolored. That’s because it’s been sitting for two weeks on a semi truck, being bred for transportation. So first it was seeing the problem, then asking, ‘How do we solve the problem?’”

As part of my research on purpose-driven businesses and stakeholder capitalism, I recently talked with Webb about AppHarvest’s whirlwind initial year in business, successful investor fundraise, plans to go public, and B Corp Certification.

Good for Business, Good for Community

Jonathan Webb, founder and CEO of AppHarvest

“Where we’re doing what we’re doing is incredibly important. One of our biggest competitive advantages, frankly, is doing it here,” he says. “Some of the hardest-working men and women are the people in this region that power the coal mines, and all we’re trying to do is tap into that and harness that passion. It’s good for our business, but it's good for communities.”

The location has been central to AppHarvest’s benefit in another way, Webb says, as local enthusiasm for the project enabled swift construction that likely would’ve been a challenge in some other regions.

“It's all about economies of scale. We have to build a really big facility to get our costs on materials down so that we can compete with products that are being imported into the country from Mexico,” he says. “We built one of the largest facilities in about a year, so speed and scale are definitely advantages for the company, and a lot of that’s possible based on where we’re operating here in this region.”

While the Bluegrass State has been a good home for AppHarvest, Webb wants the business to be a resource for nearby communities and a beneficial workplace for residents.   

“A fundamental part of the way we’re building and growing this company is that every entry-level employee gets full health care, full benefits, living wage, paid time off. So we’re not just creating jobs, we’re creating a lifestyle for your career path,” he says. “We want to see people with high school degrees in this region grow with the company and be assistant growers and head growers three, four years from now. I know this region, and I know what people can do here. Those are the success stories that I look forward to having happen.”

Creating Positive Stakeholder Impact

Producing needed food and building a stronger workforce aren’t the only goals at AppHarvest; Webb says growing produce sustainably, with minimal impact on the environment, also is paramount. 

“We’re land constrained in the world, and water constrained. And we have to grow a lot more food and use fewer resources,” he says. “It’s simple in theory; it’s complex in scale. Just the fact that the place is so big is what makes this challenging. But we’re collecting rainwater on the roof and using it directly on the root of the plants. We’re growing hydroponically, and as a result we can use 90% less water than open field agriculture.

“The way we treat water and handle water and how we use rainwater efficiently is the really biggest driver of resiliency long term for us.” 

In building a business to have a positive impact on workers, community, and environment, Webb also created a company that is a natural fit for the B Corporation community made up of businesses that achieve a certification based on how well they incorporate all stakeholders into their policies and practices. 

“The impact side of this is incredibly important. We didn’t chase certifications,” he says. “We just did the right things: We’re paying a living wage, we're offering health care. It’s the right way to do business. And as a result, we get a huge ROI on our dollar.”

Thanks to its bottom-line success and future promise, AppHarvest has found favor with investors, including Martha Stewart and venture capitalists; and is part of a growing cohort of businesses with a social purpose that are finding traction in the public markets. The company announced in September that it’s going public through a combination with special purpose acquisition company Novus Capital Corp. (Nasdaq: NOVS).

“Why are we going public now? Because full transparency in agriculture is desperately needed,” Webb says. “We want the people who buy our fruits and vegetables to also have the ability to buy into our company. We want the record. We want the institutional rigor. It’s hard to have this spotlight this early, but it’s making us stronger.”

Christopher Marquis, Contributor

US: NEW YORK: Wall-To-Fork Fresh Produce Comes To Monsey

NEW VERTICAL FIELD URBAN FARM SYSTEM AT EVERGREEN MARKET MEANS TASTY, HEALTHY AND BUG-FREE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCE 365 DAYS A YEAR

[Monsey, NY, DEC 9, 2020] – The world of freshly harvested greens and herbs is looking up – literally – in Monsey, NY. The iconic Evergreen Market is debuting a revolutionary 20-foot high geoponic (soil-based) wall farm that lets customers not only choose clean, fresh-picked produce but also see exactly where it comes from.

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The pesticide-free lettuce, kale, arugula, basil, and cilantro from Evergreen’s on-site farm are sold at competitive prices in individual pots, making the “buying local” experience more convenient than ever. Pesticide-free and grown in soil that is never exposed to bugs, all products are Star-K Kosher Certified for purity.

“We are gratified to be the first kosher supermarket in the country to introduce the Vertical farm,” said Malki Levine of Evergreen. “Our customers are very much looking forward to buying fresh produce that is grown in our own backyard rather than being transported on long hauls from farms across the country. They will also appreciate the significantly reduced level of infestation, a major concern of kosher consumers.”

Shoppers can visit the thriving vertical farm when they visit the store. The state-of-the-art system features a controlled, sterile environment with soil beds containing a proprietary mix of minerals and nutrients. Advanced sensors constantly monitor, irrigate, and fertilize the crops throughout every growth stage.

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Evergreen’s wall farm is the latest installation from Vertical Field (www.verticalfield.com), an Israeli ag-tech company that produces innovative vertical agricultural solutions that help the environment, improve human health conditions, and make fresh, delicious produce available all year round.

Geoponic (soil-based) vertical farming yields a new crop every few days, ensuring that fresh greens and herbs will always be in season in Monsey. The sustainable and eco-friendly method produces cleaner, healthier, tastier veggies than those shipped from miles away. And, reduced soil-to-plate time means a longer shelf life and fewer hands involved – a welcome benefit in the age of Covid-19.

“We are extremely excited with the partnership with Evergreen,” said Guy Elitzur, the CEO of Vertical Field. “They are precisely the type of supermarket that has the right customer base and will successfully integrate the latest technological advances in geoponic farming.”  

About Vertical Field: Vertical Field is a leading ag-tech provider of vertical farming and active landscaping solutions for urban environments and smart cities. The company is operated by professionals, agronomists, researchers, and a multi-disciplinary team, enabling the development of smart plant-based solutions that combine the best of design and manufacturing, smart computerized monitoring, soil-based technology, water and lighting technology, and more. Vertical Field delivers next-generation vertical farming systems for a global clientele, including Facebook, Intel, Apple, Isrotel, Microsoft, and many more. Vertical Field is currently also on-site at Farmers And Chefs Restaurant in Poughkeepsie, NY, supplying fresh greens for the Chef's creative, locally-sourced menu.

About Evergreen:  Located in Town Square in the heart of Monsey, NY, Evergreen is 30,000 square feet of grocery, butcher, bakery, health food, fish, produce, sushi, full-service deli & prepared foods. The store provides wide aisles, huge product selection & competitive prices. Evergreen is a shopping destination that combines the friendliness of a neighborhood grocery with the value and convenience of a state-of-the-art specialty supermarket. Evergreen also has a similar store in Lakewood, NJ, and will soon be opening its third major market in Pomona NY.

AUSTRALIA: Sydney's First Underground Farm Reducing Distance Between Paddock And Plate

Underneath Sydney's bustling CBD, a group of savvy farmers have designed the city's first underground commercial farm. Four basement levels below the city streets in Barangaroo, in an office tower car park, Urban Green is now the largest vertical farm in Sydney. It features 35 verities of microgreens - seedlings of plants that are usually harvested early before being fully grown.

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From pink kale, spicy radish, coriander, basil, and cabbage, the vertical garden is controlled almost entirely by artificial means including fans which imitate a light breeze to help the plans grow. Just four years on from when it first began, Urban Green now provides fresh produce to restaurants and chefs around the city.

Watch the video at 9news.com.au

26 Nov 2020

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How Vertical Farming Helps Save Water

Generally, vertical farming uses 95% less water than traditional farming. At iFarm we have improved this indicator.

In many places around the world, for example in the Middle East, water resources are limited and their price is high. Reducing water consumption on a vertical farm in such regions can have a very positive economic and environmental impact. iFarm engineers have recently developed and patented a dehumidification system allowing to reuse the water that farm plants evaporate during growth.

How does it work? Let's take a look at a vertical farm with a cultivation area of ​​1000 m2. It produces 2.5 tons of fresh salads and herbs every month. To get such a yield, you need 2020 liters of water daily, most of which — 1400 liters — is used for plant nutrition. However, the daily actual water consumption is almost three times less. 2020 liters are poured into the system once, and then the "engineering magic" begins.

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At iFarm vertical farms, we use flow hydroponics, i.e the roots of plants are constantly placed in the nutrient solution and consume it whenever they need, getting all the macro- and microelements in the right ratio and concentration.

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From 1400 liters of the water, plants use only 80 liters for weight gain (consumption of nutrients from a larger volume is a prerequisite). The remaining 1 320 liters the plants simply evaporate. In the process of transpiration, a lettuce leaf can evaporate an amount of water that exceeds its own weight many times. We collect this water with air conditioners and dehumidifiers, purify it and reuse it in production, maintaining the optimal humidity inside at 70%.

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The second "source" of water on the farm is the water supply system — another 700 liters are collected from it and then run through a special filtration unit, resulting in 560 liters of purified and 140 liters of untreated water. The latter is collected in a special tank for technical needs (washing hands, pallets, floors, etc.).

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Thus in order to save water, we started collecting it from air conditioners and dehumidifiers that were originally designed to maintain optimal moisture on the farm. This approach allows the production to use only 700 liters of tap water per day, which is three times less than growing plants in conventional hydroponic greenhouses.

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We are currently improving the automation of the nutrient solution replacement. The system will determine what macro- and microelements are missing in the trays at a given time and adjust them. According to the calculations of engineers, this will reduce the number of times the sewerage has to be drained completely and almost halve its consumption — from 360 liters to 150 liters. The amount of tap water required by a vertical farm to produce delicious and reach yields then will be just 440 liters, which is five times less than what a hydroponic greenhouse needs.

16.10.2020

Q & A With Jake Counne, Founder, Wilder Fields

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Jake Counne, founder, Wilder Fields shares greens with Calumet City Mayor Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush. Pictured announcing Wilder Fields’ commitment to build and operate a full-scale commercial vertical farm in a former Super Target store in Calumet City, Ill.

When Jake Counne established Backyard Fresh Farms as an incubator in 2016, he knew that most large-scale vertical farming operations were large-scale financial disappointments.

So rather than attempting to patch up the prevailing model, he and his team chose to build something new from the ground up. “Other start-ups had tried scaling their operations with antiquated greenhouse practices,” he says. “We realized that to solve the massive labor and energy problems that persist with indoor vertical farming. We needed to look to other industries that had mastered how to scale.”

That vision, and several years of persistent innovation, came to fruition in 2019 when Counne announced he would transplant the successful pilot farm—now renamed Wilder Fields—into a full-scale commercial vertical farm. It is currently under construction in an abandoned Super Target store, with an uninterrupted expanse of three acres under its roof in Calumet City, just outside Chicago.

Wilder Fields is designed to supply supermarkets and restaurants in the Chicago metro trade area,. It is scheduled to sell its first produce in the spring of 2021. It will provide fresh produce to those living in nearby food deserts in Illinois and Northwest Indiana.  In this  Q & A With Jake Counne, Indoor Ag-Con will share more about Jake’s vision and plans for the future.

According to an Artemis survey, only 27 percent of indoor vertical farms are profitable despite attracting $2.23 billion in investments in 2018. Why do you think a small start-up like Wilder Fields can succeed where so many have yet to earn a profit?

We started four years ago by investing our own resources. We were also working on a very limited scale in a small incubator space. I think those constraints pushed us to be more discerning about what we should tackle first. In that time, we developed an array of proprietary software and hardware, many of which have patents pending. And we refined a new paradigm for vertical farming, moving from the greenhouse model to lean manufacturing.

We also had the good fortune of starting up just as many first-wave indoor farms were closing down. So we looked at those case studies to understand what went wrong. And, what they could have done differently—what was needed to succeed. In fact, the founder of one of those first-wave farms now serves on our advisory board and really helped us identify the right blend of automation and labor.

With traditional vertical farming, the bigger you get, the more your labor costs increase. It seemed to us that the first generation of large-scale commercial vertical farms thought they could simply scale-up labor as they grew.

But we realized that operational excellence and efficiencies are essential to marry growth and profitability. It’s very hard to control a wide variety of factors using a 100 percent human workforce; for the most part, our industry has realized we need to recalibrate and find ways to automate.

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This 135 thousand square foot former Super Target store in Calumet City, Ill. will soon be transformed into one of the world’s largest vertical farms. This former retail space will house 24 clean rooms with the capacity to produce 25 million leafy green plants each year.

So automation solves the problem? It’s not as simple as that.

Now the problem that the pendulum has swung a little too far in the other direction. The industry is almost hyper-focused on automation—as if automation is the answer to all of the vertical farming’s problems. It’s not. Remember when Elon Musk tried using too much automation to produce the Model 3? I believe he called his big mistake “excessive automation” and concluded that humans are underrated.

We believe well-run vertical farms, and the most profitable ones will achieve the right balance of human labor and automation. And that’s been our laser-focused goal from day one—to bring down labor costs in an intelligent way, in order to make vertical farming economically sustainable.

We also reduced costs by repurposing an existing structure rather than building a new one. We located a vacant, 135,000-square-foot Super Target in the Chicago suburb of Calumet City. What better way to farm sustainably than to build our farm in a sustainable way? Along with City leaders, we think we can help revitalize the depressed retail corridor where it is located.

To my knowledge, converting a big-box space to an indoor vertical farm has never been done before. So we also are creating a blueprint for how to impart new life to empty, expansive buildings.

We also will provide opportunities for upwardly mobile jobs and environmentally sound innovations, and produce food that promotes community health.

Vertical farming is a fairly new development. How does it fit into the history of modern agriculture?

I make an analogy with the automobile industry. Field agriculture is sort of like the combustion engine. It came first and was easy to scale up, making it available to more and more people. There were obvious downsides to it, but soon the whole world was using the combustion engine, so we kept churning them out.

But as the detrimental effects began to accumulate, we started asking ourselves how to reduce the negative impact. That’s when the auto industry came up with hybrid cars—they’re the greenhouses in this analogy—and while they were certainly a less bad solution, they weren’t really the solution.

And now we have the fully electric car and it has started outperforming combustion engines on many different levels—just as indoor vertical farming is now beginning to outperform field agriculture

Today’s business mantra holds that the more you automate, the more efficient you become. So why is vertical farming any different?

There are certain efficiencies that don’t require specialized robotics, especially if these tasks can be accomplished in other ways that sustain quality and reduce costs. For example, instead of our workers going among the plants to tend them, the plants come to the workers in an assembly-line fashion that requires fewer harvesters. So it’s always a balance between the investment in specialized machinery and the cost of the labor that it will eliminate.

And while there’s definitely room for automation, it doesn’t always require new specialized robotics. In our industry, plenty of mature automation already exists that can be used to good effects, such as automated transplanting and automated seeding: both employ proven, decades-old technology.

So when I see some other start-ups trying to reinvent these processes, it’s hard to understand. They design and build new, expensive equipment—something possible with an unlimited budget—but in fact, a more affordable, simple solution already is available.

Start-up costs are notoriously difficult to finance. How were you able to get off the ground? What advice would you have for others in the industry?

There’s no easy way to bootstrap from a small start-up to a large scale without that big infusion of capital. You’ve got to decide early on if you should try to secure venture capital from institutional folks or search out more, smaller checks from friends and family and accredited investors.

As I see it, venture capitalists look to the founders’ background and education more than a business model that needs to be tested. If you don’t have that pedigree out of the gate, it’s an uphill battle.

We chose to take a different path, one that has proven successful for me in the past.  It’s one where  I led a group of investors who acquired overlooked residential properties on Chicago’s South Side.  We brought stability to neighborhoods and now manage a large portfolio of quality rental properties. There was no white paper when we embarked on that venture, but we shared a vision for revitalizing good housing stock.

I also tell people to explore equipment financing, which thanks to the cannabis industry has opened up more and more. It’s definitely possible to finance some of this equipment. That seems to be a good route as well.

How will vertical farming impact the types of the crops you grow?

Wilder Fields grows and will continue to grow a wonderful variety of leafy greens. Many will be new to people because they can’t be efficiently raised in a field. So we are building our product line around flavor and texture as opposed to supply-chain hardiness.

But remember, the indoor vertical farming industry is in its very early days. Soon we will have a whole new frontier of applications and crops to grow. Especially now that certain companies are offering indoor-specific seeds. We’ve seen this movie before. When greenhouse-style vertical farms first came on the scene, they used seeds that were really bred for the field. They were doing okay. But, as soon as seeds were bred specifically for that greenhouse environment, yield and quality shot through the roof.

Now that we’re on the cusp of having specialized seeds bred specifically for our purposes, I think we’re going to see that same leap in yield and quality as well.

Of course, your initial planning could not have factored in a global pandemic and ailing economy. How have the ramifications of COVID-19 affected Wilder Fields, and your industry at large?

This is a time for us to champion the benefits of indoor agriculture because vertical farming is doing really well. Any farms primarily serving restaurants obviously had a problem. Companies that pivoted away from restaurants have been able to reach consumers more than ever. They’re capitalizing on their indoor-grown—and therefore much cleaner—product.

Supermarkets are our primary market. With people cooking more at home and looking for fresher and healthier choices, they’re eating more leafy greens.  This is another positive phenomenon.

The success of your model relies heavily on your proprietary technology. Do you have any plans to eventually license your innovations—to make them available to others, for a fee?

That’s a question we’ve been asked a lot, not only from our industry but also from the cannabis industry. We may revisit that opportunity in the future, but it’s not something we’re immediately considering.

Here’s why. When I first entered the industry in 2016, I noticed there were so many consultants. Many people were licensing technology, but none of them were actually using that technology to grow leafy greens at scale. They’re like the folks who sell the pickaxes and the shovels instead of mining the gold.

My perspective is, “You’ve got to venture into the mine to know what sort of shovel and pickaxe you need”; in other words, that’s how to understand what models to create for logistics and ergonomics and what tools are needed to make them work. I did not want our company to be one of those that are just sort of camping outside the mine and hawking its wares.

I think the only way we can develop a solution that’s worth its weight is by operating our own technology and equipment at scale. And I haven’t seen anybody do that yet. Is it possible that we license our technology somewhere down the road once we’ve actually proven it out at scale? Maybe; but it’s not part of our business model right now.

So, along those lines, when will Wilder Fields deliver your first produce—grown in your first full-scale commercial vertical farm—to grocers in metro Chicago?

We have committed to the end of the first quarter of next year: March 2021.   In addition to this Indoor Ag-Con Q & A with Jake Counne, you can  learn more about Wilder Fields visit the company website

Tags: indoor farming labor leafy greens vertical farming

VIDEO: Automated Vertical Indoor Farming Set To Sprout

Vertical Farms Could Make Use of

Abandoned Professional Spaces As The Pandemic Grinds On

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By Greg Nichols for Robotics | August 20, 2020

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A Finish startup has been climbing the walls during the pandemic. At least the crops it helps grow in vertical gardens have been, including greens, berries, and vegetables in areas like the Middle East.

Vertical farming, which utilizes vertically-stacked layers of crops grown in climate-controlled facilities, utilizes significantly less water and soil than traditional agriculture. Increasingly we're seeing examples of the concept scaling to industrial-levels, which is good news with populations booming, arable land in ever-shorter supply, and waning interest in agriculture among city-bound youth.

iFarm has figured out a smart value proposition in the still-nascent market as a developer of vertical farm management technology, essentially an operating system that utilizes tremendous volumes of sensor data to fine tune automated crop growing. The company believes it's entering a market primed for steep growth.

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"Investors can participate in the worldwide network of vertical farms and receive a rate of return well above bank deposit rates.", says Alex Lyskovsky, co-founder and President of iFarm. "We already have a group of financial partners involved in the development of our farms, and now there is a direct opportunity for this type of investment in Finland, UK, Switzerland, Netherlands, Russia and UAE."

One of the interesting advantages of vertical farming, particularly in a pandemic when so many professional spaces stand empty, is that it's possible to utilize the urban environment to facilitate crop growing. By growing crops closer to city dwellers, the company can offer logistics efficiencies and unparalleled freshness. 

This at a time when traditional farming is less and less viable. Global agricultural productivity is suddenly slowing for the first time in decades. No one is quite sure why, but it's likely a systemic problem related to the rise of monocultures and the overuse of fertilizers, which add harmful salts to soils. Farmers are also aging globally as younger generations migrate to cities. That's largely because a productivity boom over the last century has kept food prices low, which makes farming unattractive economically. It's a double whammy now that that productivity can no longer be taken for granted without major rethinks to the food supply chain.

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Vertical farming and other smart agriculture innovations may offer realistic alternatives, and they've captured imaginations due to novel use of space and cutting edge technologies. iFarm's Growtune tech platform allows growers to leverage technologies like computer vision, machine learning, and huge volumes of data. The system can enable farming operations to spread vertical farms across distributed networks while still maintaining centralized control. And if there's any doubt that farming has changed, the level of control is staggering.

The Growtune platform can determine the plant's weight, as well as growth deviations or pathologies, and build a system that improves crop quality and characteristics on its own. According to iFarm, the optimization will reduce labor costs for crops like strawberries, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, radish, and others. 

"The 2020 pandemic exposed the problems of the global food system – food supplies, sowing, and harvesting were disrupted across the globe", says Mikhail Taver, Managing Partner at Gagarin Capital. "iFarm is taking a novel approach to agriculture, offering an automated solution to grow crops close to the consumer and ensure food security. We believe that the future of the food market lies in modern technologies and are excited to support the project on its way."

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Tall Lettuce Farm To Rise in Houston Industrial Building

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Katherine Feser

July 31, 2020

Kalera, an Olrando, Fla., company, has selected a new industrial building in the northeast Houston submarket for what would be its largest hydroponic farm yet, producing nearly 5 million pounds of artisan lettuces a year as part of a strategy to grow food near where it is consumed in a high-tech, earth-friendly manner.

It will be the fourth facility for the company, which opened a large Orlando location this year after proving the concept with The HyCube, a modular vertical farm built to supply the Marriott Orlando World Center on-site in 2018.

At 83,436 square feet, the building, at 7159 Rankin Road in Humble, will be 2½ times the size of the newest Orlando farm, and about 12 percent larger than one going up in Atlanta. The vertical farms are part of a plan to scale the company across North America and globally.

“What we’re doing is bringing back what used to always be the normal, which is to eat where you are, and to eat produce that is not weeks old,” said Daniel Malechuk, CEO of Kalera.

Kalera wants to take a bite out of the lettuce market, which is concentrated on traditional farms in California and Arizona. Its cleanroom technology process eliminates both the need for pesticides and washing and processing the lettuces to prepare them for shipment up to 1,200 miles or more by truck.

The Kalera farms, which grow lettuces by stacking them in LED-lit warehouses, are designed to use 95 percent less water than traditional farms. It takes six weeks from seed to harvest, shaving about two weeks off the traditional timeline. The process also protects against pathogens such as E. coli.

With COVID-19, consumers have a heightened concern for where products come from and how many people have touched them, said Malechuk.

When it opens in late spring 2021, Kalera will work with local grocers and major food distribution companies to deliver produce to stores, restaurants, schools, hotels, hospitals, and cruise lines the same day harvested. The prices will be in line with traditional artisan lettuces, Malechuk said.

The facility, which will employ 55 to 70 people, will serve Houston as well as markets within a few hours away by truck. Lettuce harvested in the morning could be served at a restaurant in Dallas the same evening.

Kalera is the first tenant in Parc 59, a two-building development of Jackson-Shaw and Thackeray Partners off U.S. 59, just north of Beltway 8. It’s leasing the rear-load building with a clear height of 28 feet. A cross-dock building with 196,064 square feet and clear height of 32 feet is available for lease. The building is suited for warehousing, manufacturing, distribution, and assembly.

“The building’s prime location in Houston was the perfect fit for all of Kalera’s needs to serve its customers seamlessly and deliver high quality, fresh products to the Houston market and regionally,” Grant Pearson, vice president of development at Jackson-Shaw, said in an announcement.

Jason Dillee and Nathan Wynne of CBRE represented the landlord, while Mike Spears and Derek Riggleman of Lee & Associates represented Kalera in the 10-year lease. Terms were not disclosed.

The Parc 59 project team includes Cadence McShane as a general contractor and Powers Brown Architecture.

katherine.feser@chron.com

twitter.com/kfeser

PHOTOS:

1. Malechuk holds a head of lettuce at HyCube, Kalera’s vertical farm on-site at the Photo: Kalera

2. Kalera uses cleanroom technology and processes to eliminate the use of chemicals at its vertical farms. The Orlando-based company says its lettuces consume 95 percent less water compared to field farming. Photo: Kalera

3. Kalera, a vertical farming company, leased a new 83,436-square-foot building in Parc 59 at 7159 Rankin Road in Humble. Jackson-Shaw developed the two-building, 279,500-square-foot Parc 59 with equity partner Thackaray Partners . Photo: Jackson-Shaw

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Katherine Feser

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Katherine Feser covers a variety of subjects for the Houston Chronicle Business section. She coordinates some of the paper's most popular special sections, including the Chronicle 100, Home Price Survey, and Top Workplaces. She compiles many of the staples of the section, including the daily markets page, People in Business, event listings and real estate transactions.

Past Articles from this Author:

• Real estate transactions: Sprouts grocery store to fill former Toys R Us near NRG Park

• Builders open models in Woodland's 'Garden District' neighborhood

• How the rankings were determined

VIDEO: Feeding A Changing World With CubicFarms' Automated Vertical-Farming Technology

We Are Excited To Share Our New Video With You!

What if you could give a plant the perfect day, every day?

Give it the optimum level of light, water, temperature, and humidity, so that it grows to be as nutritious, fresh, and delicious as it can possibly be?

Meet the team at CubicFarms, helping growers around the world do just that, at commercial scale.

VIDEO: Vertical Farming Offers Solutions

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BY TOM JOYCE

@tomfruitne

23rd June 2020

Vertical farming has long been seen as a solution to rising populations and increasing urbanization, but its efficiency may make it key to sustainability in general

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Finland-based Novarbo, part of the Biolan Group, is helping growers to adapt to the concept of vertical farming and all the benefits that come with it, according to project engineer Arttu Lammensalo.

A specialist in greenhouse technology, Novarbo’s Vertical Farming Concept is able to solve the challenges of various operations, he said.

According to Lammensalo, a facility equipped with climate control and heat re-use systems is an extremely energy-efficient way of cultivating high-quality plants indoors.

Any surplus heat energy is stored for reuse, while food transportation is decreased by moving production closer to the consumer, reducing the carbon footprint. A large amount of transpiration from the crop is captured from the air and returned to the irrigation system.

In addition, with Novarbo Growisor software, the grower is able to optimise the plant growth factors of the fully automated facility, Lammensalo said, enabling long-term production planning and wireless tracking.

“Our first vertical farm serves as our laboratory for climate control experiments,” he explained. “We want to help people to adapt to vertical farming. We have collected data for over a year and a half, working on more than ten products, determining the effect of LED lights at different times and for different periods of time. The climate control system allows us to improve irrigation efficiency by 90 per cent.”

According to Lammensalo, vertical farming is quite expensive initially, but after five years, you can expect to get your investment back. “Some are a little afraid of this technology,” he said. “If there is a power cut, for example, you need a backup energy source. Herbs and salads can be quite expensive in the winter, though, so the costs can sometimes balance out.”

Vertical farming is also gaining considerable attention as a solution to feeding the large numbers currently crowded into the world’s cities.

“Vertical farming will be useful anywhere there isn’t much growing area,” Lammensalo stated. “In Singapore, they import most of their herbs and vegetables from abroad, so they are very keen on vertical farming to avoid any supply issues. It also significantly reduces the carbon footprint, as well as the water footprint, so it’s a good solution in countries that suffer from water shortages.”

Vertical Farming With Hydroponics

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Amy Wilson

Jun 29, 2020

In recent years, urban farming using vertical hydroponic systems has gained a lot of attention. Using the latest technology, these hydroponic farms are able to optimize plant growth, providing fresh, local produce, while minimizing water usage, space, transport, and pesticides. However, whether hydroponic farms are superior to traditional farming methods and whether they can replace them has been subject to controversy.

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AeroFarms vertical farming facility source: https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2019/5733085/aerofarms/

What is a hydroponic system?

Hydroponics refers to the soilless techniques used to grow plants. There are a number of varieties of hydroponic systems, including aquaponics where live fish are used to provide fertilizer for the plants, traditional hydroponics which involves adding chemical solutions of the required nutrients, and aeroponics which uses a nutrient-infused mist. Hydroponic systems can be grown in a greenhouse using natural light, or more commonly in a vertical system using LED lights, to save space.

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Aquaponic system. Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariellasimke/2020/04/26/aquaponics-presents-a-new-way-to-grow-sustainable-fish-and-veggies/#5acecd30e5f0

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Aerofarms aeroponic system uses a nutrient infused mist. Source: https://aerofarms.com/technology/

Advantages of hydroponics

1. No soil

The earth has a finite coverage of arable land on which crops can be grown. Climate change and destructive farming practices cause loss of this soil. Soil erosion is one of the greatest threats to food security. As a result there is a growing demand for alternative, innovative approaches to provide food for the growing population. Hydroponics is one of these, providing a soilless system that can be used anywhere, particularly suited to cities.

2. Transport

As previously mentioned, hydroponic systems offer the advantage of the ability to be grow anywhere, even in the middle of a soilless city. As a result, fresh produce can be made available locally, sold in restaurants and farmers markets with minimal transport. This helps minimise greenhouse gas emissions as well as minimise nutrient loss and damage of produce, as leafy greens are quick to lose their nutritional content once harvested. Better yet, many hydroponic farms allow transport of the live produce to the market, providing the freshest possible option.

3. Reduced water usage

Hydroponic systems can use up to 10 times less water compared to traditional soil-based cultivation due to the recirculation of the water used. This offers a huge advantage as water shortage is of great concern, with field-based agriculture being one of the greatest consumers of freshwater sources - up to 80% of ground and surface waters in the U.S. Therefore, hydroponics offers a sustainable option for crop cultivation, with the growing population causing an increasing demand for food and water.

4. Controlled environment

Growing indoors allows better control of temperature, light, air composition and pests. As a result, crop growth rates, quality and yield can be maximised and can also be grown year-round. Therefore, these indoor farms can play an important role in filling the market gap, providing fresh produce in all seasons.

5. Less space

Indoor hydroponic farms are typically grown vertically, with LED lights for each layer of crops, this allows maximum usage of small spaces making it a viable option for growing crops in the city homes, in a spare room or basement. Moreover, in hydroponic systems plant roots don’t spread out as much in the search for nutrients like when grown in soil, as the roots are suspended directly in nutrient-rich solution. As a result, it is possible to grow crops much closer together, saving space.

6. Less need for herbicides and pesticides

Due to the controlled, soilless environment, pests and disease are minimised. As a result there is little need for use of chemical herbicides and pesticides which is a big bonus for health and food safety, with often no need to even wash the harvested crops.

Disadvantages and challenges of hydroponics

1. Organics debate

It has been subject to debate whether hydroponic systems should be permitted organic certification. Standard hydroponics typically uses a chemical nutrient solution, which are often not organically sourced. Moreover, it is controversial whether the absence of the soil microbiome may effect the food quality, with unknown impacts on the human microbiome, as increasing evidence suggests that the microbes we obtain from food may be an important contribution to our health.

2. limited crop variety

Due to the high light demands of fruiting plants, often requiring a wider light spectrum with a longer growth period, hydroponic technology is currently mostly limited to leafy greens due to costs. Therefore, hydroponics can in no way be seen as a complete replacement for traditional farming methods. Despite this, technological advancements are constantly improving hydroponic growth, possibly making it a viable option for a wider range of crops in the future.

3. Technical knowledge and difficulties

Understanding of the technical set-up of the hydroponics system and plant growth requirements is essential for preventing system failures. Leakages can occur and different crop types may require vastly different nutrient, temperature and lighting conditions. In addition, the close proximity of water and electrics poses risk and careful, regular monitoring of the system is required.

4. initial expenses

Although setting up a hydroponic system can be done on a budget with minimal costs, on a commercial scale, the specialist equipment required can be expensive. After the initial set up costs will be limited mainly to electricity and nutrient costs, the increased plant growth rates and yield often outweigh these added costs.

Concluding remarks

Despite the number of challenges and limitations associated with vertical farming with hydroponic systems, it still offers great potential to contribute to a more sustainable future of farming. It is important to emphasize that vertical farming and hydroponics is in no way a viable replacement for traditional farming practices but an alternative option, particularly suited to cities to help support the demand for fresh, locally-sourced healthy greens, with the growing population. Technological advancements are expected to further improve the costs and efficiency of plant growth in hydroponic systems, giving it high hopes for the future.

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