CAN (MB): Farm Provides Community Wide Fresh Produce Range 365 Days A Year

“We were in a unique position to access some funding and attempt a containerized garden as a response to heavy reliance on foods shipped from the South,” says Carley Basler, Sustainability Coordinator at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. 

The first seeds were planted in November of 2017, whereas soon the first harvest was celebrated around Christmas. Rocket Greens shared all the harvested lettuce with local Churchill people at a community feast. Ever since then, they’ve been harvesting leafy greens on Wednesdays. 

The Churchill Northern Studies Centre is an independent non-profit research and education organization that focuses on understanding and sustaining the North. Rocket Greens is a container vertical farm, supplied by Growcer and operated by Churchill Northern Studies Centre, that produces fresh leafy greens for the Churchill community, based in northern Manitoba, Canada. 

A fragile supply chain
In 2017, Churchill was cut-off from the south when the train tracks linking them to nearby communities were washed out. As a result, they went without rail service for 18 months. During that time, food prices increased, availability of fresh produce decreased. 

Read the complete article at: Vertical Farm Daily

Lead photo: The container farm