Traditional farming requires acres of land, favorable weather, and lots of resources. But what if you could grow fresh produce year-round in a fraction of the space, using 90% less water, all while nestled right in the heart of a city? That’s the magic of container vertical farming!

Understanding shipping container dimensions is crucial when designing your vertical farm layout. A standard 40-foot shipping container can produce the equivalent of 3-5 acres of traditional farmland. Talk about space efficiency! These self-contained growing environments control everything from temperature and humidity to lighting and CO2 levels, creating the perfect conditions for plants to thrive.

Kirk Taylor, President and Co-Founder of ekō Solutions commented, "Our team has worked relentlessly to provide real solutions across several critical industry verticals. We are thankful to be accepted as a member of the Defense Industrial Base Consortium.

By delivering modular container-based solutions for agriculture, housing and technology deployment, ekō Solutions will be an invaluable supply chain partner for our national defense."

One of the essential technologies ekō Solutions is able to provide is nearly automated farms through our Pure Produce® Containers.

"We can literally put these things anywhere," Marcus Carpenter, founder of Route 1, said about the retrofitted shipping container that is equipped with advanced hydroponic technology.

In the middle of its first Minnesota winter, the 320-square-foot modular farm produces as much food as four acres of traditional farmland.

There are lights inside it that emulate the sun, allowing growth — even with snow on the ground. 

"I'm a fourth-generation farm kid and I just believe that our communities need help — specifically Black and Brown communities," Carpenter said.

Route 1 is an organization working to bring the farm to the people, especially in underserved communities. 

"The way that we can help these communities the most is through food," Carpenter said. "Food brings the community together." 

It's why Route 1 is focusing on lifting up farmers like Maggie, Jane, Colleen and Joyce.

Last November, the Ohio University Student Senate developed initiatives for two vertical gardens. The project, which aims to enhance student engagement and sustainability at Ohio U, was awarded $5,000. 

The Senate worked to create a project that met engagement and sustainability goals but was also financially viable. Former Environmental Affairs Commissioner Caden Hibbs, worked with the company Just Vertical out of Canada, an indoor hydroponic farming company, and pitched their indoor wall gardens to support Ohio U. 

Near the entrance of a 40-foot container farm installed at New Mexico State University’s Grants campus, dozens of 4-day-old kale plants lined a horizontal nursery bed, sprouting at various lengths in shades of electric green from miniature patches of densely packed soil.

Further inside, instructor Gabriel Garcia flipped a switch. Instantly, red and blue LED lights engulfed the space, illuminating the intricate vertical farming system in a shocking pink glow.

“The lights mimic the sun,” Garcia explained on a July afternoon. “This is where we’ll move the kale when their root structures develop, and they’ll stay here until they reach maturity.”

The container farm was one of the first projects shepherded by NMSU’s Center of Excellence in Sustainable Food and Agricultural Systems, housed in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.

Currently, Gooddrop is still “two 40-foot containers of research,” says Wardle. The company also has three growing rooms for experiments, and is also growing under glass “to give us some kind of balanced data so we can understand how abundant our crop is in the controlled environment.”

The next stage for the company is to scale up, beginning with building its first R&D facility that will have roughly 1,200 square meters of growing space, says Wardle.

“It will have a spinning mill attached. It’s in the design phase. We’re drawing up the architecture at the moment, and we have a variety of different locations and types of location in the UK.”

Wardle expects Gooddrop to come to market with its first garment in 2027. 

Hospital-based farming is an innovative approach that integrates agricultural practices within healthcare settings to improve patient outcomes. Hospitals can enhance patient recovery, reduce food insecurity, and promote overall well-being by providing fresh, nutritious food directly from on-site farms. 

This blog, supported by recent research, explores the benefits of hospital-based farming and offers practical insights for hospitals and healthcare systems looking to implement such initiatives.

The first birthday of Haverhill YMCA’s Freight Farm brought out staff, city officials and its primary sponsor for a birthday cake and, of course, salad made with the farm’s own lettuce.

Celebrating Wednesday at the Gateway Academy on Primrose Street, where the first YMCA Freight Farm in the country is located, were Mayor Melinda E. Barrett, YMCA Regional Executive Director Tracy Fuller, city councilors, community leaders and Glenn D. Focht, president of Anna Jaques Hospital, which sponsored the farm.

In this insightful webinar, learn how Morgan Hill Unified School District (MHUSD) is revolutionizing its agriculture program by integrating two Freight Farms into its curriculum.

Led by Freight Farms' Event Manager and MHUSD's Director of Student Nutrition & Records Retention, along with their Lead Farmer, discover how these vertical hydroponic farms are enhancing hands-on learning, providing fresh, year-round produce, and teaching students practical skills that connect them to food, sustainability, and the future of farming.

Production facilities for the course include a Freight Farm, a 350-square-foot shipping container that will serve as a controlled environment greenhouse. When the Freight Farm is installed, it will be capable of growing the same amount of leafy greens as 1.5 to 2 acres, Kopsell said. Plans are to sell the produce to Campus Dining. 

“It’s amazing that you can have all that production right here,” he said.

A research project centers around understanding energy consumption of indoor farming
Each week, a shipping container farm in Citra sends lettuce to the University of Florida in Gainesville
This produce helps stock the on-campus food pantry, which is open to the entire UF community, from students to teachers
Pantry coordinator Lori Benson says, “It’s healthy. Produce is probably what students want the most”

“You don’t have to be missing food or struggling to come here. This is an opportunity for everyone, and it shows stuff like this is important for a community,” she said.

So, our purpose is to create a decentralized food system, meaning a greener food system, healthier communities, and healthier cities. So that's the overarching vision - creating a healthier relationship between food and people. And we're doing it by creating vertical farms, and our first one is in Lisbon