Freight Farms Case Study - EEDEN FARMS Nassau, Bahamas
One of the most pressing issues island communities face is a lack of local food production due to space, climate, and weather restrictions. With an import food bill in the billions, Lincoln Deal was determined to bring a solution to his Bahamian community.
Freight Farms Case Study - EEDEN FARMS Nassau, Bahamas
Case Study from | Freight Farms
About Eeden Farms
One of the most pressing issues island communities face is a lack of local food production due to space, climate, and weather restrictions. With an import food bill in the billions, Lincoln Deal was determined to bring a solution to his Bahamian community to increase food security on the island. After researching vertical container farming, Lincoln knew it was the right solution. Eeden Farms launched as a new ag-tech company with three container farms in order to serve the residents of their community with commercial volumes of high quality, locally grown produce with no herbicides and pesticides.
“I just saw this as an amazing opportunity to introduce [the technology] to the Bahamian market and, of course, try to help solve food security in the Bahamas.” — Lincoln Deal, Eeden Farms Founder & CEO
A Food System Ripe for Change
Eeden Farms has been instrumental in pushing forward alternative sustainable farming practices, like container farming. They’ve accomplished this by bringing together key stakeholders from a variety of organizations to prioritize this method of growing and remove major barriers to entry in order for it to prosper. In an effort to reduce the nation's food import bill by over $200 million, the Ministry of Agriculture is now mandating that persons looking to invest in the Bahamas must source at least 40% of all food from local suppliers. In order to reach this goal, there needs to be more local producers utilizing innovative methods of farming, which Eeden is hoping to drive forward.
“The Bahamas actually has an import food bill of over a billion dollars, and it’s unfortunate that over time it’s only continued to increase without us actually looking at ways to solve the problem.”
— Lincoln Deal, Eeden Farms Founder & CEO
Bypassing Barriers to Farming
Space, climate, and soil are all prohibitive factors that limit the island from having more traditional farming operations. Eeden Farms’ Farm Manager, Latesha Gibson, comes from a background in Plant Science and is all too familiar with the challenges of growing food in the Bahamas. She is excited by the opportunity to use this technology which will allow her to have greater control over the growing process and grow consistently year-round regardless of the climate.
"The imminent dangers of tropical storms and hurricanes poses a threat to traditional farming. There is so much I can do within a confined space that I couldn’t do outside.” — Latesha Gibson, Eeden Farms' Farm Manager
Cultivating Community
Being the first container farming business in the Bahamas, Eeden Farms was determined to bring the community together to showcase their progress. At their launch event in February 2021, the team was surrounded by supporters, key-stakeholders, and decision makers to celebrate their accomplishments and inspire future action. The goal of their launch event was to increase awareness, drive demand in the local economy, and make connections that would help scale the business. Eeden Farms saw a significant increase in interest from people who wanted to tour the farms, learn more, volunteer, and get involved.
“What Eeden Farms, and by extension Freight Farms, allows us to do is to grow food on a consistent basis under any weather, any climate. And we’re in the position to serve farm-to-table within that 21x7 miles of the Bahamas.” — Lincoln Deal, Eeden Farms Founder & CEO
Supplying the Local Community & Tourism Industry
The Bahamian community has been blown away by the freshness and flavor profiles of Eeden Farms’ produce. They are currently growing leafy greens, lettuce varieties, herbs, edible flowers, and microgreens to supply to local businesses with plans to expand into resorts and cruise lines.
Photo: Gary Wong via Eeden Farms
“I was never a huge salad eater...and for the first time, I am eating my salads without a salad dressing. Because just the taste of the salad, it just explodes my palate. ” — Loretta E. Thomas, Eeden Farms Customer
Want to hear more from Eeden Farms?
Throughout the event, we explore how they brought container farming to the Bahamas to reduce the island’s reliance on food imports and serve their local community with the freshest local food available. We’ll also discuss the challenges farmers face in the Bahamas, what they’re currently growing in their three container farms and their plans for the future. View here.
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AgriTechTomorrow