'People Have Lost The Connection With Food': Indoor Farm Hopes to Bring Fresh, Sustainable Products to Wisconsin, Northern Illinois

By: Emerson Lehmann Facebook | Twitter

May 7, 2023

Play Video

NOW: ’People have lost the connection with food’: Indoor farm hopes to bring fresh, sustainable products to Wisconsin, northern Illinois

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Wisconsin is a proud farming state. Agriculture is a large economic factor contributing to $ 104.8 billion of the state's economy annually. Currently, the Department of Trade and Consumer Protection reports there are 64,100 farms in the 'Dairy State' sitting on 14.2 million acres of land.

When it comes to growing products such as basil, cilantro, dill and other salad greens, climate can play a big factor. Square Roots, a New York-based company with a location in Kenosha is looking to eliminate Mother Nature from the farming equation.

"We're growing our greens in shipping containers, and by growing them inside and having them vertically growing, we can control the temperature, the humidity, the PH level and pretty much all aspects of the environment inside," explained Hank Kim, operations manager at Square Roots' Kenosha Campus. "Outdoor farms; the crops could be heavily affected by the extreme weather conditions such as drought, flood, and hurricanes. Our crops can kind of be protected and also grow in optimal conditions 365 days, regardless of what season we're in."

Founded in 2016 by Kimbal Musk, Elon's brother, and Tobias Peggs, Square Roots mission is to bring sustainable, freshly-farmed products to urban areas. The indoor farms are set up inside shipping containers and take just 3-4 months of construction before they can be up and running.

"We utilize a hydroponics system, so we're pretty much-growing greens without soil," Kim explained. "Since we can control the environment that we grow our crops in, we can pretty much deploy our farms literally anywhere as long as we have access to power, internet and water."

Jerry Bradley worked as an organic farmer for 15 years in Illinois. He now finds himself working as the Assistant Production Manager of the Square Roots campus in Kenosha.

"We are really trying to put the local in hydroponics," Bradley explained. "We have very fresh greens that we produce every day. They ship out, (and) many times we're in the stores the next day or the day after so that freshness is really important. The farmers market kind of fresh feel in stores."

The freshness is made possible in part to a partnership with Gordon Food Service. The Square Roots indoor farm is located on the GFS grounds in Kenosha and is picked up and transported day of. Not only does it help keep the project fresh, it helps Square Roots reduce its carbon footprint.

"Most of the food these days are getting shipped across the globe.

From our farm, we're mostly supplying the Wisconsin and northern Illinois area" Kim explained.

"That's what this kind of facility is able to do. Keep it more localized so it helps reduce the carbon footprint," added Bradley. "We do our sustainable in as many ways as we possibly can. We compost all of our biomass, so that doesn't go into a landfill. We also have a pretty robust donations program, so if we don't sell everything we grow that day, we'll donate it to local food pantries in southeast Wisconsin."

Kim says that along with reducing the carbon footprint, other sustainability efforts are at the forefront of the Square Roots mission. The company uses LED lighting which helps with energy efficiency.

"As we water the plants, instead of losing the water through evaporation or water or runoffs, we're collecting all the water and using it for the next round of irrigations," Kim said. "We get to save more than like 90 percent of water compared to traditional farms, so we feel like we are also contributing to the sustainability side of the industry."

Currently, the Square Roots Kenosha campus produces roughly 2.4 million clamshells a year with products located in major supermarket chains and local grocery stores.

Kim is hopeful the community continues to take notice.

"We're really trying to be as transparent as possible with our farming process" Kim explained. "On the back of our packages, like the clam shells, we actually put a little sticker, QR code. If they scan the QR code with their phone, they can see what day the crop was seeded, what day it was transplanted, what day it was harvested, and what day it was delivered to the store where they got the clam shell from."

It's a futuristic, new approach to a Wisconsin vocation, one Bradley is proud to be a part of.

"People, planet, profit," he said. "We have to stay profitable, we want to help to save the planet, and plus we want to keep our farmers and the people who work here and the people in the community happy."

To learn more about Square Roots and the farm's locations and mission, visit the website here: https://www.squarerootsgrow.com/about