USA: ILLINOIS - ISU Discusses New Freight Farm Installation On Campus At Water Wednesday
September 14, 2023
Earlier this month, the Center for a Sustainable Water Future kicked off its new series of talks — known as Water Wednesdays — by announcing a new project that will be coming to Illinois State University next year.
Water Wednesdays are a series of talks focused on water-related scholarship and creative projects.
At the first talk, professor of horticulture David Kopsell presented “Bringing a Freight Farm to ISU: Water Use in a Controlled Growing Environment.”
Kopsell’s presentation focused on an upcoming technological phenomenon known as a Freight Farm.
Freight Farms is a company that was originally founded in Boston. A Freight Farm is a converted shipping container. It is outfitted with LED lights, soilless farming equipment and a small lab area, all housed within a climate-controlled container.
This environment enables leafy greens to be grown year-round. ISU plans to give the produce grown there to Event Management, Dining and Hospitality to be used in one of the dining halls.
Kopsell explained that the Freight Farm is set up to use 95 percent less water compared to farming in a field.
The presentation placed a heavy importance on the Freight Farm’s relationship with education at ISU.
This sentiment was echoed by College of Education dean Todd McLoda.
“We wanted to bring a Freight Farm to campus to complement the work in the Department of Agriculture and to teach more about sustainable agriculture practices and water conservation,” McLoda said.
Kopsell explained that the Freight Farm is currently housed in Champaign, Illinois, and is set to arrive at ISU in January. It is scheduled to be operational by January or February.
The Freight Farm will be installed to the south of the House of Sustainability in a row of parking spots.
The Center for a Sustainable Water Future currently has two more Water Wednesdays scheduled from 11 a.m. to noon on October 4 and November 15.
Lead photo: A Freight Farm is a converted shipping container. It is outfitted with LED lights, soilless farming equipment, and a small lab area, all housed within a climate-controlled container. Courtesy of ISU News
RYAN NOLASCO is a News and Features Reporter for The Vidette. Nolasco can be contacted at rcnolas@ilstu.edu.
IF YOU SUPPORT THE VIDETTE MISSION of providing a training laboratory for Illinois State University student journalists to learn and sharpen viable, valuable and marketable skills in all phases of digital media, please contribute to this most important cause. Thank you.