In this guest submission, Madalyn Higgins, dietitian and sustainability manager at Acadia University makes the case for leafy greens. Hydroponic farms are mainly used to grow leafy greens - but what makes this so great?

Toward moving the university into the expanding sustainability field, La Sierra, in 2022, began developing a sustainability park complete with an off-grid experimental geodesic dome, greenhouse, and two environmentally-controlled, technologically outfitted shipping containers for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) developed by Freight Farms, an urban farming company

It works by using a shipping container like this to grow the vegetables. There’s no soil, just water. And it’s inside, which will keep crops safe from the weather. (WALA)

Gabe Bialkowski of Ellicottville Greens has 37 container farms with vertical grow racks producing thousands of heads of lettuce a week.

We speak with Ryan McGann, the entrepreneur behind Cubic Acres Farm on Long Island and the owner of not one, not two, but three Freight Farms

When Derek Drake started his company Ditto Foods, he had one mission: to focus on social responsibility and sustainability by providing the highest quality produce to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) groups, wholesalers, and local restaurants. Now, the 18-wheel semi-truck parked in his driveway is one of the most exciting and innovative farming companies in Chicago

"I like to uncover other perspectives. I think that way too often a lot of news sources and a lot of news outlets, they're kind of influencing the opinion that people will have on a particular subject."

GetBlok Farms opened its container farm operations in West Aliquippa, located in the City of Aliquippa in Beaver County, Southwestern Pennsylvania

One container arrived in 2021 for use by the university’s Enactus team to grow leafy greens and herbs utilizing hydroponics-based agriculture. Last school year, the team began using the container to provide education in sustainable agriculture and business practices for local at-risk youth

And, as the chamber is designed to be built in a used shipping container — ubiquitous the world over — the project is a great example of up-cycling

Hamilton Horne is the highly successful entrepreneur behind King Tide Farms, a Freight Farming business in Charleston, SC. He sells produce to the city’s high-end restaurants, whose chefs love the microgreens, flavorful leafy greens, and herbs that he grows

One metro farming business is using a small space to make a big difference for local military veterans. Urban Bounty Farms uses creative ways to grow food inside. FOX4 first told you about their 6,000-square-foot East Bottoms location in April

Whilst this container was primarily being used to grow herbs and leafy greens, it could be used to grow potatoes with a deeper tray, or heads of lettuce with a higher space to grow. Although, those would both be less efficient in terms of the usage of space as they would not be able to have as many trays in the container

Dave Harris, Freight Farms’ Director of Crop R&D, shares his expertise in the world of vertical farming in the video

The partnership will begin with the construction of a fully automated state-of-the-art vertical farming facility - the first of its kind for Long Island - slated to yield one million heads of lettuce annually

The Kerr family stands outside the Thirsty Roots Farm shipping container. Pictured left to right, front to back: Maggie Kerr, Nancy Kerr, Jarod Kerr, and Jim Kerr

To date, Freight Farms has experimented in-house with more than 500 different varieties of crops. “It is made up of two areas, the first where the seeds germinate and the second where they receive nutrients and grow,” he explained. Robbie DiMinico, Manager of Brand Engagement & Strategy, Freight Farms

We provide training before you start farming. Either: Farm Camp: Training in a group setting at our headquarters with other new Freight Farmers. Or, On-Site Launch: At your location, with you, your farm operator, Club educators, and any other stakeholders, our team helps you launch your farm and trains you in operating it

The container farm now rests on the FCSI campus, a collaborative effort between Floyd County schools and Freight Farms. Freight Farms began its operations in 2013 by focusing primarily on urban agriculture, but later expanding to focus on agriculture technology across landscapes

Believe it or not, there’s three acres of produce growing in a parking lot in Lyons Falls. They’re inside a 500-foot shipping container. “Humblebee Farms is classified as a vertical hydroponic farm and we grow lettuce, leafy greens, vegetables, edible flowers,” owner Brandon Cunningham said