A couple from Nova Scotia is putting their green thumbs to use, growing fresh produce year-round for their local communities.

Kris and Brenda Sutton own Sutton’s Vertical Gardens in Enfield, N.S., where they grow lettuce 365 days a year.

The idea came to fruition in September 2021, when fresh products were becoming harder to find amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We chose lettuce because it’s a crop that has a short growing life,” said Kris. “So, in this type of farm it grows quite well.”

From seeding to harvest, Kris says it takes about seven-and-a-half weeks for a batch of lettuce to grow.

The Sutton’s farm can grow nearly 9,000 plants at any given time, with just under 1,000 being harvested each week.

Nestled between two train cars-turned-restaurants on the other side of town, Henry Krull walks inside his shipping container farm. He points to a wall that's growing hundreds of bunches of butter lettuce.

Krull is the owner of fresh365, another Kenai Peninsula based hydroponic farm. Just like Edgy Veggie, the farm operates entirely indoors.

fresh365 owner Henry Krull holds a box of lion's mane. The hydroponic farm recently started growing mushrooms alongside its greens and herbs.

“The advantage of growing indoors, in a container like we have, is that we can control the environment," Krull said. "We can grow no matter what’s going on outside. It can be 30 below outside, but it’s always 70 degrees or so inside.”

fresh365 also sees an uptick in direct-to-consumer sales in the winter. Otherwise, most of their sales go to other businesses, like local restaurants.

While U.S. tariffs threaten much of the Canadian economy, business is booming for an Ottawa-based startup that builds indoor farming units for made-in-Canada produce – also known as vertical farms.

Increased consumer interest in local produce could be attributed to looming uncertainty regarding the impacts of tariffs on agriculture and cross-border food trade, though much of our food exports, for now, will be exempt from the 10-per-cent baseline tariff.

“The phones have been ringing off the hook,” says Corey Ellis, co-founder and chief executive officer of Growcer, an Ottawa-based vertical farms supplier. “Our customers are seeing a ton of demand from Canadians across the entire country who want to buy local veggies instead of American products.”

Land Betterment Corporation, a certified B-Corp committed to fostering positive impact through up-cycling former coal mining and industrial sites into sustainable community developments, recently facilitated an immersive learning experience for students from Ball State University's Environmental Storytelling course.

Through its portfolio company, ekō Solutions, and its partnership with anu™, students visited the Pure Produce® Container Farm in Evansville, Indiana, where they engaged with ekō Solutions' up-cycled shipping container structures and the anu™ innovative indoor growing technology.

A wall of lettuce was rolled aside to make way for rows of colorful edible flowers as Selma Davis looked through her hydroponic farm like a librarian confidently sifting through shelves of books.

She picked a piece of bright green arugula. "Give that a try. It is the most unbelievable arugula," Davis said. "It's spicy because it's older."

The bushels of arugula are among dozens of greens grown vertically within a large shipping container dropped by a crane on St. Helena Island farmland. On the inside, the 320-square-foot structure is high tech, using water to produce large yields of pesticide-free greens and vegetables through hydroponics.

Supply chains have always been complex, but recent global events have made them even more unpredictable. Between food safety concerns, disruptions caused by COVID-19, and evolving tariff policies, businesses and organizations that rely on food imports have faced increasing challenges.

These factors highlight why local food production is more important than ever - whether for farmers, schools, hospitals, or businesses looking to create a more stable and reliable food source.

New research on using controlled environment agriculture (CEA) to grow plants with medicinal properties could lead to production methods that will increase one anti-cancer compound naturally produced by certain species of plants.

The study, led by doctoral student Rebekah Maynard, was designed to identify crops to be used in medical treatments and to develop strategies to increase the concentration of an anti-cancer compound produced by the plants.

Working with Rhuanito Ferrarezi, associate professor of CEA crop physiology, Maynard grew compact crops with a short life cycle—chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) and parsley (Petroselinum crispum)—in a vertical farming environment. The researchers measured the plants' production of apigenin, a natural anti-inflammatory compound with promising anti-cancer effects.

The Vertical Farm at Illinois State University will use a repurposed 40 ft. by 8 ft. (320 sq. ft.) shipping container to grow plants, such as basil, cilantro, and parsley, year-round in an enclosed, controlled environment. The Farm uses a vertical hydroponic growing system, which includes recirculated nutrient solution and light-emitting diode (LED) lighting to grow 4,600 plants at full operation. This is the equivalent of 1-2 acres of field production but requires 95% less water at 5 gallons per day.

Students will use the site to train for careers in agriculture and horticulture specialty crop production. It also will serve as a demonstration site for other departments across campus, as well as local community groups, schools and businesses.

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.

Controlled environment agriculture enables food production in small, non-traditional spaces, including shipping containers and urban centers. These systems embody the spirit of innovation, merging technology and sustainability to tackle critical global challenges like food security and climate resilience. The UConn team, led by Shuresh Ghimire, associate extension educator for vegetable crops, collaborates closely with Jeremy Whipple, farm manager of Meechooôk Farm, and Marissa Turnbull, director of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Department of Agriculture.

Rows of lettuce growing in a hydroponic system in a shipping container outside the school district's administration building will help provide students and the community with fresh food year-round.

Students and food service employees plan to harvest 150 to 200 heads of lettuce each week from the water-based system, said Groton Public Schools Food Service Director Ernie Koschmieder.

School, government and Navy officials and students gathered Friday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and toured the new 40-foot-long shipping container that says WELCOME TO OUR FARM."

Last April, the Cincinnati Zoo started growing some of the food it needs to feed its animals. Less than a mile from the elephant enclosures and manatee displays, it set up two storage containers equipped with hydroponic systems to cultivate lettuce and kale.

Since then, the zoo has grown more than 8,000 pounds of produce in Avondale — enough to supply the giraffe feeding program.

Sustainability Project Manager Megan O’Keefe says the zoo still ships food in, but growing on-site is helping it be more resilient.

“We’re dipping our toe in the water because there has been supply chain issues, especially with climate change — we're experiencing more droughts on these farms that we get our lettuce from in California, in the Southwest,” O’Keefe said.

Professional sports organizations are increasingly exploring sustainability initiatives to reduce environmental impacts associated with stadium operations. Challenges such as high carbon emissions from food transportation, reliance on external food suppliers, and the need for chemical-free nutrition are common across the industry.

At Estadio Akron, Club Deportivo Guadalajara (Chivas) has partnered with Verde Compacto and Revive It Sustainability Office to introduce the HUVSTER, a self-contained vertical hydroponic farm designed to provide a local, sustainable food source within the stadium.

According to Verde Compacto, this initiative offers a replicable model for integrating vertical farming into sports venues, with potential applications in other stadiums, urban spaces, and institutional food systems.

St. Anthony Basin Resources Inc. (SABRI) got its start as a social enterprise with a focus on the fishery.

The St. Anthony-based organization was involved in not just fishing but in programs and research and development initiatives, but when SABRI’s fishing quota was reduced, CEO Christopher Mitchelmore knew they had to develop a good diversification strategy if SABRI was to continue to meet its mandate.

“Which is all about expanding the economic base and creating jobs, and doing so in harmony of our rural lifestyle,” he told The Telegram.

Today, Mitchelmore is confident in saying that SABRI has been able to find success in diversification.

It’s done so through real estate, with the construction of 26 housing units that were completed in 2023, and by expanding into transportation with SABRI Transit.

GrowPods are self-contained, high-tech modular farms built inside repurposed shipping containers, allowing them to be deployed anywhere in the world, from bustling urban centers to remote desert areas. These smart farms create the perfect growing environment for fresh, organic produce, regardless of external weather conditions.

“Saudi Arabia’s commitment to food security and sustainability aligns perfectly with the capabilities of GrowPods,” said Shannon Illingworth, Founder of GP Solutions. “Our advanced technology makes it possible to produce high-quality, nutritious food locally, using a fraction of the water and land required by traditional farming.”

What is unique about AdventHealth Farm compared to other farms? Instead of growing food outdoors or in a greenhouse, AH uses vertical racks inside a shipping container. LED lights provide light adjusted for the optimal mix of red and blue light for the photosynthesis of each plant species being grown. Instead of plants growing horizontally such as in traditional outdoor farms, AH crops are grown vertically on tall, dual-sided towers hanging from the shipping container ceiling in rows, with carefully regulated nutrient water flowing from top to bottom.

We’re in a trade war. Whether the tariffs are on, off, paused, or decreased, the fact remains that nothing is as it was.

This can be a good thing.

Within the Growcer network we’re starting to see a surge in interest for locally-grown greens. On a national scale, we’re starting to see a renewed conversation for increasing local food infrastructure. Let’s grow more here. Let’s process more here. Let’s buy local where we can.

Leafy greens more susceptible to tariff threats

Canada imports 90 per cent of its leafy greens, a majority of which comes from the United States. A heavy dependence on importing leaves leafy greens exceptionally vulnerable to tariff threats. They’re also perishable so stockpiling isn’t an option to minimize price shocks.

The Connecticut Department of Agriculture has announced recipients of the 2025 Farm Transition Grant to bolster agricultural production of both new and existing farm operations. More than $527,000 has been awarded to fund 29 projects throughout the state, including to a farm in Tolland.

Collinswood Mushrooms on Tolland Stage Road, via the New Farmer Microgrant, is to receive $4,450 to purchase climate control systems and shelving to outfit a mushroom fruiting chamber in a 40-ft shipping container.

"We are dedicated to strengthening the resilience of our agricultural community, and these awards represent a strategic investment in advancing that goal," Agriculture Commissioner Bryan P. Hurlburt said.