Mid-Ohio Food Collective celebrated the opening of its technology-rich "smart farm" in the Hilltop on Tuesday, though it's already been producing fresh food for several months.

Everything grown at the seven-acre farm on Wheatland Avenue goes to Mid-Ohio’s food banks and markets. CEO Matt Habash said the farm came from the idea that MOFC had to do things differently to keep up with a growing need.

The site also has a futuristic LED-light year-round mobile growing center housed in a repurposed shipping container.

With population growth and shrinking agricultural land , the search for innovative farming methods has become paramount. Indoor farming, often referred to as “urban,” is emerging as a promising solution.

What are indoor crops?

Indoor growing, also called indoor growing or controlled environment vertical farming , is a method where plants are grown inside enclosed structures such as greenhouses, specially designed buildings, or stacked-floor growing systems.

Waregem, Belgium – Urban Crop Solutions (UCS) has undertaken a project for a client focused on cultivating microalgae in an indoor farming environment. After an extensive search for suitable indoor farming partners, UCS was selected to meet the specific needs of the client. UCS’s slogan, “We build your indoor farm to your specifications,” facilitated the connection for a tailored solution.

Inside, it’s a high-tech farming system. Route 1’s Reithen Curtis manages the system. Work starts with seedlings that eventually get planted vertically in rows within the freight. He runs LED lights that mimic the sunlight 18 hours a day, so plants grow super fast.

Carpenter said they grow 200 pounds of that fresh food every week. It goes into communities through the farmer’s market. It also goes to restaurants, so they can get fresh, local food even in the winter months.

Inside California Education is a television series produced by PBS KVIE that shares compelling stories about California’s public education system. The series focuses on the challenges, opportunities, and successes of public schools.

Stories range from early education to K-12 to community colleges and include topics such as special education, school funding, arts, STEM, educator training, student health, and much more. It also profiles teachers, school staff, education leaders, and others who are making a difference in the lives of California’s six million public school students.

SEPEC Consults provided technical and financial assistance to support the implementation of this project. This partnership helped Burban navigate the challenges associated with installing and operating the hydroponic system. “SEPEC has been a valuable partner. They assisted us in understanding and utilizing the hydroponic system effectively and provided financial support that was crucial for the project’s success,” he noted.

The selection of crops for this new system was made in consultation with SEPEC Consults, considering local market needs. The chosen crops, including parsley, chives, coriander, basil, shiso, kale, Pak Choi, lettuce, and other aromatic plants, aim to meet a growing demand for fresh, high-quality products.

University of Florida officials will gather in Citra to celebrate and tour PSREU’s first “smart garden,” a 320-square-foot agricultural pod outfitted to grow fruits and vegetables hydroponically.

“It’s essentially a shipping container similar to one used to ship goods from Asia or Europe to the United States,” said James Boyer, PSREU director of research administration.

Ying Zhang, UF/IFAS assistant professor of controlled environments, is leading a team of researchers studying indoor agriculture techniques by growing lettuce inside the pod. The team marked its first harvest earlier this month.

A suspicious fire at the BlackSeed Agroecology Farm & Village on South Whidbey destroyed an estimated $250,000 worth of hydroponic equipment Friday afternoon.

Island County Sheriff Rick Felici said investigators gathered evidence from the scene and sent it to the Washington State Crime Lab to help identify whether any accelerant may have been used to start the fire.

Whether it’s a community garden or fully-dedicated land near a dense, city center, urban farming has surged in popularity in recent years. These farms impact local communities by providing education about climate change, food security, biodiversity, pollinators and nutrition.

Urban agriculture contributes between 15% and 20% of the global food supply, according to the USDA. This can help cities be more equitable because it creates easier access to fresh produce.

Julian Jacobs is the owner of Adrina Farms, which is located in Uptown Charlotte at the Innovation Barn. His farm is a hyperlocal, hydroponic farm where they grow lettuce, leafy green and root vegetables inside a 320-square-foot indoor space.

In partnership with the Deere Foundation, Freight Farms, the city of Rock Island, and the Quad City Botanical Center, Tapestry Farms announces today a significant expansion of our food-growing capabilities for 2024 and beyond.

This morning, a 320-square-foot self-contained hydroponics unit, which can grow between two and six tons of produce annually, arrived from Freight Farms in Boston by semi truck and crane to the parking lot of the Botanical Center. This container will give our organization the opportunity to double, or possibly triple, the amount of produce we can grow each year, said Ann McGlynn, executive director of Tapestry Farms.

Salads in St. Anthony will be a little fresher and a little more local this fall, with the opening of a new hydroponics facility in the town, on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula.

Christopher Mitchelmore, CEO of St. Anthony Basin Resources Incorporated, which opened the facility, said the company's goal is to make fresh leafy greens and herbs more accessible for the town's residents.

"We want to be able to give people year-round access at an affordable rate," Mitchelmore said.

The shipping container-sized facility will be able to produce up to 10,000 pounds of fresh produce — including lettuce, kale, spinach, basil and mint — every year, according to Mitchelmore.

Farmers across the U.S. are ditching industrial livestock farms for more sustainable and healthier vegetable farms, per a report by the Guardian. 

Thanks to Transformation, an organization dedicated to helping farmers leave poultry farming and begin vegetable farming, farmers now have the resources and knowledge to make the sustainable switch. 

On top of providing farmers with technical support, Transformation also gives grants ranging between $10,000 and $20,000 to farmers transitioning away from poultry farming. 

"We're constructing fully autonomous farms alongside manual farms across Japan and Southeast Asia. Our goal is to stay at the forefront of vertical farming innovations, which is why we have a co-research farm based in Osaka, collaborating with the local university on the most current research," says Hernan Ocampos, the Section Head of the Food Tech Department at Espec Mic Corp.

Espec Mic has been involved in horticulture and vertical farming since 1988, Espec Mic and has expanded its expertise to include climate chambers, greenhouses, vertical farms, hydroponics, nurseries, growing cabinets, and urban greening solutions.

Prospective GROW dwellers, Archinect detailed, can choose from 20 residential setups ranging from minimalist studios to expansive townhouses. The variety is intentional, meant to attract a diverse milieu, including "young professionals, students, and families with children."

Per Archinect, community members receive plentiful access to "activated social spaces" like GROW's signature rooftop urban farm — where residents can help with planting, maintenance, or even the assembly and weekly sale of harvest baskets.

The "Cubes" containers from the Swiss Mabewo Group is a good example of the application of the latest Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) technologies to optimise plant growth and prevent pest infestation. Using special airlocks and precise process control, the cubes create an environment that guarantees optimum growth conditions for plants. Up to 1.5 tonnes of fresh grass, including grains and root mass, can be harvested daily with a four-cube system - proof of the efficiency and scalability of today's crop cultivation systems.

The programs and facilities include the “Freight Farm” where hydroponic gardens grow a variety of food inside donated shipping containers equivalent to 4 acres of farmland. It includes the Emerging Farmers Institute, offering intensive virtual coursework on the fundamentals of farming, while also including sessions aimed at tackling the most commonly faced mental stressors of working in agriculture.

Brad McNamara, Co-Founder and President of Freight Farms, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:

- Scaling local food production around the world

- Decentralized vs centralized farming

- Drive-in farmer’s markets

- Notable customer stories

- The future of food production

- Two big ideas rotting in his idea graveyard

Land Betterment's portfolio company, ekō Solutions, and anu™ were recently featured on Middle Tech's weekly podcast with Co-Host, Logan Jones. During this fascinating conversation about innovative agricultural technology, Kirk Taylor, Land Betterment Co-Founder and Scott Massey, anu™ Co-Founder discussed how their jointly developed commercial-scale Pure Produce® Container Farms are revolutionizing how and where fresh produce is grown.

James Sprunt Community College is raising the bar on “smart farming” by implementing a Smart Farm Hydroponics Growing Container equipped with cutting-edge technology marrying food production and education.  More than just growing plants, we are growing the ways we improve our students, our communities, and our local economy.

Recently, the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission (NCTTFC) provided Four County Electric Membership Corporation (FCEMC) and JSCC with funding to purchase a hydroponic smart farm container. The Smart Farm is located at the JSCC WestPark Center in Warsaw.

There will be an app where people can join a rideshare group or ride the nearest available Bubblic Public. That is where you can also hail one for your delivery or smart farm purposes and the vehicle will be transformed according to your need. It is an interesting concept and one that we may actually see in the near future. Maybe eventually there will be even be a flying bubble so it will stay true to its name.