Innovative Aquaponics Company Achieves a Greener World’s First Non-GMO Certification For Salmon

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Superior Fresh Seafood November 21, 2019

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HIXTON, WI –Superior Fresh, an industry-leading aquaponics facility specializing in organic leafy greens and Atlantic salmon, is the first company to offer salmon Certified Non-GMO by A Greener World. The company’s flagship facility is the largest of its kind, practicing ecologically sound water conservation and native prairie restoration in a closed-loop, zero-discharge system.

Developed at the request of farmers and consumers seeking a meaningful non-GMO label, Certified Non-GMO by AGW guarantees food is produced without the use of genetically modified feed, supplements or ingredients, and comes from animals raised according to higher animal welfare standards using sustainable agriculture methods. On salmon, the Certified Non-GMO by AGW label includes A Greener World’s Salmon Welfare Certified standards, incorporating the UK RSPCA’s respected higher welfare salmon standards. Certified Non-GMO by AGW has meaningful prohibitions on GMO contamination (see comparison chart here for more details), and ensures that at no point in the growing, processing or manufacturing of the product will GMOs enter the system.

Superior Fresh’s announcement follows FDA’s recent controversial approval of genetically modified salmon for human consumption–despite significant opposition from consumer advocates, fishing groups, public health officials and native communities. As public concern for the labeling of GMOs (genetically modified organisms, also known as GE, or genetically engineered) continues to grow, the market for non-GMO products is surging 17% annually and expected to reach 1.1 billion USD by 2023, according to industry analyst, Technavio. Consumers seek out non-GMO products for a variety of reasons, including environmental sustainability, health, corporate consolidation and transparency. A lack of clear labeling around GMOs means that consumers must actively seek out Certified Non-GMO products to avoid them.

Superior Fresh President Brandon Gottsacker says,
 

 “The fish production systems at Superior Fresh are designed and managed using technology that maintains clean water, giving our salmon the opportunity to live in a stress-free environment. It is our duty to make sure our fish have great welfare, leading to the best quality fish for the consumer. In the absence of a USDA Organic standard for seafood, we chose to obtain the AGW certifications for Salmon Welfare and GMO-Free to assure our customers that we meet their standards.”

AGW Executive Director Andrew Gunther says,

“We work with some of the most forward-thinking food producers on the planet, and the team at Superior Fresh is no exception. Wild fisheries are under significant threat–through habitat destruction, industrially abusive production practices, and now genetically modified salmon. Stewardship-based approaches like that of Superior Fresh are essential solutions if we are to meet our current needs without impacting wild ecosystems while we work to rebuild them. This has been an inspiring project and we are thrilled to support the work of independent, sustainable aquaculturists in this sphere.”

ABOUT A GREENER WORLD

A Greener World (AGW) identifies, audits, certifies and promotes practical, sustainable farming systems by supporting farmers and ranchers and informing consumers. AGW’s growing family of trusted certifications includes Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW, Certified Grassfed by AGW and Certified Non-GMO by AGW. Each program is designed to have positive and measurable impacts on the environment, society and animals, and to encourage truly sustainable farming practices. AGW’s standards and procedures are robust and transparent and achievable.

A nonprofilt funded by public donations and membership, A Greener World offers a range of resources to help people make informed food choices, including an Online Directory of certified farms and products and Food Labels Exposed–a definitive guide to food label claims (available in print and online). For more information visit agreenerworld.org.

ABOUT SUPERIOR FRESH 

Superior Fresh brings together a one-of-a kind sustainable ecosystem that combines the world’s most advanced aquaculture and hydroponic growing techniques. By using the cleanest water and mimicking the natural environment, we provide an ideal and safe growing environment for our fish. Our Atlantic salmon receive only the best care and animal husbandry–they never receive any hormones or antibiotics, and they’re fed a sustainable, organic diet. We’re delivering an unparalleled eating experience with the most premium fish. For more information and availability visit superiorfresh.com. 

Meet Angus: A Robotic Field Hand For The Autonomous Farming Revolution

The farm robot is part of Iron Ox’s aim to build hyper-efficient farms in the urban centers where most food is consumed.

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By Carl Engelking December 23, 2019

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Angus in action. (Credit: Iron Ox)

For centuries, farmers cajoled Earth’s bounty with oxen and plow. But eventually, grass-fed power gave way to steel workhorses fueled by steam and diesel — and a new era of agricultural efficiency followed. Now, rays of light from a new agricultural dawn are splintering the bucolic horizon: autonomous indoor farms tended by fleets of robots connected to hyper-efficient agro-hiveminds.

For a glimpse at this new twist on the farm workhorse, look no further than Iron Ox’s robotic farmhand nicknamed Angus. Angus’ job on the “farm” — a warehouse in Silicon Valley, technically — is to transport 1,000-pound trays of leafy greens growing in a perfectly-balanced hydroponic bath. Angus rolls through the Iron Ox warehouse hoisting trays into position for robotic-arms that can plant crops, add nutrients, transplant crops as they grow, harvest and ultimately package their bounty.

But Angus isn’t really “Angus” the individual. Rather, Angus is just one appendage of an entire robotic-software-sensor system controlled by “The Brain.” It’s a central computer that monitors the entire operation, from Angus’ next move to the nitrogen levels in tray 2. It’s all part of Iron Ox’s aim to build hyper-efficient farms in the urban centers where most food is consumed.

By locating autonomous farms closer to consumption, you already cut down on the fuel and labor costs needed to get plants from point A to B. But Iron Ox isn’t doing too bad on the productivity side, either. Their farm, on a foot-to-foot comparison, is about five times as productive as a traditional farm.

That’s because Iron Ox monitors every single facet of the growing cycle. Plants are given just the right amount of space, sun (the warehouse allows natural light in) and nutrients to grow. Because computers can run 24/7, the plants are constantly monitored and conditions adjusted to optimize growth. With the aid of machine learning algorithms, every additional crop improves the ability of “The Brain” to grow the next crop. Of course, it also helps that Angus doesn’t need to eat, sleep or collect a wage for his labor.

Iron Ox isn’t the only enterprise taking autonomous, robotic farming to the city. There are now dozens of startups putting their vision of urban farming to the test, and indoor farming is expected to be a $40 billion industry within a decade. Some are vertical farms that bathe walls of plants in LED lights. Aquaponic farms raise fish and veggies in a circular system: the fish poop and feed the plants, and the plants filter the water for the fish. But even old-school farms are getting a hand from robotic labor.

While there’s a lot of buzz about autonomous vehicles on highways, it’s the endless rows of farm fields that will likely first play host to widespread autonomous vehicle operations.

Already, precision-ag giants like John Deere are testing autonomous planters, sprayers and harvesters that chart daily routes and interventions based on data gathered by self-directed drones flying over fields and other real-time sensors. Indeed, though tractors still rule the farm, their days of dominance may be numbered.

• robotics computers agriculture gadgets artificial intelligence

Can Far-Red Light Improve Plant Growth

CAN FAR-RED LIGHT IMPROVE PLANT GROWTH?

While the focus for using artificial light in controlled environment agriculture has been primarily on red and blue light, growers may be missing out on the benefits that far-red light has to offer.

By David Kuack

When it comes to using artificial light, especially with LEDs, in controlled environment production, growers are primarily using a combination of red and blue light or white light.

“Plants under red and blue light have a decent photosynthetic rate,” said Dr. Shuyang Zhen, who is a postdoctoral fellow in the Plants, Soil and Climate Department at Utah State University. “Adding far-red light, which are photons with wavelengths from 700-750 nanometers (nm), can increase the photosynthetic rate as plants now utilize light more efficiently to produce carbohydrates.

“However, with most LEDs, there is no far-red light at all. If growers are using a broader spectrum white LED like cool white or warm white, they have a small fraction of far-red light, but it is not enough. We tested white LEDs that contain 2-8 percent far-red light and found there was an increase in the photosynthetic rate and efficiency compared to red/blue LEDs, which do not contain any far-red. But the amount of far-red light in white LEDs is not enough to maximize the photosynthetic rate and efficiency. These LEDs can be made more efficient by including additional far-red light.”

Dr. Shuyang Zhen, a postdoctoral fellow at Utah State University, has found that combining far-red light with red and blue light boosts the photosynthetic rate of greenhouse and field crops.
Photos courtesy of Dr. Shuyang Zhen, Utah St. Univ.

Impact of far-red light on photosynthesis

Zhen said many growers are familiar with how far-red light can affect plant morphology.

“Far-red light can cause stems to elongate and leaves to expand,” she said. “Far-red light also has some effect on flower regulation.”

Zhen has focused her research on the effects of far-red light on photosynthesis.

“We have looked in detail at how photosynthesis works,” she said. “There are two photosystems that are connected to carry out the light reaction of photosynthesis. Far-red light only stimulates one of those photosystems. The other photosystem is not really stimulated.

“Overall, there really isn’t much photosynthetic activity occurring by far-red light alone. There is a big decrease in photosynthetic activity when the light goes above 700 nanometers, which is the far-red light region. That is the reason that those light wavelengths have been ignored. But the photosynthetic rate is boosted when red, blue and far-red light are combined. Far-red, blue and red light have a synergistic effect.”

Impact of far-red light on plant growth

Zhen and her colleagues trialed the impact of far-red light on canopy photosynthesis of over a dozen plant species, including greenhouse leafy greens, cucumbers and tomatoes and field crops, including potatoes, rice, wheat, and corn. Sunlight has almost 20 percent far-red light.

“When plants are exposed to a cool white LED, which contains about 2 percent far-red, by adding up to 40 percent far-red light the photosynthetic rate is increased,” she said. “All of the species we trialed benefited from the addition of far-red light in terms of increasing photosynthesis.”

Zhen said the effects of far-red light during long-term plant cultivation varied depending on the plant species.

“Photosynthesis for all of the species benefitted from far-red light, but there were differences in the morphological responses of the plants,” she said. “Lettuce exposed to far-red light had expanded leaves and an increased leaf area. This is a good thing because lettuce can capture radiation more efficiently so they capture more light and grow faster.”

Zhen grew green-leaf lettuce varieties with red and blue LEDs and cool white LEDs, which are commonly used by commercial growers.

“We designed the experiment so the total number of photons (400-750 nm) for all of the light treatments was the same,” she said. “The plants were placed under LEDs with and without far-red light.

“The morphological response for lettuce grown under far-red light was leaves that expanded faster resulting in better radiation capture. Plants produced 30 percent more biomass. Long term there is this benefit with lettuce.”

The study with lettuce was stopped before the plants were ready to harvest. However, based on the results, Zhen said it could be concluded that lettuce grown with far-red light could shorten the production time.

“During the four weeks that the plants were exposed to far-red light they grew bigger and faster,” she said. “It is reasonable to say that the plants could have reached salable size sooner compared to the treatments with no far-red light. For the production of green lettuce, I would recommend incorporating far-red light.

Green-leaf lettuce varieties were grown under red and blue LEDs and cool white LEDs with and without far-red light. Lettuce grown with far-red light produced leaves that expanded faster resulting in better radiation capture. From left: red/blue, red/blue + far-red, white, white + far-red.

“For other species, far-red light may not be as beneficial. The increase in biomass might be in the stem and cause the plants to stretch. Cucumber was one of the species that adding far-red light long term doesn’t have much benefit.”

Based on the results of her trials Zhen said there is compelling evidence that increasing the amount of far-red light increases the photosynthetic rate.

“Further research needs to be done to determine the effects of far-red light on long term crops like cucumber and tomato,” she said. “Does exposure to far-red light and the accumulation of biomass speed up flowering? That part is not as well characterized. I haven’t done much in that area of research. There is research going on at other universities that characterize the long term effects of far-red light.”

The effects of UV light

Zhen is also interested in studying the effects of ultraviolet light on the photosynthetic rate.

“UV-B light wavelengths from 280 to 320 nm tend to trigger secondary metabolite production like the flavoring compounds in plants,” she said. “An example is field-grown tomatoes vs. greenhouse-grown tomatoes. Greenhouse glazing blocks UV light so plants often don’t produce as much of the flavoring compounds. These compounds are important for crops like herbs including basil. UV light may also trigger some stress responses causing plant damage.

Both greenhouse and field crops, including potato, experienced an increase in photosynthetic rate when exposed to far-red light.

“I am interested in UVA wavelengths from 320-400 nm. We started with violet photons that peak around 400-408 nm. These wavelengths are different from UV light. We are looking at the photosynthetic efficiency of these violet wavelengths, which have the potential to be utilized by growers. A typical white LED doesn’t contain any wavelengths below 400 nm.”

Zhen is using violet LEDs to study the impact on photosynthesis and the long term growth of cucumber and lettuce.

“For both of these species, violet wavelengths were as efficient for photosynthesis as commonly used blue LED wavelengths,” she said. “There wasn’t much difference in the photosynthetic rate at plant canopy level. But for cucumber, there was 15 percent more biomass production under violet wavelengths than under blue wavelengths, mainly due to leaf expansion. In the case of lettuce, violet light actually caused bleaching or yellowing of the leaves. We are trying to determine the effects of violet light on photosynthesis and plant growth before looking at the effects of shorter-wavelength UV photons.

“LED technology is moving so fast. Growers have the ability to change the colors and the intensity, but they can’t really take full advantage of that amazing capability because we still don’t fully understand how a particular color and intensity impact short- and long-term plant growth and development. We also need to learn more about how species and cultivars respond to the wavelengths. An increase in the short-term photosynthetic rate may not correlate with a long-term response or an increase in growth.”

For more: Shuyang Zhen, Utah State University, Plants, Soil and Climate Department, Logan, UT 84322; shuyang.zhen@usu.edu.

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com.

GLASE

16 Initiatives Changing Urban Agriculture Through Tech And Innovation

The United Nations estimates that nearly 10 billion people will be living in cities by 2050. According to a recent publication by the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition, urban eaters consume most of the food produced globally and maintain more resource-intensive diets including increased animal-source and processed foods—rich in salt, sugar, and fats. At the same time, many urban populations—particularly in low-income areas and informal communities—endure acute hunger and malnutrition as well as limited access to affordable, healthy food.

But there are countless ways that cities can feed themselves and create better linkages between rural and urban food systems. In Mexico City, the organization CultiCiudad built the Huerto Tlatelolco, an edible forest with 45 tree varieties, a seed bank, and plots for biointensive gardening. In the United States, City Growers uses New York City’s urban farms as a learning laboratory for children to reconnect with nature. And in the Kalobeyei Settlement in northern Kenya, urban agriculture represents a tool for empowerment by improving food security, nutrition, and self-sufficiency among refugees.

“Agriculture and forestry in the city… answer to a variety of urban development goals beyond the provision of green infrastructure and food, such as social inclusion, adaptation to climate change, poverty alleviation, urban water management, and opportunities for the productive reuse of urban waste,” says Henk de Zeeuw, Senior Advisor at the RUAF Foundation.

And thankfully, there are hundreds of entrepreneurs and organizations using this opportunity to improve urban agriculture and satisfy the demands of an increasingly urban population. From high-tech indoor farms in France and Singapore to mobile apps connecting urban growers and eaters in India and the U.S., Food Tank highlights 16 initiatives using tech, entrepreneurship, and social innovation to change urban agriculture.

1. AeroFarms, Newark (United States)

AeroFarms builds and operates vertical indoor farms to enable local production at scale and increase the availability of safe and nutritious food. The company uses aeroponics to grow leafy greens without sun or soil in a fully controlled environment. The technology enables year-round production while, they say, using 95 percent less water than field farming, resulting in yields 400 times higher per square foot annually. Since its foundation in 2004, AeroFarms aims to disrupt conventional food supply chains by building farms along major distribution routes and in urban areas. The company also won multiple awards, including the 2018 Global SDG Award, for its environmentally responsible practices and leadership in agriculture.

2. Agricool, Paris (France)

Agricool is a start-up that grows strawberries in containers spread throughout urban areas. The company retrofits old, unused containers to accommodate both an LED-lights and aeroponics system making it possible to grow strawberries year-round. The Cooltainers are powered by clean energy and use 90 percent less water than conventional farming. Agricool also works on building a network of urban farmers through the Cooltivators training program, aiming to open up job opportunities for city residents to work in the agricultural sector. The start-up now works on expanding operations to other cities, an effort made possible by the replicability of the container’s design.

3. BIGH Farms, Brussels (Belgium)

BIGH (Building Integrated Greenhouses) Farms, a start-up based in Brussels, works on building a network of urban farms in Europe to promote the role urban agriculture can play in the circular economy. BIGH’s designs integrate aquaponics with existing buildings to reduce a site’s environmental impact. The first pilot—located above the historic Abattoir in Brussel’s city center—includes a fish farm, a greenhouse, and over 2,000 square meters of outdoor vegetable gardens. They started in 2018 producing microgreens, herbs, tomatoes, and striped bass. BIGH Farms also partners with local businesses and growers to make sure the farm’s production is complementary to the existing food community.

4. Bites, Phoenix (United States)

Bites is a mobile platform working to help connect urban farmers, chefs, and eaters in Phoenix through farm-to-table dining experiences. Eaters and chefs sign up and meet through the app to organize an in-home dining event. Chefs gather the ingredients from urban growers registered on the platform in an effort to promote local, small businesses. Bites was launched in 2017 by Roza Derfowsmakan, founder of Warehouse Apps, to improve accessibility to farm-to-table experiences and support urban farmers. By using technology to build culinary communities, Bites aims to change consumer choices from shipped-in, trucked-in produce to locally sourced food—involving people in the solution itself.

5. BitGrange, Multiple Locations (North America)

BitGrange is an urban farming tool and learning platform working to help educate children on food and agriculture. The BitGrange device, a hydroponics and Internet of Things-based system, produces edible plants with little water and energy. BitGrange’s software evaluates environmental variables in real-time and notifies growers through a smartphone app to take necessary actions, such as adding more water or plant food. Founded in 2015 according to their philosophy, Plant-Connect-Sync-Play, BitGrange aims to inspire youth to engage in farming by gamifying agriculture. The nano-farm’s design is available for download at BitGrange’s website for potential growers to 3D print the device in their own location.

6. Bowery Farming, New York Metro Area (United States)

Bowery Farming, an indoor farming start-up, uses software and robotics to grow produce inside warehouses located in and around cities. By controlling every aspect of the growing process, the start-up is able to produce leafy greens and herbs using a minimal amount of water and energy per square foot. The technology also makes it possible to grow customized products for chefs and restaurants, such as softer kale and more peppery arugula. Since its establishment in 2017, Bowery Farming is now expanding operations beyond its warehouse in New Jersey to build vertical farms in other cities and, ultimately, bring efficient food production closer to consumers.

7. Farmizen, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Surat (India)

Farmizen is a mobile-based platform renting farmland to city residents to grow locally grown, organic produce. The app allocates its users a 600 square foot mini-farm in a community nearby. Users can visit the farm anytime to grow and harvest chemical-free produce. Farmworkers look after the plots when the users return to the city, making a fixed and stable income—up to three times more than that of conventional farming. The app is live in Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Surat with 1,500 subscribers and 40 acres of land under cultivation. Farmizen was founded in 2017 by entrepreneur Gitanjali Rajamani, driven by the need to create stable livelihoods for farmers and reconnect city-dwellers to agriculture and nature.

8. Fresh Direct, Abuja (Nigeria)

Fresh Direct is an impact-driven start-up using vertical farming and hydroponics to promote locally grown produce and the involvement of youth in agriculture. When young entrepreneur Angel Adelaja started engaging in eco-friendly farming, she faced multiple challenges with conventional farming practices, including access to land, water, and technology. As a response, Adelaja founded Fresh Direct in 2014 to make urban agriculture more accessible to everyone, especially youth. Fresh Direct installs stackable container farms in the city, growing organic produce closer to the market. In the future, Adelaja aims to eradicate the notion among young professionals that agriculture is a line of work for the older generations.

9. Gotham Greens, Multiple Locations (United States)

Gotham Greens builds and operates data-driven, climate-controlled greenhouses in cities across the United States. The greenhouses, powered by wind and solar energy, use hydroponics to grow salad greens and herbs year-round using fewer resources than conventional farming. In addition to its goal of sustainable food production, Gotham Greens also partners with local organizations, schools, community gardens, and businesses to support urban renewal and community development projects. Gotham Greens is also the company behind the country’s first commercial rooftop greenhouse, a partnership with Whole Foods Market to operate the greenhouse located above their flagship store in Brooklyn, New York.

10. GrowUp Urban Farms, London (United Kingdom)

GrowUp Urban Farms works on developing commercial scale, Controlled Environment Production (CEP) solutions to grow fresh food in communities across London. The CEP farms use aquaponics to farm fish and grow leafy greens in a soil-less system, turning previously unused brownfield sites into productive areas. The GrowUp Box—a community farm developed together with sister organization GrowUp Community Farms—produces over 400kg of salads and 150kg of fish each year. Over the long run, the company aims to replicate the aquaponics system to build urban farms in other cities, opening employment opportunities for youth, and using agriculture as a means to make communities more self-sustaining.

11. InFarm, Multiple Locations (Europe)

InFarm, a Berlin-based start-up, develops modular indoor farming systems to bring agriculture into cities. Designed to combat the long distances food travels, the InFarms produce leafy greens and herbs using 95 percent less water than traditional farms and no pesticides. The technology, the company claims, can reduce food transportation up to 90 percent. In 2013, the company pioneered the modular system in restaurants, schools, hospitals, and shopping centers. Operations have now expanded to distribute portable farms in neighborhoods and supermarkets across Germany, Denmark, France, and Switzerland. The expansion, AgFunder reports, can be attributed to InFarm’s decentralized, data-driven model.

12. Liv Up, São Paulo (Brazil)

Liv Up works to deliver healthy meals and snack kits prepared with locally grown food to residents of the Greater São Paulo region. The start-up sources organic ingredients from family farmers in peri-urban areas, in an effort to shorten value chains and better connect small producers to the urban market. A team of chefs and nutritionists prepares the meals, which are later deep frozen to maintain the food’s integrity and extend its shelf life. Liv Up was founded in 2016 by a trio of young entrepreneurs driven by the lack of access to healthy foods in São Paulo. The start-up now operates in seven municipalities of the metropolitan area, rotating its menu every two weeks.

13. Pasona Urban Ranch, Tokyo (Japan)

Pasona Urban Ranch, an initiative of the Pasona Group, is a mix of office space and animal farm located in the heart of Tokyo’s busy Ōtemachi district. The initiative aims to raise interest in agriculture and dairy farming among city residents by bringing them in close contact with farm animals. The ranch houses eight animal species, including cattle, goats, and an alpaca, which are cared for by specialized staff. Visitors and employees of the building can attend seminars on dietary education and dairy farming. Previously, the Pasona Group gained worldwide acknowledgment for Pasona O2—an underground office farm built by Kono Designs in 2010 growing 100 regional crops in downtown Tokyo.

14. RotterZwam, Rotterdam (The Netherlands)

RotterZwam, an urban mushroom farm, raises awareness on the potential of the circular economy for addressing environmental issues. The farm’s closed-loop system works with used coffee grounds—collected from local businesses—to turn residual flows into food. The mushroom nursery, built out of old containers, uses solar paneling to power the farm’s operations and the e-vehicles used for product delivery. The farm’s team offers tours to educate citizens on circular systems and trains entrepreneurs wishing to start a mushroom farm. RotterZwam’s second location in the Schiehaven area opened in mid-2019 thanks to a crowdfunding campaign to bring back the farm after a devastating fire in 2017.

15. Sustenir Agriculture (Singapore)

Sustenir Agriculture is a vertical farm working to promote high quality, locally grown, and safe food with the lowest possible footprint. The farm—located in the heart of Singapore—uses the latest technology in hydroponics and smart indoor farming to produce leafy greens, tomatoes, strawberries, and fresh herbs. Starting as a basement project in 2012, Sustenir now produces 1 ton of kale and 3.2 tons of lettuce per month in an area of 54 square meters.

16. Urban Bees, London (United Kingdom)

Urban Bees is a social enterprise working with communities and businesses in London to help bees thrive in the city. Through education and training, the initiative raises awareness on how to create bee-friendly communities and on how to become responsible beekeepers. The first training apiary was established together with the Co-op Plan Bee in Battersea, South London. The enterprise also advises urban gardening initiatives, including Lush’s rooftop garden, to ensure that green areas install the right forage and create healthy bee habitats. Co-founder Alison Benjamin says that city residents often suffer from the nature-deficit disorder and urban beekeeping is one path to reconnect with nature in the city.

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Andrea Oyuela

Andrea Oyuela is a Food Tank Intern—and chef in the making—with more than 5 years of experience in environmental research, urban agriculture, and healthy urban planning. Until recently, Andrea worked at UN-Habitat in Kenya as manager of the program on Planning for Urban Health. She holds a Master’s degree in Urban Environmental Management from Wageningen University and is the author of a number of published works. Her favorite ingredient is garlic.

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Sustainability In Three Dimensions

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Technology Spotlight December 20, 2018

Picture a snow globe. Inside its crystalline sphere, the conditions are always ideal for a winter wonderland—even in the hottest days of summer. So, what if farmers could take this idea and use it to create optimal, self-contained cultivation environments that allowed them to grow their crops during the dead of winter?   

A traditional approach to this challenge is greenhouse farming, in which glass domes heighten and retain solar energy within a growing environment that’s closed off from the surrounding atmosphere. As a result, the temperature inside the dome is warmer and more stable, allowing farmers to cultivate warm-weather crops during the cold seasons.
 
If farmers can grow their crops through the winter, what if they could grow them through the night?

WHAT IF GROWERS COULD CREATE THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO GET 10 ACRES WORTH OF PRODUCTION FROM ONLY ONE ACRE OF LAND? 

It may sound improbable to grow plants in closed environments without relying on the sun, but modern agriculture is already making incredible strides in bringing 24/7 cultivation to reality by augmenting existing practices with indoor vertical farms and robotic technologies.  

In fact, vertical farms are on the rise. There are currently 2.2 million square feet of indoor farms operating across the globe, and that number is expected to increase almost tenfold to 22 million square feet in the next five years. Will vertical farming replace conventional farming practices? No, but this dramatic rise in indoor farms will add even more of a boost to our future food production capabilities, complementing the incredible innovations that are being made in traditional sun-soaked, outdoor crops. 
 
Why such the exponential increase in interest and investment in both vertical farms and robotics? In short, this pairing offers profound potential to help agriculture achieve sustainability in the environmental, economic, and societal spheres. 

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Gardening Could Be The Hobby That Helps You Live To 100

Many of the world's centenarians share one common hobby: gardening. Could you extend your life and drop your stress by taking up the pursuit, too?

By Jamie Feldmar

10th December 2018

Dan Buettner has studied five places around the world where residents are famed for their longevity: Okinawa in Japan, Nicoya in Costa Rica, Icaria in Greece, and Loma Linda in California and Sardinia in Italy.

People living in these so-called “blue zones” have certain factors in common – social support networks, daily exercise habits, and a plant-based diet, for starters. But they share another unexpected commonality. In each community, people are gardening well into old age – their 80s, 90s and beyond.

Could nurturing your green thumb help you live to 100?

Mood elevator

It is well-known that an outdoor lifestyle with moderate physical activity is linked to longer life, and gardening is an easy way to accomplish both. “If you garden, you’re getting some low-intensity physical activity most days, and you tend to work routinely,” says Buettner.

He says there is evidence that gardeners live longer and are less stressed. A variety of studies confirm this, pointing to both the physical and mental health benefits of gardening.

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Okinawa in Japan has one of the world's highest concentration of centenarians (Credit: Getty Images)

In a recent Dutch study, researchers asked participants to complete a stressful task, then split them into two groups. One group read indoors and the other gardened outdoors for 30 minutes. The group that read reported that their mood “further deteriorated”, while the gardeners not only had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol afterward, they also felt “fully restored” to a good mood.

Australian researchers following men and women in their 60s found that those who regularly gardened had a 36% lower risk of dementia than their non-gardening counterparts.

Australian researchers following men and women in their 60s found that those who regularly gardened had a 36% lower risk of dementia than their non-gardening counterparts 

And preliminary studies among elderly people suffering from cognitive issues (such as dementia and Alzheimer’s) report benefits from garden settings and horticulture therapy. Sunlight and fresh air, for example, help agitated elders feel calmer, while the colors and textures of various plants and vegetables can improve visual and tactile ability.

There is no panacea for growing old but, the science suggests, gardening does appear to improve our quality of life as we age.

Let nature nurture you

It’s not just about health effects, either: the social benefits of gardening can also increase longevity. Dr Bradley Willcox of the University of Hawaii studies centenarians in Okinawa, which has the world’s highest ratio of centenarians, at approximately 50 per 100,000 people. Many residents maintain small personal gardens well into old age.

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Some research, including studies conducted in France, have shown farmers are healthier than non-farmers (Credit: Alamy)

He says that gardening helps with other essential, if somewhat more ephemeral, factors in increasing longevity. “In Okinawa, they say that anybody who grows old healthfully needs an ikigai, or reason for living. Gardening gives you that something to get up for every day.”

On top of that, explains Willcox, Okinawans value the concept of yuimaru, or a high level of social connectedness. “Getting together at a local market, bringing your produce and sharing your latest creations from the garden is a big social activity,” he says. “That certainly helps people feel grounded and connected.”

Doctors in Scotland can now prescribe a walk in nature to treat a variety of ailments, including reducing blood pressure and anxiety, and to improve overall happiness

A sense of connection to other people is important, but so too is the individual connection to nature. One Harvard University study showed that people who were surrounded by lush greenery lived longer, with a lower chance of developing cancer or respiratory illnesses.

Doctors in Scotland can now prescribe a walk in nature to treat a variety of ailments, including reducing blood pressure and anxiety and to improve overall happiness. Gardening – even on a small plot in an urban area – is a simple way to incorporate more nature into your daily life.

Finally, there is also a dietary component to longevity that gardening can help with. Researchers have demonstrated a link between the “Mediterranean diet” – rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, fish and olive oil – and slower aging.

Willcox says the fundamental principle of eating an abundance of fresh vegetables, ideally from local gardens and markets, is important to longevity, whether the diet is technically Mediterranean or not. In Okinawa, for example, most people grow vegetables such as bitter melon and sweet potatoes in their gardens.

“When you eat vegetables that you’ve grown yourself, it changes everything – they taste more delicious, and it really makes a difference in the health qualities (vitamins, minerals, phytoactive compounds etc.) of the food itself,” says Willcox. Buettner, the “blue zones” expert, recommends a diet of “90% plants, especially greens and beans”, and points out a simple truth: gardeners are more likely to plant what they want to eat.

Farming for a longer life?

If gardening is good, is farming even better? Many of the lifestyle factors associated with longevity – such as living in the country and getting lots of exercises – apply to farmers as well.

Some evidence suggests that farming is one of the healthiest occupations. One Australian study showed that farmers were a third less likely to suffer from a chronic illness, and 40% less likely to visit a GP than non-farm workers. Researchers from the US compared mortality rates among farmers against rates for the general population and found farmers less likely to die from cancer, heart diseases or diabetes. And studies in Sweden and France have also shown farmers are healthier than non-farmers.

Dr Masahiko Gemma of Waseda University in Tokyo studied self-employed farmers in the central province of Saitama, who were found to have a longer life expectancy that non-farmers and work later into life. Many of Gemma’s respondents were part-time farmers or retirees, and he describes many of their responsibilities as “similar to the work of maintaining a garden”.

Researchers from the US compared mortality rates among farmers against rates for the general population and found farmers less likely to die from cancer, heart diseases or diabetes

“Small family farms are common in Japanese agriculture,” says Gemma, explaining that his survey did not include farmers working for large-scale corporate operations. He found that self-employed farmers enjoyed statistically significant and positive changes in psychological and physical conditions before and after engaging in light farming activities. “Our guess is that farming work contributes to the maintenance of good health and spirits,” he says.

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Researchers have demonstrated a link between a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, fish and olive oil with slower aging (Credit: Alamy)

Reality check

Although Gemma’s findings are heartening, not all farming resembles the traditional, low-tech Japanese model he describes. Agriculture is an industry in most of the Western world, and farmers can experience difficult or dangerous working conditions, high debt and increasingly automated processes.

“The reality of what agriculture is like, at least in America, is staring at a computer for as long as everyone else, running systems for broiler houses or hog containment facilities, or sitting in your air-conditioned combine watching videos while you go across monotonous GPS precision-guided fields,” says Thomas Forester, a New York-based food policy consultant to research organisations and UN agencies.

It’s difficult, then, to view farming as a magic bullet against aging.

Neither farming nor gardening will ultimately guarantee a longer lifespan. But some of the lifestyle factors associated with both – namely going outside, engaging in light physical activity and eating a healthy plant-based diet – just might.

In the end, it’s all about balance.

“I use the analogy of a chair,” says Willcox. “Diet, physical activity, mental engagement and social connection are the four legs. If you don’t have one of them, you fall out of balance, and it can shorten life expectancy. Longevity isn’t about one single factor – it’s about not working too hard to share a constellation of them all.”

To comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Capital, please head over to our Facebook  page or message us on Twitter.

Summit Offers Businesses A Chance to Connect

A Host of Events On The Sidelines Encourage

Investment And Growth

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November 25, 2019

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As Korea welcomes Asean for a special summit in Busan today and tomorrow, the state-backed Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) is hosting four trade fairs and conferences on the sidelines to showcase the latest technologies from Korean companies and their cooperative efforts with Asean.

The group of 10 countries has increasingly grown in importance as a major trading partner for Korea since a free trade deal went into effect in 2007.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Korea exported $100.3 billion worth of products to Asean in 2018, compared to just $41.0 billion in 2009. In fact, taken as a trading bloc, Asean was Korea’s second-largest trading partner last year.

Korea’s efforts to court the group have also picked up under President Moon Jae-in’s New Southern Policy that seeks to improve relations with the group to diversify from Korea’s traditional trade reliance on China and the United States.

At the Busan Exhibition & Convention Center (Bexco), Kotra will offer its ideas for a more collaborative future with Southeast Asia through the Asean-Republic of Korea Innovation Showcase, Invest Asean, Multilateral Development Bank Project Plaza and Smart City Fair.

Innovating with Asean

At the Asean-Korea Innovation Showcase, 45 companies will display technology and projects that is being developed with Asean in four areas: mobility, lifestyle and health care, agriculture and environment and energy sectors.

Automakers such as Hyundai Motor and Renault Samsung Motors will take the stage in the mobility section with six other companies to show off their efforts to develop the sector in collaboration with their Asean-based partners.

Amid Korea’s recent bet into hydrogen technology, Kotra will feature fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV) at the fair, including motorcycles and auto rickshaws equipped with the technology as an example of how such vehicles could roll out in the Asean market.

Hyundai Motor’s booth will display its efforts to push FCEVs into the Indonesian and Bruneian markets and its vision of an eco-friendly Asean auto market.

Renault Samsung Motors will showcase its project to deploy its two-seater electric micro car Twizy in Asean.

It currently manufactures the miniature vehicle at its Busan plant.

Korea’s IT heavyweights, including Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, will be present in the Smart Life section of the show.

Samsung Electronics will showcase its smart home appliances, while LG Electronics and LG U+ will display Internet of Things products designed for the office using the superfast 5G network.

KT will also be present at the show.

The company is currently looking to deploy its 5G network technology in Asean, with support from the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT.
In the Future Environment and Energy corner of the fair, 16 companies will showcase environmentally-friendly smart grid systems and energy storage systems.

Social venture Tree Planet will share its efforts to develop an eco-friendly coffee farm in Indonesia.

Seoul-based Rosign will showcase its road pavement material targeted for the Vietnamese market at the show. The company has created a joint venture with Vietnam’s Bidico and is expected to establish a manufacturing plant in the country next year.

In the Smart Farming section, 13 companies will show off the newest agricultural technologies, including LS Mtron’s small-sized tractor geared exclusively for Southeast Asia.

Start-up Sherpa Space will also offer visitors a chance to taste its specially-bred strawberries that are grown in container farms at the fair.

Smart cities

After Asean launched the Asean Smart Cities Network last year, interest has surged in smart city technology that attempts to connect urban infrastructure through a wider network.

Kotra expects its Smart City Fair to serve as a platform to connect Korean and Asean companies.

Thailand’s Digital Economy Promotion Agency and Surbana Jurong, a Singaporean consulting agency, will hold sessions to explain their projects at the conference.

According to Kotra, 27 companies and institutions from Asean seeking smart city partners and 130 Korean companies will be present at the conference.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will host the main smart city event at Bexco, the Asean-Republic of Korea Smart City Fair 2019.

The fair, which runs until Wednesday, will host a total of 21 countries including the 10 Asean members and will have 220 booths from 119 smart-city-related companies.

Korea will exhibit its own efforts to develop smart city technology.

Sejong and Busan are currently designated as two of Korea’s smart city test beds. The government plans to incorporate artificial intelligence to introduce a self-driving shuttle service and emergency-response drones in Sejong.

Busan is currently working toward creating a combined control center for planned robot services, such as parking robots and medical centers that utilize robot assistance.

The government has committed 26.5 billion won ($22.5 million) into smart city projects pursued by state-backed institutions this year.

Asean and beyond

Korean companies have aggressively expanded into Asean in recent years.

According to Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, the number of newly registered Korean companies in Asean stood at 1,292 last year compared to 850 in 2014.

Kotra expects the Invest Asean event at Bexco to help provide more investment opportunities in the region as 75 investment agencies and related institutions from Asean countries will attend the event.

Each Asean country will have its own investment booth to share information to Korean companies. There will also be separate sessions on investment opportunities.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Asean has swiftly grown to $155 billion in 2018, accounting for 11.9 percent of total global FDI that year, from just $21.8 billion in 2000.

The region is also Korea’s top market for overseas infrastructure orders, at $11.9 billion last year.

Meanwhile, Kotra will host the seventh Multilateral Development Bank Project Plaza 2019, which will provide information for companies to win global infrastructure projects led by development banks.

The annual event, which has run since 2013, will host the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Central American Bank for Economic Integration and Inter-American Development Bank.

The projects will focus beyond Asean and into Africa and Central and South America.

BY CHAE YUN-HWAN [chae.yunhwan@joongang.co.kr]

This UVA-Born Startup Is Revolutionizing The Home Farming Industry

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By Megan Corsano

December 23, 2019

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Imagine a world where you can grow your own produce right in your kitchen. That world might be closer than we think.

Alexander Olesen, CEO of Babylon Micro-Farms, and his business partner Graham Smith, CTO, started exploring hydroponics in 2016 while in school at the University of Virginia in terms of its hypothetical applications to grow crops in refugee camps.

“We realized that this was an incredibly efficient way of growing crops,” Olesen said.

Upon researching into how large commercial greenhouses use this technology, Olesen and Smith began looking into how it could be used on a smaller scale. While the technology never made it into refugee camps, they started looking into practical applications in their community and researching the minimum square foot of farming space needed to feed one person, feed a family or sustain a business.

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Image courtesy of Babylon Micro-Farms.

When they realized those measurements could fit into a home or business, the idea of the small vertical farming modules utilizing unique hydroponics technology that Babylon Micro-Farms creates today was born. 

Named for the famed ancient Hanging Gardens, Babylon Micro-Farms produces self-contained vertical farming units that can easily fit into a home or business. The company sends weekly “meal-prep style” subscription packages of produce kits and remotely manages the units, including the airflow, irrigation, sunlight-mimicking grow lights, fertilizer mixes and pH for the acidity of the water. Customers lease the farming space on a 24-month contract, which includes an all-inclusive monthly fee.

“We’ve essentially automated the need for a green thumb,” Olesen said.

The company just this year finalized a $2.4 million seed round of fundraising from investors including CIT GAP Funds and Plug and Play Ventures, following a $600,000 pre-seed round in 2018. Additionally, Babylon received a $25,000 grant to continue their research this year from the National Science Foundation.

Grown out of UVA, the company is still based in Charlottesville but hopes to begin expanding its operations into Richmond soon. The company is focusing on building their core market in Virginia and expects to see the growth of customers in commercial food service and corporate dining.

While Olesen and Smith have ambitions to bring their farming units into the household, the business currently targets clients in industries such as institutional food service and restaurants, higher education and corporate dining. Babylon’s products are already in use at companies including Dominion Energy, Commonwealth Senior Living, and Hampton Roads Academy, to name a few.

Currently, the company has 14 employees with a heavy emphasis on software and mechanical engineering, developing their patented software platform, app, hardware product, and weekly subscriptions.

Olesen believes this is just the beginning of a booming industry, similar to the way in which solar panels have become popular for use even on residential homes.

“We’re in the infancy of an industry for fresh produce or herbs,” Olesen said. “Vertical farming is going to disrupt that industry and become the status quo given how inefficient things are today. We see what we’re doing as a sustainable infrastructure play that is going to become a necessity.”

Image courtesy of Babylon Micro-Farms

• TAGS babylon micro farms biomedical engineering Charlottesvill sustainability

  University of Virginia

Mpatisi Moyo Joins Autogrow

Autogrow has recruited Mpatisi Moyo Ph.D. as Head of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) to further their strategy towards creating the digital farmer. 

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PHOTO: Mpatisi Moyo

Working closely with the wider R&D team and alongside the Director of Agronomy & Crop Science, Dr Tharindu Weeraratne; Mpatisi will focus on yield prediction models and computer vision enhanced products.

“A.I. by itself is not enough to solve the larger issues across the industry. We see the value in the combination of biological science with modern cloud technologies creating value and insight for our customers. You can’t make improvements to crop growth without fully understanding the crop itself and all the variables that go into getting quality yield,” says Jonathan Morgan, Chief Technology Officer. 

“Mpatisi’s background in statistical, biological and machine learning technologies will enable us to further extend our solutions and push into new and as yet undiscovered areas of Controlled Environment Agriculture.” 

Mpatisi has worked across the health, government and corporate sector and is eager to find ways to assist growers with forecast revenue and harvest times.   

“The experience Mpastisi brings will be particularly useful across our FarmRoad solution where the focus is on bringing together what can be incredibly broad and complex information in a format that is easy to understand and manage - especially for larger, global organizations,” explains CEO Darryn Keiller.

“His appointment as Head of A.I. represents our absolute commitment to leading the industry in the long-term development of cognitive services such as the virtual agronomist; leveraging vision, voice, language and critically knowledge - comprising genetics, environment, and management.”

About Autogrow

Autogrow leverages the power of technology, data science, and plant biology to provide indoor growers affordable, accessible and easy-to-use innovation – 24/7, anywhere in the world.

Our hardware, software and data solutions support growers and resellers in over 40 countries producing over 100 different crop types. 

We are the experts in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) and continue to stay ahead of a rapidly evolving landscape.

Indoor Agriculture And The Farm Bill

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Wednesday, Dec 18th, 2019

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

Indoor agriculture has certainly gained in momentum over the past decades as technology has improved and some of the costs of production have declined.

Still, it can be a costly endeavor, and like any young industry, there have been companies unable to make the numbers work.

Jim Pantaleo is an Indoor Vertical Farming Adviser and Writer based in Orange County.

Pantaleo…”When you look at the major costs of indoor farming, there's three of them that will jump right out at you. Number one is your building costs. Number two are your labor costs. Number three are your energy costs.”

As indoor farmers try to manage these costs to provide year-round local and fresh produce, some help may be on the way from funds allocated in last year’s farm bill. Here’s Jim Pantaleo again.

Pantaleo…”In the 2018 farm bill, there's four, five, or six areas that are, are targeted specifically for what they're calling controlled environment agriculture (CEA) and urban farming. At the moment, there's about $50 million from the 2018 farm bill. Allotted of towards those, the definition of CEA and urban farming.”

Jim notes the loss of arable land, the disconnect from producer and consumer, and the changing climate as just a few of the reasons indoor agriculture is important. He is not alone as entrepreneurs, investors, universities, and governments show interest in these growing methods for the future of agriculture.

INDOOR AG CEA HYDROPONICS VERTICAL FARMING

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It’s Time To Redefine Indoor Agriculture

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Nicola Kerslake

Dec 17, 2019

If you think about indoor agriculture as exclusively the preserve of small mom and pop farms selling leafy greens, or of a handful of VC-funded plant factories, you might want to think again.

Although this misconception is understandable — there are many indoor farms that grow leafy greens and operate at a smaller scale — the proposition doesn’t even begin to capture the scale or the diversity of the indoor agriculture industry.

So how should we think about indoor agriculture?

Let’s get one thing straight: the indoor growing sector isn’t small — no matter how you spin it.

Let’s start by looking at the finances of indoor growing. According to a Global Hydroponics Market Source, the global market size is currently valued at $8.1 billion and is expected to grow to $16 billion in 2025. In 2019, the indoor agriculture sector raised $56 million in the first quarter alone — that would be a lot of mom and pop shops!

Media coverage portrays indoor agriculture as the exclusive purview of large scale plant factories, tech-focused entirely controlled environment facilities. These plant factories focus on economies of scale and farm economics. Sometimes, the focus on securing large corporate partnerships, establishing their own produce brands or franchising their approach.

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Companies like San Francisco-based Plenty, have raised a total of $226 million; AeroFarms raised $138 million; Bowery raised $118 million; BrightFarms raised $113 million. Oasis Biotech has had a listed parent, SananBio, committed a hefty one billion dollars to indoor agriculture development. Some assume that these raises end up solely in more production, but that’s rarely the case as companies compete to create ever-better tech and recognizable brand names.

But is that the whole picture?

According to Nicola Kerslake, founder of Contain Inc, part of the reason that we think about indoor agriculture as only being large scale plant factories growing leafy greens is because of how we define indoor agriculture.

“Part of the challenge is that some define indoor agriculture as just being a small group of plant factories, such as AeroFarms and Plenty Ag. But we define it to include all forms of protected agriculture, such as greenhouses, hoop houses, and container farms in addition to warehouse farms, which is a much more diverse group,” she said.

As a result, we need to rethink and redefine indoor growing.

To be sure, indoor farm sizes are on the rise regardless of the form they take. We are starting to see more, bigger farms, and see those farms represent a larger percentage of the overall capacity of indoor farming. Greenhouses, in particular, are seeing a revival in fortunes with labor-saving automation technology becoming more common. In California, a state that represents a large portion of indoor growing in the United States, 28 percent of capacity consists of large greenhouse operators of 30 acres or more. We also have the farms that have broken the 100 acre, and 300-acre threshold, like Nature Sweet in Arizona, which is 336 Acres or Windset Farms-Calif which is 125 acres. Produce major Mastronardi announced just this week that it is close to completing the largest single greenhouse in the country, in New York.

Large companies, that historically haven’t been involved with agriculture, are starting to take up indoor agriculture. The globally known Swedish furniture store, Ikea, announced that they would start sourcing their greens from container farms right on site. Singapore Airlines partnered with New Jersey-based AeroFarms to grow food to serve on their flights right at the airport itself.

But this still leaves plenty of space for other players in a market that is growing at 12%+ CAGR. According to the USDA, more than 90% of America’s farms are small, and there is no reason to believe that indoor agriculture will not replicate this pattern as new farmers opt to serve their communities with year-round leafy greens, manufacturers grow their own ingredients or schools and hospitals grow for their own needs.

Indoor agriculture should not be defined by leafy greens, but by the diversity of its offerings.

“At Contain Inc, we cover both traditional leafy greens, and other types of produce, mushrooms, fish, insects and licensed hemp.” says Kerslake.

As time passes, technology develops and indoor agriculture continues to change. A diverse sector becomes even more diverse. One great example of this is strawberries, a newer crop for indoor systems, now moving indoors apace.

Indoor growers are finding that strawberries grow particularly well in an indoor setting — especially in combination with new growing technology.

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One vertical farm in The Netherlands saw a 300 percent increase in strawberry yield when compared to traditional cultivation. In a piece for HortiDaily, they told the website that they grew a year’s worth of harvest in just one season using new LED technology.

And others are starting to hop on to the trend. The city of Murray Utah is getting the world’s first commercial farm dedicated to growing strawberries with 40,609 square feet for operations.

There is a role for every kind of grower in indoor agriculture, not just the small ones. Now, it is just a matter of giving indoor farms, big and small, the right resources to get started.

“We’ve seen in other industries like solar, that — when the right financing mechanisms are in place — the industry grows rapidly. At Contain Inc, we’re aiming to do the same for indoor agriculture.”

In the view of Kerslake, “indoor agriculture is inevitable as it starts to be adopted by outdoor farmers, newcomers and mega corps alike.”

Indoor agriculture is large-scale, 100-acre farms. Indoor agriculture is also smaller farms. Indoor agriculture includes growing insects; it includes leafy greens. Indoor agriculture is all of this, and more. All of these sectors together, the big and the small make indoor growing the industry that it is today.

Agriculture Greenhouse Indoor Agriculture Hydroponics

WRITTEN BY Nicola Kerslake

• We’re Contain Inc. We use data to improve access to capital for indoor growers, those farming in warehouses, containers & greenhouses. https://www.contain.ag/

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Scientists Consider Vertical Farming Ahead of Changing Climate

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DECEMBER 13, 2019

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by Anthony Perkins TWEET  SHARE

A UA researcher says the technique could help solve future food concerns.

Scientists are focusing on new ways of farming that can be climate-smart and sustainable.

University of Arizona agricultural and biological engineering professor Joel Cuello is among those developing vertical farming methods that do not use soil or depend on the weather but use water more efficiently.

He thinks interest in sustainable growing methods increased with the growth of the middle class in countries like China.

"That really brought to the fore the critical significance of having our food supply increase because that is a humongous middle class that has been produced, not only in China but all over the world," said Cuello.

Cuello added scientists are considering the same techniques for growing food in future habitats on the moon and Mars.

MORE: AGRICULTURE, CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT, NEWS, SCIENCE

Lead Photo: Vertical farmed plants are fed with liquid nutrients instead of soil.Needpix.com

CANADA: Lettuce Crop Planted In Old School Library As Couple Turn Building Into A Farm

New Brunswick

Chantal Gagnon and Daniel Ratté plan to hire 20 people for their indoor farm in Saint-Léolin

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Gabrielle Fahmy · CBC News · Posted: Dec 17, 2019

A Quebec couple have moved to the tiny community of Saint-Léolin in northeastern New Brunswick with plans to turn a former school into a large, indoor vertical farm, capable of producing 750,000 heads of lettuce a year. 

The opportunity for the farm cropped up after the village of 600 saw its school close in 2012. Saint-Léolin was dealing with a problem experienced by many rural communities: there weren't enough students to keep the school open.

Saint-Léolin Mayor Guy Cormier started looking for someone to purchase the 2,200-square-metre building after the doors closed. 

About a year ago, he met Chantal Gagnon and Daniel Ratté, who were living in the United States at the time. The couple were looking to come back to Canada and for a new project to keep them busy.

They'd been inspired by a visit to a vertical farm in Florida a few months earlier.

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The couple grow lettuce and other leafy greens in the room where the school's library used to be. (CBC)

"This is when we decided this is what we're going to do," said Gagnon.

"I was very excited. I grew up on a farm." 

The mayor gave them a tour of the school by video chat and the rest is history.

Gagnon grew up in the Matapedia Valley of eastern Quebec, just across the border from Campbellton. And so after looking at buildings all across the country, she was drawn by the prospect of returning to a place close to home. 

Vertical farming is similar to other methods of indoor farming, such as hydroponics, in that the plants are grown without soil.

Can't keep up with demand

But cultivating them in "trees" allows producers to use the space, and resources, more efficiently.

Instead of rays of sunshine, LED lights are used.

If a purple hue often radiates from these farms, it's because the lights' blue and red wavelengths provide the plants what they need.

• Hydroponic lettuce farmer thriving in face of national E. coli outbreak

 The plants get their nutrients through a water system that constantly reuses the supply.

The couple invested $55,000 of their own money in the equipment, and right now, lettuce and other leafy greens, herbs and microgreens are being grown in the school's old library.

What was initially supposed to be just the pilot project has gotten the community so excited that Gagnon and Ratté are having a hard time keeping up with the demand.

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The only sign of the couple's indoor farm right now is the purple hue coming from one of the windows, where the library was. (CBC)

"We are amazed," said Gagnon.

"We didn't think that people would respond so well."

Every Saturday morning, when they open their doors to the public, people have been lining up to buy the produce, and the crops usually sell out in a couple of hours.

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Chantal Gagnon and Daniel Ratté moved to Saint-Léolin in northeastern New Brunswick last year. (Gabrielle Fahmy/CBC)

Watch - This former school was transformed into an indoor vertical farm

A Quebec couple bought a building that used to be a school in Saint-Léolin and turned it into an indoor vertical farm, capable of producing 750,000 heads of lettuce a year. 1:00

The vertical farm began selling its produce on Oct. 29 and the couple are selling at grocery store prices. Customers can pick up a head of romaine lettuce for $2.99.

Romaine troubles

Ratté is not surprised. He thinks ongoing troubles with romaine lettuce coming from California has played a big role in driving people to find alternatives produced closer to home.

He also thinks with climate change and other threats to traditional agriculture, this type of farming will only become more common.

"There's no more land anymore to grow anything," said Ratté.

"And the one we have right now, there's a lot of issues with the pesticides, with the chemicals."

Ratté said if their plants ever get sick, they are treated with vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. 

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Daniel Ratté thinks this type of indoor farming is part of the solution to worldwide threats to traditional agriculture. (CBC)

The couple hopes to attract investors and fill every classroom with plants so they can supply customers, grocery stores and restaurants in northern New Brunswick year-round, a project estimated at $4.5 million.

Saint-Léolin's mayor said the prospect of new life being injected into the village is helping to spread the word.

"I think it's the future," said Cormier.

"I talk with other friends from other towns around, and they say you're lucky to get that in your town."

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News

AeroFarms' Eco-Friendly Indoor Farms For Minimal Environmental Impact

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By Sarah Moore

December 16, 2019

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AeroFarms has developed eco-friendly aeroponic technology to take vertical farming to the next level. Image Credit: Morinka/Shutterstock.com

Exponential population growth is putting pressure on many factors of human life. The world has a limited potential to generate resources, and as the population grows, our demand for resources comes close to the maximum output the world can produce. Recent figures estimate that in just two decades, the population will have grown to 9.7 billion, growing from the current estimated 7.7 billion. The number of people in the world who do not have adequate nutrition is close to one billion, with statistics estimating that just under 800 million people are failing to access enough food.

As the population continues to grow, there will be increased farmland competition as more space is needed for housing, schools, and hospitals to accommodate the rising number of people. This problem of malnutrition will worsen unless we make fundamental changes to the face of agriculture.

Another growing pressure on the agriculture sector is the urgency of addressing the reduction of emissions to combat climate change. The latest figures attribute 8.4% of US emissions to agricultural activities.

The agricultural industry is challenged not only to innovate a way to grow more food in a reduced space but to also reduce emissions. A recent innovation in agriculture could provide a solution.

Population Growth, Global Emissions, and Looming Food Crisis Sparks Farming Revolution

Over the last decade, significant development has been made in the area of controlled environmental agriculture in tall buildings, also known as vertical farming. The concept is that rather than growing crops on a single layer, as is done in conventional farming, it makes use of vertical space, growing crops upwards and minimizing the ground area required for farming.

The innovation, which utilizes the technology of aeroponics, will help to create eco-friendly farms that rely significantly less on water and energy. Further developments are required to enable it to fully support environmentally friendly agriculture.

The establishment of vertical farming projects will likely prove vital to solving the increasingly pressing challenge of providing enough food for the population while addressing climate change issues.

What is Aeroponics?

The establishment of vertical farming has been achieved thanks to the development of a farming technique known as aeroponics. The method accommodates the growth of crops in vertical-stacked plant beds, using artificial techniques to assume the roles of natural sources of light, water, and soil.

Aeroponics allows for the specific growing conditions to be controlled for each crop type, maximizing crop yield and growing more crops per square foot of land without accounting for the vertical stacked space.

One vertical farming project in New Jersey, US, believes it can grow up to 70 times more produce than conventional farms.

How Vertical Farming Reduces Environmental Impact

Other than tackling the looming food crisis, the main aim of vertical farming is to lessen the impact that conventional farming has on the environment in several ways. Firstly, because significantly less land is required to achieve the same crop output, experts argue that a significant switch towards vertical farming will allow more land that has previously been dedicated to farming to be returned to its natural state. This will allow diverse ecosystems to thrive in the absence of destructive modern farming techniques.

Data has also confirmed that this form of environmentally-friendly farming uses up to 90% less water than conventional farms. This benefits the environment by reducing the energy used to pump the water, which leads to emissions and contributes to greenhouse gases. It also means that fewer chemicals are used because less wastewater is being produced that requires chemical treatment.

Because vertical farming projects are usually set up in urban areas, such as in abandoned factories or similar buildings, produce doesn’t have to travel as far as it would when grown on farms to reach urban populations. This means that there is a reduced need for transportation, indirectly reducing carbon dioxide emissions by decreasing the need to transport produce.

However, vertical farms still require large amounts of energy to run, and this needs to be addressed to further add to the advantages of this revolutionary farming method. To power the artificial conditions produced for its crops, a significant amount of energy is required. Some argue that it counteracts the environmental benefits of a vertical farm, limiting its virtues as an eco-friendly farming example.

While development is needed before vertical farming can be widely adopted, some companies in the sector are already contributing significant advancements, helping the technology to move forward.

AeroFarms: Taking Vertical Farming to the Next Level

AeroFarms was recently named as one of Fast Company’s most innovative companies in the world in the data science category. The company has developed award-winning aeroponic technology that constructs tailored conditions to meet the needs of each crop species. The technology also boasts the benefits of being minimal in terms of its environmental impact.

Data science is the foundation of the success of AeroFarm’s method. The company has created patented vertical farming technology that utilizes data to maximize the efficiency of crop growth. AeroFarms considers itself to be industry-leading in terms of how it has developed an understanding of plant biology which it uses to increase the productivity of its eco-friendly farms.

Combining revolutionary technology in the form of machine learning and machine vision, alongside the integration of the internet of things, which helps to incorporate data collected from sensors, has led the company to success in growing over 500 million plants to date, of more than 300 varieties.

The company is capitalizing on partnerships with influential market leaders, such as Dell Technologies, to advance its competency at automation and analysis of data, helping to increase plant health, growth and yield.

Video Source: Stories/YouTube.com

The Impact of Eco-Friendly Farming

The model that has been demonstrated by AeroFarms will likely be influential in informing how the agriculture sector will develop in the future. Its innovative use of data and technology to grow crops vertically, minimizing the use of ground space and reducing the impact of farming on the environment, will need to be adopted by future agricultural companies to address the growing food crisis and meet emissions targets.

References and Further Reading

AeroFarms Named to Fast Company’s 2019 Most Innovative Companies, AeroFarms, https://aerofarms.com/2019/02/20/aerofarms-named-to-fast-companys-2019-most-innovative-companies/

Is vertical farming really sustainable?, EIT Food, Tessa Naus, https://www.eitfood.eu/blog/post/is-vertical-farming-really-sustainable

Latest agriculture emissions data show rise of factory farms, IATP, Ben Lilliston, https://www.iatp.org/blog/201904/latest-agriculture-emissions-data-show-rise-factory-farms

What You Should Know About Vertical Farming, The Balance Small Business, Rick Leblanc, https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-you-should-know-about-vertical-farming-4144786

World's largest vertical farm grows without soil, sunlight or water in Newark, The Guardian, Malavika Vyawahare, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/14/world-largest-vertical-farm-newark-green-revolution

5 Startups That Prove Tech Can Solve The World’s Biggest Problems, AeroFarms, https://aerofarms.com/2018/08/30/5-startups-that-prove-tech-can-solve-the-worlds-biggest-problems/

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the author expressed in their private capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of AZoM.com Limited T/A AZoNetwork the owner and operator of this website. This disclaimer forms part of the Terms and conditions of use of this website.

Written by: Sarah Moore

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After studying Psychology and then Neuroscience, Sarah quickly found her enjoyment for researching and writing research papers; turning to a passion to connect ideas with people through writing.

Your Grocery Store Could Soon Have A Farm Inside It

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Marnie Shure

December 16, 2019

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Plants grown by Verticrop, a UK-based vertical farm, in 2011.

Photo: Phil Clarke Hill/In Pictures Ltd. (Getty Images)

Just before Thanksgiving, grocery chain Kroger launched an initiative in partnership with Infarm, a German startup that specializes in “modular vertical farms,” to install hydroponic farms right inside two of their Seattle-area stores. Even though it’s been less than a month since the rollout, CityLab reports, Kroger is already declaring the project a success and looking to expand it to other locations.

Vertical farming is a space- and energy-efficient way of growing produce such as lettuce, herbs, and peas right inside the grocery stores where customers shop. According to CityLab, items are sold in bunches, “roots and all,” and shoppers have taken to these tiny farms so quickly that sometimes the produce sells out quicker than new produce can mature.

“For the bulk of the last century, food has been produced far from where it is consumed, generating a supply chain that is environmentally unsustainable,” said Infarm CEO Osnat Michaeli. “Our modular farms offer the potential of turning the supply chain on its head by building the world’s first global farming network.”

Kroger, for its part, touts the program as a way for shoppers to make informed food choices. “Customers today want transparency; they want to know exactly where their product is from, the provenance where it was grown,” said Suzy Monford, vice president of fresh foods at Kroger Group. This is Infarm’s first time collaborating with a U.S. grocery chain to bring customers these in-store hydroponic farms.

Kroger plans to expand vertical farming to 13 more of its locations (all in Washington and Oregon) by April 2020.

Why ‘Vertical’ Farming Is Growing In The UK

18 December 2019

Louise Impey

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© Wu Kailiang/Alamy Stock Photo

Being able to produce crops 365 days a year, without the need for pesticides or much human intervention, while being unaffected by the weather, will appeal to many growers after such prolonged, wet autumn.

Vertical farming – sometimes called indoor farming – is the practice of growing plants under fully controlled conditions in buildings in many stacked layers, without solar light.

Unlike glasshouse production, which relies on sunlight, it makes use of LED lighting to provide different wavelengths of light, according to crop and growth stage need.

Together with soil-less growing techniques and environmental control systems, vertical farming is a specialist business.

Vertical farming – what is it?

The practice of growing crops in stacked layers, vertical farming often incorporates controlled environment agriculture and can be housed in buildings, shipping containers, underground tunnels and even abandoned mine shafts.

Vertical farms use soil-free growing techniques and stack crops in specially designed beds and trays, making use of artificial lighting and climate control to get the desired results.

During the growing process, four elements are controlled – lighting, irrigation, fertigation and climate.

Global and fast-growing

And it’s a fast-growing sector. Worldwide, it was worth £1.72bn in 2018, with experts predicting that will rise to £9.84bn by 2026. Japan and the US are leading the way, but other countries are catching on.

Enthusiasts say that vertical farming offers a means of guaranteeing yields and reducing the industry’s environmental impact, while improving the supply of safe, healthy and nutritious food and minimising the miles involved in its distribution.

Their vision – locally grown, quick-to-market fruit and vegetables, produced in the neighbourhood where it is consumed, with the traceability and integrity that food supply chains demand – is already being delivered by various facilities worldwide.

Solutions to challenges

These high-tech units are presented as the solution to many of the challenges facing traditional production methods, such as pollution and water use – even if they are currently limited to higher- or added-value crops in order to be profitable.

As they spring up around the world, they are also seen as a means of reducing reliance on food imports.

The use of automation and robotics to keep human intervention and labour costs to a minimum is attracting interest, while less food waste and making better use of limited land space are bonus features too.

Trends driving vertical farming

• Environmental impact of food production

• Demand for healthy, safe food

• Legislation

• Urbanisation

• Growing world population

• Scarcity of natural resources

• Changing eating habits

UK projects

In the UK, there have been several big projects announced in the last 12 months. Edinburgh-based Shockingly Fresh has ambitions to develop 40 sites and already has five on the go – one in Scotland and four in England.

Ocado is involved too, having invested £17m in the sector during 2019. That has seen it enter a joint venture with 32ha, a US firm, and Priva Holdings in the Netherlands, known as Infinite Acres.

It has also taken a 58% stake in Jones Food Company, a Lincolnshire-based business producing 420t of leafy greens each year at a facility of 5,120sq m – equivalent in size to 26 tennis courts.

In London, there is Growing Underground, which produces micro greens and salad leaves below the busy streets of Clapham, while in Bristol there is LettUs Grow, which provides the cutting edge technology required.

Technological advances

According to Leo Marcelis of Wageningen University, the vertical farming industry received a kick start from advances in the performance of LED lighting, which can be used to provide the type of light that different plant species need at a much better price than the previously used high-pressure sodium lamps.

“This is the most interesting bit,” he says. “LED lights, which are essential for replicating natural daylight, can be used to change the way plants grow, when they flower and how they taste. It’s all about varying the spectrum used at different growth stages.”

LED lights have other advantages, he notes. “They can be positioned between plants and layers, produce hardly any heat radiation and are more energy efficient.”

Asked whether vertical farming is sustainable, Prof Marcelis says that the current bottleneck is energy use.

“It meets so many requirements, such as much lower water and nutrient use, but it is energy-intensive. Of course, that is improving all the time, especially with lower-cost LED lighting and other technical developments.”

Vertical farming is capital intensive too. Plenty of start-up funding is required, with pay-back times depending on the unit’s operational efficiency and chosen retail route. While some have failed, others are finally starting to make small profits.

Case Study: LettUs Grow

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© Jack Wiseall Photography

Extreme weather events and consumer demand for freshness are the two reasons LettUs Grow’s co-founder Charlie Guy (pictured) cites as being behind the current interest in vertical farming.

In addition, being able to get consistent yields and produce quality for 12 months of the year, with the traceability and integrity that supply chains require, is opening up market opportunities for both existing growers and entrepreneurs, he says.

“Whether it’s a very cold spell, such as the Beast from the East, or a lengthy summer drought bringing water shortages, the frequency of extreme weather events is increasing. This has a cost to both growers and consumers.”

Diversification
His Bristol-based company designs the hardware and software needs for indoor growing facilities and is seeing interest from traditional producers, who are looking at an indoor system as a diversification project.

“For existing growers, they can add a valuable revenue stream,” he says. “They are predictable and scaleable, offer year-round production and tend to fit in well with existing projects such as renewable energy and anaerobic digesters.”

Technology
The LettUs Grow concept is based on aeroponics and a technology platform known as Ostara. Aeroponics give better growth rates than hydroponics, he claims, while using up to 95% less water than conventional agriculture.

“Aeroponics puts more oxygen in the root zone, which is why the plants perform better.”

Ostara – its cloud-hosted software – offers closed-loop control.

Mr. Guy explains it that does the data capture and automated control of the growing environment, bringing the food safety and traceability that’s needed, but also offering the potential to use sensors and robotic technology.

“That’s important because energy and labour should be the two key areas of focus with any vertical farming project,” he says. “They have the final say on profitability.”

Vertical farming is not just about lettuce, he stresses. “Although the focus has been on high-value herbs and pea shoots, there are around 60 different crops that can be grown in this way.

“The key to choosing what’s right for you is to look at what access you have to various markets, rather than opting for the fashionable crops.”

Hydroponics or aeroponics?
Both hydroponics and aeroponics deal with plants without the traditional growing medium of soil.

How the plants’ roots are situated in the systems determines the way in which they receive nutrients.

In hydroponic systems, the roots are submerged in water and nutrients are delivered in the water.

In aeroponics, the roots are exposed and sprayed with a mist containing water and nutrients, resulting in a humid, fog-like environment

The Promise And Peril of Vertical Farming

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August 10th, 2018

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MARIYA KHANDROS

As part of the Anchor Procurement Initiative, Economy League staff investigate new and emerging industries that could yield opportunities to localize institutional spend. Over the last 4 months, Mariya Khandros, Economy League’s Director of Shared Solutions, has been investigating the current state and future promise of the indoor, vertical farming industry. Conceptually, vertical farming can meet the institutional demand for produce via high-tech, indoor, commercial-scale urban farms. Mariya attended the Aglanta Conference, Indoor AgTech Innovation convening, and participated in working sessions at USDA’s Innovation and Design in Vertical Agriculture & Sustainable Urban Ecosystems conference to help define USDA's research agenda on the subject of indoor agriculture.  The following article is a summary of her findings. 

The indoor agriculture industry spans centuries-old growing methodologies and high-tech, computerized urban farms.

For most people, the concept of indoor farming typically conjures images of neat rows of greens in futuristic self-contained boxes under violet LED lights. But indoor farming – known as Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) among those in the industry – has been a reality in Pennsylvania since 1885. Kennett Square mushroom farms produce half of America’s mushrooms, primarily indoors. CEA encompasses a wide range of farms, ranging from lower-tech plastic hoop houses to greenhouses, to high-tech vertical farms. While great advances have been made across the spectrum, significant media and investor attention have homed in on high-tech vertical farms – large plant factories that grow vegetation indoors primarily using LED lights, and relying on sophisticated computer systems to track, measure and, often, harvest crops.

The rest of this article investigates the newest addition to the CEA family - the vertical farm.

As the population grows, arable land shrinks and water becomes scarce, the world faces a looming food crisis.

The growth of the global population, combined with a looming water crisis is moving the Earth towards a global food crisis. Feeding the projected population of 2050 (9.7B) requires an additional 109 million arable hectares, a landmass larger than Brazil. Given that 80% of arable land is already in use, absent major changes to traditional agriculture practices the world faces a significant food shortage.

Water scarcity, likely to be made worse by climate change, is another threat to the global food system. According to the United Nations, by 2025, two-thirds of the world's population will live in water-stressed regions as a result of use, growth, and climate change. Currently, 70% of the world’s freshwater is used for traditional agriculture, so a water crisis will inevitably reinforce the food crisis. 

The impact of climate change will be variable and unpredictable, which will also add pressure on the food system. For example, higher CO2 levels will increase some plant yields, but will reduce their nutritional values. Warmer temperatures may lead to the growth of many new pests and weeds. Extreme temperatures may lead to droughts or extreme rainfall, both of which can prevent crops from growing. 

Vertical farming could be part of the solution because it uses less water and allows farmers to control the growing climate

Dr. Dickson Despommier, who popularized the idea of vertical farming in the US, has estimated that a 30-story building covering one city block (5 acres) could have the productivity of a 2,400 acre traditional farm, because of the year-round growing season and the ability to use vertical space to stack vegetables. Because a controlled environment allows easier water recapture and reduces evaporation, vertical farming is estimated to use 70-95% less water than traditional agriculture. For this reason, areas with limited water supplies are early adopters of vertical farming. The United Arab Emirates is building the world's largest indoor farm, as the country's arid climate, poor soil quality and occasional locust plagues make indoor farming a more financially viable alternative.

However, the industry is young and grappling with many open questions.

The vertical farming industry today can be compared to the home video industry when VHS was still competing with Betamax. There are no standards around technology or growing processes. Data on growing efficiency and financial sustainability is just starting to emerge.

Most vertical farms are struggling financially. According to an Agrilyst survey, only 27% of indoor vertical farms are profitable, as compared to 67% of greenhouse farms and 50% of container farms. Despite a year-round growing cycle, vertical farms can only profitably grow a limited number of crops. Excluding cannabis, the most lucrative crops in 2016 were reported to be tomatoes and other vine crops, strawberries, herbs, and microgreens, salad greens and edible flowers. The single biggest reason for low profitability are the massive start-up costs – an estimated $4 million of up-front investment is needed for a 30,000 square-foot farm, and that does not include the sizeable electricity bills associated with farm operations. 

Critics are also concerned with the environmental impact of indoor farms, pointing to the inefficiency of replacing natural light with fossil fuel-powered lights. A study completed by Cornell suggested that vertical farms have a much higher carbon footprint than greenhouses. Critics see vertical farming as an over-engineered solution to the problems plaguing the food system and suggest that improving crop diversity, reducing food waste and maintaining soil integrity in traditional agriculture will address the long-term nutritional needs of the planet.

As a city, Philadelphia has seen first-hand the ‘over-promise and under-deliver’ downside of the indoor farming industry, with the recent revelations about the legal and operating troubles of the much-hyped Metropolis Farms. It also saw the rise and fall of a once-promising aquaponics endeavor in the early 2000s.

Despite early struggles, the industry may be reaching a tipping point; rapidly falling cost of LEDs, artificial intelligence and the global water crisis may tilt the scale in favor of vertical farms.

In the United States, there are an estimated 40,000 CEA farms producing $14.1B of market value each year; when compared to 2.1 million farms overall, with $395 billion in agricultural products, the number of vertical farms seems negligible. However, despite comprising a small portion of farming, indoor farms seem to take the lion’s share of investor attention. In 2016, investment in vertical farming grew from $36 million to $271 million (+653%), driven primarily by Plenty Farms. Several technological and environmental developments are driving this trend.

Despite murky profitability prospects associated with vertical farms, investors see potential because of rapid development in two technologies – LED lights and artificial intelligence. Many companies made their fortunes on the falling cost of a technology: Google on the cost of data storage, CRISPR on the reduced price in DNA sequencing. This is what ultimately convinced prominent investors, including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, to give $200M to Plenty, a fledgling, but ambitious vertical farm company.

The second development driving down the cost of indoor farms is the leaps and bounds being made in the realm of artificial intelligence. Labor is one of a cost that indoor farmers are open about seeking to minimize. A familiar debate tends to emerge around the question of job destruction; with vertical farmers saying that they are replacing hard, back-breaking labor of harvesting with family-sustaining technician jobs, while critics allege that the new jobs will not benefit individuals who are losing the low-end job. However, by and large, vertical farmers are not aiming to replace traditional farming, but capture untapped demand generated by a growing population and an increased appetite for greens and other produce. Anecdotal evidence demonstrates that so far, the job creation story aligns with this vision. Vertical farming is creating entirely new jobs and drawing from a young, urban, highly-educated population that would be unlikely to pursue traditional farming jobs. 

The third economic lever is related to environmental change. Historically, water has been highly subsidized in the US. However, as water becomes scarce, and in regions such as the Middle East, where it already has, the cost of traditional agriculture will rise, compared to the more-water efficient vertical farms.

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Aquaponics Bed, CC Image courtesy of Plant Chicago on Flickr

In the US, vertical farming has the potential to provide numerous benefits to cities, including the revitalization of vacant spaces, job training programs and an innovative approach to nutritional education.

Around the country, cities have employed vertical agriculture as a tool for education, food system resiliency, job training, and community-building by incorporating vertical farms into broader community initiatives and building deep connections with neighborhoods in which farms are located. 

For example, in Washington DC, Urban Food Hubs are small scale systems centered on high-efficiency urban food production (traditional urban farming methods combined with hydroponic and aquaponic systems), co-located with commercial kitchens and community spaces for education. These centers provide nutritional education, vocational training in vertical farming and food processing, and help address nutritional deficiencies in neighborhoods by growing food for local distribution. 

In 2017, a Baltimore company, Urban Pastoral, partnered with workforce training organization Humanim, a nonprofit that creates sustainable social enterprises, to build a vertical farm that will train workers in “new generation farming.” This year they are slated to open another farm on the grounds of a high school to teach students about farming and running a business.

In Chicago, Plant Chicago is a collective of businesses with a mission to cultivate ‘circular economies’ (systems where waste from one process is repurposed as inputs for another to create a closed-loop model of material reuse). An aquaponic vertical farm is one of the components of the system, interchanging CO2 and oxygen with a co-located kombucha producer and beer brewer.

Atlanta sees vertical farming as a puzzle piece in their urban agriculture landscape and another way of increasing the resiliency of their food system, under the Smart Cities initiative. Additionally, their policymakers work to attract farms to vacant lots and buildings in order to help increase surrounding property values. 

It should be noted that although the initial pitch of a vertical farmer to a city typically starts with the promise of job creation, this is not a benefit most cities seek from vertical farms. By design, vertical farms are not very labor-intensive. One of the most successful indoor growing operations, Gotham Greens, is building the world’s largest rooftop farm (140,000 sf) in Chicago’s 9th Ward. It will create 60 permanent jobs. Despite this limited workforce development potential, policy makers see value in vertical farms as a tool for community engagement and education, at least while the industry is in its early stages.

Philadelphia should be positioning itself to capitalize on the vertical farming opportunity while implementing policies to mitigate risks associated with the industry.

Vertical farming can benefit Philadelphia’s economy in a variety of ways: indoor farms can help improve the utilization of abandoned warehouses and buildings, provide another means of nutritional education and help a new generation become enthusiastic about farming through workforce development initiatives. At the same time, vertical farming is an industry in flux, making it difficult for policymakers to predict the success or failure of any given venture. In order to mitigate risk, rather than picking winners for large tax incentives, policymakers should create an ecosystem that allows many vertical farms to thrive.

The following are policy areas that Philadelphia should consider to encourage the growth of vertical farming while limiting the city's exposure to the industry's downside.

 Including Vertical Agriculture in City Planning Efforts

Rather than seeing vertical farming as a stand-alone industry, policymakers should consider it in the broader context of the regional food system. Not only does Pennsylvania have a robust farming industry, Philadelphia’s traditional urban farms have been a vehicles for lot beautification, food justice, and income generation for decades. Consequently, any urban farming plans or zoning policies should take existing urban and regional farms into account. Atlanta offers a great example of comprehensive planning. Atlanta included urban food policy into its Resilient Atlanta Strategy and promotes every type of agriculture, from lot farming to high tech indoor farming through Aglanta, a program under the umbrella of the Mayor’s Office of Resilience. Aglanta, in turn, cooperates with the state-wide Georgia Grown program.

Tax Incentives

Both Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania offer extensive tax incentives and grants to new companies for job creation, investment in disinvested neighborhoods, property renovation, and environmental sustainability. Additionally, there are programs at the state and federal levels specifically targeted to farmers. Rather than adding new incentives, Philadelphia policymakers should assemble relevant tax breaks into a package that entrepreneurs can use to identify applicable incentives and navigate the process of applying for each program.

Defining the Market

A market study that quantifies the demand for locally grown produce, identifies distribution centers, institutional buyers and other potential clients can catalyze the creation or expansion of farms by demonstrating the opportunities available in the Philadelphia market. The Economy League’s assessment of the Philadelphia food economy can serve as the foundation for such a study. Beyond a report, actively making connections between farmers and institutional food buyers can support fledgling ventures by providing a stable source of revenue. 

Due Diligence

Because vertical agriculture is a new and evolving industry, few investors and clients have the skillset to assess the technological capabilities, revenue projections and growth forecasts of vertical farms. Policymakers can help build credibility with both set of parties by identifying organizations or companies that provide due diligence. For example, Eric Stein is developing a Center of Excellence for Indoor Agriculture in Pennsylvania. Nationally, Agrictecture specializes in helping municipalities develop policies and foster the creation of vertical farming economies. By identifying a skilled and neutral party to help investors and buyers distinguish between promising and floundering ventures, policymakers will help build a local knowledge base and reduce risk.

Industry Networking Opportunities 

Many entrepreneurs in the vertical farming space are not focused on building and managing farms, but on producing different parts of a whole (lighting, fertilizer, irrigation system). For this reason, creating a space to bring together technology companies, farmers, customers and funders will be critical to the success of the industry. However, limiting these events to vertical farmers would be a mistake. Rather, these events should provide an opportunity to create linkages between urban and rural farmers, as well as Philadelphia's traditional and high-tech farms, to facilitate knowledge and technology transfer.

Education and Workforce Training 

Building out a workforce requires breaking down siloes between technology and agriculture, working with universities (such as Philadelphia’s two nearest land grant universities – Rutgers and Penn State) to create opportunities for training and knowledge transfer. When it comes to equity, vertical farming is in danger of repeating the mistakes of Silicon Valley – creating opportunities almost exclusively for an ethnically homogenous group of wealthy individuals. Placing growing towers in public schools and community centers, creating multi-functional food hubs and developing job training program are ways that cities have worked to distribute opportunities more equitably. Working with vertical farms to ensure they are growing culturally appropriate products for their neighborhoods will deepen linkages to surrounding neighborhoods and, consequently, a more diverse workforce.

The Economy League's Anchor Procurement Initiative team will remain attentive to developments within the industry. 

Vertical farming alone will not solve food deserts, nor eliminate unemployment. However, it is an exciting new industry that promises to revolutionize many aspects of agriculture, while redefining local by bringing farming into our most intimate spaces: homes, offices, and schools. If Philadelphia approaches this new industry with discipline and intention, our city will be poised to reap the benefits for many years to come.

Although the vertical farming industry is currently in too early of a stage to be able to provide a stable supply of produce to anchor institutions, it is developing very rapidly.  The API team will keep track of the developments within the industry, in order to identify viable opportunities as they appear in our city.

"Lack of Knowledge One of The Biggest Issues In Indoor Ag"

Eric Stein, e3garden

Lack of knowledge is one of the biggest issues in indoor agriculture, says Eric Stein, Executive Director of the Center of Excellence for Indoor Agriculture. "Lack of knowledge of the market place, lack of knowledge of growing, lack of knowledge of how to be profitable," he sums up. "In addition, there is confusion about the best technologies to use." With the launch of the Center, he hopes to help growers get over these challenges. From an online platform, it will grow eventually to a headquarters and a technology demo facility.

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"Our goal is to provide a place for connection and exchange to take place every day of the year", says Eric. He is Associate Professor of Business at Penn State and CEO of Barisoft Consulting Group and advised businesses interested in setting up indoor farms, run workshops for the USDA on indoor farming and designed and operated an indoor vertical farm himself (e3garden) to conduct applied research on the economics of indoor farms.

Eric believes there's a lack of knowledge-sharing in the industry. "You have to go to the industry-specific conferences such as Indoor Ag-Con and Agtech NYC, which are great but bring together people for only a few days of the year."

The new center wants to connect growers with universities and investors to facilitate those relationships. "For example, we are working to bring in a Silicon Valley investment group that is interested in funding agtech start-ups.  We also offer an energy savings program for our members, esp. growers, who want to cut operating costs.  We are in the process of populating an Amazon-like multi-vendor marketplace just for indoor ag. We are also developing discount programs for members to receive reduced rates to key conferences like Indoor Ag-Con."

This all takes place at the newly launched website, indooragcenter.org. “The site offers an opportunity to create a highly networked community for indoor agriculture that is available to the members throughout the year. We expect it will help investors find farms to invest in, help growers find the products and services they need, highlight key conferences and events, and develop a knowledge base of best practices, solutions, cases, and research. We invite all types of indoor growers to participate regardless of technology or product type; e.g., from greenhouses to plant factories and from leafy greens to mushrooms", says Eric.

In the near future, the Center of Excellence for Indoor Agriculture wants to go offline as well.  Phase two of its development includes raising capital and building a COE headquarters and technology demo facility in the greater Philadelphia area.

"Every industry has grown through bench-marking and knowledge sharing. The pharmaceutical industry is a case in point. I think we are reaching the point where indoor ag investors want accountability and transparency. We think the Center can help in this regard", Eric concludes.

"As we have seen recently, several companies have gone out of business. For instance, the container farms seem to not be doing well. I am not surprised because the logistics for growing in spaces like this are not optimal and the wild claims of profitability were not realistic, esp. given the high price of these units. We need to ground the business model for indoor ag on fundamentals, and that just is not happening in many cases. We think the investors will drive the need for better, curated knowledge, which is what the Center is all about."

For more information:
Indoor Ag Centerindooragcenter.org

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Publication date: Wed 18 Dec 2019
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Another E. coli Outbreak – A New Solution to Help

• CO2GRO

• December 6, 2019

Another continent-wide romaine lettuce recall from an outbreak of E. coli is underway with 67 people reported sick in 19 states. The source of the latest outbreak was found in irrigation reservoir sediments. The chief suspect is wild animal feces entering the irrigation reservoir. The last several outbreaks began on farms in Monterrey, Santa Barbara, Salinas, and Santa Maria, California growing romaine lettuce.

The economic impact including costs of shipping returns, taking the lettuce off shelves, plant destruction, medical care costs and increases in retail prices due to shrinking supply can be up to $350 million. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 265,000 STEC infections occur each year in the United States. E. coli O157:H7 causes more than 36% of these infections.

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E. coli are bacteria that typically live in the intestines of healthy humans and animals. Most types of E. coli bacteria are harmless but some can cause severe diarrhea and urinary tract infections while more severe strains can cause kidney failure in children and other severe symptoms. 

Leafy greens are highly regulated in California but vulnerable to bacterial infections. The primary method for preventing E. coli is good hygiene in the grow facility and monitoring bacterial levels. Beyond these practices, there is little that growers can do to inhibit the spread of E. coli, especially once an infection has taken to a crop in the facility or in areas where there are several grow facilities. 

CO2 Delivery Solutions’ Success Inhibiting the Spread of E. coli

CO2 Delivery Solutions has been demonstrated to inhibit the spread of E. coli by up to 99% in trials on pepper plants and Cannabis. CO2 Delivery Solutions dissolves and saturates CO2 gas into the water to form an aqueous CO2 solution that is misted on to plant leaves.  

The microdroplets create a thin aqueous film around the leaf surface isolating the leaf from the atmosphere. Gradient diffusion allows CO2 molecules to move into the leaf. This CO2 transfer occurs within 90 seconds and the moisture evaporates in minutes. Misting is done for a few seconds up to four times an hour during the light cycle.  

The inhibition of single-cell pathogens such as E. coli on plants is caused by the frequent aqueous CO2 misting. Aqueous CO2 is acidic therefore dropping the pH on the plant surface for a few seconds. Once the CO2 is transferred the pH rebounds back up towards neutral. This continual fluctuation in pH makes for an unfavorable environment for single-cell pathogens such as E. coli, powdery mildew, and others to thrive, thus inhibiting their growth and spread.  

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This pH volatility process is 100% natural without the requirement for any chemical sprays. Increasing the efficiency of CO2 uptake in plants from using CO2 Delivery Solutions also increases and accelerates indoor and outdoor crop growth resulting in higher biomass yields, faster cycle time for more harvests and reducing crop loss, all adding to grower profitability and consumer safety.

Old MacDonald Had A Carpark? The Urban Farms Growing In Unlikely Places

Megan Clement

Tue 17 Dec 2019

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Growing Underground in Clapham, south London, an urban farm in former air-raid shelters.

Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Demand in cities for locally sourced food is growing, but space is at a premium. No wonder urban farms are flourishing everywhere from carparks to air-raid shelters.

The delivery man arrives back at the farm, his produce drop-offs for the day complete. He’s greeted by ecstatic barking from his three dogs, one of which leaps into his arms, licking his face enthusiastically.

It’s a familiar scene from any farm, anywhere in the world. But this delivery man didn’t drive through muddy fields or down country roads to get here. He freewheeled his bicycle down the blue-striped spiraling entrance of an underground car park.

This is La Caverne, the only subterranean agricultural operation in Paris. It is housed within 9,000 sq m of a disused multistorey parking facility beneath a social housing complex. Since 2017, Jean-Noël Gertz, a thermal engineer and founder of agricultural start-up Cycloponics has used this space to grow mushrooms and endives and deliver them to the organic shops of the city’s inner north.

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Cycloponics co-founders Jean-Noël Gertz (left) and Theo Champagnat with some of their subterranean produce. Photograph: Kasia Wandycz/Paris Match via Getty Images

Gertz shows me around the facility, which winds deeper and deeper. One level down, a conveyor belt runs across several numbered parking bays, along which staff separate endives from their gnarly roots and pack them into crates for delivery. Endives, grown entirely without sunlight, are a perfect crop for a below-ground venture like this. Reportedly discovered by a Belgian farmer who tried to hide chicory roots from the taxman in his cellar only to find they grew delicious, tender leaves while they were down there, endives are now the fourth most popular vegetable in France

As we descend even further, Gertz has the straightforward air of someone who thinks running a farm out of an underground car park is a perfectly normal thing to do. He says he doesn’t mind spending most of his time below ground. “We have a lot of space here and we walk a lot, we’re all in very good health,” he says. With limited land, the only idea is to grow food underground and leave the land above for peopleSaffa Riffat, World Society of Sustainable Energy Technologies

Odd as it seems in the heart of the city, this kind of agriculture may soon become widespread as demand for organic, locally produced food grows and car use declines. Underground farms have sprung up in other major capitals such as London and New York.

This particular one runs three storeys deep below a public housing complex in Porte de La Chapelle. Built-in the autocentric 1970s, by the time Cycloponics moved in there were just 40 vehicles left. The area has double the poverty rate of the Paris average, and 30% of residents under 25. Owning a car is simply no longer an option for many people.

Indeed, across Paris, 58% of working households do not own a car. As mayor Anne Hidalgo continues to discourage driving and encourage public transport, the city is looking for new uses for these vast subterranean spaces.

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Endives, which grow without light, are the perfect crop for an underground farm.

Photograph: Kasia Wandycz/Paris Match via Getty Images

Since 2016, the town hall’s Pariculteurs programme has offered up spaces like this – as well as rooftops and courtyards – to businesses willing to turn them green. Businesses like Cycloponics can bid for these spaces in a public call. Parisculteurs estimates that by 2022, there will be 1,240 tonnes of fruit, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs and 1.3m plants grown in Paris every year.

Saffa Riffat, the president of the World Society of Sustainable Energy Technologies, says that if the world is going to feed 9 billion people by 2050 agriculture will have to move underground. Riffat is leading a project at Nottingham University on how to convert the 12.5 sq km of abandoned mines in the UK into farms. 

Anything that’s local in provenance and sustainable is going to pay a larger and larger role in people’s purchasing decisions Steven Dring, Growing Underground

“With limited land, the only idea is to grow food underground and leave the land above for people,” he says.

He gives the example of China, where vast swathes of land are too contaminated to farm and many people are being sent to the big cities to live.“

People are moving from the countryside to the city so there’s [fewer and fewer] farmers to grow food. So, we have to move the overall infrastructure of growing food from the countryside to cities,” he says.

Clapham, south London, is home to Growing Underground, a massive hydroponic operation in a second world war air-raid shelter. While La Caverne specializes in vegetables that don’t require sunlight, Growing Underground uses LED lighting to grow herbs, microgreens, and salad leaves – something that’s only become possible in recent years with advances in technology, says co-founder Steven Dring. Eight to ten years ago, the lighting available would have made the tunnel too hot to grow anything down there, he says.

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An employee carries boxes of micro-green salad from the elevator Growing Underground. The farm’s clients include Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Ocado. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images

Growing Underground supplies restaurants and supermarkets with 15 different product lines and has deals with Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Ocado, among others.

“Anything that’s local in provenance and sustainable is just going to pay a larger and larger role in people’s purchasing decisions,” Dring says. 

Most of what we eat in Paris is cultivated, raised or produced 600km from where we live Julien Roudil, Le Producteur Local

Back at La Caverne, Gertz takes me to see the mushrooms. Neat rectangular bales are suspended from the ceiling in rows, small clusters of mushrooms sprouting out of each. Steam pours out of overhead pipes and the floor is under a centimeter of water in parts. “We have to recreate autumn in here,” he says.

Unlike the familiar carpark sound of footsteps echoing in concrete, the air here smells like a fusty forest floor. It is thicker, damper and warmer than the crisp early winter day above ground.

Controlling the temperature year-round is one of the major advantages of underground farming.

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Suspended bales grow champignons de Paris in artificially autumnal conditions.

Photograph: Kasia Wandycz/Paris Match via Getty Images

The disadvantages, Gertz says, involve frequent water leaks and having to haul the farm’s waste up to ground level to dispose of it – not to mention the Herculean effort required to clean the polluted space to the standards required for organic certification.

If hyperlocal city produce seems like the ultimate 21st century demand, there is actually a surprising precedent for growing mushrooms under the streets of Paris. Throughout the 19th century, farmers grew champignons de Paris – button mushrooms – in the abandoned quarries below the city. Stones taken from these underground caverns gave the Hausmann buildings of the capital their distinctive rose-grey hue, and left behind a perfect environment for the fungus to thrive.

The mushrooms were pushed out of the city that gave them their name with the construction of the Métro at the turn of the 20th century. Now, the popularity of the Métro and the decline in car use is what’s bringing them back.

In 2020, with the opening of Cycloponics’ second Paris location, and alongside their shiitake and oyster brethren, champignons de Paris will be grown within city limits once more, 90 years after they disappeared. La Caverne already produces 100-200kg of mushrooms a day, selling to places like Le Producteur Local, an organic supermarket and non-profit cooperative of 45 producers that stocks meat, cheese and vegetables all grown within 150km.

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A rooftop farm in Paris run by Agripolis, an urban farming company. Photograph: Agripolis

“You have to realise that most of what we eat in Paris is cultivated, raised or produced 600km from where we live,” says director Julien Roudil, pointing out that much of what a Parisian household regularly consumes is in fact readily available within just 60km.

Although he’s a champion of local produce, Roudil says Paris will probably never be able to feed itself entirely, no matter how many rooftops or carparks are converted into farms. The popularity of locally grown produce already outstrips the local land available for farming, he says, and there’s not enough space available in Paris to supplement that at a reasonable price.

Dring is more optimistic about the prospects of greater London becoming self-sufficient, whether by growing on rooftops, on barges on the Thames or in bunkers. “All these different technologies will be complementary to each other. I think London will certainly be sufficient within 100 miles,” he says