If you drove by the weed-strewn lot in West Aliquippa, you might not give a second thought to the two white shipping containers there. Or if you did, you might think: Storage facilities? Meth labs, maybe?

Those twin containers are in fact new-wave hydroponic farms that together produce about the equivalent of 5 acres of produce.

More than a decade ago, two students at the University of Ottawa, Alida Burke and Corey Ellis, were on a school trip to Nunavut when they got a firsthand look at food insecurity.

Two students looked around for a solution, but seeing none, decided to create one themselves. In 2016, they developed a modular, indoor farm in a shipping container. they called their new venture Growcer.

For a decade, Growcer has been working alongside communities across Canada to prove that local, year-round food production is not only possible, it is transformative.

Living in a small, remote community can make it hard to get fresh fruit and vegetables in a pinch. Add to that road closures due to wildfires or storms, making access to grocery stores tough for residents of Anacla and Bamfield.

It also makes bringing in fresh produce equally difficult for the local grocer.

A Suffolk church is tackling food insecurity with an indoor aeroponic farm that grows fresh vegetables without soil and gives them away for free. Greater Works Community Outreach Ministries operates the "Garden of Eat'n," a vertical indoor farm that uses a growing method called aeroponics.

The Living Food initiative is being developed in partnership with One Season Farmers and Harvest Today, combining indoor agriculture technology with a health-centered mission to improve access to fresh food, strengthen local food systems, and support long-term community wellness.

To expand the program, Delaware partnered with Growcer to add a modular vertical farm. The indoor farm can grow fresh produce year-round using less water and land than outdoor farming.

Located near the pantry, it will supply members with freshly harvested lettuces, leafy greens like kale and spinach, and herbs like mint and basil to take home.

The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) will launch its next vertical agriculture course on March 31, offering hands-on training in a fast-growing sector of modern farming.

The controlled environment can accelerate plant growth and increase yields while using less water and fewer pesticides.

After North Casper Elementary School closed its doors, the Casper Housing Authority bought the building and made a promise to the school district: to turn it into something positive.

That's how Urban Thistle Farm was born, and its mission is to alleviate the food desert in North Casper.

As reported by KATV Channel 8, the Hydroponic Plant Systems Career Pathway aims to help prepare Arkansas students for careers in agriculture and STEM through hands-on experience and education in hydroponics.

Additionally, the system will introduce students to robotics and automation tools and leverage AI to analyze and optimize crop data and performance, respectively.

Objective: To reduce Barbados' 85% dependence on imported food, create a new generation of climate-resilient farmers, and provide a consistent, high-quality local produce supply that is protected from extreme weather events.

The installation uses modular, containerized vertical farms (three units total: two for production, one for nursery/support) equipped with aeroponic systems and energy-efficient LED lighting.

Canada imports as much as 90 per cent of its lettuce, a fact that seems woefully out of step with a Buy Canadian ethos. It’s not just a greens issue — according to tracking from UBC, roughly 60 per cent of the vegetables and 80 per cent of the fruit consumed in the country comes from elsewhere. Most of us are hoping to change this reality: a survey by KPMG in February found that 93 per cent of Canadians prefer locally grown produce.

Shipping containers are popping up across Harlem in ways that go far beyond their industrial past.

They’re growing food, cleaning up streets, inspiring urban design, and reshaping how Harlem thinks about space and sustainability. Here is how used containers in New York are repurposed for a new life in Harlem.

SHERIDAN, Ark. — Two of Arkansas’s biggest problems, struggling farmers and food insecurity, could be addressed by a farming technique that was shown off in Sheridan on Tuesday.

This year, we have spoken with several farmers who said they could be forced to close their family farms, and Arkansas often ranks near the top of the list for food insecurity in America.