Inside the Greater Chicago Food Depository is a new garden of sorts. Fragrant herbs are sprouting from four high-tech hydroponic units. "We grow what the kitchen generally requests," said Mick O'Donnell, the food bank's hydroponic specialist. .

"We grow what the kitchen generally requests," said Mick O'Donnell, the food bank's hydroponic specialist. "Right now, basil and dill are a seasonal product.

The indoor net-zero growing unit produces vegetables, herbs, and microgreens year-round inside a fully converted sea‑can.    

The project aims to operate without negative environmental impacts, using responsible stewardship of energy, water, and soil.  

Students from Grades 7 through 12 are involved in the project, from planting, watering, lighting and harvesting, to marketing, and business operations.   

A partnership between Akoma Holding and EduHaus aims to employ Black Nova Scotians in hydroponic farming.

Inside a converted shipping container in Westphal, N.S., the Akoma Hydroponic Garden is growing fresh basil and teaching young people about horticulture.

Nestled next to the Community of Change Center on Centralia Street in the West End sits an unassuming white freight container.

Inside, the 320-square-foot metal structure houses a drip irrigation hydroponics system that grows 2,500 pounds of produce annually.

Freight farms are vertical farms built inside of repurposed shipping containers. They utilize hydroponic farming, in which plants are grown without soil and instead grow inside water-based solutions. The farms can be placed virtually anywhere and grow year-round because of their self-contained climate. The result is a high-yield farm that requires far less space than a traditional garden.

Two container farms on the grounds of Volunteers of America's Upstate New York campus have become a working part of how the organization addresses food insecurity among its clients. Running for two years, the programme supplies leafy greens, beans, root vegetables, and herbs to on-site shelters, a children's centre, and partner organizations in the surrounding community.

In addition to the community gardens, Dr. Bennington is overseeing plans for a hydroponic shipping container farm, first announced in November 2025. The container farm is slated to be located adjacent to the Wellness Center, near the new garden space.

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?

In Boston Metro South, the local Boys & Girls Club has brought community members, kids and families, big-name donors, and nonprofit leadership together around a container farming program.

Just a few miles from our Hamilton office sits an unexpected hub of innovation: a fully operational hydroponic farm tucked inside a refurbished shipping container at the Robbinsville Municipal Complex.

The state recently awarded the Watertown Schools a grant to run its farm-to-school program, including its Freight Farm. Watertown Public Schools has received more than $80,000 in state grant funding to continue its farm-to-school efforts, expanding learning opportunities for Watertown’s students while also increasing local food production.

The freight container is not just a teaching tool but also provides fresh produce for students around the district.

Known as a Freight Farm, the container is filled with walls outfitted with equipment to water and nourish hundreds of plants, and lights to help them grow.

Back in June, the school received a new freight farm, which is a converted shipping container made to grow plants.

It was made possible through the Massachusetts FRESH Grant from Mass. Farm to School, and since then, the garden has been thriving.

Businesses are transforming rooftops, courtyards, parking lots, and unused land into working farms, growing their own food to reduce reliance on suppliers and serve fresher meals.

At the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, guests are often eating produce grown just steps from where they’re staying.

Farmer-in-residence Leslie Wilber oversees the hotel’s on-site farm, where a wide variety of crops are grown throughout the year.

The state recently awarded the Watertown Schools a grant to run its farm-to-school program, including its Freight Farm.

Watertown Public Schools has received more than $80,000 in state grant funding to continue its farm-to-school efforts, expanding learning opportunities for Watertown’s students while also increasing local food production.

Hofstra University unveiled plans to install a Freight Farms Greenery™ S hydroponic container farm on its North Campus as part of the University’s ongoing “Pride Farm” sustainability initiatives. The container farm is supported by New York State Senator Siela A. Bynoe.

Hello! My name is Kenzie Sandusky, and I’m a senior+ studying horticulture, (production and marketing ) at Purdue University! During my time at the container farms, I have several tasks to oversee in order to ensure a plentiful harvest for the CSA!

Through the opening of Peace Produce at William Peace University, Pacer Dining is now serving lettuce grown right on campus.

Peace Produce, the campus’s new hydroponic farm, launched on Sept. 5 with a celebration that included samples of the farm’s fresh lettuce.

“The salads were served with two unique salad dressings prepared by Chef James Pelli,” Pacer Dining Marketing Coordinator Alex Strickler said.