Every prospective container farmer runs into the same wall: the sticker price. A new turnkey hydroponic container farm is a six-figure purchase before you have harvested a single head of lettuce.

The hydroponic farm is designed by Growcer, an Ottawa-based company that was initially founded in response to high food costs in northern communities. It’s a serious need — according to Statistics Canada, 60% of Nunavut (Canada’s northernmost territory) residents are food insecure, and food prices have risen by 22% (as opposed to 12% across the rest of the country) in recent years.

With Growcers’ virtual tour it shows the farm is the size of a large shipping container. Inside are left and right plant reservoirs, a work and seeding station, nutrient monitors, C02 sensors, thermostat, HVAC system, environmental sensors, LED lights and more.

“Food insecurity is one of the most urgent challenges facing our community, and it requires both immediate support and longer-term system change,” says Mayor Bryan Paterson. “Through the City’s Food Framework and the Fines for Food pilot, we are using an innovative, partnership-based approach to help local organizations provide fresh, nutritious food while strengthening Kingston’s local food system.

Launched: January 2025, the Bronx, New York

Goal: Bring year-round local food production and cross-disciplinary, place-based learning to an independent school campus in New York City

Something truly remarkable is happening at Marble Farms. Yes, you read that correctly — there is a farm thriving at 8,000 feet in elevation. Despite growing in one of the harshest climates, Marble Farms is brilliantly cultivating the seeds of change with the help of an unexpected tool: a Freight Farm.

"With rising food prices and controversy surrounding major retail chains, people are really looking for ways to grow locally. On a community level, there is more interest than ever from schools, municipalities and Indigenous communities for local food solutions," says Alida Burke, co-founder and Chief Financial Officer at Growcer, the Ottawa-based container farming company established ten years ago.

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.

After 10 years in business, vertical farming company Growcer highlights how a slow-and-steady approach to growth provided stability in a sector that has experienced some turbulence.

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.

The draft legislation sets aside 10% of a new local food purchasing program specifically for Tribes to purchase local food and directs agricultural conservation programs to recognize traditional ecological knowledge. The only hurdle is that the passing of the bill might be delayed for more than a year due to political theatre so we wouldn't hold our breath.

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

For African Heritage Month, Akoma Holdings and EduHaus partnered together to teach and employ Black Nova Scotians in hydroponic farming.

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.

Ray Fankhauser, sustainability lead at the school, was one of the people behind entering the school for the award.

Fankhauser said that with the level of interest from the students to work the garden, they needed something bigger, so they looked at developing a modular hydroponic farm using Canadian technology called 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.

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.