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COVERSTORY
Aerofarms says it operates the largest vertical greenhouse in the world. The company
has grown 700 different crops and varieties, according to CEO Marc Oshima.
PHOTO COURTESY OF AERO FARMS
CONTROLLED REVOLUTION?
Viewpoints vary and experimentation abounds in a market lled with entrepreneurs, start-up companies and big-money backers.
BY MATT OGG
From something as simple as a hoop house, or polytunnel, to indoor vertical farms using machine learning to optimize production, controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is a broad term with disruptive connotations.
As with electric vehicles, automation or the uberization of countless industries, contemplating CEA in the urban context requires upending ideas about the way we live and how society works.
Perspectives vary from the utopian visions of University of Virginia professor Tim Beatley’s lush ‘biophilic cities’ to skepticism around pro tability, accessibility and the limited range of crops grown in urban CEA.
The reality is that CEA is already deeply embedded into North America’s fresh produce supply chain through greenhouse-grown tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. However, the model’s urban and peri- urban (city outskirt) versions have tended to focus on leafy greens and herbs because that’s where the greatest opportunities are to be found right now.
we are in the early stages of experimenting with new crops and have had recent success with root vegetables, including radishes, turnips and kohlrabi.”
With nancial backing from the likes of holding company Alphabet, Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi and Amazon’s worldwide consumer chief executive, Jeff Wilke, Bowery aims to “revolutionize” agriculture with plans to have farms in “every major city throughout
Irving Fain, chief executive and co-founder at
New York-based Bowery Farming, says his team is constantly testing and iterating production and has grown more than 100 types of crops across its two large-scale commercial farms in the NYC metro- politan area.
“While we’re currently focused on providing the highest quality leafy greens and herbs to our customers and restaurant partners, we are excited about using research and development to push the boundaries and grow new crops,” he says. “Beyond leafy greens,
The company’s chief executive, Marc Oshima, says 700 different crops and varieties have been grown so far, and
he is con dent AeroFarms can “grow anything.”
“We envision a future for AeroFarms that includes growing much
more than just leafy greens,” he says. “With that said, if all we grew was arugula, we would be addressing a major market.”
Dick Spezzano of Spezzano Consulting Services in Monrovia, CA, says leafy greens and herbs lend themselves to CEA as you can get a crop from seed to cutting in 10 to 34 days in most cases.
PHOTO COURTESY OF GOTHAM GREENS
the world.”
“While indoor farming is not the sole solution
to food production, amid changing climate condi- tions and a dwindling set of resources, we think our technology and indoor grow process can work in tandem with improvements made to traditional agriculture to drastically improve fresh food access for a growing population,” notes Fain.
AeroFarms runs the world’s largest vertical indoor greenhouse in Newark, NJ, which opened in 2016 with the help of a $30 million capital injection from investors, including Goldman Sachs.
PRODUCE BUSINESS / SEPTEMBER 2019 / 21