We’ve really corrupted our food supply chain, says investor and indoor farmer Mike Zelkind of 80 Acres Farms. You can’t transport food 2,000 miles and still have it come to you tasting great. 80 acres wants to bring back a fresh local food supply to make communities, cities and areas self-sustainable again.
Delivering fresh food straight to the nearby consumer: Zelkind shows it can be done. "In the hearts of neighborhoods across America, we grow shockingly flavorful produce by using 100 percent renewable energy with 97 percent less water and zero pesticides".
High-quality produce
"In traditional farming supply chains, produce is bred to survive ultra-long transportation cycles. Produce should be bred for flavor, nutrition, and texture. Today, due to temperature constraints, a lot of our produce comes from Salinas, California and Yuma, Arizona. With technological advances, including the efficiency of LED lights, big data and all, we are able to grow outside of these areas and harvest high-quality produce that is completely pesticide-free and nutritionally dense using vertical farming."
Mike Zelkind | Investor & Urban Farmer
80 Acres Farms
80acresfarms.com
Ultra-efficient
80 Acres converts urban spaces into ultra-efficient farms that maximize energy and space. The company has facilities in Ohio, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Alabama, from which it sells leafy greens, tomatoes, micro greens and herbs to national grocers, local retailers, restaurants, and food service providers. It expects to add grapes and strawberries in the near future.
Pure and fresh
Crops produced free of pesticides and GMOs, picked and delivered within days. In December 2018, 80 Acres raised $40 million in equity capital to create the first fully automated indoor farm. The facility will optimize every aspect of growing produce indoors, including seeding, growing and harvesting. It will include handling robotics, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and around-the-clock monitoring sensors and control systems to create food that is truly local and honestly fresh, 365 days a year.
Smart solutions can be found all over the world. These inspirational examples from our network show that people all over the world are already taking the first steps toward sustainable and circular urban farming. We’re extremely proud of these and are convinced that many more will soon follow.
Recovery Park aims to connect city residents to their local food system and build awareness about healthy eating and sustainability. The organization has built large scale indoor farms to grow fresh produce for the neighborhood and uses the available local workforce. Veterans, recovering addicts and former prisoners are all welcome to apply.
By reimagining urban landscapes, Gotham Greens is creating new ways to farm, produce local food, revitalize communities and innovate for a sustainable future. The company builds and operates ecologically sustainable greenhouses in former industrial sites, rooftops, backyards and parking lots - sometimes even on top of supermarkets.
Green Camel disrupts conventional methods of production in horticulture and aquaculture. The company developed a technology and biological processes to grow vegetables and fish in a symbiotic and ground-breaking way.
Go to scale, or leave and get out - that’s the mantra in the Wheatbelt, a region of Australia with endless monoculture. Ben Cole, environmental engineer and CEO at Wide Open Agriculture (WOA), has developed a new business model for the region, including regenerative land ownership.
Beijing has 22 million inhabitants, but only ten percent of the agricultural products it needs to feed the people of Beijing is supplied locally. Dan Xu started Hortipolaris when he realized how dangerous it is for a city not to be self-sustainable when it comes to food. Using facilities like a glass greenhouse in the outskirts of Beijing, Hortipolaris is dedicated to providing the citizens of Beijing with quality, healthy and safe vegetables.
We’ve really corrupted our food supply chain, says investor and indoor farmer Mike Zelkind of 80 Acres Farms. You can’t transport food 2,000 miles and still have it come to you tasting great. 80 acres wants to bring back a fresh local food supply to make communities, cities and areas self-sustainable again.