The vertical farm is called FarmedHere, after the company that plans to build it, and it will form one part of the planned 24 acre (9.7-ha) West Louisville FoodPort, which is set to become a large community of food-related businesses in area. The farm will be used to grow organic microgreens, herbs and vegetables.
FarmedHere will stretch over an area of 60,000 sq ft (5,574 sq m). It will feature 10 rows of vertical grow-beds, while the facility will also have an area for sorting and packaging microgreens, herbs, salad dressings, baby food, and other produce. The main aim of this farm is to provide the people within 200 miles access to organic and fresh vegetables. The produce will be USDA-certified organic and pesticide-free. It will also be available year round.
As it is with other vertical farms, indoor facilities of FarmedHere will be tightly controlled environments, which will use energy-efficient LED lighting to stimulate the growing process. It is estimated that they will also produce about 15 times as many crop-cycles as normal farms per year, while using a whopping 97 percent less water to do so.
The farm will also have social and economic benefits, since it will provide 40 new local jobs. They expect to hire mostly veterans and second-chance employees to fill these positions, and they plan to begin building the FoodPort in August this year.
The company’s goal is to build FarmedHere farms in 18 cities across the US, which would be, according to their estimates, enough to feed 75 percent of the population. Building more such farms, especially ones in or near cities is also a great idea since it would provide people living in these areas with more affordable produce that’s both fresh and organic.
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