8 Ways to Put Your Container Farm to Good Use
(Besides Growing Produce)
Do you like the idea of becoming a Freight Farmer, but feel held back because you aren’t sure what you’d do with your farm? Not to worry! We’ve compiled a list of just some of the great ways our farmers are using Freight Farms to cultivate fresh produce while also doing good. Plus, don’t miss a collection of helpful resources at the end of the post.
1. Expand the Local Food Movement
Bring fresh, healthy produce to an area without local food options and increase secure food access. Many independent farmers, like BrightBox Farms in Kodiak, Alaska, do so on a small scale in their local communities. However, Freight Farms can be used on a larger scale: Swedish grocery store chain ICA has placed container farms directly in front of their stores in Halmstad, Åre, and other cities in Sweden to grow local food right where it’s sold. Store employees grow and package the greens to be sold just feet away — a big deal in a country with a short growing season and harsh winter climate.
2. Provide Equal Employment Opportunities
Studies have shown that the practice of farming can be therapeutic and increase the quality of life of both children and adults. Zeponic Farms in Woodbridge, VA, employs the special needs community in their hydroponic container farm, empowering their staff to participate in the workforce in ways that benefit both personal health and the health of their community. OD Greens in Willoughby, Ohio, provides fresh produce to the region while providing veterans with occupational development and job training at his farm. San Antonio Clubhouse uses their Freight Farm to provide meaningful opportunities to clients coping with mental health challenges.
3. Champion Corporate Social Responsibility
Companies seeking to reduce their carbon footprint are using container farms to offer great food at a low environmental cost to their employees. Google, notorious for offering free breakfast, lunch, and dinner to their 20,000+ employees, installed a Freight Farm on their campus in Mountain View, CA, as part of their farm-to-table initiative.
Other companies, like SEFCU in Albany, NY, have partnered with local nonprofits to fund container farming programs for the community. Their partnership with the local chapter of the Boys & Girls Club was so successful that other Clubs around the country have followed suit and launched Freight Farming programs.
Everlane purchased three farms with the proceeds from its Black Friday charitable fund to bring pesticide-free produce to their employees at the Saitex denim factory in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam. The factory provides free greens to their pregnant employees, and sells the remaining greens at subsidized rates that compete directly with the traditionally farmed alternatives available in the grocery store.
4. Extend the Growing Season
Freight Farms enables farmers to grow fresh food year-round, regardless of where they live. Using hydroponics and controlled environment agriculture eliminates climate variability and allows farmers to keep their yields steady. Though many of our Freight Farmers don't have any background in farming, some do. Traditional farmers Karma Farm in Monkton, MD, use a vertical farm to extend their growing season and bring fresh produce to their customers — no matter the season.
Read more about how Karma Farm marries traditional growing with Freight Farming.
5. Supply Students with the Freshest Produce, Year-Round
Take it from Glenn Loughridge, Director of Campus Dining & Concessions, who serves container-farmed lettuce at Auburn University and said, “One of the trends that we’re noticing in Campus Dining is that students really want to know where their food comes from.” As a result, independent foodservice operations and dining services vendors like Sodexo are striving to provide students with locally grown greens all year and using Freight Farms to do so. Just a handful of examples are Auburn University, Clark University, and Georgia State University.
Watch our video on Auburn’s Campus Dining program serving Freight Farmed lettuce.
6. Promote Community Revitalization Through Farming
Localizing food production can help cut down on food miles, grow local economies, and create jobs. Saint Joseph’s College of Maine is taking community revitalization to the next level with the Institute for Local Food Systems and Innovation, a certificate program designed to prepare Maine residents to participate in alternative agriculture. Saint Joseph’s hopes the program will encourage more young people to stay in Maine by exposing them to a growing industry with good wages and potential for career development.
7. Lead the Way in Controlled Environment Agriculture Research
Container farms are the perfect platform to test the limits and possibilities of controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Auburn University uses two of our Greenery™ farms in a suite of growing technologies used to conduct research on controlled environment agriculture. (Their research runs the gamut, comparing container farms and hydroponics to greenhouses, aquaponics, and other farming technologies.)
Read more about Auburn University’s Freight Farming program.
8. Grow Food At Any Age
Many colleges and universities are involving young adults in farming from the moment they step on campus. At Maryville University, student interns get hands-on experience in the campus’ Freight Farm, and then get to eat the produce in the campus dining hall. However, they’re not the youngest Freight Farmers by far! Across the country, K–12 schools are using container farms as alternative classrooms and platforms for engaging afterschool programming. Take Mountain Vista High School, whose Freight Farm is at the heart of an alternative learning pathway.
Helpful Resources
We’ll make a farmer out of you! Get familiar with the steps you can take to launch a container farming business.
Hear from farmers and get a tour of our farm — live!
Our blogs will inspire your farming creativity and familiarize you with the day-to-day of being a farmer.
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