What a great Idea! Neighborhood food..Hope this really takes off or catches on.

modernfarmer.com...

At the Farmery, shipping, packing, and handling are eliminated in favor of right here, right now, IRL cultivation. In a series of stacked shipping containers, vertical growing panels and hydroponic tech and come together to form a fully immersive shopping experience. The various climate-controlled areas are equipped to support baby greens — a “high value crop,” Greene says — as well as lettuces, strawberries, dwarf chili peppers, and herbs, which customers can select themselves, along with custom shiitake, oyster, and seasonal mushroom containers. Fostering this intimate relationship with edibles will only serve to enhance the experience, while increasing understanding of how things grow. He anticipates half of the sales will come from this “u-pick” set-up, with the rest from local, artisanal goods stocked on-site — a nice way to craft a sense of community in the middle of a bustling metropolis.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to have locally grown food in a clean environment,,,Not picked green and shipped across the country but ready to eat when picked. Farmers markets do this to a great extent already yet many cities do not have a farmer's market..The web sight has a video of a Farmery up and running. Great idea if it spreads IMO...wish him well

Thanks for sharing that, I feel inspired

Originally posted by Kali74
Thanks for sharing that, I feel inspired

Thanks for the reply Kali I too thought it a grand idea.... I would hope he has a plan to help others get started something like a franchise might work??

God that would be wonderful.
Let's do it!
Some "Agency" will be along shortly to "Save"
us from the dangers of eating what our neighbors grew.

reply to post by 727Sky


I did hear him mention expanding in the video. I'm wondering about doing it on my own though with no collateral for a loan lol.

Originally posted by sealing
Some "Agency" will be along shortly to "Save"
us from the dangers of eating what our neighbors grew.

Thats the problem. Once this starts taking money away from the corps they'll make it illegal.

Originally posted by sealing
DP

edit on 4-8-2013 by VoidHawk because: (no reason given)

Just came across this article on Agri-Tecture.

(Video at link)

Check out this video about Podponics, a company that converts shipping containers into controlled environment agriculture. They claim that one container can grow the equivalent of an acre of open field agriculture. They are not the only company on the block doing this FreightFarms and Growtainer are also in the business of modular high density farming. Modular urban farming solutions are less expensive, flexible, and scalable. Keep an eye on this growing trend.

In a different way, they already did it in Cuba. Check out this video of what can happen with permaculture when society had no choice.

Originally posted by Kali74
Just came across this article on Agri-Tecture.

(Video at link)

Check out this video about Podponics, a company that converts shipping containers into controlled environment agriculture. They claim that one container can grow the equivalent of an acre of open field agriculture. They are not the only company on the block doing this FreightFarms and Growtainer are also in the business of modular high density farming. Modular urban farming solutions are less expensive, flexible, and scalable. Keep an eye on this growing trend.

An old shipping container is retrofitted with up to five tiers of growing platforms where beds of lettuce are grown with their roots in water, not soil. Nutrients are added as needed, and banks of LED lights shine overhead. From here, PodPonics starts to innovate. They’ve added monitors for temperature, humidity, pH, and carbon dioxide levels so that these variables can be optimized for maximum growing potential. Many factors can be adjusted remotely using an iPhone interface. Their LED lights can change spectrum slightly over the course of day to stimulate different growing phases in the plants. You want the right combination of factors at the right time to produce the best lettuce. And that’s what PodPonics does for ten different leafy greens like arugula, cressida, and watercress.

I would wonder about the possibility of the local Swat team raiding guns drawn, just to see what you are doing...hey it has happened before...

I would want to advertise and get on the local news if I undertook something like this....just for a record and my own safety...But this could really be a health benefit, a save on energy, fuel for trucking across country...like I said I hope this really takes off especially in some of our cities.

reply to post by 727Sky


I love this idea, and I've been saying for years that we need to get the local high-street back in business. This would steal the business given to the major corporations and hand it back to the local economy, while providing a lot more options for sustainability.

I can imagine a row of these all linked together, providing different things, from healthy growing methods and removing the power from the major corporations. It would also potentially create a revolution in buying and selling, because so many food outlets now sell so much junk along with it.

Developing this idea could get communities back into their own local economies, with additional businesses following the crowds. If you had one of these being successful in a neighborhood, within a year there would be a bakery, and probably small self-sustaining dairy farms too.

This is what we should be striving for - local commerce, local food supplies, local businesses developing within communities as they are needed. We absolutely need to desperately move away from the multinational corporations controlling the food supply and get back to basics.

My city actually has a farmers market every week and it is incredibly successful. Right in town square they set up everything, local bands play, vendors come in for people who are hungry on the go, there is local art set up to look at, and more...

There isn't a time when there aren't people coming to enjoy the local farmers produce (well except rainy days). The city is pretty big and there is a lot of crime but for that one time a week at least, it does feel like there is some sort of community there.

State will step in demanding insurance, inspections, permits, certifications, taxation, tracking data, names, places, materials, points of contact, incorporation documentation....

reply to post by tkwasny


When I read your comment I thought of the lemonade stands that have been shut down in some cities because of no permit...you may be right..

Originally posted by 727Sky
reply to post by tkwasny

 

When I read your comment I thought of the lemonade stands that have been shut down in some cities because of no permit...you may be right..

But if it is a business, there is nothing to stop them doing all the right things. Of course, there would be a fight back from corporations and their sponsored puppets in government, but once the people have a taste of this it would be too late, I don't think a community would give something like this up so easily once they had it.

Every adult I know who can remember the "good old days" wants their high-street back, they want the quality the used to get before, with the convenience of it being a ten minute walk away, and the community spirit that came with that. The problem is that kids have grown up with trash pumped into them from corporations, they barely know what it used to be like for most of us.

There are three smaller towns encompassed in my city where they still have high-streets, and although one has been reduced to chains, charity shops and discount retailers, the other two are thriving old town streets with butchers, a bakery, a grocers and old pubs etc, the latter have parades, a Christmas celebration, a summer festival and more every year.

I don't think it would be too much of a problem for these small quality businesses to get the backing of the community around them. The state and government can complain all they like, I don't think the people would let them destroy it once they've had it on their doorstep.

Reminds me of an idea I had for neighbors or whole streets of neighbors preparing meals together and eating together. It would really bring the community together in other ways just from the extra communication and planning of events together. People eat together, get to know each other, the best cooks on the block can get the appreciation they deserve, food costs less in bulk so its a good way to save money, leftovers can be taken home for whoever wants some, or donated to the needy where it is legal to do so. Children can learn how to cook and prepare food in ways other than using a microwave. Combine that with growing it, and you could have quite a unifying structure in place for future generations.

VERY awesome! I used to have a huge garden when I lived in CA and I sure miss all of those good super-fresh veggies and fruits. They need farmeries here in TX!

Nice to see something positive and cool instead of all the "We're doomed! EVERYBODY PANIC!!!" threads.

Thanks for posting! S+F