indoor vertical farms have been touted
for their ability to grow leafy green
vegetables like lettuce in warehouses
year-round bowery farming one of the
us's largest vertical farm companies
says it can grow more than five and a
half tons of produce daily
and in a bid to expand its portfolio the
company is adding a new crop to its
roster strawberries
about 90 percent of strawberries in the
u.s are grown in california the state's
strawberry harvest runs from early
spring until fall
because we're grown close to the point
of consumption
we can pick these berries at the peak of
freshness
and then they're on shelf
48 hours later with strawberries it
takes more steps because the leaf has to
grow as does the flower and the flower
that becomes the strawberry fruit
actually has to be pollinated so these
companies have to enlist the help of
bees to pollinate those flowers to
ultimately become the fruit that people
eat vertical farms like bowery use a mix
of sensors robotics and automation to
grow food that they say makes their
produce fresher better tasting and
better for the environment
but vertical farms also face challenges
including a significant upfront
investment in the use of extensive
lighting systems that are energy
intensive
in 1935 there were 6.8 million farms in
the u.s by 2020 that number dropped to a
little over 2 million
so with the global population expected
to search to about 10 billion in the
next 30 years and with the vast majority
of those people living in urban areas
can indoor vertical farms like bowery be
a viable alternative for growing the
world's fruits and vegetables
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in a warehouse in kearny new jersey
outside of new york city bowery's indoor
vertical farm stacks crops from floor to
ceiling using led lights to mimic the
sun and the continuous supply of water
and nutrients to feed its plants crops
like lettuce and arugula are grown year
round in addition to the genetics piece
right the seed piece within our system
the variables that we play with are
nutrients light air flow and light it's
not just the intensity of light but it's
the photo periods we could make a
28-hour day for our plants right or
16-hour day depending on what we think
the optimal recipe is
it has other benefits too
bowery claims its vertically stacked
design can yield 100 times more produce
compared to an outdoor operation on a
similar footprint while using 95 percent
less water the company's crops are grown
without pesticides and different types
of plants can grow side by side indoor
farms also don't have to contend with
seasonal labor shortages like on
traditional farms and growing crops
closer to your customer allows goods to
be shipped from harvest to shelf in as
little as 48 hours but indoor farms face
significant challenges including hefty
startup costs high urban rents and steep
energy costs to power led lights and
ventilation in general is still in the
very early stages a lot of the companies
that consumers see on shelves are
pretty limited in what they can grow
it's a lot of different types of lettuce
but i spoke to a vertical farming expert
and she was saying you know people can't
live on salad alone these companies need
to branch into other crops and and some
of those crops like berries not only are
they more complicated they also are
pricier while low-growing crops like
leafy greens have been the hallmark of
vertical farms fruits and berries have
been harder to develop but that's
starting to change
in 2022 bowery launched a limited
release pack of strawberries at select
new york city retailers strawberries
grown on traditional farms generally
have to be shipped long distances which
diminishes their taste strawberries also
rank annually at the top of the dirty
dozen for fruits that contain the most
pesticides to further enhance its berry
production in 2022 bowery purchased
trapdick a robotic company that uses 3d
cameras and ai to harvest fruit vine
crops like strawberries and tomatoes and
the good thing for these farms is if
they crack how to grow those berries
they also can help drive up profits for
their business potentially by selling
higher value fruits and vegetables
bowery farming got its start in 2015 in
2021 revenue doubled it works with
retailers including whole foods and
walmart and has farms outside of new
york city and baltimore it also has
plans to expand and that expansion could
be good for the industry as a whole if
it finds consumers are willing to pay
for produce that taste consistent no
matter the season
the possibilities are endless right when
we're talking about genetic diversity
and biodiversity of seeds
our system allows us the agility and
flexibility to experiment with all these
different types of seeds