Farmers across the globe are embracing hydroponics in order to save water and energy and increase food security when cultivating crops of food. The system of hydroponic farming is defined as high-volume food production, often indoors, grown without any dirt, conventional fertilizers or even natural sunlight, by replacing soil with nutrient-enriched water, and occasionally, sunlight with LEDs.[1] In the United States, England and India, farmers are growing tens of thousands of kilograms of fresh produce yearly without the concerns of climate limitations such as fertile soil, sunlight and seasons, and with the benefit of pesticide-free farming. Examples of several successful hydroponic farms include:
Teens for Food Justice, New York
CEO and director Katherine Soll empowers young students and volunteers while helping to eradicate the pervasive problem of food deserts in New York City. TFFJ installs hydroponic farms in Title 1 schools (public schools with the highest percentages of children from low-income families)[2] across the city. TFFJ’s mission is to enable access to healthy food for all New Yorkers by starting in school cafeterias; their youth-run farms provide fresh produce daily for their schools’ cafeterias and the remainder is distributed affordably to the local community. The students from these schools also serve as health and wellness ambassadors to their communities, such as to their parents who may not have access or the means to purchase fresh produce, as well as to their fellow classmates and youths. This project requires students to become hard-working, team-building, driven individuals, and has allowed for students, volunteers, and members of the community to come together and share a meal. TFFJ’s website notes that 16% of New Yorkers are food insecure and undernourished and more than 1 million reside in food desert communities; 25% of these residents are children. Currently, New York City spends over $4 billion on healthcare related to poor diet/malnutrition, and this number continues to increase.[3] In order to combat this ongoing issue, their philosophy is simple: if you give someone a meal, you feed him or her for one day. If you teach young people to lead an environmentally-friendly, healthy food movement, you feed a community for a lifetime.
Growing Underground, Clapham, UK
Co-founders Steven Dring and Richard Ballard launched Growing Underground in South London, a farm 33 meters underground, that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of natural sunlight to cultivate its produce. The process of using LEDs in the place of sunlight, or other forms of electricity, allows farmers to produce 365 days a year when seasonal difficulties no longer perturb crop cultivation. LED bulbs can be six to seven times more energy efficient than conventional incandescent lights and cut energy use by more than 80%. They also emit far less heat than incandescent bulbs, and can last more than 25 times longer than traditional light bulbs. Overall, their environmental impact is much less significant than incandescent bulbs, they do not contain mercury, and they save billions of dollars annually on inefficient, tradition light bulbs.[4] What is different about Growing Underground’s approach is that their use of LED bulbs facilitates the very close layering of lights to plants only 25 centimeters apart. This allows the farm to produce more, and turns typically unlit spaces (such as underground tunnels or warehouses) into commercially viable spaces. Growing Underground’s innovative and environmentally-friendly business will only continue to expand – for the moment they are using a 550-square-meter area to hydroponically produce around 20,000 kilograms of vegetables annually, and they plan to further develop their landscape as they continue to succeed.[5]
Letcetra Agritech, Goa, India
CEO Ajay Naik founded Letcetra Agritech in 2016, applying his skillset as a trained software engineer to provide easily accessible pesticide-free and fungicide-free produce for all. He writes that he noticed a growing trend of farmers’ children opting to go for their MBAs rather than taking over their family’s farm, under the pretense that agriculture is non-lucrative field to enter into. However, Mr. Naik would rather put his focus on the production of healthy food in order to contribute to a healthier society. Letcetra Agritech is India’s first indoor high-tech vertical hydroponic farm, taking advantage of previously unused shed and producing 1.5-2 tons of vegetables in a 150 square meter area.[6] Mr. Naik’s business helps farmers dealing with difficult conditions such as a continuously booming population and the scarcity of water and land by offering those with land the opportunity to set up a comprehensive commercial hydroponic system design, including operations and maintenance solutions. The design customizes hydroponic systems depending on the available area and space of each land owner, the demographic, and the supply-demand dynamics. Based on these factors, Letcetra Agritech’s experts will then suggest which types of vegetables would function best, and offer a buy-back guarantee in the cases where clients do not wish to involve themselves in the marketing and distribution of the produce. This system allows civilians living in arid regions with a way in which to produce food not only for themselves but for a profit as well.[7]
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