Late last month, a German startup named Infarm installed modular vertical farms in two Kroger-owned grocery stores in the Seattle area. Apparently, this is just the start of a wave of mini-farms that will be incorporated within supermarkets across Oregon and Washington.
In these mini-farms, which use a hydroponic farming method, nine varieties of lettuce and herbs are stacked in rows and grown in nutrient-rich water until they are mature enough to be sold in bunches to customers, roots and all. So far, the mini-farms have been a success—especially since people are allowed to pick certain herbs themselves from the state-of-the-art hydroponic stacks.
With food growing directly inside the grocery store, it doesn’t get any more local than that.
This story was one of the best from 2019, and we are happy to include it in our “12 Days of Optimism” as we welcome in the new year!
