A Vacant Lot In Wyoming Will Become One Of The World's First Vertical Farms

[KamaAina]

http://www.fastcoexist.com/3042610/a-vacant-lot-in-wyoming-will-become-one-of-the-worlds-first-vertical-farms

Jackson, Wyoming, is an unlikely place for urban farming: At an altitude over a mile high, with snow that can last until May, the growing season is sometimes only a couple of months long. It's also an expensive place to plant a garden, since an average vacant lot can cost well over $1 million.

But the town is about to become home to one of the only vertical farms in the world. On a thin slice of vacant land next to a parking lot, a startup called Vertical Harvest recently broke ground on a new three-story stack of greenhouses that will be filled with crops like microgreens and tomatoes.

"We're replacing food that was being grown in Mexico or California and shipped in," explains Penny McBride, one of the co-founders. "We feel like the community's really ready for a project like this. Everybody's so much more aware of the need to reduce transportation, and people like to know their farmer and where food's coming from."...

"One of the things the town of Jackson was concerned with was if we using more energy than if a tomatoes was trucked in here," says Nona Yehia, the architect of the vertical farm and one of the company's co-founders. Greenhouses do typically use a lot of energy, especially in a cold climate, but the math worked out, in part because of the farm's design.

[truebluegreen]

1. If ever there was a market for fresh arugula and ripe tomatoes in Wyoming, Jackson is it.

Most expensive real estate in the country and a clientele to match.

[dilby]

2. Looks super cool but I want to see how much they plan on paying their workers.

I noticed in the article they are planning on hiring developmental disabled employees so they better be paying decent wages and not $2 an hour like Goodwill.

[KamaAina]

3. Good catch!

And I see you're up on the Goodwill issue. Sadly, it can be less than $2 an hour -- more like 20 cents.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021223797

[dilby]

4. I will be pissed if this is the case.

I want this to be a success but not at the expense of exploitation of workers, the best thing we can do is keep our eyes on this and call them out if they are not paying fair wages.

[RiverLover]

5. That is just amazing, fascinating, & yes, its a feel good story!

Just like they said in the article.

Thank you so much for posting!!! I hope more of these pop up across the country.

[KamaAina]

6. Detroit could become the urban Farm Belt

Just sayin'.

[wilsonbooks]

7. Another approach