Future of farming grows in Cincinnati
Growing lush, leafy greens in the middle of winter in Greater Cincinnati may sound too good to be true, but 80 Acres Farms in Hamilton is making that a reality.
They use a method called vertical farming.
"The concept is rather simple. We take a field and stick it on top of a field. On top of a field to enable growing, healthiest, most delicious produce anywhere in the world any time of the year," CEO and cofounder Mike Zelkind said.
Farmers are a mix of robots and humans, and crop fields are on trays.
80 Acres is a sustainable option for farming in more ways than one.
"We are the next generation of organic produce. We live by the same standards except higher. We don't use any pesticides ever in our production facilities," Zelkind said.
"We use 97% less water. We can grow the food in the communities that consume it so we can eliminate those long, expensive supply chains, so we can deliver high-quality food for affordable prices to our communities," he said.
Sustainability engineer Annie Wissemeir keeps track of the company's carbon footprint.
"We're constantly looking at our energy consumption, driving that down and continuing to push those renewable and clean energy sources as we launch new farms and expand," she said.
She told WLWT that in Hamilton, they use hydroelectric power. She also said renewable and clean power is important for any future farms.
Turnaround time for plants at 80 Acres is about two weeks, whereas outside, it would be 90-100 days.
"Because there's no weather limitation, we grow that two weeks and then begin immediately after that and grow the next two weeks," data analyst Noah Zelkind said.
The produce is available in various stores like Kroger, Whole Foods, Jungle Jim's, and others. Search for a local store carrying their produce here.
