Hydroponic farms taking root across the country

Hydroponic Farms | Hannah Shine |

Freight Farms – a Boston-based agriculture technology company – is changing the game for farming practices across the country.

Located in all 50 states, Freight Farms’ hydroponic container farms use LED lights with a climate-controlled environment to grow vegetables such as lettuce, kale, collards and arugula, and herbs like basil, chives and parsley.

News 2 spoke to Rick Vanzura, the Freight Farms CEO about the practice, and he says the container farms “use water circulated through a pump as opposed to growing (vegetables) in soil.” He went on to say, “Our solution is shipping containers to grow produce by using a hydroponic method.”

Vanzura mentioned that their company has grown over 500 different varieties of crops.
King Tide Farms based in Charleston County utilizes Freight Farms’ hydroponic container farm, providing people across the Charleston area with fresh vegetables in a unique way.

News 2 asked how these container farms may be useful when preparing dishes for Thanksgiving.
“Certainly, there’s a lot you can put on your Thanksgiving table from our farms: arugula, baby carrots, french radishes, even flowers for the table if you want.”

Rick also says their “tech-forward approach” attracts farmers from all ages, including those at King Tide Farms.

“We’re all about moving farms, not food. So the beauty of being able to grow (produce) in a shipping container is you can put that shipping container anywhere where you can find a flat, 10 by 50 ft parcel of land where you have a commercial power and water hook up. You can place it right where the consumers are.” He went on to say, “it takes the transportation factor out of the equation.” Their approach reduces reliance on transporting fresh produce from out-of-state.

King Tide Farms is located on Spruill Avenue in North Charleston.

Original Article: https://www.counton2.com/news/local-news/hydroponic-farms-taking-root-across-the-country/

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