Local Roots Farms - Los Angeles
Just South of Downtown Los Angeles,
in the city of Vernon,
houses a unique type of farm.
It may not look like the kind of farm
most of us think of, but inside
lies modular vertical farms.
You can't judge a book by it's cover...
Photo by Local Roots Farms
Housed in 40' repurposed shipping containers,
Local Roots Farms builds vertical farms
which can be located in just about any area,
as long as there's space for the container.
Photo by Local Roots Farms
Inside one of the shipping containers is
the current crop of Butterhead Lettuce.
One thing that I found amazing, inside this
40' container houses just over 4 acres of
butter lettuce which is harvested every 3 days.
Imagine that, a footprint of a 40' container
can produce over 4 acres worth of product
year-round.
Living in an urban area like Los Angeles,
our fresh produce comes from 50 - 80 miles away.
Restaurants rely on continuous fresh product
to serve their customers vs sitting in a distributor's
cold storage waiting for an order to deliver.
Photo by Local Roots Farms
Using today's technology,
they've figured out a growing cycle
which cuts the growing time to 1/3
(30+ days vs over 90 days conventional).
The plants are all grown hydroponically
and uses 97% less water than an outdoor
conventional farm. Considering California
is going through another drought year,
that's a lot of water saved!
I can't imagine living in an area which
prevents fresh local produce in the winter months.
I guess I'm just spoiled from living in California.
I can get fresh produce year-round.
I guess I'm just spoiled from living in California.
I can get fresh produce year-round.
What if one of these farms was close by,
restaurants could offer local greens year-round.
Photo by Local Roots Farms
Products from Local Roots Farms
can be found at Tender Greens, Mendocino Farms,
the commissary at Space X, just to name a few.
Besides Butterhead Lettuce, they grow Starlet Kale,
Four Seasons Blend, Microgreens, and others.
There's always something new in development
and/or experimental stages. So stay tuned.
The future looks bright.
Thanks for the Tour!
5000 Hampton Street
Vernon, CA 90058
www.localrootsfarms.com
Photos by Jay Terauchi
unless noted otherwise
Jay Eats Worldwide
©Jay Terauchi
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