City grows greens year-round in hydroponic shipping container farms

[image credit: NPR]

Gardening is almost impossible in cold winter months

In the snowy months, restaurants and supermarkets often import huge shipping containers of fresh produce grown halfway around the world. Not only is this expensive, but it generates considerable waste and environmental costs.

Solution: Convert shipping containers into all-season hydroponic farms

Boston entrepreneurs launched Freight Farms, a company that converts used shipping containers into self-contained hydroponic farms. Each shipping container comes equipped with racks of growing trays, watering systems, and monitoring sensors (even a Wi-Fi hotspot) and everything else needed to grow fresh greens and other produce locally year-round.

Priced at $76,000, the units are not cheap, but they are geared toward urban farmers who would like a consistent, year-round source of income.

Read More

• NPR | Freight Farms: How Boston Gets Local Greens, Even When Buried In Snow