Company: Freight Farms, Boston, MA
Company Description: Freight Farms debuted the first vertical hydroponic farm built inside a shipping container with the mission of democratizing and decentralizing the production of fresh, healthy food. With global customers ranging from small business farmers to the corporate, hospitality, retail, education, and nonprofit sectors, Freight Farmers make up the largest network of connected farms in the world.
Nomination Category: Company / Organization Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Technical Innovation of the Year - At Organizations With Up to 100 Employees
 Nomination Title: Freight Farms' Greenery™ S
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the achievements of the nominated organization since January 1 2021, OR written answers to the questions for this category? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Briefly describe the nominated organization: its history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 128 words used.
Freight Farms was founded in 2012 with the mission of democratizing and decentralizing the local production of fresh, healthy food. In an effort to develop a modular and scalable solution to urban agriculture, our founders struck on the idea of container farming. They debuted the first vertical hydroponic farm built inside an intermodal shipping container: the Leafy Green Machine.
Since then, Freight Farms has iterated on its original container farm, redesigning it, making it more productive, and increasing its efficiency, as well as creating a pairing software, farmhand®, that allows container farmers to remotely manage and automate many farming tasks.
Freight Farms has sold 600+ container farms to customers all over the world, from Egypt to Azerbaijan to Vietnam to Alaska. Our community is 1,000+ farmers strong.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Outline the organization's achievements since the beginning of 2021 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 216 words used.
Freight Farms reimagined the container farm when it unveiled the Greenery™ S in 2021. Illustrating a core commitment to ongoing innovation, Freight Farms strived to push the capabilities of container farms. With the Greenery S, they achieved significant milestones in the sustainability of container farming while also optimizing the performance, automation, and design of the unit.
The Greenery S uses new proprietary LED grow lights that are 50% more efficient while also 60% more intense than standard options. It also maximizes water efficiency, consuming an average of only 5 gallons of water per day to support 13,000 plants. (In humid regions, the Greenery S is actually often water-positive.) The Greenery S maximizes the fixed area of a shipping container (40’ x 8’ x 9.5’) with vertical plant panels capable of holding 8,800 seedlings; a Nursery Station that hosts both germinating seeds (up to 4,608) and a functional workspace; and moving walls that maximize the amount of growing space while leaving all areas of the container accessible to the user.
Paired with the Greenery S is Freight Farms’ software, farmhand, which automates many farming tasks, such as hydroponic nutrient dosing, watering, environmental control, and farm monitoring. This tool makes the Greenery S the most manageable, productive, and controlled container farm on the market.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 247 words used.
The achievements listed have a direct impact on food security. All around the world, container farms give individuals the ability to grow food for their communities. This is especially impactful in food deserts and harsh climates, where access to fresh food is not a given. The innovations in the Greenery S offer the power to produce more food, more efficiently.
This efficiency piece is also significant. Much of the U.S. experienced drought this year, and we all know that we are overly dependent on our natural resources. The Greenery S presents a more efficient method of farming, easing our reliance on our natural resources while producing a large quantity of food to feed the Earth’s growing population.
Compared to the Leafy Green Machine (LGM), Freight Farms’ original container farm, the Greenery S shows great innovation. While one LGM could produce the equivalent of up to 2 acres of produce, the Greenery S can produce up to 4. The LGM produced 93% saleable produce; the Greenery S produces 95%. The LGM was 95% more water-efficient than traditional agriculture; the Greenery S is 99% more water-efficient. The LGM’s LED lights were 2.2 umol/j; those in the Greenery S are 1.5–2 times more efficient, at 3.4 umol/j for the blue LEDs and 4.06 umol/j for the red LEDs.
Compared to other container farms, the Greenery S is more efficient, more productive, more versatile, and gives users more control over the growing process. (See supporting materials.)
- You have the option to answer this final question: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 79 words used.
The Greenery S compared to other farms: https://www.freightfarms.com/freight-farms-vs-competitors
For more detail on the Greenery S see https://www.freightfarms.com/greenery-s. To understand the Leafy Green Machine and how it compares, view https://www.freightfarms.com/blog/how-the-lgm-stacks-up.
View the Move Farms, Not Food video (embedded, or see this link: https://youtu.be/KUIrRXvvMQU) for supporting information on the value that the Greenery S adds and Freight Farms' mission.
Images attached provide visuals of the Greenery S and its produce.
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