Urban Ag News Issue 13 – April 2016

72 Pages·2016·27.1 MB·English

News on Technology for Vertical, Controlled Environment & Urban Farming UrbaNagNEws.Com
Issue 13 | april 2016
Robert
Colangelo
founding farmer and Ceo
Green Sense Farms to expand vertical farming operations

in U.S. & China pg 16
Know your goals Duron Chavis
before Helping
investing in a water people eat, live healthier

treatment systempg 56 through urban agriculture pg 6
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Table of Contents
Helping people eat, live healthier through urban
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agriculture. Duron CHavis
14 e-Gro Webinars
on tHe Cover: robert Colangelo ,founding
farmer and Ceo at green SenSe farmS
Green sense Farms to expand its vertical Farming
operations in the u.s. and China
16
Photo courtesy of Green Sense Farms
28 industry news
33 tour de Fresh 2016 update
34 FDCea: 2016 events to attend
38 an interview with Dr. Gary stutte
46 Japan special report
48 urban ag Zoning: Lessons from san antonio
54 nY sunWorks: is the future of farming in public schools?
56 Know your goals before investing in a water treatment system
65 infographic: Living Wage Calculation for Dallas, texas
66 reprints: new Growing system arrives in uK
3
The Kitchen Community green bronx machine alex Cena
anD Don’t ForGet to FoLLoW urban aG neWs
Hort americas Hydro Vegan NY sun works
4
ur b a n a G neWs
Youtube channel
Nashville’s Jeremy barlow owner of sloco susie marshall of grow North Texas
Understanding Hydroponic Fertilizer Blending Hydroponic Nutrient
Options and Stock Solutions Solutions and Stock Solutions
5
6
Duron Chavis,
indoor urban farm director
at Virginia State uniVerSity,
iS helping citizenS of
richmond and peterSburg, Va.,
haVe acceSS to locally-grown
produce year round.
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When Duron Chavis started the Happily Duron said since the annual festival focuses
Natural Day festival in Richmond, Va., in on health and wellness, farmers attend and
2003, he never imagined how this one day sell their fresh fruit and vegetables.
event would lead to his involvement with and “For one program we talked about the
promotion of urban agriculture. environment and sustainable agriculture,” he
“The festival focuses on holistic health, said. “During a panel discussion some of the
cultural awareness and social change,” said farmers said they didn’t have the time to bring
Chavis, who is indoor urban farm director at their food into urban centers. They lacked
Virginia State University in Petersburg, Va. the staffing and were spending so much of
“During the festival I started meeting and their time farming that they weren’t able to
working with black farmers from rural parts drive into the city to cultivate a rapport with
of the state. Some of the farmers told me customers. They said they needed a liaison,
that during the festival I should start talking someone who could serve as a middleman
about where food comes from and how it for their efforts in the city.
is related to health and wellness and the “As a result of this discussion I started
African-American community. We started working with the farmers. I did a pop-up
offering programs that were directly related farmers market. I worked as the farmers
to the topics of food and farming.” market manager for a project called the
Richmond Noir Market, which opened in
2010. That project gave me a one-on-one
Photos courtesy of Duron Chavis, Va. St. Univ.
Watch
the vsu
video
duron chaViS, indoor urban farm director at Virginia State uniVerSity in peterSburg,
Va., iS helping to conVert a ymca recreation center into an indoor urban farm.
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the harding St. urban agriculture center iS
being equipped with Vertical towerS, aeroponic
tableS, an aquaponicS SyStem and an ebb-and-
flow SyStem. grow lightS will be powered by
Solar panelS inStalled on the roof.
opportunity to work with the farmers. We St. was going on and a lot of people wanted
would set up a market stand every Saturday to be involved with their communities. I
and talk to people about producing their own gathered together people who were interested
food and the importance of being organic in community organization and told them
and not using pesticides.” that we should start a community garden.
I said let’s start an urban ag project in the
middle of the city to address some of the food
access issues people were facing. There were
getting inVol Ved with
about 20 people involved with the project.”
urban agriculture The first garden was about 3,000 square feet
in which the community volunteers built 20
In 2012 Chavis decided it was time to fully
4- by 6-foot raised beds.
commit to working on an urban agriculture
“I was able to get funding from different
project.
“The lease on my apartment in Richmond sources to support the project,” Chavis said.
was up and I needed to move so I made a “I was out in the garden every weekend
conscious effort to move into a neighborhood working with community members on
that had a vacant lot on the street,” he said. different production practices and how to
“This was around the time that Occupy Wall steward the garden.”
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Looking to expand his involvement with was a performance hall that featured black
urban ag further, Chavis began working entertainers like James Brown, Sam Cooke
with John Lewis, who had started a program and Aretha Franklin who weren’t able to
called Renew Richmond in 2009. Lewis perform at white venues.
is a certified prevention specialist/health “We removed the basketball floor and
education specialist with the Virginia Health installed vertical towers, aeroponic tables,
Department, Division of Adolescent Health. an aquaponics system and an ebb-and-flow
“We started working together on an urban system. We set up lighting rigs to hang lights
farm,” Chavis said. “John had about an acre of from. We installed solar panels on the roof
land in the middle of city. We have expanded to power the lights inside the facility. We
so that we now have a total of six urban ag are installing modular climate control units
sites, an urban farm which includes high for the different types of growing systems to
tunnels, two school gardens and community control the light intensity, temperature and
gardens.” humidity. There is also a kitchen that we
The produce grown on the urban farm is sold are renovating to turn into a culinary arts
to local grocery stores, restaurants and to classroom.”
people in the community. Chavis said some Richmond high school
“We have a modified version of community students are involved with a six-week program
supported agriculture,” Chavis said. “We offer called Growing Up, which teaches students
delivery of veggie boxes to those people who about culinary arts and urban agriculture.
cannot go to the pop-up farmers markets. All He said once the urban ag center’s kitchen is
of the community gardens and farm are in finished, high school students in Petersburg
the Richmond city limits.” will have an opportunity to participate in the
program. Students who graduate from the
program will then become mentors for the
next incoming class.
“On the second floor of the ag center are
conVerting a ymca
rooms where we are planning to teach
into an indoor farm
health and fitness classes,” Chavis said. “We
Because of the urban ag projects Chavis will also be teaching urban agriculture and
was doing in Richmond, he attracted the entrepreneurship.
attention of Virginia State University and “Another piece of equipment we have
extension specialist Dr. Marcus Comer, who installed is a 10- by 12-foot walk-in cooler.
was working on an indoor farm project in We are not only running an indoor farm, but
Petersburg. we have become an aggregator of produce.
“I talked to him about my philosophy on Local farmers bring in their fresh produce for
entrepreneurial urban ag and the impact sale and distribution. What we grow at our
it had on the economy of the low income urban farm in Richmond, which is about 30
community,” Chavis said. “We started miles away, is brought to Petersburg and then
working on this indoor farm in 2014.” is shipped out to wherever it needs to go.”
The Harding St. Urban Agriculture Center is Outside of the urban ag center is a micro-
a former YMCA recreational center located farm consisting of 4,000-5,000 square feet of
in a residential neighborhood. raised beds along with an orchard with about
“The building is around 100 years old,” 32 trees on another vacant lot.
Chavis said. “Prior to becoming a YMCA, it “What we can’t grow in the indoor farm in
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