It may not look like it, but there is a hydroponic farm within this container! We imagine you have many questions about this mysterious box sitting here. To help we have compiled a list of some questions to assist you.

The project involves using a hydroponic container farm on Governor's Island where the team is making a collaborative effort to grow crops and build relationships within the community.

This project is not only about providing fresh produce to New Yorkers, but also engaging the next generation with agriculture.

Students at Crivitz Middle School are getting their hands dirty in the science department, learning what it takes to grow their own food -- right inside their classroom.

Thanks to a grant from Provident Health Foundation, the science program received an indoor hydroponic system.

Students at Crivitz Middle School are getting their hands dirty in the science department, learning what it takes to grow their own food -- right inside their classroom. (WLUK)

"They get to see how their food is grown and they are involved in that process. Taking the food and giving it directly to cafeteria where the students see it on display," says science teacher Shane Graves.

Paul Karpawich, Program Director for Uplift NH, hosted a presentation and discussion about driving environmental education and problem-based learning in school curriculum across New Hampshire.

Paul shared his organization’s success in working with schools and students to launch and sustain food waste diversion and composting projects and offered networking space to replicate similar projects in your own school.

CENTRAL POINT Ore. - Crater High School utilizes a cutting-edge agricultural project that grows food in ways that challenge traditional farming practices and inspire students to think about sustainability in new ways.

The Freight Farm uses a vertical hydroponic method to cultivate crops like lettuce, basil and cilantro — all without soil.

The plants are nourished by nutrient-rich water, with no more than five gallons of water used per week.

The idea for the Freight Farm originated when agricultural science teachers Kristin Kostman and Jim Miller attended a national conference, where they discovered the concept.

“Our students are involved in every step, planting the seeds, monitoring growth, and harvesting the crops,” Kostman said. “It’s a hands-on, immersive experience that teaches them the possibilities of sustainable, urban farming.”

In addition to its ongoing work with schools, City Greens this year established a partnership with Gro iQ, a company that offers, in part, high-quality sensors that can accurately test hydroponic growth elements such as light, heat and carbon dioxide.

“The sensors that they have are significantly more comprehensive than what we’re already using,” says Levy. “We’re trying to figure out how to be as precise and accurate as possible with our growth cycles, and they’re helping us do that.”

Locally, City Greens has also donated a hydroponic container to the Beverly Hills Fire Department station on Rexford Drive, which uses some of the plants produced therein for their cooking. 

Having a container at the fire station is “a way for people to see the difference between locally grown hydroponic food versus non-hydroponic local food,” says Levy. 

Local organizations and groups supporting City Greens include the city of Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Education Foundation, We Benefit Children, Beverly Hills Rotary Club and the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles. 

Students at Carter G. Woodson Academy in Lexington show off their lettuce crop. Courtesy of Future Farmers of America Association Agriculture students at the Carter G. Woodson Academy in Lexington have an uncommon opportunity: to grow food that’s served in the school cafeteria and eaten by classmates.

The food — lettuce, mainly — comes from the school’s hydroponic container, part of a program run since 2019 by agriculture teacher Jacob Ball.

It gives students involved in the agricultural program at the academy — an all-male school for students grades six through 12 that offers a rigorous curriculum through the lens of Black history — the opportunity to learn alternatives ways of farming outside of a traditional field.

Near the entrance of a 40-foot container farm installed at New Mexico State University’s Grants campus, dozens of 4-day-old kale plants lined a horizontal nursery bed, sprouting at various lengths in shades of electric green from miniature patches of densely packed soil.

Further inside, instructor Gabriel Garcia flipped a switch. Instantly, red and blue LED lights engulfed the space, illuminating the intricate vertical farming system in a shocking pink glow.

“The lights mimic the sun,” Garcia explained on a July afternoon. “This is where we’ll move the kale when their root structures develop, and they’ll stay here until they reach maturity.”

It’s a farm inside a kitchen.

Carl Lasley harvested basil plants, using scissors to carefully snip the aromatic herb, trimming some and completely harvesting others. The lush, richly green plants were grown in hydroponic trays in a corner of the food serving area at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

Lasley, food and beverage director at the Darden School for the FLIK Hospitality Group, which operates Darden Dining, harvested the basil from an idea that sprouted at the University and has now returned as a realized product. 

Near the entrance of a 40-foot container farm installed at New Mexico State University’s Grants campus, dozens of 4-day-old kale plants lined a horizontal nursery bed, sprouting at various lengths in shades of electric green from miniature patches of densely packed soil.

Further inside, instructor Gabriel Garcia flipped a switch. Instantly, red and blue LED lights engulfed the space, illuminating the intricate vertical farming system in a shocking pink glow.

“The lights mimic the sun,” Garcia explained on a July afternoon. “This is where we’ll move the kale when their root structures develop, and they’ll stay here until they reach maturity.”

The container farm was one of the first projects shepherded by NMSU’s Center of Excellence in Sustainable Food and Agricultural Systems, housed in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.

The Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture (HLA) bids a fond farewell to Brittany Weerts, who is concluding her tenure as Hydroponic Research Operations Administrator. Throughout her time at Purdue, Weerts has played a pivotal role in advancing the department’s controlled environment agriculture capabilities.

Petrus Langenhoven, Director of the Purdue Student Farm, reflects on Weerts’ remarkable contribution: “When I learned that a Controlled Environment Ag Facility was coming to the Purdue Student Farm, I knew we had to find someone experienced, self-driven, enthusiastic, passionate, and dedicated to managing the container farms and helping educate the next generation of growers. We were very fortunate to get Brittany Weerts to take on the role.”

Today, we salute Navy Veteran Brad Fourby. Brad had a dream and moved nearly 2000 miles away from Sacramento to Pittsburg, Kansas, to make the dream come true. 

That dream is “Leafy Green Farms.” Using his military training helped keep Brad methodical in his approach to his dream, saying, “I knew I didn’t need to win the war today; I just needed to survive the battle.”

He planted his first seed on July 4, 2021. What he created inside a shipping container was vertical rows of produce in a hydroponic growing environment that now serves area food deserts as well as 10 different farm classrooms and school districts to inspire future farmers.

According to a staff member from the organizer of the competition, 90 percent of the young participants expressed their intention to pursue a career in agriculture in the future.

Li Shenghui, (a pseudonym), hailing from a rural background, had never dabbled in farming nor shown any inclination towards growing vegetables. Yet, drawing inspiration from his parents' toil in the fields nurturing crops like corn, tomatoes, and leafy greens, he crafted algorithms and applied them to grow lettuce in a shipping container. His dream is to bring this innovative technology back to his hometown, with the aim of benefiting the local community.

Yang Hao, a doctoral student at China Agricultural University, shared his joy and pride in planting lettuce for the first time. Yang, with a diverse academic background, has been deeply involved in lettuce cultivation for eight years.

La Salle Bajío University launched a vertical hydroponic farm in collaboration with Verde Compacto to foster education in sustainable agriculture.

The Huvster container farm, a 30-square-meter space, can produce 200 times more vegetables per square meter than traditional farming with 90% less water.

The facility will serve as a research and education center for students, providing hands-on experience with sustainable agriculture technologies.

The farm produces around 100 lb of fresh vegetables weekly, supporting the university and local farm-to-table initiatives.

Lander, Wyo. — Central Wyoming College’s Freight Farm arrived yesterday at the Lander Center.  The 40-foot shipping container is a fully automated hydroponic, year-round growing system, and is capable of producing two to four acres of produce a year. 

“This will enhance the Central Wyoming College student experience,” says Ethan Page, Instructor of Local Food and Agriculture. “We will now be able to eliminate seasonal and logistical barriers and grow food at the Lander Center 365 days a year.  We operate a student farm and a farm incubator program at the Alpine Science Institute in Sinks Canyon  We will now be able to offer fresh veggies at local farmers’ markets throughout the year.”

Pittsburg High School is on a mission to get its students to be more health-conscious about their meal choices.

The idea is so important that they decided to have a hydroponic container farm on school grounds.

A Freight Farm is not your traditional farm; it's a cutting-edge, self-contained ecosystem housed within a repurposed shipping container. Inside these compact and versatile structures, we harness the power of hydroponics and vertical farming to grow fresh, nutritious produce year-round, regardless of climate or location. From leafy greens and herbs to fruits and vegetables, Freight Farms empowers individuals, communities, and businesses to cultivate a sustainable future while minimizing environmental impact.

Down a narrow path in the middle of Governors Island sits an 8-foot-by-40-foot shipping container on the grass. Inside, you won’t find cargo that belongs in a retail warehouse or cars fresh from the factory. Nope, this container holds something potentially far more valuable: The future of urban farming.

Step inside and you’ll find a series of parallel movable walls—almost as if they’re hung on curtain rods—with columns of floor-to-ceiling sponges. Tucked into the sponges are shoots of kale sprouting every few inches.

“This is part of our commitment to creating the clean energy future,” says Bill Fairechio, a department manager in Con Edison’s Research and Development department.

Hydroponically grown plants are lining the shelves at Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry, thanks to a new partnership between the food pantry and a Castine-based nonprofit hydroponic farm called the Good Table Foundation.

Hydroponic plants are grown without soil. At the Good Table Foundation, they are grown in a 40-foot shipping container on a rotational basis, so the produce can be harvested and delivered to Loaves and Fishes each week throughout the year.

In this insightful webinar, learn how Morgan Hill Unified School District (MHUSD) is revolutionizing its agriculture program by integrating two Freight Farms into its curriculum.

Led by Freight Farms' Event Manager and MHUSD's Director of Student Nutrition & Records Retention, along with their Lead Farmer, discover how these vertical hydroponic farms are enhancing hands-on learning, providing fresh, year-round produce, and teaching students practical skills that connect them to food, sustainability, and the future of farming.

Step inside the world of sustainable agriculture and explore Hammock Greens' innovative, eco-friendly, hyperlocal farm nestled in the heart of Overtown—one of the University of Miami's providers of fresh greens for its dining halls.