Shipping Container Transformed Into Indoor Farm That Feeds Immigrants For Free: 'Forefront of Innovative Agriculture'

Feb 10, 2025

Nour El-Naboulsi is a Burlington, Vermont farmer — but he doesn’t tend to a field of crops or a clearing of cattle.

As the executive director of Village Hydroponics, El-Naboulsi oversees the operations of a vertical hydroponic farm inside of a recycled shipping container.

El-Naboulsi (third from the left) and team members renovate the shipping container. Photo courtesy of Village Hydroponics

Village Hydroponics came out of the success of El-Naboulsi’s other project, a mutual aid food distribution collective called The People’s Farmstand. The initiative supplies fresh, culturally relevant food to underserved communities in the area, bringing together other local farmers to grow and share surplus produce in peak growing seasons.

But El-Naboulsi saw a gap in the availability of fresh produce — especially among New American communities — during Vermont’s harsh winters. He decided to shape up a shipping container for the job.

El-Naboulsi told Vermont Public Radio the project serves a diverse community of Nepali, Somali, Iraqi, Congolese, and Burundi families.

“We have a short growing season,” El-Naboulsi told VPR. “In talking to the families … talking about the difficulties they go through, having that lack of fresh produce, or having to make difficult decisions between increased utility costs or getting, like, a nice bunch of local greens in the winter — which is hard to come by for anybody — I kind of wanted this to be the next progression.”

Photo courtesy of Village Hydroponics

Not only does the shipping container model help feed more people — but it’s a smart and strategic way to farm in a changing climate.

Seedlings stay in the nursery section of the container for about three to five weeks before they are moved to individual pods. Water and nutrients come through the pipes and go to the back of the container to deliver vital nutrients to the plants. Then, the harvest happens right there, in the same indoor space.

“Food is a right for people. Nobody should be hungry. With that, while cultivating food we should be consistent of the impact that we are leaving on the environment,” Jillian Bluestein, an intern with Village Hydroponics, told WCAX3 News.

“The use of hydroponic farming could help many people in terms of farmers producing in the off-season to supplement income, as well as food supply in their community,” Bluestein added.

The goal is to harvest weekly, with Village Hydroponics growing greens like “baby lettuce mixes, Swiss chard, cilantro, bok choy, Nepali mustard greens, amaranth greens — also known as linga linga or palangi — thyme, head lettuce, collard greens, some kale,” per VPR.

As a Palestinian, El-Naboulsi said the importance of culturally significant produce cannot be understated. He and his team grow a plant called molokhia, a Palestinian spinach, which was a central part of his culture growing up — and to his resistance amid ongoing occupation in his homeland.

“Our society, unfortunately, can be really hostile and scary to refugees and immigrants and BIPOC community members, and it’s hard enough leaving your home and trying to acclimate to a new community, to a new society,” El-Naboulsi told VPR.

El-Naboulsi holds up two bushels of Nepali mustard greens. Photo courtesy of Village Hydroponics

“For these New American community members who maybe haven’t seen that produce since they’ve arrived in the U.S., I love to envision kind of us providing those veggies, them working with us to grow those veggies, and then them connecting with each other to share a meal that makes them feel more at home.”

While Village Hydroponics is just getting started, its creative model could become a blueprint for other similar endeavors. Additionally, container farming continues to grow across sectors, with companies like Freight Farms selling container models to a clientele composed of small businesses, schools, nonprofits, healthcare facilities, and even zoos.

“Village Hydroponics stands at the forefront of climate resilience, offering a robust response to climate-related disasters through its use of shipping containers for year-round produce growth,” the Village Hydroponics website states.

The approach requires less import power during Vermont winters, which reduces food miles and carbon emissions. Village Hydroponics also uses up to 90% less water than conventional agriculture and uses renewable energy sources to power its operations.

Photo courtesy of Freight Farms

The website continues, “Together, these strategies form a cohesive model for sustainable local food production, enhancing community resilience to climate change while promoting environmental stewardship.”

Ultimately, Village Hydroponics thrives at the intersections of climate justice, food security, and community organizing.

“I see how interconnected food and agriculture is towards community empowerment, El-Naboulsi told VPR.

“On the surface, it looks like we're just giving away free veggies,” he continued. “But we are bringing our community members into a solidarity fold, that we're trying to take down this system that we're working in.”

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Header images courtesy of Village Hydroponics/Instagram