In a Chicago suburb, an indoor farm goes 'mega'

In a Chicago suburb, an indoor farm goes 'mega'
In this photo provided by FarmedHere, a worker checks crops at the indoor vertical farm in Bedford Park, Ill. on Feb. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Heather Aitken)
BEDFORD PARK, Ill. (AP) - Farming in abandoned warehouses has become a hot trend in the Midwest - with varying degrees of success - as more entrepreneurs worldwide experiment with indoor growing systems in attempts to grow more food locally.


Here's a run-down on the trend, this farm - and the challenges it and other indoor farms face.

What are these farms like?


Elsewhere, growers are incorporating greenhouses and natural light into their models - sometimes on rooftops, or in large fields.

Though farmers are experimenting with all kinds of crops, most have had success growing greens - herbs, various types of lettuce and "microgreens," edible plants, such as beets and sunflowers, which are harvested when they are young and used like sprouts in salads and sandwiches.


How is Farmedhere different?





One structure, where basil is grown, is "aquaponic." Water underneath the plants - which rest in cutouts in styrofoam "floats" - circulates through a system from the plants to two large tanks of fish. The other structure, where arugula is grown, is "aeroponic," with water misters underneath that spray the plants' exposed roots.


What's the routine like at Farmedhere?


After about a month, the crops - certified as "organic" by the USDA - are harvested and packaged by about a dozen workers in a cooling room at the facility. Early the morning after the harvests, workers use two vans to deliver those greens - mainly basil and arugula right now - to grocers in Chicago and suburbs, including Whole Foods and Mariano's Fresh Market locations.

CEO Jolanta Hardej calls it "on-demand farming."


What are the challenges?

The biggest stumbling block for facilities like these remains power - the amount of electricity to run the lights that help the plants grow. Heating these massive spaces also can be costly.







But Dickson Despommier, a retired Columbia University microbiologist who wrote the book "The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century," says powering farms is still the biggest hurdle for the industry - one that many farmers are often reluctant to talk about publicly.

