Fresh Off the Press: Urban Farm Lands in the Bay Area

I've been reading about vertical farming for the past few years and have always found it fascinating on how you can grow crops inside a high rise building. A few weeks ago, I got a chance to visit a less than year old urban farm, Local Greens, in Berkeley. Although they are not in a high rise building (the farm is built inside a warehouse) nor have the rotating crops that I envisioned (they produce micro greens on racks and basil on a specialized wall), I was so excited to see and discover how an urban farm actually helps our environment.

L-R: Basil, Baby Kale

True to their tagline, Local Greens produce are pure, fresh and local:

Certified non-GMO organic seeds.
Truly local - grown within 20 miles of all our customers.
Grown in only pure water, with 100% vegan nutrients. No soil or pesticides used.
Using only 1% of the water and 2% of the land of an average farm.

I got a crash course on the business of selling basil and saw for the first time what a 10-day-old broccoli, kale and sunflower look like and the largest, flavorful basil ever!