Hydroponics Going Mainstream?
According to the IKEA website, the popular furniture and home accessories retailer will be introducing an indoor gardening product series that will allow customers to grow their own lettuce and herbs in water.
Of course, these at-home hydroponics systems are nothing new to the market, but I’ve only really seen them at specialty or hobbyist stores. IKEA, though … that’s like the mecca for Millennials and new homeowners looking to enhance their living spaces.
The hydroponic kit was developed in collaboration with agricultural scientists in Sweden and claims to include everything needed to start growing greens conveniently at home.
“The challenge was to make growing plants in a hydroponic system simple, so that anyone could succeed,” said Helena Karlén of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
I look forward to seeing how successful this new home-growing system is at retail and will certainly keep you posted. But what does this new product mean for you? Well, your IKEA-loving end consumers may educate themselves more on hydroponic growing. And although they may give it a try themselves, they may seek out hydroponically grown products when shopping for other produce. We’ll have to wait and see…
The First Vegan, Hydroponic, Vertical Farm
Metropolis Farms, located in Philadelphia, is gaining a great amount of attention not only because it is the first hydroponic vertical farm in the city but also the first vegan-certified farm in the nation. The operation boasts no pesticides, herbicides, animal manure or animal bi-products, with certification from the American Vegetarian Association. Their efforts don’t end there, though; they hope to convert to solar energy in the future.
UI Students Growing Hydroponic Lettuce
What started out as a sustainability business contest at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business has now become food on the plates of university students. A team of five students entered the contest back in November 2015, and began growing hydroponic lettuce in PVC pipes in February. After the lettuce is fully grown, they give it to the university dining halls to use. Grant Gregory, the senior in charge of the project, said, “We’re ultimately trying to find an equation that will optimize production of this system, especially in urban environments.”
Nelson and Pade Receives Organic Certification
Nelson and Pade Inc. recently announces it is the first Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) aquaponics producer. CNG is a non-profit organization offering peer-review certification to farmers and beekeepers throughout the United States. CNG recently announced a new certification program for aquaponics producers, and Nelson and Pade was the first to apply and be certified in the new program. “Aquaponics is an emerging approach to sustainable farming that’s particularly well-suited to navigating the challenges of food production in the 21st century,” said Alice Varon, executive director of CNG.
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