New technology is changing where and how some crops are grown
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Richmond, Va.-based Babylon Micro-Farms Inc. started as a project at the University of Virginia in 2016 to find food solutions for refugee camps. But CEO and co-founder Alexander Olesen says they quickly saw an opportunity to make food more accessible for everyone by developing small-scale vertical farms that could be installed directly inside a food service space.
“Modular solutions represent a more accessible alternative to the big, utility-scale farms that are prominent today,” says Olesen. “Our farms can be built in or close to the point of consumption, allowing the food service operator to increase their self-reliance for a lot of their highly perishable and often very high-value ingredients.”