A start-up company in Los Angeles called Local Roots refits shipping containers and turns them into farms. The containers have the equivalent of five acres of farmland and use only 1% of the water that would be used on farmland the same size.

'TerraFarms' Leases to Restaurants and SpaceX

The company leases its 'TerraFarms' to restaurant chains, wholesalers, and SpaceX and also the United Nations wishes to test them out.

Eric Ellestad is the Chief Executive Officer and he wishes to raise $11 million for Local Roots. He stands by the pure taste of the vegetables that are grown in the containers and said that they do not even need salad dressing.

The TerraFarm hydroponics only needs twenty-five gallons of water each day. The crops are nurtured with LED grow lights and are said to include baby kale, butterhead lettuce, Italian basil, and arugula that has a kick similar to wasabi. In order to get the maximum from water efficiency and recirculation, sensors are used to track airflow and water temperature. Hundreds of sensors feed data to the staff at Terrafarms, and they are tweaked in real time.

4,000 Heads of Lettuce Every 10 to 12 Days

Every 10 to 12 days the TerraFarm produces four thousand heads of lettuce. The lettuce grows from seed to maturity in only 30 days while farming them outdoors takes as long as 60 days.

Local Roots purchases the containers from the Port of Los Angeles, pay around $5,000 per container and then refits them. They own farms along with contracts for clients. Customers place container farms at their distribution centers and are able to cut days and weeks from the time it takes for the products to travel.

Local Roots call themselves farmers of the future and claim they are the key to a future that is more sustainable and eliminated the risks of supply chains while undoing commoditization of the food industry.

Local Roots Farms Shipping Container