Urban farm campus being created through partnershipUrban farm campus being created through partnership

A new partnership between  Square Roots, a technology leader in urban indoor farming, and Gordon Food Service, one of North America’s leading food service providers, is creating an urban farm campus. It will be constructed on the site of Gordon Food Service’s headquarters in Wyoming, Mich.

The partners’ flagship farm campus plan includes 10 specially designed Square Roots shipping containers in direct production, with four additional containers providing operational support.

The containers will occupy less than 2 acres of Gordon Food Service’s 50-acre site but are projected to produce more than 50,000 pounds of herbs annually.

Square Roots will recruit and hire a class of new farmers to participate in its unique, yearlong Next-Gen Farmer Training Program at the new farm campus. The recruitment process will start in early summer, and the program will begin in the fall.

Interested applicants can find out more about the program on the Square Roots website and sign up for early access to applications.

Rich Wolowski, North American president and CEO of Gordon Food Service, says, “This partnership brings together technology, agriculture, young farmers and scalability in a model that could revolutionize our food systems. And it’s wonderful to be starting in our own backyard.”

The herbs and greens produced are non-GMO and pesticide-free and will be available for purchase by both commercial chefs and consumers shopping at Gordon Food Service’s area retail stores.

Construction and installation of the first container farm campus is expected to be completed by the fall, with growing operations beginning immediately. It will serve as a template for future farms, with plans to develop additional farms at or near the partners’ U.S. and Canadian distribution centers.

“Our community is proud to be home to an international business leader like Gordon Food Service and to support new, game-changing innovations in fresh, local food production and distribution,” says Jack Poll, Wyoming mayor.

Tobias Peggs, co-founder and CEO of Square Roots, says, “This partnership means we will grow delicious, local, real food at huge scale. We’re so happy to be working with a mission-aligned partner in Gordon Food Service  — leveraging technology to bring real food to a huge number of people across the country, while delivering real social impact by empowering thousands of young people to become our country’s future farmers.”

Source: Square Roots, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.