THE FARMERY: TRIANGLE START UP HOPES TO INTEGRATE AGRICULTURE AND RETAIL

Local food doesn’t get more local than this.

Raleigh resident Ben Greene is working on The Farmery, an urban farming concept utilizing shipping containers and a greenhouse space to grow fresh, local produce including herbs, vegetables and gourmet mushrooms. The produce is grown aquaponically – meaning a hydroponic grow system is fed with water from aquaculture (fish farming) – which in turn filters out the nutrients from the water so it can be returned to the fish.

Theis is by no means the first urban vertical farm concept out there.

What makes the Farmery a little different to most high tech aquaponic farm concepts, however, is that the grow space will also double up as a retail environment – allowing customers to walk in and harvest their own food right where it is grown.

The Farmery does not yet have a permanent location, but the word is the plan is to be opening one in the very near future. Then, says Greene, the plan is to take the concept to every city in America.

Whether The Farmery will be able to compete with the traditional agriculture and retail models will only be known once it starts selling its wares. But  Greene has already taken the idea further than many of his peers – developing a working prototype and selling at local Farmers’ markets.

Watch this space.

The Farmery from Ben Greene on Vimeo.