Fresh From Montreal

It’s February in Montreal.  Snow covers the ground and 20+ cm more is predicted to fall today.  Temperatures are below zero and everyone is heavily bundled up.  It’s another winter in the North!  But even in these frigid temperatures, agriculture is booming in Montreal.  Indoor Agriculture- of course!

The Montreal area has a population of around 4 million people and most of its fresh produce is imported from Mexico and the US.  Due to the very short outdoor growing season of only 4-5 months, limited produce can be grown outdoors.  But farms are sprouting up in numerous parts of the city and I was lucky enough to visit 3 of these innovative CEA operations.

Lufa Farms

Lufa Farms is the pioneer of indoor farming in Montreal.  They built the world’s first commercial rooftop greenhouse in 2011, the Ahuntsic greenhouse.  That greenhouse is still active today and produces around 2,500 lbs of herbs, microgreens and eggplants each week.  In addition, Lufa also operates the world’s largest rooftop greenhouse, the Ville Saint-Laurent greenhouse, which is about 1.5 hectares in size.  In total Lufa operates 5 greenhouses and one indoor farm, totalling almost 5 hectares and producing more than 200,000 portions of veggies each week!  Besides being a world record holder, what makes Lufa really special is that they have created an entire local food ecosystem.  In addition to their veggie production, Lufa also sources from 400 local farmers and foodmakers to supply food to more than 30,000 individuals and families on a weekly basis.   In fact, there are more Lufa food pick up locations than McDonald’s in the greater Montreal area.  Lufa Farms is a true hero in the local food production scene and CEA industry.  Thanks for setting such a great example.

Two of the great farms that supply produce as part of the Lufa food ecosystem that I was lucky enough to visit are AquaVerti Farms and GUSH Farms. 

Aquaverti

AquaVerti is a great example of a vertical farm that has taken a very measured approach to growth.  While many VF’s in the US have tried to grow very large very quickly, AquaVerti has taken a slow and methodical approach, which has allowed them to become a successful, mature vertical farm.  After their pilot and then initial facility, they moved to the current facility which has a footprint of approximately 30,000 square feet.  Within that facility they produce almost 200 tons of greens per year and provide employment for 26 people.  AquaVerti focuses on lettuce, herbs and leafy greens production in their 7 vertical layers, including one of my favorite greens, purslane.  Purslane, which is very rich in omega 3’s, and grows all around the world, is amazing with chopped tomatoes and a sprinkle of olive oil and vinegar.  Besides purslane, founder Georges Aczam and his team grow more than 10 other types of herbs and leafy greens and supply local supermarkets in addition to Lufa.

GUSH Farms

While most vertical farms grow herbs and leafy greens, there is a new breed of VF’s that is focusing on strawberry production.  Because strawberries are very tender and deteriorate quickly when harvested ripe, they don’t travel well or have a long shelf life.  So, strawberries that come up from California, Florida or Mexico all the way to Montreal need to be picked before they are ready so they aren’t spoiled on their arrival several days later.  GUSH Farms completely avoids this problem by growing magnificent strawberries, harvesting them at the optimal point of ripeness and getting them to consumers within 24 hours.  GUSH is located in a non-descript industrial building and produces 14 tons of magnificent tasting strawberries each year.  While this is currently only a drop in the bucket compared to what Canada imports, GUSH founder Ophelia Sarakinis informed us that they will be scaling their operation soon and that in addition to them, there are other indoor strawberry operations in the Montreal area. 

TensoAI

Throughout all of these visits, I was lucky enough to be accompanied by Ramen Dutta of TensoAI.  TensoAI does great work with predictive modeling for yields and crop quality.  Agritecture and Tenso were lucky enough to partner on a project several years ago in the Czech Republic and after years of zoom calls, Ramen and I were finally able to meet in person.  Thanks Ramen and all the Montreal Farms for a great visit.