Nour El-Naboulsi, an innovative farmer in Burlington, Vermont, grows tons of fresh produce all winter without using any soil or sunlight, according to Vermont Public Radio.
How is that possible, you ask? With hydroponics, a well-proven technique for growing plants indoors using nutrient-rich water and specific climate controls.
That might sound like something only a fancy laboratory can pull off, but El-Naboulsi built a fully operational growing space inside a retrofitted shipping container.
The project, Village Hydroponics, provides healthy vegetables to the local community free of charge. So far, the vertical indoor farm has produced a variety of greens, including lettuce, Swiss chard, bok choy, cilantro, thyme, kale, and collard greens, VPR reported.
El-Naboulsi also prioritizes growing culturally specific foods, such as molokhia, a type of spinach central to his Palestinian heritage. The team tailors what it harvests for local Nepali, Somali, Iraqi, Congolese, and Burundian families, VPR explained.
Winters in Vermont are long and cold. It's tough for farmers to grow vegetables all year round, and adjusting to the region can be difficult for new Americans. Village Hydroponics aims to close each of those gaps by growing fresh produce during the dead of winter and choosing foods that immigrant families may wish they could find at the grocery store.
"I see how interconnected food and agriculture is towards community empowerment," El-Naboulsi told VPR.
"On the surface, it looks like we're just giving away free veggies," he added. "But we are bringing our community members into a solidarity fold."
Not to mention, growing food this way has a serious leg up on shipping vegetables from far away during the cold season.
The transportation burden of importing produce only adds planet-heating pollution to the atmosphere, whereas an operation like Village Hydroponics can stay local and keep environmental impacts low. Plus, the repainted container that the project is based in runs on clean energy and uses 90% less water than a typical farm, per VPR.
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Not enough time ⏳ In general, embracing a plant-based diet is a more eco-conscious way to eat. As extreme weather threatens crop yields around the world, resilient efforts like Village Hydroponics are showing what's possible with alternative farming.
The team is also documenting everything from construction blueprints to crop plans in hopes that they can lead the way for others as they fine-tune the project, according to the group's Instagram.
Turning the old shipping container into a beautiful pantry bursting with leafy greens is not El-Naboulsi's first time making a difference in the area. He is also involved with The People's Farmstand, a mutual aid project that connects local farmers to share extra produce and feed under-resourced communities.
"Food is a right for people. Nobody should be hungry," Village Hydroponics intern Jillian Bluestein told WCAX3 News.
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