The Future of Urban Farming in Trenton
Mirelle Santos, Lexi Perreault, Cristhofer Moreira, Michael Oudenne
December 17, 2018
Food security is undoubtedly an important issue for the Trenton community. A push for healthier food sources can be seen through fine Trenton establishments, like Capital City Farms. However, there may be room for new techniques to evolve urban farming in the community. Successful methods such as vertical farms and aquaponics are blossoming all over the country - it might be time for them to blossom in Trenton, too.
What's working right now?
A survey conducted by Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Science's own Laura Lawson and Luke Drake concluded that community gardening has take a diverse and complex path all across the United States. According to their sample size, the gardens have proved to increase community empowerment and engagement. New Jersey has been exemplifying this through programs like the Gardening Movement in New Brunswick, East Orange YMCA community garden, and Greenwood Ave. Farmer's Market. Amidst this statewide initiative to provide communities access to a greener and healthier environment are Trenton's own establishments.
Isles is an organization that cultivates self-reliant families and green and healthy living through education and training. Their efforts can be seen through their work with school and youth programs and community gardening. Visit their urban agriculture page for updates on events happening near you.
Capital City Farm is a 2-acre farm, yielding over 1,000 pounds of fresh and healthy food for the Trenton community. They have partnered up with organizations throughout Trenton, which serve the public, such as the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen. In addition to increasing food security through distribution of their farm products, they have helped transform the landscape of Trenton, as shown below in the inspirational juxtaposition.
The Sustainability Institute at The College of New Jersey has also increased awareness on sustainability development, which may lead to more food insecurity solution in Trenton. In their 2018 State of the State Report, they stated that there has been inadequate progress towards their goal for "economically viable and... sustainable livelihood" through agriculture. Farming has not been "strengthened by enhancing quality of life for farmers, improving working conditions and wages, and providing access to farmland at a reasonable cost." It also states that sustainable farming provides "some little food security." These statistics seem to contradict all of the great work of farms and programs all over New Jersey, which seek to increase food security. Are newer techniques necessary to change this statistic?
Let's consider the two techniques of vertical farming and aquaponics.
Vertical Farming
Watch this short video about a vertical farm in Newark, NJ
One of the alternatives to food insecurity in impoverished communities, like the ones found in Trenton from a lack of action for aid from the federal government, can potentially be vertical farming. A considerable plan that is creating a vertical farm within a huge 70,000-square-foot steel mill with the help of lawmakers who would like to invest in using plots of land left as industrial remains of the city. According to Aerofarms, an urban farming proponent company, if started, this new farm will be located less than half a mile from an existing farm but is intended to output larger volume of crops. “The farm will work by stacking racks of crops up to 80 foot high inside the space,” AeroFarms expects that this will allow them to produce 2 million pounds of greens each year if passed in Trenton, but this is only a plan that is compared to what they are starting in Newark, New Jersey. The yields increase and company farmers will have a better way of having control over management and the environment in which the plants are grown. By using an automated technique of low power LED lights, they can tailor growieng techniques to improve taste and texture. The pesticide-free system can help produce around 75 times as much produce as an equivalent sized field farm. Some initial crops which the company feels would help get cities like Trenton started are kale, mizuna, arugula (rocket), and watercress. These crops receive their nutrients not from soil but from an aeroponic mist that is sprayed directly onto the greens while they sit on a reusable cloth sheet created from recycled plastics. This cutting edge system is set to use 40% less water than traditional hydroponic systems and 95% less than field farming.Aquaponics
Watch this short video about a vertical farm in Newark, NJ
Due to the poor soil conditions in the Trenton area, nutrients are not abundant an water will be contaminated if used in the soil. Furthermore, space is limited in the a city like Trenton, so a traditional farm is not viable. A solution to these issues is hydroponics, which is an all indoors system of growing crops. Hydroponics uses approximately 93% less water than traditional farming systems and can grow over 30 ties the amount of produce per square foot. Unfortunately, hydroponics utilize a nonrenewable salt which, over time, builds up in the system’s water. This build up must then be flushed before plants can be grown again. Paul Nickerson, a Biotech Engineer for INTAG, created and patented his own system which uses fish waste as fertilizer. Using an aerobic bioreactor that can break down agriculture waste streams into nutrients to be used to drive hydroponic systems. Paul’s company is focusing on converting hydroponic systems to bioponic systems which typically incorporate fish waste as the nutrient source for the plants, more commonly known as aquaponics. The company has had huge successes in this field and over the past six years has deployed over 60 aquaonic and bioponic systems around the world. The aquaponics systems have been used in over 25 third world and developing nations where the land is depleted of nutrients and water is scarce.Hover over the picture to understand the main benefits of the two farming techniques.
Could Vertical Farming and Aquaponics be the Future of Trenton's Urban Agriculture?
Marissa Davis from NJ Partnership for Healthy Kids emphasized the severity of food insecurity in Trenton. She stated that "1 out of 4 families report they don’t know where their next meal is coming from." As a result, families are hungry, which means children are hungry. This affects how they learn and grow and behave. If they do eat, the only food their families can afford are unhealthy. Davis' organization does its part through their food pantries, farmer's markets, and healthy school lunch programs. They, in conjunction with Trenton's Capital City Farm and Isles, are emphasizing education and promotion of health. However, more must be done to decrease the amount of families left in the dark about where they will get their next meals. Vertical farming and aquaponics have great potential to increase food security in the Trenton community as more resources to families for healthy and accessible food.
Lauren Skowronski, the Program Director for Community Engagement believes that these "innovative farming techniques" can bring farming to areas that traditionally would not be able to have farms; they are "space-saving" and "practical." However, like Davis mentioned, Skowronski also believes that education and promotion are priority. Families need to be aware of the resources and possibilities that are available to them. She suggested partnering up with trusted community organizations, like "churches or other faith based institutions, civic or neighborhood associations, or schools." This would help spread a positive and more trustworthy outlook on the two new farming methods.
Like all projects that attempt to reach out to a large group of people, there are limitations. Through fieldwork experience, Skowronski states that the biggest barrier in the Trenton community is distrust, especially from outsiders. For this reason, it is imperative to make sure to contact community organizations to help make these farming methods a reality in the Trenton community.
The Bottom Line
Vertical Farming and Aquaponics could be the future of urban farming in Trenton if there is enough trust in the community. Once trust is established, then the next step would be education and promotion targeted to the families. Change must occur from within the community to create food security that will last a lifetime.
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