Freight Farms is a company that modifies shipping containers for the purpose of creating year-round agriculture in any environment. The company mission is to empower local food production through design and technology, enabling anyone to "grow food anywhere". Freight Farms has become the leader in modern agriculture and a pioneer of agtech.
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The company was founded by Jon Friedman and Brad McNamara after a successful Kickstarter campaign to build the prototype of what is now known as the Leafy Green Machine.
The Leafy Green Machine is a portable and modular farm that can be stacked and shipped like shipping containers.
A hydroponic system replaces soil with circulating water, efficiently delivering necessary nutrients to the plants.
Freight farms reveals a smaller farm in a box on the boston greenway
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Produce quality is not affected by weather. Growing conditions can be precisely controlled. Light is provided by LEDs, saving energy versus other lighting methods. Overall, Freight Farms claims that individual containers require 30,000 kWh of electricity annually to run. Factors such as water, air quality and temperature can be monitored and adjusted from a smartphone. By growing things locally they eliminate the cost of shipping food a long distance.
The containers have designated spaces for different stages of plant growth, including a seedling and germination area for 2,500 plants and 256 vertical towers for the growth of over 4,500 mature plants. Stacking containers make it possible to create high density and high yield farms. 2015 LGM models started at US$76,000.