Year-round healthy food production is happening at Central Lakes College, thanks to a community collaboration. Even when the temperature inevitably drops to below zero during the winter, kale, lettuce and other leafy greens will continue growing in the ‘Sota Grown indoor food production container at the Ag & Energy Research Center at CLC’s Staples campus, feeding those in need in the community.
“Today is an incredibly exciting day to see the research that this has now brought to our area,” CLC President Hara Charlier said during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the project Friday, Aug. 27. “And we’re honored to be the home of the pod that has been so lovingly cared for for this past year.”
‘Sota Grown is a project stemming from the Electric Power Research Institute, an international nonprofit that researches and evaluates how technology and energy come together in terms of generation, transmission, distribution, use and impact. The indoor food production container at CLC is one of 14 pods spread throughout the country.
“The work being done is being looked at throughout the U.S. — hopefully soon throughout the world,” Frank Sharp, principal technical leader at Electric Power Research Institute, said Friday. “… Those learnings that you all have are being shared, and then the learnings that we have in other locations are coming back here, and we have achieved that by growing the same product.”
Read the complete article at Brainerd Dispatch