Forget farm to table. Homer Farms is completely ditching the farm and growing hundreds of crops indoors.
Known as vertical farming, these crops can grow with artificial light, water, and fertilizer. "The environment is 100% controlled, so we have to make sure everything is dialed in every day. Making sure the humidity is not too high, the temperature is good, that we got a circulation of air," said Chris Beben, operations manager at Homer Farms.
From butterhead lettuce, basil, rosemary, and mint, Homer Farms offers a wide variety of leafy greens. Co-founded by Zhihao Chen and Chad Geelhood, the ultimate goal is to find a more reliable and sustainable way to farm. "There are no pesticides used. No herbicides. We are not beholding to the weather at all, Geelhood said. Not only that, the farm also uses fertilizer made from organic waste. "We have a system set up on the ASU campus to process on-campus food waste from their dining hall, from their sports football games, and from some of their public events," Chen said.