Hydroponic mobile farms to let anyone grow vegetables in Hong Kong, slashing carbon footprints

Mobile farming trial is successful Technology is the latest brainchild of team of University of Hong Kong MBAs behind urban farm that supplies restaurants vegetables and herbs grown without soil

By Kate Whitehead
South China Morning Post
Aug 13, 2019

Excerpt:

Hong Kong imports an astounding 98.3 per cent of its vegetables, with 70 per cent of the imports coming from China and 28 per cent flown in from around the world. All the emissions involved in getting our greens into Hong Kong is a massive black mark in terms of sustainability – and it’s also bad for our health. As soon as produce is harvested, the roots stop supplying water to the leaves and stem and the plant starts leaking goodness, with much of the nutrition going as the plant’s water evaporates.

“University of California studies show that vegetables can lose 15 to 55 per cent of vitamin C within a week and some spinach can lose 90 per cent of vitamin C within the first 24 hours after harvest,” says Mak, one of five University of Hong Kong MBA graduates who teamed up to found Farmacy.

The beauty of a mobile farm is the ability to buy your greens with the roots still intact, take the produce home and cut it up and cook it while it’s still super fresh and packed with goodness.

Read the complete article here.