#CALGARY

[senju]

17th ave sw, calgary

[reasonsforhope]

"In some cities, as many as one in four office spaces are vacant. Some start-ups are giving them a second life – as indoor farms growing crops as varied as kale, cucumber and herbs.

Since its 1967 construction, Canada's "Calgary Tower", a 190m (623ft) concrete-and-steel observation tower in Calgary, Alberta, has been home to an observation deck, panoramic restaurants and souvenir shops. Last year, it welcomed a different kind of business: a fully functioning indoor farm.

Sprawling across 6,000sq m (65,000 sq ft), the farm, which produces dozens of crops including strawberries, kale and cucumber, is a striking example of the search for city-grown food. But it's hardly alone. From Japan to Singapore to Dubai, vertical indoor farms – where crops can be grown in climate-controlled environments with hydroponics, aquaponics or aeroponics techniques – have been popping up around the world.

While indoor farming had been on the rise for years, a watershed moment came during the Covid-19 pandemic, when disruptions to the food supply chain underscored the need for local solutions. In 2021, $6bn (£4.8bn) in vertical farming deals were registered globally – the peak year for vertical farming investment. As the global economy entered its post-pandemic phase, some high-profile startups like Fifth Season went out of business, and others including Planted Detroit and AeroFarms running into a period of financial difficulty. Some commentators questioned whether a "vertical farming bubble" had popped.

But a new, post-pandemic trend may give the sector a boost. In countries including Canada and Australia, landlords are struggling to fill vacant office spaces as companies embrace remote and hybrid work. In the US, the office vacancy rate is more than 20%.

"Vertical farms may prove to be a cost-effective way to fill in vacant office buildings," says Warren Seay, Jr, a real estate finance partner in the Washington DC offices of US law firm ArentFox Schiff, who authored an article on urban farm reconversions. 

There are other reasons for the interest in urban farms, too. Though supply chains have largely recovered post-Covid-19, other global shocks, including climate change, geopolitical turmoil and farmers' strikes, mean that they continue to be vulnerable – driving more cities to look for local food production options...

Thanks to artificial light and controlled temperatures, offices are proving surprisingly good environments for indoor agriculture, spurring some companies to convert part of their facilities into small farms. Since 2022, Australia's start-up Greenspace has worked with clients like Deloitte and Commonwealth Bank to turn "dead zones", like the space between lifts and meeting rooms, into 2m (6ft) tall hydroponic cabinets growing leafy greens.

On top of being adaptable to indoor farm operations, vacant office buildings offer the advantage of proximity to final consumers.

In a former paper storage warehouse in Arlington, about a mile outside of Washington DC, Jacqueline Potter and the team at Area 2 Farms are growing over 180 organic varieties of lettuce, greens, root vegetables, herbs and micro-greens. By serving consumers 10 miles away or less, the company has driven down transport costs and associated greenhouse emissions.

This also frees the team up to grow other types of food that can be hard to find elsewhere – such as edible flower species like buzz buttons and nasturtium. "Most crops are now selected to be grown because of their ability to withstand a 1,500-mile journey," Potter says, referring to the average distance covered by crops in the US before reaching customers. "In our farm, we can select crops for other properties like their nutritional value or taste."

Overall, vertical farms have the potential to outperform regular farms on several environmental sustainability metrics like water usage, says Evan Fraser, professor of geography at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada and the director of the Arell Food Institute, a research centre on sustainable food production. Most indoor farms report using a tiny fraction of the water that outdoor farms use. Indoor farms also report greater output per square mile than regular farms.

Energy use, however, is the "Achilles heel" of this sector, says Fraser: vertical farms need a lot of electricity to run lighting and ventilation systems, smart sensors and automated harvesting technologies. But if energy is sourced from renewable sources, they can outperform regular farms on this metric too, he says. 

Because of variations in operational setup, it is hard to make a general assessment of the environmental, social and economic sustainability of indoor farms, says Jiangxiao Qiu, a landscape ecologist at the University of Florida and author of a study on urban agriculture's role in sustainability. Still, he agrees with Fraser: in general, urban indoor farms have higher crop yield per square foot, greater water and nutrient-use efficiency, better resistance to pests and shorter distance to market. Downsides include high energy use due to lighting, ventilation and air conditioning.

They face other challenges, too. As Seay notes, zoning laws often do not allow for agricultural activity within urban areas (although some cities like Arlington, Virginia, and Cincinnati, Ohio, have recently updated zoning to allow indoor farms). And, for now, indoor farms have limited crop range. It is hard to produce staple crops like wheat, corn or rice indoors, says Fraser. Aside from leafy greens, most indoor facilities cannot yet produce other types of crops at scale.

But as long as the post-pandemic trends of remote work and corporate downsizing will last, indoor farms may keep popping up in cities around the world, Seay says. 

"One thing cities dislike more than anything is unused spaces that don't drive economic growth," he says. "If indoor farm conversions in cities like Arlington prove successful, others may follow suit.""

-via BBC, January 27, 2025

[brutalistinteriors]

Former Mount Royal University library, Calgary. Joel Barrett.

First photo (and this gif I felt needed to be made for no particular reason) from MRU Library Past and Future.

[yesterdaysprint]

Calgary Herald, Alberta, March 3, 1936

[thedonofgray]

Photography photos

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Calgarians gathered in the Beltline on Saturday to protest high grocery prices and call for more stringent regulations on Canada's major grocery chains. Rally goers held up signs as they marched down 17 Avenue S.W. that read "Stop the grocery gouge!" and "It is a privilege to be wealthy. It is a right to be fed." The demonstration comes in the wake of a $500 million antitrust class action settlement paid by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. for their involvement in a bread price-fixing scheme. Maggy Wlodarczyk, chair of the Calgary chapter of the Alberta Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), who organized the rally, says people are sick and tired of paying high prices for food while grocery chains rake in massive profits.

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland @abpoli

[filmap]

Come True Anthony Scott Burns. 2020

Sleep Study 111 89 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H5, Canada See in map

See in imdb

[dvrknessabides]

Mammatus Clouds over Calgary shot on film, 2024

[faithvarvara-art]

Was super fun working on this big utility box project for the Summerset Bridlewood community in Calgary. When I was younger I used to go to use the train station here almost every day to go to school so years later getting to come back and create piece to go in this space is truly an honour! 💕

[felidaefatigue]

Eyo tumblr users from Alberta, Canada-

Do u also experience unbridled rage when you see or hear our premier speak?

Do u wanna commemorate that rage with a 5x7" print hand gilded by me? With proceeds going to local mutual aid groups?

Do u wanna bait visitors into thinking ur an athlete or something who won a ribbon but PSYCH now they have to listen to 30 minutes of ranting about all the buckwild things that woman has said and done?

Do u just want bragging rights that ur Danielle Smith's #1, number one hater? or maybe in her top 5 #1 haters?

Well if you have at least 5$ u can come bid on the first 20 of 25 prints out of the edition here (its running from Apr 7-May 31)

You can also come to the PRFMYYC on the 31st and just outright buy the 21-25th prints of the edition (I can only host 20 items on the site) at my booth.

Donations are also open.

[oldshowbiz]

"Rollerskate for Rollerfun at Rollerland Rollerink"

[yuri-alexseygaybitch]

Calgary pigs making their IOF colleagues proud and beating up kids today

[pangeen]

" Let’s grow together " // © Paul Park

[northameicanblog]

Little Lougheed, Kananaskis Country, Canada: Little Lougheed, a 2483 meter high mountain in the Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park (Kananaskis Country) is a short and steep climb. Named after a former Albertan Premier, this peak offers an incredible view of the Spray Lakes Reservoir and Mount Lougheed. ... Kananaskis Country is a multi-use area west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. Wikipedia

[paddysnuffles]

‘Convicted Felon’ poster of Donald Trump seen on Calgary bus shelter

I'm wheezing. Send help.

[fragmented-lullabies]

Found in Calgary, AB