how we're using freight farms to fuel our mission
Since 2021, we have owned and operated three Freight Farms Greeneries at our Clubhouse locations and at Camp Riverside. As a critical community investment, our Greeneries provide both innovative solutions to the modern challenge of localized food insecurity and hands-on STEM education experiences for youth.
YEAR-ROUND PRODUCTION
Our Freight Farms are capable of replicating the ideal climate for food production 365 days a year! This gives us the ability to produce the same types and quantities of vegetables in January as we can in July.
UNIQUE CROPS
From pac choy to collard greens and okra - we love to experiment with new veggies, and are always looking for new ideas to supplement our lettuce, herbs, and leafy greens.
SUSTAINABLY GROWN
Unlike a traditional farm, the Freight Farms' plants grow vertically indoors without soil, getting their nutrients from water solution and their energy from powerful LEDs.
EXTENDED
SHELF LIFE
Since our crops are grown right here in Brockton and Taunton, they last much longer than traditional produce and in turn reduce food waste.
Service Opportunities
Our Freight Farms offer several truly unique service opportunities for individuals and groups alike to make a profound impact close to home. The tremendous impact of our our Freight Farms is made possible in no small part thanks to an extensive network of volunteers, interns, and co-op students from local technical high schools and community colleges. This also includes BGCMS service members from AmeriCorps VISTA and the Commonwealth Corps programs. Our Farm volunteers play a critical role in our ability to sustainably donate 100% of our excess produce to individuals and families in need throughout the Metro South region.
Our Freight Farm volunteers work hands-on in the processes of seeding, transplanting, and harvesting greens in the Farms, which are then incorporated into meal service for Club members and distributed throughout the community via our partner network. Through Monthly Markets at our Clubhouses, our Keystone Community Service Club members also have the opportunity to give back by distributing greens so that families in-need can make healthy and well-balanced meals at home.
How Freight Farms Work
The Freight Farms Greeneries are hydroponic farms outfitted entirely inside standard shipping containers. Unlike a traditional farm, a Greenery's plants grow vertically indoors without soil, getting their nutrition from water and light energy from powerful LEDs. One Greenery is capable of growing lettuces, leafy greens, herbs, brassicas, certain root vegetables, edible flowers, and many other crops in any location, regardless of exterior climate.
The Greenery’s climate control components work together to recreate an ideal spring day, every day. As a result, plants can thrive inside the container regardless of the external environment, whether it be harsh climates, tight urban centers, or extreme weather conditions. Operating in temperatures ranging from -40ºF to 130ºF, the Greenery maintains an average internal temperature of 70ºF by balancing heat from the strong LED arrays and cold air from the powerful HVAC unit with an integrated dehumidifier and economizer. The environment is then preserved by the container’s thickly insulated walls. Fans move air in the farm to stabilize internal temperatures, distribute CO2, and prevent stale air which can lead to mold and mildew. CO2 is controlled with a precision regulator to ensure levels are nourishing for plants and safe for humans.
Combined, our three farms support over 30,000 plants at once, ensuring a steady supply of crops. In each farm, the entire system uses as little water as possible, averaging just 5 gallons per day!
Combating Food Insecurity
The types of community disadvantage that the cities of Brockton and Taunton face can have a profound negative impact on our children in the areas of health, learning, and safety.
Compounding this are low-income, urban settings where fast food is cheap and readily available. Many families in our region struggle to put food on the table, gain steady employment, or afford key essentials. As such, our Kids Café Healthy Meals Program is one of the most essential components of these services we provide.
Our Clubs provide hot, nutritious meals to our youth each evening during the academic year, and both breakfast and lunch during the summer months to ensure that no member who wishes to eat at our Clubs leaves hungry. Each day we serve meals to nearly 400 of our members; totaling more than 100,000 meals served annually! In addition to meal service, we work to teach our members how to choose healthy foods when they are not at their Club and to make the connection between eating well and feeling well and healthy.
Our three Freight Farms provide our Nutrition staff with consistent access to healthy, leafy greens to incorporate into our daily meal service program offered each weeknight at both our Brockton and Taunton Clubhouses, as well as at lunchtime during the summer months at Camp Riverside. Moreover, our Freight Farms have allowed us to build upon existing partnerships with local community organizations and other nonprofits working to tackle food insecurity in our region, including the member agencies of the Brockton Area Hunger Network (BAHN), to support their efforts to feed the hungry and to feed them nutritious food. Sharing our harvest helps reduce hunger and food insecurity, increases the availability of healthy food to all residents (especially children), reduces food waste, and increases nutritional education for youth.
Providing Educational Experiences
Our Freight Farms provide youth with unique opportunities for hands-on STEM discovery. Within our Clubhouses and summer camp programs, youth engage with tailored curricula in our Freight Farms. In addition to introducing youth to concepts such as sustainability, biotechnology, and agricultural engineering, these experiences provide a tangible example of using science, technology, engineering and math to solve the complex challenges of our time.
Youth take part in every step of the Freight Farms process, from planting, to growing, to harvesting, and finally eating and helping distribute excess produce to families and agencies in need. Members have access to our Clubhouse Freight Farms every day during after-school programs, and during the summer months campers spend time in the Camp Riverside Freight Farm during their daily rotations. The summer camp day also includes a rotation through our STEM tent for all youth, which provides opportunities for campers to explore STEM in an outdoor setting each day.
A Freight Farms Greenery is a hydroponic farm outfitted in a shipping container that is capable of growing roughly 13,000 plants at any given time. This unique urban farming system is a critical component of both our Kids Café healthy meals program and our Young Chefs afterschool cooking classes offered to members to teach kids about choosing healthy foods to fuel proper nutrition and development.
Our Camp Riverside Freight Farm has been operational since Spring 2021, our Brockton Clubhouse Freight Farm was delivered and installed in November 2021, and our Taunton Clubhouse Freight Farm in January 2024. Produce grown and harvested from both locations is either allocated directly to our meals program, distributed to partner agencies, or given out directly to families in our community on monthly distribution days at the Clubhouse.
To increase our ability to serve the holistic needs of our community, we have invested in a Mobile Market Food Truck as a critical new component of food service. This resource allows us to break down transportation barriers by delivering fresh produce directly to individuals and families in need throughout our regional community.
Interested in volunteering in our Freight Farms? Fill out our volunteer interest intake form below!
Critical support for our Freight Farms, including the food rescue program, comes from the AmeriCorps VISTA program through which service members volunteer a full year of their time to support BGCMS!
To learn more about our Freight Farms please contact:
Charlie Brandon
508-812-3119
You can also email
freightfarm@bgcmetrosouth.org
to connect
with our Commonwealth Corps Food Access Coordinators!
