HAMILTON, Ohio — 80 Acres Farms will grow tomatoes on one of the busiest streets in New York outside the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as part of the Guggenheim’s new exhibition in collaboration with Rem Koolhaas, Countryside, The Future.
Along with its commercial partners Infinite Acres and Priva Holding BV, 80 Acres Farms will grow cherry tomatoes in an indoor grow module right outside the museum on 5th Avenue. 80 Acres Farms is a leader in technology-assisted indoor growing and a multi-farm operator marketing a wide variety of freshly-picked vegetables and fruits to retailers such as Giant Eagle, Kroger, Whole Foods, Jungle Jim’s and Dorothy Lane Markets.
People in New York will be able to look through a large window in the indoor farm to view a crop of fresh tomatoes being grown continuously during the next six months under precise LED lighting and other controlled conditions. The first tomatoes grown will be ready for harvesting and consumption by late-March.
The grow module will demonstrate how indoor farming can benefit the world through growing fresh, nutritious, and pesticide-free food near populations, anywhere in the world by using fewer natural resources. The Countryside, The Future exhibition will examine political forces, social issues, and environmental factors altering landscapes across the world, including traditional farmlands.
80 Acres Farms is a founding member of the Infinite Acres partnership venture, along with Netherlands-based Priva Holding BV, a leading provider of technology solutions, services and automation systems to horticultural and other industries; and Ocado Group, one of the world’s largest dedicated online grocery retailers, operating its own grocery and general merchandise retail businesses. That partnership is now building large-scale, fully-automated indoor farms in the United States, Asia and Europe.
“We believe that what we are doing is about the future of food. We are changing the way fruits and vegetables are grown and harvested locally then delivered to grocers the very next day. There is an enormous market and consumer appetite around the world for produce that our crop scientists and other food experts have been perfecting during the past five years,” said Mike Zelkind, chief executive officer of 80 Acres Farms. “Our participation in this exhibition will allow New York residents and visitors to experience how the freshest, tastiest locally-grown tomatoes can be grown year-round indoors in one of the busiest cities in the world.”
For the Guggenheim exhibition, 80 Acres Farms, Infinite Acres, and its Priva have collaborated on the 700 square foot grow center and all of the state-of-the art ag-technology within it. While in operation for the next six months outside the Guggenheim, the Infinite Acres grow module is expected to grow 50,000 tomatoes. Additional tomatoes will be donated to City Harvest, a New York City food rescue organization that safely recovers excess food and distributes it to people in need.
Countryside, The Future will be open to the public through August 14, 2020.
About 80 Acres Farms
80 Acres Farms is focused on being the best operator in the world of indoor farming facilities that achieve the highest quality and consistency of year-round produce. Its extensive produce growing, food manufacturing, marketing and distribution experience, and mastery of automation drives continuous high-quality production and operational efficiency leading to improved unit economics. Utilizing state of the art proprietary technologies, including modular grow zones, customized LED lighting, precisely-tuned climate controls, and an artificial intelligence powered growing system, the Company is able to offer customers flavorful, and nutritious locally grown fruits and vegetables at affordable prices. Based in Hamilton, Ohio, the company was founded by veteran food industry executives Mike Zelkind and Tisha Livingston who are supported by a deep team and a board of directors representing executive and leadership experience at leading food, healthcare, and other companies. For more information, visit www.80acresfarms.com.
About Countryside, The FutureThe exhibition addresses urgent environmental, political, and socioeconomic issues through the lens of architect and urbanist Rem Koolhaas and Samir Bantal, Director of AMO, the think tank of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). A unique research-based exhibition for the Guggenheim Museum, Countryside, The Future will explore radical changes in the rural, remote, and wild territories collectively identified here as “countryside,” or the 98% of the earth’s surface not occupied by cities. It is organized by Troy Conrad Therrien, Curator, Architecture and Digital Initiatives, in collaboration with Koolhaas, Bantal, and AMO, with Ashley Mendelsohn, Assistant Curator, Architecture and Digital Initiatives. For more information on the exhibition, visit https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/countryside.
