Brooklyn, New York – Gotham Greens is proud to announce that it has received a “Best” rating from Whole Foods Market’s Responsibly Grown Rating System. The tiered produce rating system rewards farmers who work hard to protect human health and the environment, while providing consumers with an at-a-glance rating for sustainable farming practices. The first-of-its-kind program seeks to bring transparency to farming practices rating growers as “Good,” “Better” and “Best” while taking into account everything from pest management and water conservancy to farm worker welfare. The result is an easy-to-understand rating allowing shoppers to make more informed choices about how their food is grown.
Gotham Greens’ “Best” rating is a direct result of the company’s mission to advance sustainable urban agriculture and commitment to responsible growing practices. The company’s state of the art greenhouse facilities use 10 times less water and 20 times less land than conventional agriculture while eliminating the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizer runoff, which is the leading cause of global water pollution. Cornerstones of the company’s greenhouse operations include: water recycling and conservation; integrated pest management system and use of beneficial insects instead of pesticides; renewable energy use; and proximity to the marketplace which reduces long distance shipping and its associated carbon emissions and pollution. Gotham Greens’ sterile greenhouses and comprehensive food safety, food security, and traceability plans allow the company to exceed industry standards to ensure it supplies the market with the freshest, safest, and most flavorful greens available.
“Gotham Greens has been a pioneer in the field of sustainable urban agriculture and a valued supplier to Whole Foods Market since 2011,” said Matt Rogers, global produce coordinator for Whole Foods Market. “This ‘Best’ rating affirms their commitment to responsible agricultural practices and both our companies’ shared values of promoting sustainability.”
“We’re extremely proud of the greenhouse design considerations and ongoing operational practices that have enabled us to achieve this rating,” said Jenn Nelkin Frymark, Chief Agriculture Officer of Gotham Greens. “That being said, we’re never content with the status quo; we continually strive to make our operations even more ecologically efficient.”
“There are many ways to farm responsibly and sustainably and our approach is tailored to our unique geographical locations,” said Viraj Puri, Co-Founder of Gotham Greens. “This rating is a testament and validation of our company’s pledge to responsible growing practices. We don’t just blindly talk about being ‘local’, ‘sustainable’ and ‘natural’. While our business is about those things, we care about what those things stand for: flavor and nutrition, preserving water and soil resources, biodiversity, reducing harmful chemical use in food production, fair treatment of workers, and spending our dollars closer to home.”
In 2014 Gotham Greens and Whole Foods Market partnered to build the world’s first commercial-scale greenhouse integrated into a retail store located in Brooklyn, NY. In April 2014 Gotham Greens was recipient of Whole Foods Market’s Annual Supplier Award in the produce category. Gotham Greens recently announced its expansion to Chicago, IL.
About Gotham Greens
Gotham Greens is a leading producer of local, premium-quality, greenhouse-grown vegetables and herbs. The company develops and operates greenhouse facilities in urban areas to ensure consistent, year-round, fresh vegetable production. Since building the nation's first commercial-scale hydroponic urban greenhouse in 2011, Gotham Greens has quickly become a worldwide pioneer in the field of urban agriculture. The company provides its diverse retail, restaurant, and institutional customers with reliable, year-round supply of local produce grown under the highest standards of food safety and environmental sustainability. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Gotham Greens is involved in greenhouse agriculture projects in cities across the United States. For more information, visit: www.gothamgreens.com
Source: Gotham Greens
