The Plant: Revolutionizing Food Production

“The Plant” in Chicago is a vertical farm intent on revolutionizing food production and sustainable economic development by utilizing a closed-loop aquaponic growing system and housing sustainable food businesses. Their ingenious method creates a variety of products while enuring that nothing goes to waste. They have designed the facility so that a product which would normally be considered “waste” is actually a necessary component for another product being made or grown at the facility. For example, the spent grains from the beer brewery will be fed to the tilapia, and tilapia waste will be fed to the mushrooms. They do all of this using renewable energy that they create at the facility. This is a truly closed-loop system integrating everything from fish and beer to kombucha and plants.
Not only will The Plant produce beer, kombucha, and all kinds of foods using this system, but it will also divert over 10,000 tons of food waste from landfills every year, have net-zero energy use, and create 125 jobs. Best of all, it is replicable for other ambitious entrepreneurs who want to change the way we interact with food. Want to learn more? Check out their website at www.plantchicago.com/.