Agcore Technologies farms a very different type of green : spirulina , a proteinrich blue-green alga used for human and animal nutrition under different brands . Year-round , the company produces spirulina in 420 six- to eight-foot clear , bubbling fiberglass cylinders in a temporary greenhouse , and then dries and processes it at its Warwick facility into fish food , dog food toppers , protein powders and vegan snack foods . Agcore then packages and sells the products to regional aquariums and local supermarkets , such as Wakefield ’ s Belmont Market .
Founder Larry Dressler got into hightech farming after nearly three decades selling refined vegetable oils to food producers , and a brief foray in 2010 transforming algae into renewable fuel . Then , energy prices dropped .
“ I wanted to come up with a new vegetable ,” Dressler says . “ Instead of closing shop , we pivoted from algae to energy to algae to protein . We are environmentally friendly . We don ’ t need farmland and we re-use our water .”
In 2018 , the University of Rhode Island and former Governor Gina Raimondo announced its stake in promoting and developing this technology , leveraging $ 4 million of a $ 20 million bond to create an “ agricultural innovation campus ” with private partners . This spring , URI expects shovels in the ground to construct a twenty-five-acre greenhouse and a 15,000-square foot Agriculture Innovation Center just behind Peckham Farm on the West Kingston campus . The Rhode Island Mushroom Company , American Ag Energy Inc ., Verinomics , a genomics and computational biology company , and VoloAgri , a vegetable seed company , will join the effort as investors and occupants in what is estimated to be a $ 115 million project .
URI Dean of College Environment and Life Sciences John Kirby says the center will be a training ground for agriculture , engineering and computer science students .
“ If we are going to play in this game , we will have to develop a model that works so we can compete on an international level ,” he says . “ It takes a bachelor ’ s or master ’ s degree to get into those facilities and to get that training ; internships will be key . Our goal is to produce people who can fit in all phases of the industry .”
The lack of a trained workforce is only one of CEA ’ s current challenges , says Gotham Greens ’ Puri .
“ It ’ s a lot harder than it looks . Plants are not widgets ,” he says . “ You can raise $ 100 million in venture capital , build a greenhouse for the plants to grow in , but they are not going to grow themselves . Gotham Greens ’ Providence facility was built on land occupied by the former GE Electric light bulb factory , a “ brownfields ” site requiring reviews from multiple state and city entities . The process involved a lot of educating , says Puri , but didn ’ t generate controversy .
In contrast , URI ’ s and Schartner ’ s plans have touched off a debate about taking arable land out of traditional production ; the scale of such projects in rural settings ; and the limits on a farmer ’ s right to use greenhouses . In October , the work at Schartner ’ s one million-square-foot greenhouse came to an abrupt halt in a permitting dispute with the town of Exeter .
Farmers themselves have mixed feelings about these projects and CEA in general , says Heidi Quinn , executive director of the Rhode Island Farm Bureau . The bureau which “ supports all forms of agriculture , from the small farm to the CEA , and from organic to conventional ” is opposed to the Agricultural Innovation Center , Quinn says , because the university has steadily strayed from its roots as a land-grant institution , turning prime farmland into buildings and parking lots . The main beneficiaries of the new ag center will be private businesses .
Schartner , having held this vision somewhere in his mind for more than forty years , takes the long view . He expects to resolve his issues with the town by the summer . And eventually , he says , the community will come to appreciate what CEA has to offer : better , fresher produce with fewer demands on resources , year-round employment for agricultural workers , and a chance to farm in the future .
“ We need the field crops , too . This isn ’ t the end-all ,” he says . “ I ask myself , what can we determine ? Do we fight and stay in agriculture ? Take on all this debt for the good of my family and the community ? As people peel this onion , it gets better and better . This actually gives agriculture a chance to fight back .” �
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RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l FEBRUARY 2022 29