“Our guests get
to watch the
microgreens and
salad greens grow
right in the cafés.”
systems use considerably less water than a conventional
farming operation—“up to 90% less water than a standard
field-grown lettuce crop, since the water stays in the towers
rather than evaporating or draining away,” says Jessica.
Plus, the leafy greens can be grown year-round, which eliminates the need for importing the goods in Washington’s
winter months. The produce travels only a few hundred
feet from tower to salad bar and is served quickly—often
only an hour or two after harvest.
Although it is cheaper to grow the microgreens in-house
than it is to buy them wholesale, Jessica says the real motivation for this agricultural revolution is Microsoft Dining’s
commitment to “serving our guests the highest quality and
freshest ingredients.” It’s hard to deny the appeal of this
truly local solution: the produce travels only a few hundred
feet from tower to salad bar and is served quickly—often
only an hour or two after harvest.
Sowing the Seeds of Sustainability
The new program is not yet meeting all of Microsoft’s
microgreen needs, but it will soon. An expansion is just
around the corner, and the urban farmers will grow
100% of the company’s microgreens on campus within
the next three months. We can’t wait to see what’s next
for on-campus agriculture. With the interest and support
of the finest technological minds in the world, the urban
farming program at Microsoft is poised to cultivate a
sustainable agricultural revolution.
Article Source: Used with permission from Microsoft
(blogs.microsoft.com).
Photos courtesy of Scott Eklund
Maximum Yield USA | December 2015
109