A Two-Acre Sustainable Farm That Comes in a Box

Old McDonald is not going to believe this

August 3, 2016 9:00 am

If Justin Timberlake wanted to gift Jessica Biel with a two-acre farm, this is the way he’d do it.

1: Invest in Farm from a Box.

2: Ask them to put farming junk in that box.

3: Make her open the box.

Designed to make off-the-grid sustainable farming possible in even the most remote location, Farm from a Box is a customized shipping container that contains a solar power system, basic farm tools, a micro-drip irrigation system and a water pump that can be modified to work with whatever sort of well source is available.

The smart container is wired with wifi and outfitted with an “IoT suite” that helps track activity and performance, and each of the boxes can be customized with extra sensors, water purification units and additional monitoring technology to help owners maximize productivity and profit.

Over the course of a year, the “Swiss-Army-knife of sustainable farming” can grow enough food for 150 people, including fruits, vegetables, and plant-based proteins if nutrition is the goal, or high-value crops if the main focus is on income.

“Not only do these farmers get to grow the food that they’re used to eating with their own cuisine, they get to earn income with it,” Farm in a Box cofounder Brandi DeCarli told Fast Company. “They have the opportunity to really develop their own community, and connect with the surrounding community.”

The San Francisco-based startup is raising $250k to $1 million to get started and, if successful, it will donate one of its first two farm boxes to veterans and the other to resettled refugees.

That sounds like such a good idea, we might just bet the farm on it.

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