Square Mile Farms

Problem Addressed
As urban city dwellers we have lost both our connectivity to nature and our sense of community. Nowhere is this more obvious than in agriculture, where we no longer know where our food comes from, who has grown it and how. This lack of connection is having profound impacts on our health and wellbeing and our on the planet.
Square Mile Farms has the technology and knowhow to bring agriculture into urban centres and reconnect people with each other and with their food. Focused on offices and residential buildings, it brings nature into the built environment and create healthy green spaces (‘urban farms’) that create and engage communities of employees and residents. The result is healthier, more connected communities of urban dwellers and more sustainable buildings in the process.
Overview Of Start-up
Square Mile Farms install vertical urban farms walls in the offices and residential buildings, as a means to create communities of employees and residents engaged in their food, health and sustainability.
What Makes The Start-up Innovative
Square Mile Farms is innovative in how it combines modern farming techniques (controlled environment agriculture) to create engaging physical and digital farm experiences. The physical installations create new green spaces that encourage collaboration and community through the growing and harvesting of food. The digital engagement tools allow or farm community to ask questions, participate in the farm operations and track their food consumption, all empowering them to lead a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.
How The Start-up Has Been Designed To Scale Up Quickly
Square Mile Farms’ system is plug-and-play modular systems that can be installed indoors or outdoors, mounted on walls or freestanding, all connected via digital tools. Once installations are in enough offices and apartment buildings, it can the start to pull the community together creating a network effect.
Related
Inside Innovation: Square Mile Farms: Interview with Co-founder Patrick Dumas
