By Anthony Salamone, The Morning Call
The “farmers” wore white coats; the gray floor was spotless. Eat off it? You could.
The aroma of fresh greens, basil, and more filled the air. Farmers packed the produce in clamshell containers at a room temperature of around 38 degrees for shipping.
At Bowery Farming’s new south Bethlehem facility, workers grow, harvest, package, and ship lettuce and other produce. Combining the benefits of local farms with technological advances, Bowery precisely grows crops in a controlled indoor environment without any pesticides and while using 95% less water than traditional agriculture.
Indoor farming
Bowery officials say they are shortening the time from harvest to table. About 90% of lettuce sold in this country comes from California, according to one farmers’ organization there and Katie Seawell, Bowery’s chief commercial officer. Seawell said those greens can’t be fresher for the 50 million people along the East Coast that Bowery intends to serve from its Bethlehem site.
“You can’t walk that supply chain,” she said.
Federal, state, and local officials gathered on May 26 to celebrate Bowery Farming’s grand opening. The 156-000-square-foot plant, on about 9 acres in Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII off Route 412 and Interstate 78, has been ramping up since the beginning of April and is now fully operational and shipping its products. Plans were announced in December 2020, shortly after work began on the farm.
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