Hidden farm sprouts interest in microgreens
Added on 16 January 2024
Walking along King Street across from Budweiser Gardens, you wouldn't know you were walking past a farm.
Tucked inside a storefront at the base of a downtown London, Ont. highrise is an indoor urban farm specializing in the year-round production of microgreens, the nutritionally-dense young versions of vegetables, harvested within a couple of weeks of seeding.
Launched in 2020, Forest City Microgreens (FCM) grows 14 different kinds of vegetable seedlings at its King Street location, which it has occupied for two years.
The goal, says Santiago Ramirez, who co-owns FCM with parents Christina and Jamie, is to provide Londoners access to highly-nutritious produce grown in the core through sustainable vertical farming.
"We're the first licensed urban microgreen farm in London," Ramirez said.
"Our model is Farm to Fork within 48 hours… It's very versatile. You can put it (in) everything from a salad to a smoothie to a pizza to a hamburger."
The King Street facility measures roughly 750 sq. ft., and is filled with racks of broccoli, arugula, red cabbage, rainbow radish, cilantro, red amaranth, and other varieties, which FCM sells direct to customers and local restaurants, including through a subscription service.
Microgreens, Ramirez says, have higher concentrations of nutrients and antioxidants compared to their fully-grown counterparts, making them an excellent dietary addition.
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