Founded: 2015

Farm locations: Bowery, Kearny, NJ, and Nottingham, MD

Examples of Crops Grown: Arugula, Baby Butter Lettuce, Baby Kale, Baby Romaine, Herbs (Basil, Cilantro, Parsley), Crispy Leaf Lettuce, Bok Choy

Where to Buy: Select Whole Foods Market, Foragers, Westside Market

Vision: “At Bowery, we dream of a world where agriculture gives back to the people and planet more than it takes. But to achieve this, we need more than incremental change” 

Sustainability Backstory: Bowery Farming Founder, Irving Fain, wrote in a letter that he started Bowery “with a belief that technology and innovation could be a driving force behind re-imagining our food system for the better. Agriculture sits precariously at the hub of so many of our global challenges. Our ability to feed a growing population which is increasingly urbanizing is already at risk. Traditional agriculture’s outsized consumption of natural resources, vulnerability to climate change events and food safety issues, combined with a lack of transparency and understanding, puts enormous pressure on an already strained system...To ensure a future where we can protect and increase access to locally grown, higher quality, safer produce, we need to reimagine how we grow our food from the ground up. We must harness the power of human ingenuity and technology in a way not possible before. We can create a system where we no longer need to accept compromise as a given. Where we don’t have to make false trade-offs between quality and quantity, sustainability and scale, and healthy and delicious. We must build a world where farming gives back more to the people and the planet than it takes, and grow deliciously abundant food in abundantly better ways” (Fain, 2020). 

Bowery Farming, with locations in Manhattan, New Jersey, and Maryland grows a variety of salad greens and herbs. They have a community-first ethos and partner with non-profit organizations to help connect people with fresh and healthy food. Their farms are located in previously unused industrial spaces. Their produce is non-GMO, contains zero pesticides, and the packaging is made of 100% recycled and recyclable materials.

They emphasize the importance of eating as local as possible to help mitigate the environmental damage done by consuming food that is grown far away. They “create indoor, vertically integrated farming that grows 365 days a year, closer to the point of consumption” (Bowery Farming, 2020). Bowery Farming recognizes the dire food insecurity issues that affect certain communities in the United States. In 2018, 11.1% of US households were food insecure, their goal is to “democratize access to fresh, locally grown food in our communities” (Bowery Farming, 2020).