Founded: 2016

Farms: Battery Park City, Tribeca, Nolita, Union Square, Midtown West 

Examples of Crops Grown: Microgreens, edible flowers, speciality herbs, salad greens 

Where to Buy: https://farm.one/checkout, Whole Foods Market

Vision/Mission: Our mission is to surprise and delight with fresh, local, specialty ingredients grown at innovative farms around the world.

Sustainability Backstory: Started inside the Institute of Culinary Education in lower Manhattan as a small experimental farm, farm.one has quickly grown. They have opened new farms— making use of old and quirky buildings around the city, started a farm share program, and provide educational tours to students interested in hydroponic farming.

While farm.one was founded on the idea of creating a low carbon farm for restaurants, they have recognized that in order to be a fully sustainable business they need to pivot. Rob Liang, CEO, believes that a green business is not necessarily a sustainable one. In the summer of 2020 farm.one recommitted themselves to sustainability by refocusing their business.

“Over the next several years, we have come to appreciate that real sustainability is dependent on a vertical farm’s construction and operation, like any other business. ‍

Today, we are still faithful to our mission of providing produce that is rare, local and fresh year round. We have also evolved our business to include on-farm and virtual experiences such as tours and classes. With each step we take, we strive to embed sustainability into our decisions. This has allowed us to discover ways to improve our impact beyond the ‘basics’ of vertical farming and has illuminated where we need to do more work.

For instance, our farms use materials in the construction and operation that make it far from zero-impact. In addition, changes to our business model forced by COVID have led to some unavoidable waste. We feel it is critical to be honest and transparent about where we stand and where we are headed in order to achieve the greatest sustainable benefits. 

Over the next few months, we will be publishing more details on Farm.One sustainability covering the following areas:

1. Procurement Practices

2. Water

3. Energy

4. Emissions

5. Waste” (farm.one, 2020)