Maybe you’ve gotten off I-490 onto E. 55th heading north, and glanced up a side street on your way toward the Kinsman/Woodland intersection, spotting the big sparkling building at a dead end. Maybe you wondered what it was.
The answer is, potentially an agricultural revolution for the area — and beyond. It’s the three-and-a-quarter acre hydroponic greenhouse belonging to Green City Growers, the largest such hydroponic growing facility in the country. And in its controlled, sustainable climate, it raises some three million heads of lettuce, along with basil, microgreens and other greens such as upland cress — all products that can be quickly raised and harvested for local markets and sold fresh.
Since all it crops are grown in vast watery beds, the greenhouse uses lots of water — a million gallons on the growing floor at one time. But rather than consuming precious liquid resources, it collects rain and snow in 65,000 gallon tanks, resulting in an annual water bill only a little over $1,000 a year and a light environmental footprint. And since its longest growing crop is 40 days, pests don’t have time to get a toehold. An occasional aphid problem is controlled by releasing ladybugs.
The resulting produce is outstanding. If you’ve never had Green City Growers’ Cleveland Crisp lettuce, you need to try it. It adds iceberg lettuce-style crunch to a salad or sandwich, only it’s bright and flavorful instead of bland. You can find it at area groceries and farmers markets — and Green City Growers has the exclusive rights to the seed in this area.
“It’s a cross between leaf lettuce and iceberg,” says Green City Growers’ vice president of sales Jeremy Lisy, a former small farmer. “But it’s more open head with all usable leaves. It’s great for salads to create volume and texture. It’s the best for sandwiches because it doesn’t get soggy when it sits for an hour or two.”
Green City Growers was on the drawing board for several years before it opened for business just under three years ago, with a $17.5 million build-out, financed by low-interest loans and assistance from the city. It already had the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University signed on to buy its products, which are now also purchased by many area colleges and universities and local restaurants working through food distributors. It’s available at Marc’s, the Miles Road Market and Green City Growers’ stall at the West Side Market. They’ve just signed up Kroger’s and Meijer’s.
Green City Growers is the third business under the umbrella of Evergreen Cooperatives. (it also has a laundry and a solar panel business). Its business model is as unusual as its growing model. It employs 30-35 residents of surrounding low-income communities and provides them not only with jobs, but also tools to build a quality life, including a credit management program, a car-buying program and a home ownership program. And after a year’s employment, they are eligible to join the cooperative as an owner.
Lisy says they are breaking even now and expect to be profitable by next year. He sees what they’re doing as a model for the country, which could be transformative for communities.
“I’d like to see it succeed and be profitable, and be a model for the whole country,” he says. “Here the workers reap the rewards. Doing this all over the country, it could change communities and change the way we think. Instead of a few people making money, everyone shares in the profits.”
We took a tour with Jeremy through Green City Growers’ greenhouse to see how they work, and we even got to taste some of what they grow! View the PHOTOSTREAM here.
evergreencooperatives.com/green-city-growers/
