Urban farm hopes city grant will plant seeds for local produce industry

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A historic building on the southeastern edge of Crescent Heights that began life as a grocery store more than a century ago could soon provide food for Calgarians in a very new way.

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spring farms will make his presentation on establishing an urban vertical farm to Calgary city council members on Wednesday. The company is applying for a one-time grant of up to $250,000 from the Council’s Innovation Fund.

Sunspring co-founder and CEO Chad Kolesnik said he hopes to partner with the city and Fresh Routes, a local nonprofit, to grow hydroponic produce on the Armor/Reliance Block on 4th Street NE.

Kolesnik said the plan is to start small in an adjacent storage space on the Armor Block property, with the goal of expanding into the main Armor Block Building if the 18-month pilot program is successful.

“The main focus of the pilot will be the cultivation of green leafy vegetables, microgreens and fresh herbs,” he said. “Eventually when we expand, we’ll try to expand what we currently grow into things like strawberries.”

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Kolesnik said the innovation grant will give his company a runway to operate during the 18-month pilot and unlock private-sector equity funding for equipment.

Fresh RoutesAn organization creating pop-up mobile grocery stores would benefit from the program by receiving a portion of the products at a significant discount.

Lourdes Juan, founder of Fresh Routes, said her group’s goal of bringing fresh, affordable produce to those who need it most is affected by inflation, so any help would be welcome.

She said Fresh Routes’ other goal is to provide local produce, and Sunspring’s plan would also help check that box.

“We want Calgarians to eat and have access to local produce, but those two things have been a challenge in the past, and this partnership would really help solve those challenges,” he said.

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Kolesnik said all Calgarians will stand to benefit if urban agriculture takes off and more local produce is grown here. He said the supply chain challenges brought on by the pandemic have shown the limits of Calgary’s food security.

“The more we can grow here locally, we can help offset those costs to Calgarians, rather than having to ship it from California or Arizona, or even Mexico,” he said.

Although Sunspring is a for-profit company, social responsibility is built into its business model. He said that in addition to bringing low-cost products to Fresh Routes, his goal also involves inclusive hiring, including people with cognitive and physical disabilities.

“We want to strive to reach a certain benchmark of our employees so that they are within the underserved population,” he said.

The city administration is supporting the plan, but it will be up to the city council to give the final go-ahead. The council’s executive committee will hear the matter on Wednesday. If approved, it will likely come before the city council’s next combined council meeting on July 26 for a final decision.

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Twitter: @brodie_thomas