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Urban farming: Keeping it local

SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- The imposing Hamm's Brewery building in St. Paul has a proud past, and these days, a promising future.

Eight thousand square feet inside is now a farm, Urban Organics. "Instead of square footage, we look at cubic feet," said co-founder Dave Haider.

Three stories of vertical scaffolding inside with rows and rows of greens, lettuce and herbs. In addition to the produce sold to grocers, Urban Organics also raises fish, supplied to local restaurants.

The relationship between the two types of "crops" is called aquaponics.

"You feed the fish, and their waste goes to fertilize the plants," explained University of Minnesota professor and researcher Nick Phelps. "They (plants) clean the water, and the water goes back to the fish. Phelps says it's a very efficient way to grow food.

"Indoor aquaponics can use 95-percent less water than a farm field, and produce much more of it per square acre than they do in the field."

The farm grew up through a partnership with Pentair, which supplied filtration and engineering know-how. Co-founder Dave Haider says the concept has been so successful, the partnership will continue as Urban Organics expands to a second facility, in the old Schmidt Brewery building.

"The demand grew faster than we had anticipated, which is a good problem to have," Haider said. The new farm will be around 90-thousand square feet.

Demand is strong for sustainably farmed foods in general. Phillip Higgs of Whole Foods says it informs how and where Whole Foods sources its growers.

"Consumers really want to know where their food comes from. They really want to know their produce was grown in a way that is fair and also keeps in mind the environment."

That is precisely Haider's mission. Growing food sustainably, and close to the population eating it. As a bonus, Haider is making that happen in a building that is part of his Saint Paul roots. Haider's great-grandfather spent his working life at the Hamms Brewery.

"If he could see what it is today, I'm sure he would be amazed."

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