Is the future of farming inside a shipping container?

Local Roots Farms, a California-based company, has created a sustainable farm inside a 12-metre shipping container. (Local Roots Farms)

Local Roots Farms, a California based company, has created a sustainable farm inside a 12-metre shipping container.

The company’s CEO, Eric Ellestad, told CTV’s Your Morning that he hopes such indoor farms will “improve global health by building better food systems.”

Ellestad was inspired to create the shipping container farm after observing his family’s refrigerated trailers business, where he noticed that shipping fruits and vegetables long distances can lead to a lot of food waste. A solution, he thought, would be creating a portable indoor farm that can grow food anywhere.

According to Ellestad, the shipping container farms can yield the annual equivalent of three to five acres of farmland while using 97 per cent less water.

They’re not reliant on sunlight or the “right types of agricultural conditions” either, which Ellestad says makes these farms ideal for remote locations where accessing fresh produce is difficult and expensive.

To find out more about the future of shipping container farms watch the full interview with CTV Your Morning.