Hydroponic vegetables could be on the horizon
Whitehorse businessman believes building facility in Yk could diminish Northern reliance on southern produce
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Monday, July 11, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Whitehorse businessman has very ambitious plans to bring fresh, hydroponically grown vegetables to Yellowknife.
Sonny Gray, CEO of Whitehorse-based North Star Agriculture Inc. was in Yellowknife last week gauging local support for an indoor hydroponic vegetable factory. Gray said such a growing facility would run year-round and would decrease the need for consumers to rely on vegetables grown in southern climates, particularly in the winter. - John McFadden/NNSL photo |
Sonny Gray is the chief executive officer of North Star Agriculture Inc. He wants to set up a production facility in the city that would start by producing lettuce and other leafy greens and move to tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and other vegetables later. Those vegetables would then be sold to grocery stores and restaurants in the city.
Gray has partnered with Edmonton-based NutraPonics, a company he said has been raising hydroponically grown vegetables for several years. The plants are grown in water instead of soil under LED lights, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.
According to Gray, a facility like this, once up and running, would mean Yellowknifers would be less reliant on shipping produce from the south, meaning what appears on grocery store shelves would be fresher and more readily available.
"I felt that this is a good fit for the North. We obviously have issues with food security. This could be an answer," Gray said. "I have five boys at home, all under age eight. And trying to get fresh vegetables, particularly in the winter, is almost impossible. By the time you do get vegetables from the grocery store they are only good for two or three days in your fridge. The fresh hydroponic vegetables would be good for about two weeks."
Gray was in Yellowknife last week meeting with officials to see if there would be a demand for such a business. He said he came away with the impression that people think it is a tremendous idea.
This would not be a small-scale plan, he said. It requires a decent sized factory and dozens of people to run it. Gray said if all goes according to plan, they could be up and running by spring 2018. He added this is not a pilot project - NutraPonics already has similar plants in Edmonton and Saskatoon with another one slated to open in New Brunswick this fall. He also wants to open a similar plant in Whitehorse.
Gray said the project will require an initial investment of $2-to-3 million. That number would jump to about $12-to-14 million as things move forward.
"We are looking at a 20,000-square-metre facility which would provide enough fresh vegetables for 20,000 people annually," he said, adding he is speaking with officials from the territorial government and the federal government's Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency to see if funding is available. He would also like to partner with the Hay River-based Northern Farm Training Institute to train people on how to run the hydroponic facility.
There is another component to the business that is unique. Gray said the water used to grow the plants comes from an adjoining pool where tilapia fish are raised. The fish, native to Africa and the Middle East, are fed organic food. The fish then add nutrients to the water which makes for better growing conditions for the vegetables, Gray said. The fish are eventually sold to markets in Asia.
The vegetables themselves are not considered organic but that helps keep the price down, Gray said.
Richard Morland, president of the NWT Chamber of Commerce, met with Gray last week and thinks his plan has merit.
"It's a worldwide trend - growing local," Morland said. "The cost of food in the North is substantially higher than southern parts of Canada. This struck me as an idea where we could achieve localized production of fresh food and defray some of the cost of living."
Having said that, Morland realizes there will be some challenges for Gray to overcome in order to get the business off the ground and called to the territorial government to follow through on its assertions that it is open for business. He said the government needs to make sure the red tape that Gray may have to go through is as unobstructive as possible. Morland said the government regulations will not be Gray's only hurdle.
"Because of our cold climate, one of the challenges will be the cost of energy in the wintertime," Morland said. "It is a plant that circulates water so energy costs will be a challenge. Alternative energy should be looked at and perhaps the government may be able to help with that."
