An air raid shelter once used during World War II has been turned into a carbon-neutral hydroponic farm.
It’s like something out of a science fiction story: LED lights illuminate a hydroponic farm that grows vegetables and herbs in a tunnel 33 metres beneath the city of London, stretching across 2.5 acres underneath the London Underground’s Northern Line.
Welcome to the world of Growing Underground, an initiative by London-based Zero Carbon Food. Its vision is to grow eco-friendly food for Londoners. Pesticide-free, water efficient (hydroponics uses and wastes 70 per cent less water than conventional farming), and energy efficient, the produce is grown all-year-round and is picked, packed and delivered to London markets within just four hours, greatly cutting down on food miles.
The company has turned to the online crowdfunding platform CrowdCube to raise 300,000 British pounds to move the operation forward. So far it has raised over 110,000 British pounds, more than 35 per cent of its goal.
