Growing More Than Greens: A New Farm Model Takes Root

Vertical Harvest opens new facility blending high-tech agriculture with inclusive employment

3 Jan 2025

Vertical Harvest is planting something unusual in Westbrook, Maine: a farm designed to grow both food and futures.

The 51,000-square-foot vertical facility is engineered for efficiency, capable of producing up to 2.5 million pounds of leafy greens each year. Using hydroponics, it needs far less water than traditional farms and no soil at all. But the real twist lies in its workforce. The project will create about 50 full-time jobs, many crafted for people with physical or intellectual disabilities.

It’s a bold bet at a turbulent moment for the vertical farming industry, which has seen high-profile failures and shaky finances. CEO Nona Yehia calls the approach “a blueprint for how we can grow food and grow futures at the same time.” The farm, she argues, is meant as much as a community hub as a food source.

The timing could prove fortuitous. Regional leaders are pushing toward the New England Food Vision, a goal of sourcing 30 percent of local food within the region by 2030. With climate disruptions and fragile supply chains increasingly visible, controlled-environment agriculture offers a resilience that traditional systems struggle to match.

That makes the Maine expansion more than a simple scaling up. It reimagines what a city farm can be: a place that not only feeds nearby communities but also gives marginalized workers a foothold in a growing industry.

Industry observers are watching closely. If Vertical Harvest succeeds, its model could spread well beyond Westbrook, reshaping urban agriculture into something both greener and more inclusive.