Agrotonomy Tower Farms Responding to Coronavirus with Vertical Farming
Some of our vertical farms donate up to 75% of their vegetable production to low-income individuals
By Mathias Levarek
Agrotonomy Corp.
March 2021
When COVID-19 led to the first wave of quarantines in March 2020, at Agrotonomy Tower Farms, we started to donate up to 95% of our vegetables and food production to low-income individuals.
Giving away nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables has been, and still is, our response to the economic disarray resulting from the coronavirus situation.
Our food donation program has been entirely funded privately by Agrotonomy and its officers.
Agrotonomy is not a non-profit organization, and this is why, in 2021, we will be reducing slightly our donation program to 75% of our entire production, versus 95% in 2020.
Our initiative has been well-publicized through Facebook and other social media platforms: our efforts have inspired many other farmers and gardeners around the world to share a certain percentage of their harvests with their disadvantaged neighbors.
Agrotonomy has set up the first aeroponic vertical farms in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East: We are currently working with our partner Tower Farms in Africa and Southeast Asia to launch similar fresh food donation programs as well.
The problem with most food bank initiatives is that due to logistics, the majority of all foods collected and donated are either canned and/or processed. This is why we believe in contributing to ‘the solution’ by donating pesticide-free and highly nutritious fresh crops to those in need.
We use aeroponic towers which allow us to save up to 95% water in comparison to conventional farming.
Aside from our food donation program in Ibiza, Spain, we are also the team behind Towers Without Borders Inc., a US non-profit organization (501-C3 registered in Arizona). Towers Without Borders is a charity committed to set up aeroponic vertical farms for orphanages around the world.
From seeds to seedlings, and from seedlings to harvests, children are encouraged through various programs to get involved with growing plants. Teaching children the value of food security is the best gift that we can give to the next generation of adults.
Over the next 18 months, with the support of Agrotonomy’s team, Towers Without Borders will be setting up 3 vertical farms for orphanages in Mexico, Colombia, and Kenya. We were supposed to be almost done with these 3 projects by mid-2021, however, due to COVID-19, their implementation has been significantly delayed.
Although Agrotonomy is still committed to developing fully automated aeroponic Tower Farms around the world for the commercial sector, our passion truly lies in our charitable endeavors!
Ron Finley (the ‘gangsta gardener’) once said “Growing food is like printing your own money”: such a statement bears even a stronger meaning when we are all going through a pandemic….. 2021 is going to be a challenging year! You can count on us to donate up to 75% of our production
