PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 2, 2025
A newly constructed Vertical Harvest growing facility in Westbrook is due to begin large-scale production of salad greens this autumn — about 6,850 pounds per day. With an urban footprint of just one-half of an acre, this automated farm can produce a yield equivalent of 250 rural acres of the same crop. It can sustain this production in all weathers and seasons, day or night. Vertical Harvest’s 1:500 spatial leverage is a result of the intensive stacks of moving modular trays inside a building designed exactly for this purpose, in which water, nutrients, light and temperature are controlled with strict precision. In short, the mysterious new building in Westbrook is a sealed clockwork for economical agriculture, a brilliant architectural reply to the pressing problem of food security. ~ Jon Calame