Chances are, if you've relished a delicious salad at an independent restaurant in the Metro Jackson area, it comes from Salad Days Hydroponic Farm. Last month, Leigh Bailey and Jamie Redmond broke ground on a $8.5 million high-tech facility in the Flora Industrial Park, adding 65,000 square feet to the farm's 21,000 square feet.
The popular pesticide-free lettuce is distributed to clients in a 200-mile radius around Flora, which encompasses parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Tennessee. At any given time, 75 to 100 restaurants serve their lettuce rather than having leafy greens shipped from thousands of miles away in California, which produces a vast majority of America's lettuce.
The new farm will have equipment from Denmark, an innovator in hydroponic farming. The greenhouse is being acquired from Prospiant, a U.S. company. Alan Lange joined Salad Days as a partner and was instrumental in assembling funding for the expansion. The City of Flora, Madison County Economic Development Authority (MCEDA), Mississippi Land Water & Timber Board, Mississippi Development Authority, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided financial incentives.
Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson said other farms across the state grow lettuce on a small scale for direct-to-consumer outlets such as farmers' markets. "But Salad Days is unique in that it's the only hydroponic lettuce farm of its kind in Mississippi," he said.
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