The space Shimamura uses used to be a Sony Corporation semiconductor factory.
Cultivation racks are stacked 15 high. The LED lights built into each rack help to stimulate growth.
10,000 heads of lettuce are grown everyday day in Shimamura"s industrial farm.
The LED lights use about 40% less power than fluorescent lights.
The entire operation scales about 25,000 feet. That"s the size of half a football field.
Shimamura has also found a way to drastically reduce the amount of lettuce that has to be thrown out from 50-10%.
Irrigation, humidity and temperature are closely monitored to create the ideal environment for growth.
"I knew how to grow good vegetables biologically and I wanted to integrate that knowledge with hardware to make things happen," says Shimamura. These industrial farms can produce vegetables year-round with considerably less waste than regular farms.
