Growing Underground

Ever wondered what was going on under your feet as you wander down Clapham high street? No? And until we heard about Growing Underground, us neither.

A nerve wracking 33 metres under the pavement, Growing Underground is a ground breaking venture. It is pretty exciting. They produce salad leaves that contain up to 90 times more nutrients than the standard, all right here in the middle of London.

It’s done using the latest hydroponic systems and LED lights, meaning the crops are grown all year round- they don’t have to worry about the fickle British weather and because the environment is so carefully controlled there are no leaf eating bugs, so no pesticides are used and the chemical consumption of the whole process is significantly reduced.

In turn that means that an impressive 70% less water is needed than usual open farming practices. And did we mention all the energy used is 100% renewable? We’ll say it again, impressive.

And because it is all so well monitored, it only takes 2 weeks to grow the greens. Fast food at it’s finest.

The salad is then packaged and delivered to locations all around London, as it’s grown so centrally the transport emissions are cut too- no shipping from other countries means a whole lot less petrol. It’s surprising how often you’ll notice the Growing Underground packaging when you start looking out for it. Lots of your favourite restaurants probably get some of their greens from Growing Underground too.

Growing Underground is exactly the kind of venture we need in today’s society. It is innovative, environmentally conscious, and most importantly, it creates delicious, healthy food.