Ahuntsic: How we started creating a better food system.
Our rooftop greenhouse journey started over a decade ago when two of our founding members, Mohammed Hage and Lauren Rathmell, had the revolutionary idea (if we do say so ourselves) to create a better food system by growing food where people live and doing it more sustainably. They envisioned a city of rooftop farms to combat food deserts and reduce waste while regreening urban spaces, supporting the local economy, and allowing consumers to reconnect with their food source. A true win-win.
An ambitious idea as a result of years of ag experience and studying? Not exactly…Before even considering a rooftop, our co-founders, who hadn’t grown a single tomato, rented a McGill greenhouse to test their green thumbs and develop the know-how to become farmers. After research and crop trials, they were convinced that growing veggies on rooftops was viable and moved on to the next step: finding a roof. But not just any roof - the building below needed to be extremely stable to support the weight of a greenhouse with a flat, bare surface. Knowing this, they turned to Google Earth’s satellite view to scour the city’s rooftops. After narrowing things down and receiving their fair share of rejections, they found the perfect canvas in Montreal’s Ahuntsic neighbourhood. Despite the owner’s initial reluctance (changing his mind after being convinced by his wife and kids), we were in business!
In 2010, we broke roof on our 32,000-square-foot farm - the world’s first commercial rooftop greenhouse! This greenhouse was split into two different temperature zones with two separate hydroponic systems to diversify the veggie varieties that could be grown. One zone houses channels for herbs and lettuces (known as the nutrient film technique), while the other half is for vine crops like tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers (using a drip irrigation system). With the help of a greenhouse construction company, the build was completed, and by February 2011, it was time to get growing.
An all-hands-on-deck kind of team. For the first greenhouse to be a success, our co-founders recruited their friends and family who weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, along with brilliant team members, including our Head Grower Javier, who’s been with us since the very beginning.
Looking back, Javier remembers everyone jumping in wherever they were needed - handling everything from packing baskets and harvesting veggies to erecting foundation beams for the elevator while making sure the plants received their nutrients. Despite our enthusiasm, we reached a plateau of knowledge and turned to key consultants to adopt a more scientific approach. They helped us optimize the greenhouse, maximize the efficiency of the team members, increase yields, and feed more Lufavores.
Our Ahuntsic greenhouse was off to a promising start! We started out selling our rooftop veggies through our subscription service of fixed, non-customizable weekly baskets, supplying around 200 Lufavores per week. Although it’s now the smallest of our sites, it remains integral to our production - growing most of our fresh herbs, peppers, and microgreens.
Our mission to change the food system and regreen urban spaces relied on Ahuntsic’s success. Thanks to its triumph, the knowledge we gathered, the support of our flourishing community of Lufavores and team members, and the growing demand, we continued to move onwards and upwards with our mission.
