Hydroponic vision becoming reality

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Cobre Valley Indoor Farms celebrated its grand opening and ribbon cutting on Saturday, Jan. 5.

Located off of Miami Avenue in Miami, the indoor farming facility will eventually have a variety of home-grown fresh fruits, vegetable and spices ready for purchase.

With two customers anxious to purchase product — Bloom Restaurant and Jumbo’s Chinese Restaurant — the future of indoor farming looks bright for owner Elvin Fant.

His vision began several years ago when the Safeway store closed. Fant purchased the shelving from the closed store, and the wheels began to turn for an indoor farming facility. So, Fant and his wife began growing strawberries, not in a garden, not outside, but in a cup.

He made a presentation at the Gila County Fairgrounds, where he met Camden McGregor, who was excited about Fant’s passion for indoor farming and set up an internship program for the project.

Camden is now VP director of operations for Cobre Valley Indoor Farms and is equally passionate about helping to grow and revitalize the community through sustainable agriculture.

Currently, there are 62 volunteers who help with this project, and there is room for more. “This is a non-profit community effort,” Fant said. 

There is still more work to be done, and Fant’s goal is to eventually have a vertical hydroponic system that produces a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables that can be purchased for low prices.

Anyone interested in being a volunteer for Cobre Valley Farms or would like to donate to the non-profit organization may contact Fant at 928-310-7110 or via email at endure@cableone.net.