Local By Atta is an indoor urban farm located in Moncton, Canada. It grows lettuce, greens and herbs hydroponically and specializes in offering pesticide-free produce year-round. It’s focus is on growing locally for local consumers. Its mission is to become a leader in the emergence of economically-, socially- and environmentally-responsible urban agriculture in Atlantic Canada.
There’s something in the name that might interest you. There are two parts. The first, “Local”, I’ve already explained a bit. We’re focused on our local market, economy and community. The second part, “Atta”, is a bit of a longer explanation. It’s a genus of leaf cutter ant, which are among the world’s oldest and most successful farmers. They farm a type of fungus on the leaves they cut and bring back to their nests. Farming like this lets them control the growing environment, monitor for pests and other problems and minimize the distance to their food source. Its the same type of farming that other insects have settled on. Any evolutionary experiments in long-distance farming didn’t survive the “survival of the fittest” process. Yet for a few generations, we humans have now been experimenting with such an agricultural system, likely at our peril. Local by Atta is our attempt at helping to swing the pendulum back towards an evolutionary-proven farming method: local.
