The Mid-Ohio Farm @ NBC4 started with a seed of an idea: what could be done with 2.7 fallow acres on the property of WCMH-TV NBC4?
Groundbreaking on the urban farm took place in June of 2022. It combines traditional and modern agricultural techniques such as high-tech vertical hydroponics towers, which can grow dozens of plants per square foot vertically instead of one plant per square foot like a traditional horizontal farm.
The goal is to produce up to 100,000 pounds of food annually, to benefit clients of the Mid-Ohio Food Collective and people in the neighborhood surrounding NBC4, which is a food desert. The area is also home to many new Americans, who can grow produce in the community garden.
The farm is run by Mid-Ohio Food Collective and has a full-time farm manager on-site. In November of 2023, The Franklin County Commissioners issued a grant for $181,000 to the farm, to support the Columbus and Franklin County local food action plan.
It is believed that NBC4 is the only television station in America that hosts a working urban farm.
Mid-Ohio Farm at NBC4
