US (NC): Winston-Salem approves hydroponics site
Goler CDC will have to pay only a dollar a year to lease the site, but promoters of the effort on the city council talked about the benefits of having the hydroponic urban farm in operation.
“There will be some training that people can get that they can’t get anywhere else,” said Council Member D.D. Adams, making reference to the job-training aspect of the idea that has been one of its selling points.
On Monday, Council Member Robert Clark questioned both the location of the hydroponics operation and the wisdom of using that concept for job training.
“The taking of park land should be a last resort,” Clark said, adding that the city has lots of land available for development at the Whitaker Park business park that the city is in the process of helping to develop.
Clark said that while he supports job training, he thinks the city should focus on finding ways to fill such jobs as equipment operation rather than getting into “the lettuce business.” For months, Clark has complained that a hydroponic operation will be training people for jobs that do not exist.
Read more at the Winston-Salem Journal