Greenhouse To Provide Local Produce To Twin Cities Grocers

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- If you're trying to eat healthy and you're looking for fresher produce, there's big news out of St. Paul on Monday.

Officials broke ground Monday morning on a giant greenhouse in St. Paul. BrightFarms is partnering with J & J Distributing for the project.

The greenhouse will be built on a site at J & J Distributing on Rice Street. The plan is all about keeping it local. It's where they'll grow hundreds of thousands of pounds of fruits and veggies each year for grocery stores in the Twin Cities.

There's also the jobs angle here. Democratic Congresswoman Betty McCollum was on site for the ground breaking, touting the new positions that will be created. Stimulus dollars awarded to the city of St. Paul are paying for the project.

There will be six full-time jobs created and as many as 50 part-time jobs. Mayor Chris Coleman says peopled in that area of St. Paul need the work, and he doesn't haven't a problem spending the tax dollars.

"When you have the chance to break ground and get people back to work, not only on the construction but once it's completed, that's what government should be doing," said St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. "Really trying to drive jobs in the economy.  Not only that, how do you create opportunity to have fresh produce all year-round?"

At this site, local farmers will grow tomatoes, lettuce and herbs using hydroponics. Cub Foods has signed on to carry the produce at its nearly 60 locations in the Twin Cities metro.