Travellers walk down a concourse at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois on May 25, 2010. (Photo credit: KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)
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CHICAGO (WBBM) – The Aviation Department cut the ribbon on the world’s first aeroponic garden in an airport on Friday.
In the G Concourse of Terminal 2 at O’Hare, different varieties of lettuce, hot peppers and herbs are growing.
They’re sprouting from 26 towers under special grow lights and using an irrigation system that runs inside the 8-foot tall white structures and recycles the water not absorbed.
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The harvest – which comes about once a month – will be used in four restaurants at the airport, according to Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino.
They are: Tortas Frontera, Wicker Park Seafood and Sushi, Blackhawks Restaurant and Tuscany.
The garden was paid for by HMS Host, one of O’Hare’s concessions vendors.
President and CEO Elie Maalouf says this meets traveler’s demands for fresh local produce.
