Salad Days opens 68,000-square-foot greenhouse in Flora

Salad Days Hydroponic Farm held a ribbon-cutting Tuesday for a new 68,000-square-foot greenhouse in Flora’s Industrial Park and said the facility will allow it to produce up to 3 million heads of lettuce a year.

The company said the controlled environment agriculture facility lets it grow lettuce year-round without pesticides and will increase Mississippi’s ability to supply fresh produce instead of relying on shipments from other states.

Salad Days President Leigh Bailey said the expansion is a step toward rebuilding the state’s local food supply. “Today, about 95% of the lettuce eaten in Mississippi is grown more than 1,500 miles away in California and Arizona,” Bailey said. “Customers in the deep south should and now can demand fresh, locally grown lettuce in their favorite restaurants and grocery stores.”

Mississippi Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson, USDA Mississippi Director Dane Maxwell, Madison County Economic Development Authority Executive Director Joey Deason and Flora Mayor Les Childress attended the ceremony, the company said. Gipson said the facility “strengthens our local food supply and supports better health for Mississippi families,” according to Salad Days, which thanked public and private partners including the City of Flora, the Madison County Economic Development Authority, the Mississippi Land Water and Timber Board, the Mississippi Development Authority, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Entergy Solutions.

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