Oct. 6—Cleburne sits at the vortex of a food revolution. So said Eden Green Technology officials during Friday's unveiling of their new greenhouse facility. Company, city and county officials as well as other guests got a firsthand look at the $47 million, 2-acre vertical greenhouse that will produce 1.8 million pounds of greens annually in the facility's 62,500-square-foot growing space.

The greenhouse growing system will produce 11 to 13 harvests per year and includes more than 200 products. Eden Green donates 10 percent of their yield to charity. Most of the rest is pre-sold to retailers and distributors.

"Eden Green's vision is a mesh network of eco-friendly, highly efficient cutting edge vertical farms near population centers that save on food miles and provide high-quality produce to people at affordable prices," company spokesman Trevor Moore said.

The bigger news, company officials said, is that additional expansion in the planning will one day triple the facility's current output.

Guests mingled during the pre-presentation period taking in the new facility while polishing off charcuterie cups and cherry limeades and saw a tugbot demonstration by one of the company's robotic workers.

"They are crucial to the success of this greenhouse and the company as a whole," Eden Green CEO Eddy Badrina said. "They take the strain off our team members to allow them to do what they do best. But all due respect, they are not what made this greenhouse run. They are not what's powering our mission."

That mission and success, Badrina and others stressed, stems from the hard work, dedication and determination of Eden Green's employees.

The company, which set up shop in Cleburne in 2018, originated from the dream of South African brothers Jacques and Eugene Van Buuren, two engineers who developed the vertical greenhouse farming system several years ago in attempt to produce fresh, healthy and affordable food for everyone.

"Thank you for sharing this moment in history with us," Jacques Van Buuren said while opening Friday's ceremony. "This is one right step for Eden Green, but it's a gigantic leap for food security of the world."

The goal remains, Jacques Van Buuren said, to produce affordable food that is nutritious, safe and good quality.

"And that it also tastes great," Jacques Van Buuren said.

Eugene Van Buuren interjected that people often ask he and his brother why they're in business. The answer, he said, involves a Christmas party held several years ago in Africa for orphans and underprivileged people.

"I noticed a young boy collecting candy in his pocket then running off," Eugene Van Buuren said. "Only to come back a little while later, collect some more and stick it in his pocket. But I noticed that he wasn't eating any of it."

Curious as to what was going on, Eugene Van Buuren asked the boy's teacher.

"She told me that he was collecting food for his little sister," Eugene Van Buuren said. "It was her night to eat and not his. At that moment, it was very clear to me that we have to make a difference. That is why Eden Green is making available affordable, nutritious for all the people from the U.S. to the rest of the world. That's why we will keep working to make our food more affordable and more nutritious."

Jacques Van Buuren spoke of the tragedy of that young boy having to suddenly become an adult to look after his 3-year-old little sister and of the reality, and challenges, of food desserts and "real hunger" throughout the world.

Attempting to tackle those challenges and the origins of Eden Green proved no small feat, Jacques Van Buuren said, involving years of research and coordination of the fields of engineering, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, computer science, horticulture, business models and other disciplines.

Aaron Fields, Eden Green vice president of agriculture, spoke of witnessing lettuce harvesting in the Arizona dessert. Which, despite the sight of the workers going about their picking to the music of Queen, simply made little sense, Fields added.

"They threw the lettuce harvested into boxes and on to trucks in the middle of nowhere," Fields said. "There's no water, no nutrients in the dessert. It's extreme temperatures and it's thousands of miles away from anybody that was going to eat that lettuce.

"All I could think about was that this was wrong. This wasn't the way we should do things. So I spent the next several years trying to find companies that were trying to do something better. Companies growing produce all over the country, close to people, close to markets."

Several of those companies were good, but not great, Fields said.

"Until I came here," Fields said. "When I came here I understood the vision that Jacques and Eugene had for this company."

Paul Rowsey of Ryan Construction, builders of the new greenhouse, praised the efforts of all involved in completing construction of the new greenhouse within a year despite the hurdles of Covid, the global logistics crisis and damages brought about by 70 mph straight line winds a month ago. Not to mention that much of the greenhouse had to be delivered from France.

The greenhouse, Rowsey said, represents much more than four walls and a roof.

"Here it takes it a step further," Rowsey said. "Where it's not just the people who work here who thrive, but this also has a huge impact not just on the city but on the entire world. The technology in these walls is going to change the entire world, and that's a really special thing to be involved with."