One thing I absolutely love about being employed at Southern Valley is the constant creativity and innovation we use in our farming operations. Those in both management and leadership roles are forever thinking outside the box in all aspects of the operation – from growing and harvesting products to fulfilling the demand for workers and their housing. The latest design and development of worker housing in Tennessee is a prime example of this Southern Valley innovation.
As our farm in Tennessee grew and labor needs increased, it quickly became apparent that we were going to have to provide more permanent housing for the workers employed there during the summer months. Ideas about how to resolve this issue were tossed around and apparently the leadership team decided it was just too easy to build standard worker housing.
Thinking back to when we began the farming operation in Yucatan, Jon Schwalls, Director of Operations, brought up the fact that we moved a semi-trailer to Yucatan and converted it to a house where a couple members of Southern Valley’s leadership lived while working to get the Yucatan operation up and running. Going with that same train of thought, the idea that we could do something similar with the new worker housing began to surface. Converting old shipping containers into a living space for workers became the goal.
As it turns out, repurposed housing – a fancy name for taking something old and using it for new and improved purposes – is all the rage for green and alternate housing in the urban US and even around the world. You can find repurposed container housing on a beach in Malibu, as well as in France, London, and Japan, so why not the mountains of Tennessee? The realization that this alternate form of housing would not only be quicker to build, and therefore more immediately meet our housing needs, but also more cost efficient, as well as modular, were all significant reasons we ultimately decided on repurposed shipping containers for our new worker housing.
The containers were out-of-service shipping containers purchased from a shipping company and brought one by one to our farming headquarters in Georgia. Paint was applied and a window, door, and ventilation unit were installed along with electric receptacles, lights, bunk beds, storage lockers, and drawers. When we were done, we had created a dorm-style housing unit that sleeps six. Because these are being utilized in the mountains of Tennessee, the ventilation fan serves as built-in air-conditioning and exchanges all air in the container once each minute. In the cool Tennessee mountain nights, that means a blanket is almost a guaranteed necessity.
Container Housing
As noted in our Mexico blog post, we are not building a resort for our workers, but rather functional and appropriate housing for those who are temporarily located at our Tennessee farm for the summer. This housing is not lavish, but it also isn’t far removed from what almost every college freshman has experienced living in an on campus dorm room. In between the two rows of container housing there is also a common area containing picnic tables for eating, a kitchen, and showers and restrooms separated by gender.
External View of Container Housing
At Southern Valley, we never stop pushing forward and are always seeking to use our creativity to devise innovative new solutions to problems. When the issue of creating permanent worker housing arose, we found a green, innovative way to repurpose old shipping containers. Whether it’s green container housing, home-grown bamboo cucumber stakes, or even a custom-made packing line, here at Southern Valley we will always be coming up with innovative ideas to take the produce industry into a sustainable future.
Container housing all in a row.
Common area for eating.
Showers and restroom.
Sinks inside restrooms.
Check here for some more really unique examples of repurposed container homes.