They had such a hard on for being a “robotics” company (previously called RoBotany) but the reality is, you can have a vertical farm run completely by humans if it is done safely.

It’s my understanding that the robotics and the mechanics were very confidential which lends me the idea that the equipment will most likely be destroyed unless they sell the “patents”.

Got a tax incentive to build a farm in a low income neighborhood, promised to hire within the neighborhood, didn’t pay said employees a livable wage, charged an outrageous amount of money for a tiny bit of salad, a topping, and a dressing in uppity stores like Whole Foods.

Mechanical equipment with no safety equipment, crawling over a scissor lift railing 3 stories tall and reaching over to get on the catwalks, carrying heavy equipment up and down ladders, multiple (severe) chemical burns because there were no SDS sheets or proper attire given to us in order to properly handle dangerous chemicals. My last straw was a getting poisoned by a gas that left my lungs permanently damaged. It was a “good ol’ boys club where women weren’t respected. Multiple reports of sexual and racial jokes and discrimination. I could go on and on about the misconducts of that company.

Edit to add:

They were also dumping chemicals into the sewer and drains that should have been disposed off safely and properly.

We were also throwing away pounds and POUNDS of perfectly good produce that could’ve been donated. I suggested 412 Food Rescue and even came in on my day off, unpaid, to set up an appointment but they poopooed my idea. (Again, would not take any female ideas or advice seriously.)

They were more concerned with hiring farmers that had worked for celebrities for the notoriety, than promoting from within with perfectly qualified employees who have been with the company from the beginning and sacrificed their physical well-beings (literal blood, sweat, and tears) for the sake of the company because we believed in it.

This job absolutely ruined my body and my physical well being. I can no longer do what I am qualified to do and had to give up my passion because I’m simply not physically able to do what I love to do because of the permanent damages that were done to my body because of this job.

I was a grower that wore “many different hats” that was extremely underpaid (even did store promotions for no pay) and promised promotions that never came. It was an extremely dangerous place to work. OSHA would’ve had a field day.

Former employee here and this does not surprise me one bit.

Paywall:

Fifth Season, a Pittsburgh-based indoor vertical farming startup that used advanced robotics to grow a variety of leafy greens for distribution in salad kits sold at hundreds of grocery stores, has shut down. According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, the revenue-producing startup officially closed its doors on Friday. It employed about 100 workers, most of whom reported to its headquarters in The Highline building on the South Side while others worked out of its 60,000-square-foot indoor farming facility in Braddock. A representative from the company declined to speak on the record about the startup's closing at this time. Details on what led to its closure remain unknown, though it comes amid a local and national backdrop of difficult times for capital-heavy tech startups seeking additional investments amid tightening economic conditions. The closure of Fifth Season is the latest blow to Pittsburgh's startup community as it comes just days after Strip District-based autonomous vehicle startup Argo AI announced it, too, had closed. Argo's local employment reached about 800 workers across the region and nearly 2,000 people worldwide. A Carnegie Mellon University spinout founded in 2016 by CEO Austin Webb, Chief Operating Officer Brac Webb and Chief Technology Officer Austin Lawrence, Fifth Season went on to raise $75 million in outside investments. Like Argo, Fifth Season's shuttering follows a period of significant milestones for the company. Just weeks ago, the company announced a new salad product and a complete redesign of its packaging. In September, it offered a media tour of its Braddock farm to celebrate the full activation of its on-site microgrid that is capable of supplying 1,360 kilowatts of electricity to the site during peak usage. That followed the August announcement that Fifth Season began offering its salad kits at local Whole Foods locations, the latest addition to the more than 750 grocery stores where consumers could find its products.