JetBlue and TERRA Reveal the T5 Farm -- An Innovative Experiment in Urban Farming and Airport Sustainability

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - October 08, 2015) -

-- The World's First Blue Potato Farm at an Airport Sprouts Up at JFK --

-- The T5 Farm Marks a 'Farm-to-Air' Collaboration Between JetBlue and TERRA Real Vegetable Chips, with Support from GrowNYC Partners and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey --

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU), New York's Hometown Airline™ and TERRA® Real Vegetable Chips, part of The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., today revealed the T5 Farm -- a blue potato farm and produce garden at Terminal 5 (T5) at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. An experiment in 'farm-to-air' innovation, the farm will promote New York agriculture and enhance the JetBlue customer experience with more green space.

The T5 Farm was created through a partnership between JetBlue and TERRA brand, with support from GrowNYC Partners and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The TERRA brand is known for providing JetBlue's signature TERRA Blues® which are available for free on every JetBlue flight. The T5 Farm will yield blue potatoes like those used to make the TERRA Blues. TERRA Blues have been the official snack of JetBlue since the airline launched. Last year, JetBlue distributed more than 5.7 million bags of TERRA Blues.

"An airport seems like an unexpected place for a farming experiment, but what better way to explore JetBlue's role in the food cycle than to harvest right in our own back yard at JFK," said Sophia Mendelsohn, head of sustainability, JetBlue. "Our customers expect T5 to offer them unique experiences. We know from our T5 Rooftop that people are drawn to light and green spaces, and they also have an inherent interest in understanding where their food comes from."

The 24,000 square foot farm will feature 3,000 crates of potato plants, herbs and other produce. It will highlight local farmers and New York's agriculture and is expected to grow more than 1,000 pounds of blue potatoes per harvest, as well as house 2,000 herbs and plants including a variety of produce such as arugula, beets, mint and basil. It is the first blue potato farm in the world at an airport. In collaboration with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the other plants being grown on the T5 Farm were carefully selected to deter bird and other wildlife coming to the area.