Benjamin Vidmar lives and works in one of the most northern towns in the world. He is trying to grow food for the town of about 2,000 people. But that is difficult when temperatures are often below freezing and it stays dark for months in the winter. Vidmar keeps a greenhouse where he grows vegetables during the short summer when there is 24 hours of sunlight each day. During the winter, temperatures drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius. But Vidmar still grows what he calls microgreens and raises small birds called quail. He is the only person who grows any food in the town of Longyearbyen. The town is only 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole in the Svalbard Archipelago. It once was known for coal mining. Vidmar spoke to the Thomson Reuters Foundation recently. He said growing food may seem like a “mission impossible” but it is necessary.