Reimagining the Food Paradigm

Good morning and welcome back to the newsletter.

Autumn is here, always a time of visible transition. I hope yours is off to a great start.

Last week, we discussed the Longpath Mindset– the idea that encourages us to be better ancestors– and how that idea shaped my career decision to leave health insurance and join the vertical farming industry.

This week, we’re going to explore what indoor/vertical farming and hydroponics are, and how they might play a crucial role in a healthier and more sustainable future.

What is Vertical Farming?

Vertical farming is an agricultural process that involves growing crops on top of one another, indoors, rather than horizontally, outdoors, as seen in traditional farming practices. Planting vertically conserves space, resulting in higher crop yields, while growing indoors creates a controlled environment, where every parameter of growth can be analyzed and optimized. 

Vertical farms often use a technology known as hydroponics— which refers to the growing of plants without soil, but by using solutions of mineral nutrients dissolved in water.

While potentially less nutritious than organic produce, hydroponics can provide a higher yield with a fraction of the water consumption. For example, growing “2.2 pounds of tomatoes using intensive farming methods requires 100 gallons of water, while using hydroponics, only 18 gallons” (HydroponicFarmTips).

Water-based, soil-free, farming technology has been used intermittently throughout history, but the first prominent proposal came from Dr. Dickson Despommier, a revered professor of microbiology, public health and environmental health sciences at Columbia University.

In his TED Talk and book, “The Vertical Farm,” Despommier examines the environmental and social benefits of vertical farming and describes a potential revolution in agriculture. As he writes in the introduction, “These farms would raise food without soil in specially constructed buildings. When farms are successfully moved to cities, we can convert significant amounts of farmland back into whatever ecosystems were there originally, simply by leaving it alone.”

In addition, food production would be closer to points of consumption, creating jobs and eliminating the energy expenditure and traffic congestion currently associated with shipping produce over great distances. “Building self-sustaining cities now will allow the land to heal itself, thereby restoring balance between our lives and the rest of nature.”

Currently, most of these vertical farms are built in large warehouses, similar to the one shown below.

While fruitful and sustainable, these indoor food systems require lots of space and complex operation. There simply isn’t room for accessibility or agency.

Food Sovereignty is a concept that’s growing in popularity that was first defined in 2007 by the Declaration of Nyéléni (the first global forum on food sovereignty).

“Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations.”

There are 6 Pillars of Food Sovereignty, one being– “Localized Food Systems.” To localize a food system indicates shortening the distance & time between food growers and consumers. The recent popularization of farmer’s markets and farm-to-table restaurants indicate that this “eat-local” movement is developing with great momentum.

However– what if there was a way to localize your food even further?

For as long as I can remember, gardening has been a cornerstone practice for my parents. Every year, by late summertime, we always had abundant harvests of tomatoes and cucumbers bigger than rolling-pins. For that, I’m super grateful. During those years, I learned that growing food at home is the ultimate practice of localization.

Naturally, I was excited to try gardening out for myself this year, as I finally had outdoor space and a great sun exposure. What I quickly learned this summer is that growing fresh produce is much more difficult than it looks. Aside from a few good harvests of cherry tomatoes, everything I planted burnt to a crisp….

Guess I don’t have a green thumb (yet).

Enter Gardyn: an at-home, vertical-farming system, that grows 30 plants at a time on auto-pilot (through AI Technology). 

I was introduced to Gardyn by a friend, Sheetal Bahirat, who founded & runs an incredibly cool health drink company, Hidden Gems, that uses upcycled avocado seeds to brew a delicious tea-like drink, known as Reveal.

We recorded a podcast together about two years ago and it was filled with insight about the company, entrepreneurship and sustainable business practices.

Sustainability is a topic that’s close to both of our hearts, and was one of the things that first attracted me to Gardyn. Not just as a product, but a company.

The Gardyn, a personal hydroponic vertical farming system, uses 95% less water than traditional farming practices.

The company is also certified carbon neutral.

Thanks to advanced hydroponic technology and an AI-driven watering cycle, Gardyn yields the same amount of produce as a 1,300 sq ft outdoor vegetable garden, while standing at just 2 square feet.

Here’s a picture of mine in my apartment.

The aesthetics of the device and sustainability efforts of the company were both big factors in my decision to buy in with Gardyn, but here are 3 other benefits that came as a surprise.

Building Healthy Habits: 

In his now-famous book on habits, “Atomic Habits,” James Clear makes the point that Environment matters WAY more than Motivation.

“Motivation Is Overrated; Environment Often Matters More…Conventional wisdom holds that motivation is the key to habit change. Maybe if you really wanted it, you’d actually do it. But the truth is, our real motivation is to be lazy and to do what is convenient. And despite what the latest productivity best seller will tell you, this is a smart strategy, not a dumb one.”

Speaking from someone who’s two months into my Gardyn journey– seeing fresh produce every time I walk into my kitchen makes SUCH a difference. Snacks still call to me, but now vegetables are the easy, obvious, choice. Environment matters.

No Pesticides: 

The pesticide problem in America deserves its own newsletter, but that’s for another time.

The short of it is, nearly 1 billion pounds of conventional pesticides are used each year in the United States. A fundamental component of conventional agriculture, pesticides cause increased greenhouse gas emissions, soil erosion, water pollution, and threatens human health. 

Organic farming practices are an incredible step in the right direction, as chemical fertilizers and pesticides are not allowed in the USDA Organic Certification and developing biological diversity and soil fertility are key objectives.

Like organic-certified produce, Gardyn’s plants are 100% pesticide free, so no need to worry about ingesting carcinogenic chemicals.

Nutrient Density:

Here’s a stat that shocked me when I recently found out: Most produce loses 30 percent of nutrients three days after harvest. This is likely a conservative estimate, as one study from Penn State showed that spinach can lose 90% of its vitamin C content within 24 hours of harvest.

With Gardyn, I’m enjoying my greens less than 10 minutes after harvest.

Full Nutrition. No Delay.

One Thing to Check Out:

It’s been more than 50 years since the first and only White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health was held in 1969, so today’s event will be a momentous event.

The goal of the conference is to “End hunger and increase healthy eating and physical activity by 2030, so that fewer Americans experience diet-related diseases like diabetes, obesity, and hypertension.”

Gardyn is an official partner of the conference because “Gardyn’s mission has always been to help everyone have a healthy lifestyle, sustainably”, says FX Rouxel, Gardyn CEO. “We believe in the urgent need to make healthy food easily accessible and affordable for everyone, everywhere. Food deserts should be no more in this new century. Educating kids early on about healthy habits and real food is the best way to build healthy habits as they grow into adults.”

 You can join the conference here.

As you can see, I’m excited about the potential of this new technology and company so I appreciate your reading.

If you have any questions or comments about Gardyn, life, or otherwise, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m always happy to chat.

Hope you have an awesome week ahead.

With Gratitude,

Aidan