Farming for the Future

Providing underrepresented farmers equitable opportunities to succeed in the farming profession, through the utilization of hydroponic technology within a grocery store space, promoting water/soil conservation, pesticide and farm equipment reduction.

Our group is addressing land conservation, water conservation, and reducing barriers for underrepresented prospective farmers to enter the industry. Doing so will reduce fossil fuel emissions by no longer having the need to have traditional farming equipment.

Today’s average United States farmer is 48 years of age and feeds up to 155 people making up only 1.3% of the total occupations in the US.  Of those farmers,26% are female, and less than 10% are non-Caucasian. 

The majority of farmers use traditional farming methods to produce their crops. In Northern Nevada, the cost of a 500-acres of farmland with water rights is around 3 million dollars, with equipment and materials the total cost equates to 4 million dollars in start-up costs alone.

 Farmland occupies around 38% of the world’s land surface and 70% of the freshwater reserves. Both are dwindling due to urbanization and increasing population. This creates the perfect storm, declining farmland, dwindling water reserves, and an aging workforce that are forced to support the growing population. This terrifying reality inspired us to create Farming for the Future. 

Our group is proposing that a grocery store rent a small greenhouse-like structure attached to their store, similar to our small school greenhouse, to a farmer. The farmer can then use the rented space to grow his/her crop through the use of hydroponics. Hydroponics uses nutrient-enhanced water to grow plants in a soilless medium. The water circulates through the system and collects in a holding tank where it is recirculated back through the system again. A farmer can use a vertical hydroponic system which allows him/her to maximize the crop space, in a more controlled environment, without the need for traditional farming machinery. As an added bonus, the farmer does vast reduction in the need for pesticides, as he/she now operates in an indoor space that shields his/her crop from many of Mother Nature's elements. In addition, this significantly reduces the start-up costs an individual faces when entering the traditional farming profession. 

Our solution serves three parties, the farmer, the consumer, and the grocery store enterprise. 

While our solution is applicable to any farmer, it is a game changer for the underrepresented farmer. While an underrepresented farmer could take on many descriptions, our group is looking at it as a young individual of color (especially a woman) in a leadership entrepreneurial farming role.  One of the most difficult parts of starting an agricultural business is finding farmable land, sufficient water rights to sustain the farm, overcoming high start-up costs, and acquiring a large enough loan to acquire the resources listed above. Our solution allows a young individual of color to rent a farming space at a reasonable cost, use modern hydroponic technology to grow his/her crop thereby substantially reducing start-up costs, and obtain a clientele to buy the produce. 

The consumers are benefited from our solution in several ways. Some of the ways include knowing the farmer that is producing their food and having the opportunity to see the locations and operations where his/her produce is grown. This also allows the consumer to become more aware of the process of farm-to-fork. The product itself will be treated with fewer pesticides, as having an indoor controlled environment reduces the amount and type of pests that the product is exposed to.  The customer is also choosing an eco-friendlier option by supporting their local farmer as hydroponic farming uses a fraction of the water a traditional farm uses. In addition, no traditional heavy farm equipment is needed thus reducing a farmer's carbon footprint by reducing the number of fossil fuels needed to power the operation. 

Grocery Stores highly benefit from our solution. A grocery store has the opportunity to expand its store or rent out poorly used/ empty space. The store will have an added income from the monthly rent paid by the farmer. Chain grocery stores will now have the opportunity to support a local farmer, and by doing so is supporting a local business. Like the consumer, the store will know where they are buying their produce from, will have access to produce that is treated with fewer pesticides, with a longer shelf life, as well has been harvested when the produce has ripened on the plant which increases its palatability. Our preliminary customer survey has shown that a customer will be more willing to shop at a grocery store that is designed in this way, thus the grocery store will have an influx of new customers, substantially increasing their revenue.

There are a few factors that make our team well-positioned to implement our design. Our team has access to a greenhouse and basic hydroponic equipment that will allow us to test our solution. The grant funding, we received allows us to make the units more efficient, for example turning them into vertical systems, which can significantly increase crop yield and maximize the square footage. If our team can provide solutions for the problems that farmers would face when using this farming technology, the farmer is less likely to become frustrated, revert back to traditional ways, and/or choose another profession. Another way in which we are well-positioned to deliver this solution is our relationship with Nevada’s agricultural community. We are one of two FFA chapters within our district. Our Chapter works to serve our community, we work with elementary schools on maintaining and educating them about their school gardens as well as other projects to preserve our community's natural environment and resources. We have a very strong relationship with our agricultural partners in education and as such we are able to have authentic interviews with local farmers, real estate agents who have farmer clientele, and individuals who have seen the evolution of Nevada agriculture for over 40 years. Our group is excited because when speaking with the entities listed above, they become very interested in our solution, and are willing to support our project in any way they can. 

Our project’s goal is to serve underrepresented farmers, grocery stores, and customers. We started by doing online research about underrepresented farmers. We found that women in the farming industry often experience gender bias. Because of this, they often do not have equitable access to as many agricultural resources as men. We also found that, due to historical events of racism and marginalization, several minority communities are more severely impacted by the land loss. According to Racial Inequity in the Food System (youngfarmers.org), “The crisis of land loss and displacement in the United States continues to disproportionately impact people of color and Indigenous people.” We based our project on being able to provide all farmers, but especially women and people of color, with more opportunities within the agricultural industry. In addition to online research, our group has interviewed local farmers to better understand the challenges they face in entering their profession as well as the obstacles they face once in their profession. 

We utilized fly-on-the-wall observations and individual interviews of customers shopping in grocery stores to assess their needs and wants while shopping. It was by these observations that we predicted that providing the grocery store with fresh produce would be something that customers would be interested in. In interviews with the customers, the shortages of food and transportation issues during the COVID-19 Pandemic were discussed. That time was very hard for many people, so the team discussed how our project could help provide some fresh produce to customers during shortages, or where there is less access to food. In addition, we found that customers want to support local farmers and be able to see the source where their food originates. Customers were enthused about the idea of their produce being ripened on the vine and being treated with fewer pesticides. In our interviews, we found there to be a lack of customer knowledge on the product's journey from farm to fork. 

To begin to understand how our solution can serve grocery stores, we interviewed individuals who have been and continue to lead and influence Nevada agriculture.  Our preliminary interviews found that land availability, location, and cost are some of the most difficult elements to consider while trying to start an agricultural enterprise.  In addition, the interviews provided insight into the challenges of utilizing a greenhouse and hydroponics. Interviewees found our solution to be an interesting, viable possibility due to the shift in the farming industry towards smaller growers that cooperate with each other.

Farming for the Future plans to use preexisting grocery stores as the base to build greenhouses or buildings conducive to plant growth. This would save time, labor, money, water, and land when beginning a farming business, as farmers would be given equal opportunities to start their farming careers. This can also be a good opportunity for minorities to join an agricultural career, whereas, in the traditional system, it is harder for diverse groups to start a farm as their primary occupation. 

Our goal is to help underrepresented farmers enter the profession and create successful businesses, through the use of hydroponic systems used in an enclosed space conducive to plant growth. We plan to achieve this goal by growing various produce for our culinary academy to use, and in doing so determine the most useful hydroponic system that would maximize crop yield for the prospective farmer, within a year's time. In addition, we plan to pitch our idea to leaders within the Northern Nevada agriculture community and grocery store owners. Then, based on their feedback, find solutions that address the anticipated barriers, leading us one step closer to implementing our solution. 

Hydroponic farming is a method of farming in which nutrient-enriched water cycles through a system containing a soilless medium to grow plants. The system itself can come in different layouts, and its structure is built out of different materials, but the fundamental concept is the same. Our solution is primarily focused on vertical-based hydroponic systems. We have a plastic reservoir fluid with nutrient-enriched water, a pump that runs from our reservoir through a drip line to the structures containing our plants, where it is then cycled back to the reservoir if needed through a PVC pipe network. Each plant has its own container. Each container contains a jiffy pod (soilless medium), clay pebbles, and the plant. The drip line running through the system is perforated allowing the water to reach the clay pebbles and the jiffy pod. When the plant seed germinates, it begins to develop a root system that will eventually expand beyond the jiffy pod, so the nutrient-enriched water will now directly supply the roots with the nutrients needed to sustain the plant’s growth. 

In our experimental stages, we have not been able to serve anyone, yet. Within the next year, we plan to supply enough hydroponically grown lettuce to meet the needs of our school’s culinary program which serves about 30 people bi-weekly. Ideally, we plan to have one grocery store and farmer implement our solution or aspects of our solution, this would essentially serve hundreds of customers a week. If this is not attainable in a year, we plan to meet with both parties to help create solutions to the barriers that are hindering implementation.

• Completing the retrofitting of our current hydroponic system. We have a few engineering challenges that have set us back a little bit, but we continue to work on them, and our system is improving every day. 

• Obtaining the necessary funds to build a greenhouse.

• Having grocery stores be willing to try our idea. 

• Having an underrepresented farmer be open to trying our idea. 

• Possible startup equipment donated to allow a farmer to try our prototype. 

• Overcoming regulations that may hinder the implementation of our solution. 

• Obtaining the correct permits to work the greenhouse and sell the products produced. 

• There is always a possibility, although we do not anticipate this occurring, of a variable such as pests, issues with heating, or water that would significantly hinder the successful production of our crop. 

Rail City Garden Center has been a valuable partner for our project. They have provided us with plants, hydroponic materials, and helpful insight to help us with our design. We are also working with realtors who deal with agricultural real estate and farmers, they are providing current land costs as well as other costs associated with procuring farmable land and water rights. We are working with local farmers and agricultural leaders to help provide us with the barriers underrepresented farmers face, farm operating costs, startup costs, and regulations to which they must adhere to. We are working with grocery stores that focus on providing fresh produce to their customers, and are invested in supporting local farmers. We are currently working more on this piece, as we feel as though we need more data and information before we pitch our idea to them. 

Our project fosters the communalistic relationship between farmers, grocery stores, and customers. The project allows an underrepresented farmer to rent a space conducive to plant growth and use hydroponics to grow his/her crop without many of the costs and natural variables common in outdoor environments that are associated with the traditional farming business model. Our model gives grocery stores easier access to fresh vine-ripened produce, minimizing the effects of transportation costs and possible food shortages. This will in turn  attract more customers based on the customer’s desire to support local farmers and have access to produce grown with minimal pesticides. In addition to benefiting from the option to buy locally grown, organic foods the customer knows that they are contributing to an environmentally conscious program that reduces their own carbon footprint. Our project may also be expanded to help low-income customers with less access to fresh produce.

The social enterprise business model that best describes our solution is the Market Intermediary Model. Our team is identifying and addressing the barriers an underrepresented farmer would face when trying our solution. We are also providing an alternative, eco-friendly way of farming that could maximize his/her crop yield. By doing so, in theory, we are increasing the farmer's revenue from his/her crop because he/she will have lower operating and start-up costs. We plan to fund our solution through the grant funding we have received and seeking donations for hydroponic materials from Northern Nevada agricultural leaders.