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The Harvard graduate is one of 10 "entrepreneurial farmers" selected
by Square Roots, an indoor urban farming company, to grow kale,
mini-head lettuce and other crops locally in the Bedford-Stuyvesant
neighborhood of Brooklyn.
For 12 months, farmers each get a 320-square-foot steel shipping
container where they control the climate of their own farm. Under
pink LED lights, they grow GMO-free greens all year round.
Groszyk, who personally makes all the deliveries to his 45
customers, said he chooses certain crops based on customer feedback
and grows new crops based on special requests.
"Literally the first day we were here, they were lowering these
shipping containers with a crane off the back of a truck," said
Groszyk. "By the next week, we were already planting seeds."
Tobias Peggs launched Square Roots with Kimbal Musk, the brother of
Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk, in November, producing
roughly 500 pounds of greens every week for hundreds of customers.
"If we can come up with a solution that works for New York, then as
the rest of the world increasingly looks like New York, we'll be
ready to scale everywhere," said Peggs.
In exchange for providing the farms and the year-long program, which
includes support on topics like business development, branding,
sales and finance, Square Roots shares 30 percent of the revenue
with the farmers. Peggs estimates that farmers take home between
$30,000 and $40,000 total by the end of the year.
The farmers cover the operating expenses of their container farm,
such as water, electricity and seeds and pay rent, costing them
roughly $1,500 per month in total, according to Peggs.
"An alternative path would be doing an MBA in food management,
probably costing them tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands
of dollars," Peggs said, adding that he hopes farmers start
companies of their own after they graduate from the program.
Groszyk harvests 15 to 20 pounds of produce each week, having been
trained in artificial lighting, water chemistry, nutrient balance,
business development and sales.
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"It's really interesting to find out who's growing your food," said
Tieg Zaharia, 25, a software engineer at Kickstarter, while munching
on a $5 bag of greens grown and packaged by Groszyk.
"You're not just buying something that's shipped in from hundreds of
miles away."
Nabeela Lakhani, 23, said reading "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side
of the All-American Meal" in high school inspired her to change the
food system.
Three nights per week, Lakhani assumes the role of resident chef at
a market-to-table restaurant in lower Manhattan.
"I walk up to the table and say, 'Hi guys! Sorry to interrupt, but I
wanted to introduce myself. I am Chalk Point Kitchen's new urban
farmer,' and they're like, 'What?'" said Lakhani, who specializes in
Tuscan kale and rainbow chard.
"Then I kind of just go, 'Yeah, you know, we have a shipping
container in Brooklyn ... I harvest this stuff and bring it here
within 24 hours of you eating it, so it's the freshest salad in New
York City.'"
(Reporting by Melissa Fares in New York; Additional reporting by
Mike Segar in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler)
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