"You must tell your story. Why are you passionate about this thing you so badly want to do as a business idea? Tell it, sing it. Be loud and proud." Vicki PozzebonI often post great things that other folks are doing and I can't wait to share all the good things PUG is doing.So I'm telling my story. I am telling the story of Project Urban Greenhouse, affectionately known as PUG.
Once upon a time, I was out of work and I didn't know what to do. I was talking to someone who does Family Constellations and she said, you don't have to know, but here's a good exercise: if you had one million dollars what would you do? Whatever the answer to that question is - DO THAT!
I sat long and hard, meditating on the answer to that question and I drilled down to what I am passionate about - 1) serving people, 2) feeding people, and 3) business. And THIS is how PUG was born.
Of course, since that time, PUG has morphed and morphed again, it has gone through intense business planning and the original vision (as large as the universe) was parsed down, with a definitive part to start with and other parts to work towards. The for profit and the non profit have been fully defined and then defined again because Project Urban Greenhouse is an opportunity to combine business and non-profit work in order to improve accessibility to healthy food for all people.
"Making healthy food available to every household."Right now, I have a beautiful piece of property picked out on the south side of Santa Fe, large enough for both the for profit and the non-profit and ideally located amidst housing, schools, and crossroads.
First and foremost on the for-profit side is to set up the urban greenhouse farm, using hydroponic and aeroponic technology which famously uses only 10% of the water that traditional growing takes - absolutely ideal for our arid, water-stricken land. We'll start with greens because there is a good market with greens, then add in tomatoes and gourmet mushrooms, and each year add in more veggies. It's a great model because hydroponic farming has a faster turnaround on growing time, and can be done all year, since it is done inside greenhouses.
First and foremost on the non-profit side is to set up the Marketplace Pavilion. This building will be quite large and will have indoor and covered outdoor sections. I am in conversation with the SF Farmer's Market and would like to speak to southside farmers to see if they would be interested in our site as a permanent location for their southside market. We will offer the pavilion for local, community and family events.
We also plan to have a commercial kitchen inside the pavilion with the idea of inviting local residents with old family recipes to come and try it out. We'd like to form a connection with larger NM organizations which market foods and help people establish food-based livelihoods by selling their wares. We're also in contact with other organizations who would be grateful to use the kitchen for healthy cooking classes.
That's just the start.
Project Urban Greenhouse is all about creating FOOD EQUITY and FOOD SECURITY for local communities. We want to work with schools and local residents, dig deep to find what is hindering this and find ways to bring about food equity for all neighborhoods regardless of location, ethnicity, or income level. WHY should food equity be a matter of money? Our country is rich enough and advanced enough that no person should ever go hungry. But in NM, 1 out of 3 children goes to bed hungry, seniors have to choose between vital medicine and eating well, and families struggle. These are huge things to tackle and that's why - although they are not a part of our start up - they are never far from our heart. The soul of Project Urban Greenhouse is making food equity a reality.
Project Urban Greenhouse is a startup seeking funding to begin operations. We are perched and ready to GO!
Right now we are seeking funding in two ways:
1) Debt equity, loans or angel funding to start up the for profit urban farm business
2) grants and donations to set up the Marketplace Pavilion (I am currently able to accept tax-deductible donations through my fiscal sponsor HERE and will soon be a 501c3 and able to accept donations directly.)
I am working on a crowdfunding campaign with an amazing local artist that I hope to launch in August.
And in the meantime, I have decided, I will be writing more often about the awesome aspects of Project Urban Greenhouse and why I am so passionate about it.
If you have any questions at all, please contact me!
GO PROJECT URBAN GREENHOUSE!!!!
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