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TABLE OF CONTENTS AMARYLLIS GARDEN GREENS...................................................................................4 AMERICAN HEARTLAND ACRES................................................................................6 CITY PLANET FARMS...................................................................................................8 BAYBERRY FRESH.......................................................................................................10 EVO FARMS...............................................................................................................12 FABLE.........................................................................................................................14 CORNER STALK.........................................................................................................16 FRESH WITH EDGE....................................................................................................18 FREIGHT FARMS........................................................................................................20 FRESH START GREENS...............................................................................................22 FRESNO EOC FOOD INITIATIVE................................................................................24 GROW UP.................................................................................................................26 THE GROWING EXPERIENCE.................................................................................. 28 HALO GREENS...........................................................................................................30 KULA URBAN FARMS.................................................................................................32 LOCAL GREENS........................................................................................................34 LOCALIZE...................................................................................................................36 LOCAL SPROUT........................................................................................................38 MISTY MORNING VERTICAL FARM.........................................................................40 MYFOOD...................................................................................................................42 NORTH TEXAS AQUAPONICS..................................................................................44
SMART GREENS..........................................................................................................46 VIRGINIA VEGETABLE COMPANY............................................................................48 PULASKI GROW.........................................................................................................50 VET VEGGIES..............................................................................................................52 ZEPONIC FARMS........................................................................................................54
Milton, Ontario, Canada About Amaryllis Garden Greens
Fresh, Local, & Welcoming in Ontario, Canada Amaryllis Garden Greens is a Freight Farm in the heart of Milton, Ontario, Canada where leafy greens remain constantly fresh, local and welcoming regardless of the temperatures (which range from -10 to +100 Celsius). Upstart Farmer Anne Marie Blinco created Amaryllis Garden Greens to become a part of the solution to sustainable urban farming and to provide new opportunities in the community. “ZipGrow has supported and encouraged me as a individual and business owner. ZipGrow is conscious, trustworthy and innovative. I have enough towers to supply a acre of crop each month. All in 320 cubic feet. That is impressive!” -Anne Marie Blinco
Amaryllis Garden Greens grows GMO- and pesticide-free hydroponic Spinach and Bib lettuce to service several local CrossFit locations (CrossFit Outlaw North in Stoney Creek and Reebok CrossFit Firepower Milton). Customers enjoy an intense workout and then are able to conveniently pick up freshly-harvested greens as post-workout nourishment. Recognizing the importance of healthy lifestyles for young members of the community, Amaryllis sponsors a youth program (among other programs) in which a portion of all proceeds from the purchase of the greens goes towards a scholarship program designed for a young athlete to become a member at CrossFit Outlaw North for a year. “Together we are creating social change through food.” – Anne Marie Blinco
STEM, NORTH CAROLINA About American Heartland Acres
Bringing Fresh Produce to the Heart of North Carolina AH Acres is excited to creatively overcome the challenges that are plaguing local farmers in North Carolina. Their goal is to help regenerate an appreciation for locally supplied goods and services that are produced with healthy practices and without questionable fertilizers or pesticides. They have found that the quality speaks for itself, and that people are excited that there is a healthy, local option.
Matt Marsh grew up on the land that now houses American Heartland Acres, a vertical aquaponic farm. For over a century, it has been a working cattle, produce and tobacco farm . Matt and Crystal Marsh and partners Julian Hall and Bruce Ellington decided to start a farm that was financially motivated once they realized the rising importance of farmers in America. They also observed that their rural town was becoming more and more populated with subdivisions, which was something they wanted to avoid on their family farm.
New YOrk, NEW YORK About City Planet Farms
Bringing Aquaponics to New Venues City Planet Farms has a simple mission: to bring successful, profitable aquaponic systems to urban environments. So far, they’ve installed living green walls using ZipGrow technology in schools, on rooftops, and in restaurants. Farmer Teryl Chapel, also of the Koru Collaborative, has designed systems that marry urban life with practical food production. Those working at the green wall site, whether they’re a chef or a student, are trained by City Planet Farms in aquaponic system management.
City Planet Farms is working to transform industrial agriculture with small-scale aquaponic projects. They’re currently centered in New York City but plan to expand in other urban centers. Installations can be found at Page at 63 Main, Harlem Rooftop, and Harlem PS 197.
Fort collins, COLORADO Fresh, Local Food in Fort Collins, CO BayBerry Fresh is a small vertical farm in sunny Fort Collins, Colorado.
About Bayberry Fresh Haydn grew up on a family farm in the San Luis Valley where he learned producing food was the lifestyle he would always be involved with. In high school, Haydn entered a science fair with the idea to grow more food in more modern, sustainable ways. This project was the spark that soon ignited his passionate for starting a small, innovative farm called BayBerry Fresh. By mixing old wisdom with a recent degree in Soil and Crop Science from Colorado State University, Haydn grows the freshest produce that the Fort Collins community can get their hands on in his ZipGrow-powered greenhouse
Upstart Farmer Haydn Christensen grows the freshest greens and herbs for local northern Colorado farmer’s markets and is known for being the first Upstart Farmer to bring Live Sales to Whole Foods.
LOs angeles, california Why Urban Aquaponics?
Building Resilient Communities in Los Angeles, California Evo Farm, founded by Upstart Farmer David Rosenstein, cultivates resilient communities by producing high yields of produce that are distributed truly locally with zero waste & minimal water.
Why Urban Farming? Food is the common thread that can help mitigate many of the world’s problems including climate change, peak oil, and chronic disease. On the path towards building resilient communities, nothing is more important than establishing sustainable food production facilities that are truly local.
Aquaponics is a unique approach to sustainable food production, which merges hydroponics (soilless food production) and aquaculture (fish farming). Simply put, the fish (which can be edible) provide the fertilizer for the plants while the plants filter the water for the fish. It is a symbiotic relationship that demonstrates biomimicry in its truest form. Of all of the food production methods, aquaponics has the highest yields and uses the least amount of water with no waste. With live fish in the system, chemical use is simply not an option. As a result, in many ways, aquaponics exceeds organic standards.
About Evo Farm The Evo Mission: To cultivate resilient communities by producing high yields of produce that are distributed truly locally, using the latest technology, zero waste, minimal water while encompassing best practices in environmental stewardship with economic and social stability.
Hudson VALLEY, New York Nothing but the Best in Hudson Valley, NY About Fable: From Farm to Table Fable: From Farm to Table is located in New York’s beautiful and historic Hudson Valley. With many consumers valuing high quality and nutritious food, it makes growing in this area fun and exciting. Fable was started by Tom Deacon, a native of Westchester County. While making an effort to eat healthier, Tom began to notice that fresh, locally-grown produce was often not available in nearby grocery stores. After researching food sources, as well as additional ingredients and pesticides used in creating the produce found in stores, Tom developed Fable. Along with the help of his brother, John, they began talking to restaurants, grocery stores, and people within the community. “Not only can we provide our community with fresh, delicious produce, but they can truly know where their food came from. People seem to love the idea of hydroponics and we are more than happy to show them how it works. We are using Zipgrow Towers because they are the most efficient and effective way of growing produce, whether you are growing in or out of soil. By growing vertically we are saving space, making harvesting easier, and getting delicious produce to our customers faster.” – Tom Deacon
Fable began to produce the high quality, fresh, delicious, local produce that was very much in demand by the local community. Fable now has the ability to hold a Farm Stand as well as accommodate a full size farmers’ market. After receiving many requests for tours, Fable now hosts farm tours for community members and student groups. Tom believes that by increasing this awareness and delivering healthy and nutritious produce, Fable can have a positive impact on the community and environment.
Boston, massachusets Urban Hydroponics in Boston
About Corner Stalk Shawn and Connie Cooney are new farmers in East Boston. All of their produce is grown in recycled shipping containers which create an extremely energy and water efficient environment. A year round growing season and dense planting allows maximum productivity from a dense urban footprint.
Corner Stalk is a Boston, Massachusetts urban farm that uses Freight Farm’s technology to produce year-round greens. Using a Controlled Environment Agriculture farm, Boston area consumers are provided with fresh, locally grown leafy greens all year round. The farms are located on Eagle Hill in East Boston.
ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA Rochester’s Own Aquaponic Upstart Farmer
About Fresh With Edge Chris Lukenbill owns and operates Fresh With Edge, an innovative aquaponic farm growing healthier, more flavorful produce for his local community. In a recent interview with Pat Garry at Post Bulletin, Lukenbill states:
“With our produce, we can reduce the time from harvest, from days to minutes, and the distance traveled from harvest from hundreds of miles to blocks,” he said. “We are able to grow the food just down the road from where we sell it, but we’re also able to allow people to harvest the produce themselves. That way, the shelf life of the produce starts right when our customers harvest the produce at the store.”
Fresh With Edge is working to expand upon Rochester’s already vibrant local food community, bringing even more options to Southeastern Minnesota’s organic food offerings. Providing the Rochester area with fresher food than it has ever experienced in an entirely new way.
Boston, massachusets About Freight Farms
The Infrastructure & Digital Tools The Leafy Green Machine is a complete hydroponic growing system built entirely inside a shipping container with all the components needed for commercial food production. The system is designed and engineered for easy operation, allowing users of all backgrounds to immediately start growing. Using indoor growing technology, ZipGrow towers and automation, these farms produce commercial volumes of produce in just 320 square feet. Each farm acts as an immediate solution to shorten the food supply chain, and bring fresh local produce into any market. The cloud-connected farms can be monitored and managed from anywhere through the farmhand app, bringing unparalleled transparency and control to the food supply chain.
Who Is Growing With Freight Farms? Freight Farms customers are operating in cities across the United States and Canada, creating year-round access to local, fresh produce for restaurants, universities, corporate campuses, hotels, and small businesses.
Founded in 2010 by Jon Friedman and Brad McNamara, Freight Farms provides the tools and infrastructure that enable fresh food production in any environment. By enabling high-yield crop production in any climate, Freight Farms offer an immediate foundation to grow a local food economy and support a sustainable food system.
Las vegas, nevada About Fresh Start Greens
Aquaponics in the Las Vegas Desert Las Vegas is synonymous with many things, but locally-produced, organic vegetables is not one that easily comes to mind. That’s about to change. Fresh Start Greens is providing organic vegetables to local restaurants and markets in the Las Vegas, Nevada area. Aquaponic systems make production possible in the hot desert by conserving water and allowing for temperature control in the greenhouse. Marilyn says they use ZipGrow towers because they are the
“best media to have green root growth, [they have] a smaller footprint for retail and home growing, [and because] green walls ‘show off’ living greens.”
Marilyn Yamamoto is the owner of Fresh Start Greens in Las Vegas, Nevada. They grow a variety of lettuce, greens, microgreens, herbs, edible flowers, decorative flowers, and strawberries in their ZipGrow system. Produce is marketed at the Farmers’ Market, an on-farm stand, and to local chefs.
FRESNO, CALIFORNIA About Fresno EOC Food Initiative Fresno EOC is a program that acts as a second chance program for youth that have been incarcerated or gone through a hardship that makes the typical high school path difficult for them.
Jensen Vang is the Food Systems Development Manager in charge of the Food Initiatives at Fresno EOC. Mr. Vang has over 15 years of farming experience and has been involved in many food startup ventures. The Food Initiative for the EOC partners with a local charter school: Youthbuild Charter School of California Central. Jensen and the Fresno EOC team have already seen the results of the program in the way that the students think and discuss their futures.
“Many of the students are thinking of starting their own business. They’re coming up with new ideas and they want to take the new ideas and apply it to the existing vertical frame.”
The program takes a dual approach; one goal is to teach students practical, valuable skills like construction, math and science. Another goal is to promote water conservation and sustainability through modern farming technology.
London, england GrowUp in London
About GrowUp Founders Kate Hofman and Tom Webster were inspired by online talk of aquaponics and urban farming. In 2013, a successful Kickstarter campaign allowed them to get growing. They provide small quantities of greens, herbs, and tilapia to local restaurants and other markets. Their farm also serves as a location for events and community engagement.
GrowUp is an urban farming business dedicated to demonstrating a sustainable, commercial model for urban agriculture through vertical growing and aquaponics. The GrowUp Box is an upcycled shipping container with a greenhouse on top, which utilizes 40 ZipGrow towers to grow a range of salads and herbs for sale into local markets. It demonstrates highly productive urban aquaponic farming. They have just successfully developed London’s first commercial aquaponic farm.
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA About The Growing Experience
ZipGrow in Southern California
TGE is operated by the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles and was developed to provide affordable access to fresh produce for under served residents in the community.
Southern California has been in a drought the past several years and has a scarcity of affordable land for growing food. TGE is optimistic about being able to grow large amounts of leafy greens using ZipGrow Towers in their existing greenhouse.
As part of growing produce, TGE also provides jobs and skills training opportunities for low-income youth and young adults. The 7-acre urban farm, the largest of its kind in Los Angeles County, is a unique asset and amenity not normally found in public housing.
They are currently growing a variety of lettuces, bok choy, chard, water cress, and herbs (basil, chives, parsley, mint) which provide for their weekly CSA and farm stand.
“We are particularly excited at the prospect to teach under served youth and young adults how to grow their own food, and develop small urban agriculture enterprises employing aquaponics/ hydroponics and vertical growing methods�
Charleston, south carolina Satisfying Local Food Markets in Charleston
About Halo Greens Brian Evans, moved to Charleston after a 4-year stint in the Navy. He became passionate about health and sustainability while serving his country and wanted to turn that passion into his livelihood after his honorable discharge.
“Because of the vertical system we use with Bright Agrotech’s ZipGrow towers, we create a negligible environmental footprint. Using an aquaponic approach with catfish to provide the fertilizer for our plants eliminates groundwater runoff from traditional fertilizing practices and uses a more pure nutrient source for our plants to produce healthier herbs. Sustainable growing practices that can withstand typical hurdles of agriculture is the best way to create consistency and stability in an otherwise volatile industry.”
Halo Greens is located in Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston is situated in the low country of South Carolina and boasts hot summers and mild winters, which creates a long growing season. The citizens are passionate about locally grown produce and actively support new endeavors. for sale into local markets. It demonstrates highly productive urban aquaponic farming. They have just successfully developed London’s first commercial aquaponic farm.
Asbury Park, New Jersey About Kula Urban Farm
Excited For The Future Kula Urban Farm is excited about the prospect of building a sustainable business while also providing major social benefits for its community. There is an increasing interest in the area for local, healthy food, and Kula Urban Farms seeks to be a focal point of that interest for the city and community of Asbury Park. The farm also hopes to bridge the divide between the east (more affluent) and west sides of the city, literally divided by railroad tracks, by hosting events and bringing residents to heretofore unfamiliar parts of the city.
The Kula Urban Farm is owned and operated by Interfaith Neighbors, a long-standing nonprofit organization in Asbury Park. Two years ago Interfaith opened the Kula Cafe, a working restaurant and job training program aimed at placing participants in local restaurants, hotels, and other businesses that exist in our seaside “resort� city. The Farm hopes to be an extension of this job training program for other sectors of employment. While providing learning opportunities the Farm will also grow food to be sold to area restaurants, at local farmers markets, and to our immediate neighbors (though we often give away food to the latter). Roger Boyce of Intefaith Neighbors conceived and spearheaded the project with support from Project/Farm Manager, Nicholas Silverman.
Berkeley, California A Family Urban Farm in Berkeley About Local Greens Ron Mitchell, Local Greens CEO, began working with hydroponics during their early days in the San Francisco Bay area. Mitchell formed Local Greens, Inc. in 2013 to bring next generation controlled environment agriculture growth facilities to communities everywhere. Local Greens serves high-end grocery markets like Whole Foods, Mollie Stones, and Andronicos in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as online farmers markets like GoodEggs.com. They also serve other institutions, such as hospitals and schools. They deliver “just-in-time�, live, cost competitive, healthy green foods within 20 miles of each facility. Their products are noted for their taste, variety and outstanding shelf life. Local Greens is recognized for its incredibly minimal use of water, as they only use as much water as the average California household to produce over 2000 pounds of greens monthly.
Local Greens is a beyond organic, urban, food growing company based on controlled environment agriculture (CEA) in Berkeley, CA. Their mission is to revolutionize how we feed ourselves. They use ZipGrow towers to sustainably grow high quantities of fresh, healthy foodslike Italian Basil and a variety of microgreens which are distributed locally. Local Greens brings local farming right into your neighborhood using methods more innovative than conventional farming. Local Greens says they use ZipGrow towers because they are compatible and customizable with other hydroponic systems, have great economy of space, are portable and sanitary, and because they show beautifully.
EDINA, Minnesota The Original Freight Farmer
About Localize The Localize farm is situated on a parking lot behind a commercial building in Edina. Localize has been in operation since May of 2013. They are currently providing 1oz. packaged fresh basil to five local community owned Co-Op grocery stores.
Localize is the original Freight Farmer, growing basil year-round in Edina, Minnesota – even during sub-zero winter temperatures. They have strong brand recognition and will be expanding soon.
san antonio, texas About Local Sprout
Local, Sustainable, Delicious Local Sprout is a new Upstart Farmer in San Antonio, Texas. LocalSprout is devoted to growing a different San Antonio. By using ZipGrow technology in their Freight Farm hydroponic system, they grow healthy and sustainable produce in the same city they distribute to.
LocalSprout is a hydroponic farm in San Antonio that pairs leafy green production in indoor farming (through one of the first Freight Farms) and greenhouse farming (paired with the San Antonio Food Bank). They primarily grow kale, basil, and epazote to sell to local restaurants and juice bars. They don’t sell to anyone more than 5 miles away from the farm!
blue hill, maine About Misty Morning Farm
Misty Morning Vertical Farming Misty Morning Farm uses vertical farming in their passive solar greenhouse. This way, they produce 3 – 4 times more crops than standard farming in the same footprint. Their vertical farm uses only 10% of the water of standard farming and maximizes available sunlight. They love ZipGrow Towers because they are easy for one person to plant, tend, and harvest. Recently, Misty Morning was awarded a grant to expand operations to feed their local food pantry. They are building a dedicated 16×48 active solar greenhouse with 100 ZipGrows providing weekly fresh, local produce to improve local food security. The Blue Hill community is tightly knit and regularly supports this community farm.
Misty Morning is a small family farm that provides fresh, local produce weekly to the Tree of Life. They incorporate aquaponics, vertical farming, wicking beds, chickens, goats, worms, and bees.
ALSACE, FRANCE Aquaponics in greenhouse for European citizens
About myfood « We believe that sustainable food production and safety can be achieved in every backyard ». Around 2010, a group of friends gathered and started experimenting ideas and prototyped solutions to produce better food on a smaller footprint. The ultimate goal is to tackle food challenges faced in our society today (food quality, lack of transparency, carbon footprint, etc.)
We offer simple turney solutions for individuals and communities to produce enough food to feed their families with their own garden. We use the best permaculture techniques in order to regenerate the soil, linked with aquaponics in ZipGrow towers. Furthermore, to minimize our installations’daily maintenance, we added Open-Source hardware to monitor the system and help most tasks to be automated.
myfood is advisor and solution provider for Pioneer Citizens seeking to produce their own food.
Johan, Matthieu & Mickaël
Anna, texas About North Texas Aquaponics
From High Tech to Farm Tech Tracy Holz is a brand new Upstart Farmer in 2015, having finally quit his day job in computer servicing to become an aquaponic farmer. His hobby sized system was a great success, even in the middle of harsh Texas heat. Tracy operates his system using Moza mbique Tilapia and has experimented with alternative feed sources. Currently he is revamping his greenhouse, designing a website, and planning a remote temperature sensing device to use in his tanks. He posts regular video updates of the farm and his ZipGrow towers, highlighting the innovative traits that Upstart Farmers possess.
Using a both a traditional ZipGrow set up in rows of 5 and a living Wall on the inside north wall of the greenhouse, North Texas Aquaponics is focusing on lettuce, cabbage, and other herb crops. Tracy and his wife will start to sell at the local farmers market & hope to start a CSA in the not to distant future. Tracy says he is “excited about all the new ways to grow food that keeps the grower close to the people eating the food.�
Cornwall, ontario About Smart Greens
The First Urban Freight Farm in Canada Growing food in northern communities is no easy task, but SmartGreens is making it possible. With ZipGrow Towers and Freight Farms technology, they’re able to provide year-round, fresh (sold the same day it’s harvested), and local produce to Cornwall, Ontario. They’ve recognized the huge potential for environment-controlled, local agriculture in northern Canadian cities and are excited to make it a reality. Founder Eric Bergeron’s enthusiasm about the future of freight farming in the region is clear:
“Imagine having locally grown kale in your salad in Whitehorse in January!”
SmartGreens was founded April 15, 2014, by Eric Bergeron and Eric Amyot. Their goal is to operate a business that is both profitable and socially responsible. Portions of each harvest are donated to a local food bank, and they encourage healthy eating at local schools. To bring fresh food to urban Canadian communities, they’re distributing Freight Farms in Canada. Currently, they’re growing kale, spinach, and basil.
powhatan, virginia About Virginia Vegetable Company The Virginia Vegetable Company LLC is a high tunnel farming operation growing and experimenting with aquaponics, hydroponics, and bionutrient organic methods with ZipGrow towers. They are growing herbs and strawberries for use with the live sales model, and have a future expanding market for live herb sales, green walls, and live sales at farmers’ markets.
Description After a long road trip out west, Paul Phillip Meyer was inspired to bring new, young life to the Virginia farming network, so the Virginia Vegetable Company was created. Paul’s vision is to build a modern, hip farm with fun on-farm events, such as Farm to Table catered meals, mobile farmer karaoke & BBQ parties, and of course, selling the freshest, great looking produce to commercial buyers such as CSAs, Local Food Hubs, and grocery store chains. He also takes his produce to the roadside in the Forest Hill neighborhood of south Richmond city!
draper, virginia About Pulaski Grow
Description Pulaski Grow set out to be the premier job readiness program for youth in the state and region while providing the highest quality produce to the local community. In the first few months of operation there has been a tremendous amount of interest in the training and youth volunteer opportunities on site as well as the aquaponicly grown produce. Pulaski Grow has already been nominated for Outstanding Non-Profit by the Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce after just six month of growing and four months of youth work! With a large number of volunteers and wonderful community support, Spiegel is thrilled and amazed to be moving both the business and the training program toward its goal at the current rate.
Pulaski Grow is nestled in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia where they enjoy four lovely seasons and a nice breeze most days. The non-profit farm operates a workforce readiness training program for youth ages 14 to 18 inside a working aquaponics and hydroponics business. The business allows youth to gain hands on work experience while practicing many of their soft job skills. Upstart Farmer Lee Spiegel is the founder and Program Director for Pulaski Grow which is the culmination of a 29 year old dream.
“When looking at the various ways to grow healthy produce in an economical way, ZipGrow towers were the logical choice. Not only do they allow you to grow much more in a smaller space and save on utility cost, both of which are very important for a non-profit business, they are destined to be a large part of the future of agriculture. When training youth to be ready for work in the future it only makes sense to train them in the methods that will be the norm and give them a leg up in the process. Currently, all the herbs, lettuces and leafy greens for the Pulaski Grow CSA , farmer’s market and local vendors are grown in ZipGrow Towers.” – Lee
springdale, arkansas About Vet Veggies
Description Vet Veggies is a Freight Farm in located in the footfills of the Ozark Mountains just outside of Springdale, Arkansas. Freight Farmer and veteran, Jerry Martin, and co-owner Darryl Hill, run J.R. Martin Company, Inc. which does business as “Vet Veggies, Grown by a local Veteran.” Jerry saw a need in his market for fresh, locally grown produce and wanted to provide both himself, and other veterans with the opportunity to service that need. Wanting to have complete control over his growing environment, have minimal labor needs, and keep the business within his family, Jerry found Freight Farms to be the perfect option for his farm. He says:
“ZipGrow towers offer the best option for growing in a small space. We are only using 320 square feet in the Freight Farm, and producing over 1,000 heads of lettuce each week.”
Jerry and Darryl are excited about using new technology to grow healthy, hydroponic vegetables for Northwest Arkansas. Now, Vet Veggies is helping younger farmers to see the future of farming – one in which hydroponics contributes to less land use, better production, higher quality produce, and more sustainability. Vet Veggies is also hoping to inspire people to get out of cubicles and outside with nature to enjoy life. Vet Veggies is thrilled to have the support of its community and looks forward to many future opportunities.
WOODBRIDGE, VA About Zeponic Farms Zeponic farms is one of the only local farms in the Northern Virginia/Washington D.C. areabut that’s not the only unique aspect of the hydroponic farm. The farm is housed in a freight container and meets a huge social need: employing and empowering the special needs population.
Description Zach Zepf, co-owner and manager of the farm, was first inspired to meet the need with a farm through his brother Nic. Nic has autism, and though very capable, is considered unemployable. Unfortunately, this is very common. “About 90% of adults with autism are unemployed,” says Zach. But there is a solution to this problem, and Zeponic Farms is working to implement that solution. “By providing job training and future employment opportunities, Zeponic Farms is creating a brighter future for both agriculture and autism.” Zeponic Farms will be interning more students both through an adult life skills program and environmental science classes with the local university starting fall of 2016. They already have a handful of students interested.
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