Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show Founder of New Age Provisions, DeMario Vitalis. New Age Provisions is an urban farm that uses state of the art hydroponic technology to farm the freshest culinary herbs, lettuces, leafy greens, and cannabis. In this episode, Harry and DeMario discuss DeMario’s inspirational story, the success he’s achieving and how he’s bringing awareness to possibilities for minority farm owners. DeMario speaks to challenges he’s had to overcome, how ‘food deserts’ are affecting communities throughout the world and the importance of having a supportive family and community.

Special thanks to our Season 2 Sponsor

Ceres Greenhouse Solutions

Key Takeaways

03:09 – Harry welcomes to the show DeMario Vitalis, who shares his entrepreneurial journey, what attracted him to greeneries and the importance of having a supportive family and community

12:12 – How DeMario decides what he plants in his greenery and what the demand looks like in his market

19:33 – DeMario speaks to the negative impact that ‘food deserts’ have on local communities

23:38 – The value DeMario places on giving back to his community and lessons he’s learned in the vertical farming space

32:56 – DeMario take the audience through a typical day in the life and what he has learned as a business owner

36:30 – DeMario discusses what has influenced his grit, drive and determination and other relationships that have inspired DeMario’s life and career 

41:14 – A tough question DeMario has had to ask himself lately, what excites DeMario about the future of hydroponics and a little known fun fact about DeMario

49:03 – Harry thanks DeMario for joining the show and the work he’s doing for his community and let’s listeners know where they can learn more about New Age Provisions

Tweetables:

“It was very important for me not only knowing how to grow crops but knowing how to control nutrients and to control the electronic connectivity.” (08:31)

“I’m trying to get things that consumers will appreciate. If I’m growing greens, they’re Top Bunch Collard. If I’m growing mint, it’s not the common mint that you can get in the stores; it’s the spearmint, the peppermint.” (14:52)

“What it [food desert] means is that, within a certain population, people need to travel five or more miles to get to a place of food, like a store.” (21:07)

“I’ve always made a motto that you leave something better than how you found it and always try to make an impact on the world. Whatever you do, make a positive impact, whether it’s on someone’s life, whether it’s by creating something. Things aren’t going to get created by themselves, so they have to have people that will do it. And I’m one of those doers.” (37:04)

“I think having a support structure of friends and family is very important in whatever business you do, no matter if it’s farming, real estate or just life.” (40:27)

“I think local farmers are gonna have more of an important role in the future, especially within the next three to five years.” (44:25)

Links Mentioned:

New Age Provisions’ Email

New Age Provisions’ Website

Farm Share Program Website

DeMario’s LinkedIn

Ceres Greenhouse Solutions

Website | Facebok | Pinterest | Instagram | YouTube

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mentioned in this episode:

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Welcome to the Vertical Farming Podcast, weekly conversations with

fascinating CEOs, founders, and agtech visionaries.

Join us every week as we dive deep into the world of vertical

farming with your host, Harry Duran.

Vertical Farming Podcast, Season 2, Episode 3,

which I may adjust to Episode 16 so you get a feel

for all the episodes available in the catalog. If this is your first time

listening, you're in the right place as this is the show where we interview fascinating

CEOs and founders of the leading vertical farming companies from around the

world. I'm your host, Harry Duran. In case you missed last

week's episode, I had a great conversation with Eddie Badrina, the CEO of Eden

Green. It was really a masterclass in understanding

product-market fit with With Eddie's extensive background

in his previous marketing company and the expertise that he

brings to Eden Green, it was really a fascinating story

and I learned a lot and we've been getting good feedback from the episode as

well. Make sure you check it out. Special thanks to our episode sponsor,

Ceres Greenhouse Solutions. If you're looking for a greenhouse solution that

will suit your specific climate and growing goals, then talk to an expert from

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solar concepts, innovative climate control technologies, and

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This week I had the privilege of speaking with Demario Vitalis. He's the founder of

New Age Provisions, and in partnership with Freight Farms, has

launched His first and on his way to his second container farms, and he talks

about the challenges he's overcome in getting the farm launched,

how important it is to have the support of family, and how

much value he's providing to the community. The topic of

food deserts comes up, and it's something we've talked about on previous episodes.

And I think what's important is how Mario is sharing all

the new things and skills he's had to learn, how his experience in real

estate has helped him. in this endeavor. And we learn about the ins

and the outs of his business, what a typical day looks like for him,

and also an important discussion about the opportunities that have

been opening up for minority owners, especially with such a

small percentage of minority farm owners.

It's a really important topic that we discuss. Really enjoyed this

inspiring conversation with Mario. So let's get into it. So

Demario Vitalis, better known as Mario, thank you for joining

us on the Vertical Farming Podcast. Thanks for having me, Harry.

So we are in late September 2020. I

like to timestamp these only because we're going through probably an unprecedented year,

and it's probably one that most people wish was over by now.

Yes. And so I'm wondering, just as a check-in,

how things have been for you personally and for the

company, which we'll get into, since everything sort of hit the

fan in March. Yeah, personally

for me, it's been tough. I had a few deaths in our family of some

pretty close people. So, like everyone, I think we're all

kind of in a shock on how this year is going and still trying to

recover mentally from it.

So, yeah, it's been something for me. It's a pretty tough year.

With the farm, you know, I am new to farming. I just received the greenery

in late June, so I did get off the ground running.

We were able to get the farm connected and running in about 3 to 4

weeks, and so we started growing, and we're growing healthy

vegetables right now, which we're proud of, and hopefully we'll be to the

market pretty soon within the next month or so. We're predicting

to hopefully, you know, be started with our CSA program, farm

share program, and also be able to go directly to restaurants with

some produce. Yeah, that's exciting, and I definitely want to dig

into that. Sorry to hear for your losses. I, I lost my best friend from

high school, uh, to COVID as well. And, uh, that's—

I think until it happens to someone that close, and in your

case family, like, then when it really hits home and you realize, like,

how important it is that for people that are not aware of

it, it's something that's affecting— the deaths, I

think, now we finally crossed the 200,000 mark here in the States.

Yeah, 200,000. Yeah. I heard on a

radio show that the average of family members

connected to someone that's passing is about 9 or 10. So when you think

about that, The impact that it's had is

closer to like 2 million people almost in terms of

affected like their personal lives. So it's something important not to lose

sight of. Yep, 7 degrees of separation. So we're all soon to know

someone who will or has been affected. Yeah.

So just winding the clock back a little bit, where did you start?

And it could be either your entrepreneurial journey or your Green Thumb journey.

If you can think back, what's the earliest memory of that

for you? So for me, it's had to start with rental

property. That's where I first got a taste of being an entrepreneur.

The house that I grew up in, my grandmother owned it.

So I had the opportunity to buy it off of her, and

then I rented it. And I still own that house today. It's almost free

and clear, but I'm now renting it to a family member, my aunt.

Real estate kind of started turning me into the entrepreneur, and

I was able to not only acquire that property but also gain a few more

parcels over the time. And when I

started to look at the income coming in from owning parcels, you

know, it kind of made me think about what else could we do.

I remember looking into modular homes and, you know,

doing homes with shipping containers. And as I was just browsing the internet,

looking at shipping containers and how they make houses out of them, I

also saw that they made farms out of them too. Yeah. And so that

kind of piqued my interest on, oh wow, you could take a shipping container and

kind of design it to grow 365

days a year and make some of the freshest vegetables. And,

you know, I was already into real estate, but having vast

amounts of agricultural zone land, that's something I never had access

to. And when I found out that you can take these vertical farms and not

only put them on any type of lamp. They're also movable,

they're enclosed, it's a clean environment. You know, it kind of intrigued my

interest over vertical farming. So I did more research and

eventually, you know, I locked into Freight Farms, who to me

offered the best type of product and per output

product or per output per machine. So I just kind of

narrowed it down to them and ended up investing in the Greenery

and That's where I am today. That brought me here today, vertical

farming inside of a greenery. And now you're, you're, uh,

you're on a vertical farming podcast talking about your experience as well.

So what was it about that aspect of it? Because you had the

experience as a property owner

and landowner. Now, what was it about the,

the model, the business model of a greenery that attracted you?

It was the ease of use, I think, and just having an easy

learning curve for those who have never been introduced to

farming. I'm a city guy, you know, I'll be honest. I

live in Indianapolis, Indiana. I lived in the city all my life.

I've never did field farming. I've never done any type of farming in

my life, you know. So it was very important

for me not only knowing how to grow crops, but knowing how

to control nutrients and to control the electronic

connectivity and also those those things that I

was not accustomed to in a traditional farming atmosphere.

And I think having the greenery eliminates some of those factors.

Like, I don't have to worry about soil. I don't have to worry about my

soil temperature. I don't have to worry about the seasons. You know,

only being in Indiana, we have to plant in either May or April in the

springtime after the first frost. But in a greenery, I don't have to

worry about that. So it kind of eliminated some of those

factors that most traditional farming have to have to worry about

and then put me at a playing field where

I can be successful my first time out. Like, you know,

I'm in my greenery now, and if I have time, I'll flip the camera over

and you can kind of see some of the plants that I've planted for the

first time. I've planted collard greens, I've planted, you know,

greens, I mean lettuce, and it's successful the

first time out, you know, without having to tend to the soil or worry

about temperatures and You know, those type of things that

traditional farming has to worry about. So it's, it's probably the ease of

use and the way it is for

people, normal people, to get involved, uh, that, that kind of

puts it a benefit in my eyes. You may be the first

guest that actually broadcasting from within an actual

vertical farm. Yeah, it's quiet

once you turn off all the fans and everything, you know, it's quiet.

It sounds good too. Makes for a great impromptu recording studio as

well. Yeah. So are you the first

farmer in your family? I'm the first farmer in my family.

Yes, I am. Well, I don't know how

far you want to go back because, you know, there was a

time in 1863 where, you know. Nah, but

I am the first farmer that I know of in my family. You know, I'm

the first one in Indiana to own this type of machine. the

vertical farming greenery. So there's a lot of firsts going on, which kind of

makes it scary at the same time because you have to

be brave enough to face the unknown. And, you know, there are a lot of

things that I wish I can pick up the phone and, or go to next

door and ask someone, but they're probably not familiar with

hydroponic farming out of a 40-foot shipping container. So,

yeah. Yeah. So how important was it to

have a community of people and how has that grown

and what does that look like in terms of people that can support you when

you do have questions like that? So I think the

support that I get from the Freight Farms marketing and

engineering team is great. You know, I use them to help

me build my community and to give me the answers that I need.

So whenever I have a problem, I can just pick up the phone and give

them a call. They're available, quick to answer, and they're

willing to help. Other than that, you know, I have been able to reach

out to a few hydroponic farmers who do like microgreens

and things like that, and they give us insights on how to grow,

pH levels we should be looking at, and things like

that. And also where to get stuff in the city

like different tools, buckets, and nutrients that

we need. So it's good to have a community, but I think,

you know, with us, with me being so new to the hydroponic farming and

having this piece of equipment, you know, I have to rely more on the manufacturer

to give me the information I need if there's a problem.

How did you make the decision? Because when I'm looking at the site, I see

in terms of the product overview, you've got herbs, leafy greens, microgreens, fruits,

lettuce, even cannabis there. So how do— how are you making that

call about what's the proper mix,

especially for your first one, so you have the best chance of success?

So, um, I didn't do a good job the first time out. I planted everything,

everything out on the site I have probably have growing in here. Yeah,

so, uh, yeah, I've got collard greens and, you know, those are growing for a

restaurant that I'm close to, Simply Southern Soul Food.

Okay. I also just tried a few things

out that I'm just experimenting with. Um,

I'm also growing a lot of, uh, Herbs like

basil and mint, growing a lot of those, and it's a

contract grow for Freight Farms, so I have the opportunity to

provide those to the market. But I think me, as of now, I'm just kind

of experimenting and seeing what grows best in the greenery.

But the collard greens and the lettuce are for the CSAs. Those are

spoken for. Cannabis too, probably,

but— That depends on the laws, you know, obviously the laws in your local state

as well. Yeah. In Indiana, you

have to have a license to grow, and I do have a license to grow

and handle, and it's CBD only.

Marijuana is not legal here, so it has to be

0.3% and below. So I have to get my plants tested

when they start to flower and just make sure that their levels are below the

legal limit. Okay. And so how do you think

about the challenge, and how are you working through the challenges? Because one aspect of

it is obviously picking what has the best chance of growing, what you like

growing, and what you actually think you have to have on your sales hat also.

What's the market for specific greens in your area? So now that

you've experimented with a couple, how are you thinking about this from a

marketing perspective too? Because you have to wear multiple hats, right, as the

entrepreneur? That is true. From a marketing

standpoint, I know that collard greens will be successful

in our area because they don't grow too well in the

Midwest. we typically get a lot of products

shipped in from either West Coast or down south.

So things like that, herbs and

basil and mint, they'll be successful because again, you know, those are fresh

herbs that have less of a shelf life. And

especially when you include the transit time, they start to lose value and they

start to lose their freshness when you include the transit time. So

I'm trying to get things that consumers will

Appreciate. Like, you know, if I'm growing greens, they're top bunch

collard. If I'm growing mint, it's not the common mint that you can get in

the stores, you know, it's the spearmint, the peppermint. If I'm growing kale,

it's not the kale that you get in the stores, it's black kale,

you know. So I kind of want to have a distinct

mix where not the stuff that you could get in stores,

but yet, you know, if you compared it to the stuff you get in the

stores, you can see the quality and the freshness within our product is

superior. Is that something that it's important

to you to demonstrate and educate your

customers about freshness? Because they may not think about, and most people

don't, like, how many miles did this lettuce

travel to get to my plate? And how does that affect, you know, how

fresh it is and how fresh they want to make it look, you know, depending

on the fancy packaging and the marketing and, you know,

freshly picked and triple washed and all that sort of stuff. But, you know,

so part of it is an education process for your consumers as well. Yep,

that's 100% correct. You know, education is a huge

part of it because in a consumer's eyes, you know, when you

put 2 pieces of mint in front of them, they're not going to know the

difference between a hydroponic one and probably the one that was grown from soil. So

you have to educate them and you have to let them see the texture

and the taste of the product. So, you know, that's why it was

very important for me to get growing first of all and to kind of offer

a variety of products to some

choice restaurants that we have in the area. But education is

key, so I will have to come in front of the customer with,

you know, knowing the product, knowing the differences between them, and also, you

know, knowing how they're superior and how local, you know,

local product. We have a lot of flexibility. You know,

if this is not what you're looking for in 6 to 8 weeks, I can

have you something different. You know, that's, that's huge, you know, having that

flexibility, being able to not only know where the

product comes from, but having a line to your farmer. You

know, they have a direct contact with me if they need, so

I can be there when they need it. So I think that's, that

support is an additional benefit of

buying local and buying from New Age Provisions Farms that

they wouldn't get if they bought it from a store or, you

know, big supplier. Yeah. Can you recall any

examples of where you're doing taste tests or giving people, you know, this

is what it tastes like when it's, you know, fresh and, you know, literally just

picked yesterday versus something, something else? And, and do people

like— can they taste the difference and, and are they surprised? Yeah,

the biggest thing is to invite them to the farm. You know, that's what I

typically like to do and let them look at the— how we grow.

And as they look, you know, our can offer them

tastes and samples of it, and they take it and smell it and

taste it and like, oh, I can taste the difference, and you can feel the

zing in your mouth and stuff. Yeah, yeah. So yeah,

that's very important. And also, what we plan to do

soon is also when our plants get mature enough, we'll

take them out the pods and take samples and get them in front of chefs

and be like, okay, here's what we have growing. This is what we have available.

And let them see, let them pick it up and see how the plant still

has the roots attached to it and how it's live. And I think

that in itself will be a selling point that they can finally see, touch,

and smell the product. And how much of

that is you doing the old school knocking door to

door, or are these relationships that you've built up

in your previous exposure to the community and ties that you've

had maybe through real estate or anything like that? Or just can you talk a

little bit about the building of the relationships with restaurants and

letting them know that you are here as an alternative now for some

fresher local produce? Yep. A lot of

it is going to be word of mouth. So I have a few connections with

people within restaurants, so I'm going to get set up with chefs

and with those key decision makers. And then

some of it is just going to be just going door to door. Try

to catch them in their off hours before noon, before

the restaurant opens, and just knock on the door and be like, hey, I have

something to show you. But

it's going to be a mix of things, but as long as I can get

the product in front of the consumer, I think that's the

biggest part of it. Can you

talk a little bit about this concept of food deserts, and especially

within low, moderate-income neighborhoods and for

neighborhoods with heavily skewed towards

minorities. And, you know, I grew up in New York, I'm Latino, and, you know,

you would see just— there was just these pockets of places in the city

that where it's just like the C-Town or just like the,

the cheapest market possible with the cheapest food, and it's not healthy.

So I'm wondering how you think about the

importance of your role in trying to increasing awareness about, you know, this,

this challenge that these communities face. Yep, definitely. That's a good point.

So where we're located in Indianapolis,

Indiana, 3415 East 10th Street, it's an

upcoming neighborhood near Eastside area renewal

efforts. So a lot of money has been put in from the city and

federal government to bring the neighborhood up and revitalize the

neighborhood. And within doing that, the reason how they got to that is

because the USDA and other federal resources did a

study. on access to food for

individuals living in the area. And this kind of gets into the

importance of the census and all those things going on. They

actually do have some good benefits. And I think as you look

into what's going on in our area, one of the benefits is that we're starting

to get more funding and more infrastructure built in

our neighborhood. But since the study happened,

they determined that this area is considered a food desert,

and what it means is that within this certain population,

people have to travel 5 or more miles to get to a,

a, a place of food like a store. Mm-hmm. So

like, I could think of right now, we don't have any Krogers

nearby. There's no Whole Foods. Like, the closest Whole Foods is

downtown, and that's, uh, 10 miles from where I'm at now.

The closest Kroger is probably, I would say,

off of 71st Street. Okay. So what I'm saying is that

if you look at the population, and since we're an up-and-coming neighborhood,

a lot of the people around us are minorities or people

within low-income brackets, and they don't have the transportation

or access to get to those food

places. So being that they don't have the food

places or outside of their reach, they designated this as

a food desert. And being outside of their reach, I'm meaning like their

transportation reach. reach, the bus system, the, the

transportation system, you know, it's not easy to get access

to certain foods within this certain area. So it's

considered a food desert. Now you can go 10

miles north and there's not a food desert because they have a

Kroger right there. But— Sure. Like here where we are, you know, access to

food is pretty limited. And I'm talking about

specifically fresh food, you know, like we have fast food around here,

but You're not going to go anywhere right now and get a fresh head of

lettuce unless you hopped on the bus or took a

car and drove to Whole Foods or Kroger.

It's just not accessible here. Mm-hmm. And so I think our role

as a local farmer is trying to, you know, mend

that gap, try to offer an option for people who,

or even restaurants who don't have this immediate access to

food. And one thing we want to do is kind of just make ourselves available

and known so community that we are a local farmer here and

you can walk by and you won't see the land. You won't see the traditional

crop rows and all that, but we have a 40-foot shipping container

that's able to put out— Yeah. Over 3 acres of fresh produce

annually. So it's just going to be that learning curve

where it will be a hurdle, but being that our community has

already been designated as a food desert and shouldn't be too complicated to

overcome. I'm waiting for the first shipping

container that has a drive-through window. Hey, you gave me an

idea. Yeah. What's been the response

to your friends, your family,

as you're doing this business? Because it's something new. You mentioned you are

probably the first farmer in recent history within your family. So

what's been— what are the questions they're asking? And I imagine there's a

lot of curiosity as to what you're up to. Yeah, most people

are impressed, you know, when they see it and they see the vegetables growing. They're

like, oh wow, this is neat, you know, I didn't think that you can grow

in a vertical form, you know. And, and so they're

mainly taken aback. And then when you put the lights on, the

infrared blue and blue and red lights, like, they're like, oh man, I'm

blown away. Yeah. So, so it's like setting it— it's—

how does the saying go? Um, don't go where the path may

follow, but Make a path for others, lead the way

and others will follow. So I think most people, most of my family are

impressed and they're just kind of like, you know, this is some state-of-the-art thing

that, you know, that's, it's different, new, unique

and different. Do you feel a sense of responsibility as

someone who is sort of paving the way within your community? Because, you know, when

you think of, you ask kids when they're younger, you know, everyone wants to be

like an astronaut, a police officer, a cowboy, whatever,

whatever you think about when you're that age. I think the challenge

is not having role models who are doing different things. And I imagine if

you've brought kids into that, they're just like, wow, this is cool. And just give

people, kids, especially kids in these communities,

some inspiration, I think is always a good thing. Yeah, I think this

is definitely putting me in the forefront of being a leader and also a leader

in agriculture. I'm an African American,

and so there's not a lot of people or a lot of people that look

like me that can afford this type of farm equipment, or

at least have the land to put it on. So, you know, with me being

able to offer people that these are options for you to

have and own a business, that there is a future in agriculture,

if you can achieve this, the type, the proper type of funding and

get the farm equipment, and that this is what you can do when

you have that, you know, I do appreciate that. leadership

position that, you know, God has put me in. And so I do

consider myself a leader, and I think that I do have a responsibility

to give back to the community. And I do also

plan to set up some type of mentorship or some type of

program where kids could come in and whether they're on

summer courses or whether they're doing internships, but have some

type of exposure to this type of hydroponic farming.

So this farm equipment has been able to open up many

doors, and I've even had people come in here and be like, oh yeah, you

know, I can see things where you partner with schools and kids

who want to be in, what is it, botany. You know,

they can come up with their own strain of herbs or their own strain of

leafy greens. Yeah. You know, they can learn to

crossbreed, make their own different strains of,

you know, plants. So that's— and that's something that people

wouldn't have been able to consider, because if you are trying

to control the elements of land and weather, it's going to

be hard to control what your plants do. Exactly. But now you've

taken those elements out, and it allows you to concentrate on like the

plant's genes or something, you know. You finally get to control that, and you

have to worry about the elements affecting it. You sort of feel like a little

bit of a mad scientist sometimes. Hey, I get in here and I get crazy,

man. I'll just start looking at these little guys, and I'm like, okay, let me—

I want to cut this and Stick it onto some mint or

something, see what it does. Yeah, yeah. Do some magic. I'll get to that point

one day. Yeah, it's interesting because I'm

wondering, when you were doing the real estate thing, if you

ever thought you were going to be thinking about things like

climate control and things about hybridization and

all these new things that you're having to learn. You'll never be— like

they say, it takes a lifetime Um, to master, but, you know, you

can, you can continue to make progress, you know, on a daily basis, improve your

skills. Yeah, I see where you're coming from too. Like, when I got into real

estate, I never imagined I'd be in the farming. I mean, I,

I graduated from Purdue University. My degree was in

management, and I have an associate's degree in industrial technology.

I thought I'd be in the automotive industry all my life.

I just never imagined I'd be sitting inside of a piece of farm equipment

called the hydroponic farm called The Greenery, looking at

fresh lettuce or fresh collard

greens and kale. And you would have never imagined, you know.

I just can't— it's just funny how the, how the, how things just took a

turn. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, I think real estate enabled me

to kind of get that mindset, that entrepreneur mindset, but it didn't prepare

me for where I am now.

What's some of the hardest lessons you've

had to learn in the greenery, being a hydroponic

farmer, different than probably you had already learned

and experienced in real estate? Oh, it's

what plants need to live, which is the nutrients and learning

to control EC, electronic conductivity.

You have to watch your levels. You know, if the EC gets too high,

your plants are going to burn up. And just trying to keep the

maintenance on the, on the water, making sure the water

is fresh. And I think that's the biggest thing for me,

learning to control the nutrients, control the EC,

and also just starting up the

business and learning the aspects of that, starting up a farming business.

Because like I mentioned before, it's totally different than real estate. There's some

nuances that You didn't think you'd have to pay attention

to, but you do. Yeah. So yeah, I think in its own, you know,

just learning how to control nutrients, learning what plants like, and

also learning what the market wants are going to be the big things

that I have to get used to. That's much different than

real estate, whereas a property, it just sits there, you improve it,

and then it's desirable for someone to buy. Whether these were— and it's

different with plants, you know, It must be an

interesting feeling to walk in there every day and

have all these living organisms that are under

your care. So you're caring for all these living

things, and it must be an interesting feeling

to know that that's your responsibility. It is. It is

interesting. And it just gives you some appreciation.

You start to appreciate the life of of a plant, how it

starts from a seed and then it starts to

germinate, then it starts to require more

light and more water, then it starts to get

its roots before it grows into the growth tower. So

it's like you look at the seed, it's like you look at the plant

from seed to its growth phase and you start to appreciate

the aspect of that a little bit more. Yeah, and I imagine that's

the same feeling people have when they come see it for the first time and

you show them the journey. I'm like, look, this is the seed and this is

This is how we're doing the seedlings, and then the seedlings, they grow, and then

we transport them here. And we just take for granted, I think, how

food ends up on our plate, whether it's produce or when people,

they never want to know how the sausage is made. They just want to eat

it. Yeah, they just want to eat it. Yeah,

that's 100% right. I've even had the opportunity to

bring my kids in here and let them help me with the seeding and stuff.

And they learn an appreciation as well. You know, they put the seeds in the

pot and then after a while the seeds will germinate and they'll

become seedlings and the seedlings go into growth towers and the

plants grow from there, become mature plants before they're ready to harvest.

It really gives them an appreciation for the life cycle of a plant.

It's so interesting because with all the different hats that you have to wear, because

normally, you know, you're like, okay, this is done. pick the plant and then

give it to whoever, but that's whatever step in the process that

is for you, you're not done because you have to package it, you

have to figure out who to sell it to, who's going to be the customer,

and then you got to sort of switch gears. You got to put your marketing

hat on now and you got to put your PR hat on and you have

to do your business development hat on. And so— Yeah,

exactly. It's interesting. You got to learn all those skills.

Yeah, yeah. And that's the life of a small farmer. I mean, it's one thing

to be able to grow produce, but the next step is being able to get

it out and get it in front of the people who want it. So

I'm sure every farmer's had to overcome that. You know, you

just can't grow it and expect it to leave your farm and—

Yeah. Without putting some effort in. So that's something that you

definitely— well, I definitely have to get used to and will

overcome eventually. Maybe me being a new farmer, you know, I still have

some time to do it, but it's going to be a hurdle that I will

do. And so for those who are listening who are

interested and have thought about going down this

path, what's a typical day look like for you? So a

typical day for me, I come into the farm and I

check on the seedlings, check the trays. I'll

just show you. Let me flip my camera around. Yeah, yeah, sure. You'll like this.

How's that? I apologize for the listener. You won't be able

to get the view, but— So anything, I come in and I look at the

trays. And so I kind of take

the trays and see if any of them sprouted. And then from

there, we'll see if any of them are ready for the growth towers. And if

they're ready for the growth towers, we'll start to move them around. And then

one of the last things I do is check the levels of all the

pH and all the water levels. And if they need— the water levels need to

be filled, I would fill them up from that point. You know, it's pretty

easy going. There's, there's, uh, once you learn and get the

concept of seeding, transplanting and then

harvesting and do your maintenance, it's a pretty easy

machine to operate. It sort of takes care of

itself once you've got the knack for what you got to check on.

Yeah, pretty much, pretty much. And Freight Farms, they help you out

tremendously. They're always willing to help and they're always

there. So if you have any questions or anything, you can always give them a

call. And does this help you think about,

as you have this container aspirations of growing the

It's funny you ask that. I've already ordered a

second container. Yes, expected to

be in here in December. So yeah, we've already made the decision to

grow the business. And when we, when we put in, when we built the

infrastructure for this one, we built it so that we can

have electricity for 4 containers. Okay.

So we have possibility to scale in the future

with our second container. We imagine being able to stack 2 on top of

it. So yeah, we have the future in mind.

And now talk to me also how you're learning

and what you're learning about being a business owner and then also growing a team,

because at some point you're going to need some help running all these

containers and running the business as well. Definitely, definitely. And I've been

talking a lot with Hammock Greens in

Miami, Florida. further down the line than

we are. They own like 4 or 5

Freight Farm greenery or leafy green

machines. So we've definitely been talking to them and

kind of using them as mentors to help us build our

structure. And what they say is, you know, have a person for maintenance,

have a person who can help with customer service, have a

person who can help with seeding and transplanting. And once you

have those people in place, that's when things start to get easier. So I

I can imagine having a headcount of like 4 people within the next

6 months that'll be there or that I will

need to kind of help me grow this business. And how do

you feel about that? Does that scare you or is that— No, it doesn't

scare me because I have a lot of family that want to help. Okay,

there you go. Yeah, so I've got a lot of family members that are

eager to help. I have friends that want to get involved. So it doesn't

quite scare me. I know I have help there. It's more, it's

more of, you know, just the unknown. How, how will I

go about it? But I think, you know, it's the need is there, and I

think that the ability to do it is there, so it shouldn't be too hard

to get done. I get the sense from our conversation and the things you've

accomplished over your life that you're the type of person that gets things done.

Where does, where does that drive come from? Oh man, I guess

it comes from just not having nothing, you know. I

mean, I've It's been— life has not been

easy. It's been a challenge. So it's just kind of if, if

it— what things weren't given to me, so the drive just comes from going out

to be a go-getter. Go get it, you know. Can't sit up and do

nothing, or you wake up and you won't have anything accomplished.

So I've always made a, a model that, you know,

leave something better than, than where you— than how you found it. That's

a good one. Always try to make an impact on the world. Whatever you do,

make a positive impact. Whether it's on someone's life, whether it's

on creating something, you know, things aren't going to get created by themselves.

So they have to have people that will do it. And I'm one of those

doers, you know. I'm the type of person that I'll open up a

package and probably start putting things together and then like, oh, there go the

directions. Let me see where the

directions are, or what does it say, once I get into some trouble.

But yeah. Ready, fire, aim. Yeah, there you go.

But yeah, I think the drive comes from my mother too because she's also a

strong person. And, you know, she's, she's a Leo, uh, her birthday's

in August, and she just has a strong drive

about her. And she's, uh, always been on my side and been

able to encourage me when I get down and, and help me along. You

know, she's, she's there as a strong supporter, uh, for the farm.

She's always— she's also been here and help me put in saturation

strips and things like that. So yeah, she's, she's, she's

a, she's a big supporter for me. Well, that's important

to have those people in your life that you can count on, that, you know,

are sort of like your rock when you, when you go through the ups and

downs. And I'm sure there's memories of when she's been there

to support you and to get you to the point where you're at now. And

I know you're appreciative, I'm sure appreciative of that as well. Yep,

definitely. What's her reaction, or what was the first reaction when she saw—

when she came in for the first time and just kind of explaining, you know,

what— Oh, she's like, oh, this is neat. And then, you know, so she

just— she was just surprised. Most people who come in, uh, they're, they're

impressed, you know, just looking at the, the

greenery, looking at the plants in this— in the nursery, the

seedlings, how they're starting from little sprouts to becoming

Big ceilings, and then you take them over to the growth towers and

they get to see how the plants grow vertically. And as they're walking down

there, you know, I like to put the lights on and give them that bright

look. Yeah. Shine the bright lights on them, and, you know, then

they see how the plants use the lights, and then

they can see the water. And last, I might let them get a taste test

so they can see that, so they can see the freshness of it. And then

And from that point on, like everyone, my mother was really

impressed about it and just kind of knew that this is a

state-of-the-art machine. And being the only one in Indiana, it

can open up some doors. Can you think of any other

relationships you've built up over the years that have been helpful for you from

a mentorship perspective or inspiration perspective? I think

maintaining relationships is more important to me because

I have a lot of good people in my corner, a lot of good friends

who have supported me, you know, a

lot of good friends from high school who are still on

my side today. That's great. And I couldn't have did it if it wasn't for

them, you know. And they're people like me who grew up, went to high

school together, and just kind of maintained and had a

hustler's mind. And we may have went our separate ways, but,

you know, we all came back to wanting to do business and to

collaborate on different things together. So I think having a

support structure of friends and family is very important. And no matter in

whatever business you do, no matter if it's farming, real estate, or just, you know,

in life, you need to have a good structure of family,

friends, and also having God on your side as well. You know, that's also very

important to have him in the forefront of your life and just kind of,

you know, letting him be involved in

all the decisions that you make. Yeah, having some sort

of, you know, connection to something bigger than yourself

is helpful, especially in those times when things start to look a little

You know, like you need the help and it's nice to have, uh, someone in

your corner be like, okay, uh, I don't always ask for

help, but I need help this time. So yeah, you got it.

What's a tough question you've had to ask yourself recently?

Oh, um, that's a good one. Uh,

I would say the toughest question is, you know, like, where am I going to

sell some of this stuff? No,

but like I've told you before, you know, one thing

I've done is I come in here and I've like planted a lot of seeds

and have different things growing. So I'm trying out a lot, you know,

I've got strawberries, I've got tomatoes growing, I've got

beets growing, I've got

stevia, I've got lemon basil, sweet Thai basil,

Genovese basil. I've got all kinds of stuff growing.

I think one thing I'm going to ask myself is how do I narrow my

focus, get to a point where I'm growing

efficiently and, you know, just being able to

capitalize on time and, you know, just

being able to have product that people want to buy. So I think that's, to

me, that's like the toughest thing, you know, what, what is going to be my

product line and, you know, every 6 months, like, what is going to be that

demand? What's demand going to be? How do I stay on top of And also

when the next greenery comes as well, you know, how are, how are we going

to be able to expand successfully? But I think those are questions every

entrepreneur asks themselves. Those are the type of things that keep you up at night.

And if you're not thinking about your business and if you're not always

figuring out how to make it grow, you know, you're not doing the right thing.

So yeah, that's, that's me right there, you know, trying to figure out not only

how to make the farming business grow, but, you know, I got the real estate

on the side too. So how do we do that? How do we deal with

that? Yeah. What has you excited as you think about the

next, uh, you know, 2 or 3 years? I

think that hydroponic farming is going to

blow up, and those who are on the forefront, they're going to be the

ones to benefit. I mean, as you can see how natural

disasters are happening, how what's going on in California, one of the

major hubs for food, they're in

droughts, they're in forest fires. So that's gonna that's going to

alter the supply. We saw how COVID-19

alters the supply of food. So I think within the next

few years, it's going to gear more towards local farming, and people

are going to start appreciating and being more aware of where their

products come from. And going to have more,

I would say, more knowledge on healthy eating, have more

knowledge on, you know, vitamins and things that you put in your body.

And as the consumer starts to become more

knowledgeable about where their things are going, where their things are coming from, and

what they put in their body, I think people with

hydroponic backgrounds or people in agriculture become more—

they're going to become more desired. You know, local farming is going to

become more desired. Organic produce will become more desired because a

lot of people in the consumer are becoming smart. They're being aware of what's going

on. Yeah. on in our world. They're being aware of global warming. They're being aware

of, you know, forest fires and natural disasters affecting the

supply. So— Yeah. I think local farmers are going to

have more of an important role in the future, especially within the next

3 to 5 years. And having pieces

of equipment like the Greenery will enable those who

once had aspirations to farm but did not have the

resources the land, the money, it's going to

create opportunities for those people to cross

that bridge and to get involved in this business. Now, I remember

reading an article, and it talked about just how the

percentage of African American farmers have decreased

over the years. And I think it's now at 3% or less in North

America. Wow. Having people know that, you know, this

is an opportunity that that is available even if you don't own the

land is going to be huge, you know, and this is a

way that it can be done with the greenery and with this Freight Farm

hydroponic equipment. Yeah, and not to put too much pressure on your

shoulders, but you are leading the way, so. Go ahead.

Yeah, you're a role model, and, you know, for— I don't know if

there's a new term, farmers of color, so maybe start that one up,

Lincoln. Well, there's a Black Farmers Association. Yeah, that's

true. That's true, Black Farmers Association. But it's just

kind of funny, you know, I just keep it real, you know,

my ancestors were brought here to this land, you know,

for agriculture purposes. Yeah. So

we were once slaves, and that was our job, to till the land. And

it's funny, now in today's society, there's not a lot of people

that look like me that still own the land. So it's just

kind of getting back to that, you know, we can get back to

still being able to work and produce

without owning the land, and letting people see that there are

opportunities within the agriculture business without owning the land.

And I think to me, Yeah. once I separated the

concept that you have to own the land to farm,

it was, it became But I was aware then that

you don't have to have the two to have one. You can still

farm and not own the land. So it's getting back to that.

Very, very inspirational story. What's one thing that most

people might not know about you? A fun fact.

Okay, let me think about this one. So I like to knit. I actually knitted

3 scarves. Yeah. Um, I was, uh, the Super

Bowl came to Indianapolis and I was on the Super Scarves Committee

and I knit 3 scarves. I knit 3 scarves. Jim Irsay has one of my

scarves, the owner of the Colts. Yeah, I've got one hanging

up and the other one I donated to a volunteer. But

yeah, it was a fun— that's a fun fact. Uh, people may not

know that, but yeah, I do knit in my spare time. So you're

a teddy bear at heart, definitely. Yeah, yeah. It

was interesting. That seems like one of those skills that

probably helps to de-stress. It's one of those things

that just like if you want to take your mind off anything else that's going

on, just start knitting and just get your mind off your

business at least for an hour or two. It sure will. Yeah, once you're there

for an hour or two, you're like, man, what was that I was thinking about?

Who taught you? I think that's some— well, see, there's a lady, a

local lady who owns Vertigo Knits. I think her name is Karen Schmidt.

She— it was her and, uh, there's another lady who taught me how

to knit. And, and what they did was they put me in front of a

simple pattern and just like, okay, you cross stitch this and then you pull it

out and you keep doing this with the needles. And after a while,

you know, it starts to become fun. And then we used to sit around and

have little knitting sessions and everyone would just be in a

circle with their yarn and just kind of gossiping and knitting at the

same time. Like, okay, this is what the— this is the little lady— old ladies

like to do. Okay, this is cool. It is a way to

de-stress. Yeah, we had knitting clubs and everything.

Now you got to find a way to mix in the, like, the knitting with

the farming or something with the farm, with the marketing. I— my marketing brain

always kicks in. I'm like, there's got to be a way to like mix in

some of that. So yeah, that is true. Maybe hand

knit something or hand knit some sort of marketing thing like, uh, you can

give to people or repeat customers or something like that. So yeah, that's true.

That's a good one. Maybe a scarf or something. Yeah,

yeah, the holidays are coming up, so you always have to think about, uh, things

from a branding perspective, and, and that feels like it's always something you're working on.

But, um, yeah, I mean, I appreciate you, you taking the time to come on

here. I know it might be a new experience for you to be talking about

the business, but I'm new to vertical farming as well, just learning. And that's why

I started this podcast, to just educate my listeners, learn more,

and sort of, you know, scratch my own itch and, and talk to just

amazing founders. And I'm just appreciative for the opportunity, and I'm glad

we got connected, and I'm really, really excited about what you're doing, especially

for what you're doing to support the African American community, minority

community, and just educating and giving inspiration to kids,

I think, is something that's really important. So I congratulate you for that.

Thank you. I do appreciate you having me on the Vertical Farming Podcast, and

I do appreciate the time that you've allowed me. And yeah,

I get very excited when we talk about this subject. And so I'm

glad I was able to share with you today. Yeah. So where's the best

place for folks to learn more about New Age Provisions and to connect with you

online? Uh, you can go to our website

newageprovisions.com, or you can email us at

[email protected], or, you know,

just feel free to give me a call anytime. I'm very easy to get in

touch with. My number hasn't changed for almost 20 years now.

Okay. Oh yeah, yeah, me too. I have a New York City number because I

grew up in New York. And so wherever I travel, it's a 212 number,

which is kind of rare. Most people don't have that. Oh, wow.

Yeah, we also have a farm share program on the

domain farmshareprogram.com. So those in the

Indianapolis area, they can subscribe and have fresh

farm food delivered to them right to their door. All right, so yeah,

we'll get the word out. We'll put all those links in the show notes as

well, so when people listen to the podcast, Uh, maybe your phone will start blowing

up. Awesome. Or as they used to say back in the day, that your pager

started blowing up. I used to have a pager

too. Beat me,

911. Yeah. Going

back old school. So, uh, well, thanks again for your time and I'll be following

your journey. So I appreciate it, Mario. Awesome. Thanks,

Harry. Really enjoyed that conversation with Mario. It's really

inspirational to see how he's making a difference in his community,

how he's bringing awareness to possibilities for minority farm

owners, and just his inspirational story and the success that he's having

really brought a smile to my face. I hope you enjoyed it as much as

I did. Tune in next week for my conversation with John

Purcell, the CEO of Unfold. Special thanks to

our episode sponsor, Ceres Greenhouse Solutions. Ceres is

creating sustainable growing environments by combining smart design, innovative

technology, and dynamic partnerships. learn more at

CeresGS.com. That's

CeresGS.com. If you

enjoyed this episode or past episodes, I'd love it if you leave a rating and

a review at RateThisPodcast.com/VFP.

We'll be sure to read them out on future episodes. Until we meet again

next week, here's to your health. Thanks for listening. To

read the full show notes for this episode, which includes any links

mentioned in the episode, as well as a full show transcription, Visit

verticalfarmingpodcast.com. There, you can sign

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