Shownotes
Episode Summary
Founder and Chief Content Director of From Farms to Incubators, Amy Wu joins the show today to share her mission of highlighting women in food, farming, and farmtech, especially women of color. Amy is an entrepreneur, storyteller, and award-winning writer for the women’s ag and agtech movement. Today, Amy speaks to the work she’s doing to tell the stories of women innovators and leaders in agrifoodtech. Amy reflects on her time as an investigative journalist, breaks down current issues such as food security, inflation and supply chain, and speaks to the power of representation.
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Key Takeaways
07:13 – Harry welcomes to the show, Amy Wu, who shares the story of her journey and what led her to a path of writing about women innovators in AgTech
12:29 – Reflecting on her time as an investigative journalist and how Amy got involved in AgTech
18:32 – Covid, food security, inflation and supply chain
20:11 – A passion for making a difference and the inspiration to make a documentary
24:22 – Why there aren’t more women in AgTech
29:43 – Harry and Amy speak to what they learned during Indoor AgTech NYC
33:24 – The power of representation and telling untold stories
38:59 – What goes into creating a documentary
41:54 – Amy expounds on the work she’s doing at the Hudson Valley Farm Hub
43:54 – Making food and farming sexy
48:19 – Three asks Amy has for the audience and where listeners can learn more about Farms to Incubators
Tweetable Quotes
“I felt strongly about giving voice to communities and to stories that just were not told. And the reason they’re not told, I find often, is because maybe the mass media isn’t interested in them immediately or it’s just too esoteric.” (13:28) (Amy)
“A lot of them were in their twenties and early thirties at the time and these smart women were from science, technology, engineering and math and were passionate about tackling issues related to climate and sustainability. And also, some of them were frustrated with working at companies where their ideas were just not being allowed to get out there, so they just thought, ‘Why don’t I hang my own shingle?’ So, I just thought it was a really good time to introduce this. I didn’t know what it would become.” (22:06) (Amy)
“The thirty women in my book are a community of their own, and each one of them has said, ‘I want to connect with the other women.’ And from there, it kind of snowballs, right? So, I strongly believe that networking and community is critical.” (26:08) (Amy)
“I think it’s so critical - what you said about that love and joy and passion - to be connected to the land. And also just seeing something that you produced. People put a lot of hard work into their gardens.” (33:03) (Amy)
“The work at the Hudson Valley Farm Hub truly aligns with my mission and vision to use agriculture as a platform to make a positive difference in society.” (42:16) (Amy)
“Absolutely that’s the message that I’m trying to get across that food and farming can be sexy.” (44:45) (Amy)
Resources Mentioned
Amy’s Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/amywu128/
Amy’s Email – [email protected]
From Farms to Incubators – https://www.farmstoincubators.com/
From Farms to Incubators Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/farmstoincubators/
From Farms to Incubators Twitter – https://twitter.com/FarmToIncubator
From Farms to Incubators Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/FarmstoIncubators/
From Farms to Incubators Vimeo – https://vimeo.com/user86133226
Books Mentioned:
From Farms to Incubators – From Farms to Incubators: Women Innovators Revolutionizing How Our Food Is Grown
Sponsor Info
Cultivatd’s Website – https://cultivatd.com/
Cultivatd’s Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/cultivatdco/
Cultivatd’s Twitter – https://twitter.com/cultivatd
Cultivatd’s Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/cultivatd/
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Mentioned in this episode:
2025 Precision Ag Report by iGrowNews
2025 Precision Ag Report by iGrowNews
Transcripts
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Speaker:C-U-L-T-I-V-A-T-D.com,
Speaker:or click the link in the show notes. A lot of them were in their
Speaker:20s at the time and early 30s and smart women, a lot
Speaker:of them from science, technology, engineering, and math,
Speaker:just really wanting and passionate about tackling issues
Speaker:related to climate sustainability. And also some of them
Speaker:were frustrated with working at companies where their ideas were just not being
Speaker:allowed to get out there. So they're just like, why don't I hang my own
Speaker:shingle?
Speaker:Welcome to the Vertical Farming Podcast, weekly conversations
Speaker:with fascinating CEOs, founders, and agtech
Speaker:visionaries. Join us every week as we dive deep into the
Speaker:world of vertical farming. With your host, Harry Duran.
Speaker:Vertical Farming Podcast, Season 6, we are underway.
Speaker:Welcome back. If this is your first episode listening, welcome,
Speaker:welcome. We do everything we can to roll out the red carpet, or maybe it
Speaker:should be the green carpet, for anyone that's new to this
Speaker:space. If you've sent someone here, if someone sent you here,
Speaker:I'm grateful for both counts. It's the show where we interview fascinating
Speaker:CEOs and founders of the leading vertical farming companies from
Speaker:around the world. I'm your host, Harry Duran. In case you
Speaker:missed our last episode, our kickoff inaugural episode, it was with Inez
Speaker:Sagrario, co-founder at Econoki. I was grateful to meet Inez at
Speaker:Indoor AgTech NYC, and she shared the work she's
Speaker:doing at Econoki with hops, of all things. It's the first time I've
Speaker:heard hops being grown indoors, and I knew when we met that I was going
Speaker:to be inviting her to the show, and I'm glad I did. We
Speaker:had a great conversation. sharing our experiences as entrepreneurs.
Speaker:We talked about the power of strategic analysis and how the industry is
Speaker:evolving. She naturally shared her passion for hops,
Speaker:sustainability, and talks about the relationship with her co-founder Anna. So
Speaker:make sure you check that out if you have not done so already. If you
Speaker:have and you haven't left us a rating and a review, what are you waiting
Speaker:for? Head on over to
Speaker:ratethispodcast.com/vfb, and as promised, I'll be sure
Speaker:to read those out on future episodes. Okay, keeping in the vibe
Speaker:of powerful women founders, I'm really excited to share this
Speaker:episode with you. It's with Amy Wu of From Farms to
Speaker:Incubators, and she joins the show today to share her mission of highlighting women
Speaker:in food, farming, and agtech, especially women of color.
Speaker:She's an entrepreneur, a storyteller, and an award-winning writer for the women's
Speaker:ag and agtech movement. And in this episode, she talks about the work she's
Speaker:doing to tell the stories of women innovators and leaders in agtech.
Speaker:She reflects on her time as an investigative journalist, breaks down current issues
Speaker:such as food security, inflation, and everything that's happening with supply
Speaker:chain, which is definitely a topic that's been near and dear to a lot of
Speaker:the guests on this show. And she also speaks to the power of
Speaker:representation, which is also very, very important for me. So I'm
Speaker:really happy I got to share her story with you. Before we
Speaker:jump into this amazing uninterrupted conversation, here's a couple of
Speaker:words from the folks that support this show. This episode is brought to you by
Speaker:Vertical Farming Weekly. Each week, our team member Noah brings you the latest and
Speaker:greatest in the world of vertical farming, including updates when
Speaker:episodes go live. Sign up today at
Speaker:verticalfarmingweekly.com. This podcast is produced by
Speaker:Fullcast, our full-service done-for-you podcast agency. If you are
Speaker:interested in learning how a podcast would be beneficial for your brand, learn more
Speaker:at fullcast.co. So Amy Wu, founder of From
Speaker:Farms to Incubators, thank you for joining me on the Vertical Farming Podcast.
Speaker:Thank you for having me today. So, what's fascinating
Speaker:about this show since I started in 2020 is the different path
Speaker:that it's taken me on. I've attended my first 2 conferences in indoor farming
Speaker:this year. I was at Indoor AgCon in Las Vegas, and then where we
Speaker:met briefly at Indoor AgTech NYC in Brooklyn.
Speaker:And what was exciting for me is just to start to meet some of my
Speaker:past guests firsthand, and then get a feel for what's happening in the space.
Speaker:And I don't know what your experience has been with these conferences, but what I
Speaker:loved about Indoor AgTech NYC was the fact fact that it was single track.
Speaker:So we got to attend— I mean, if you were there for the whole thing
Speaker:for the 2 days, you got to see pretty much everyone speak and you got
Speaker:to have enough time to mingle in the breakout sessions.
Speaker:So I'm just curious what your experience was after the conference.
Speaker:Yeah, well, thank you very much again, Harry, for having me here today. It's such
Speaker:an honor. Yeah, and it was great seeing you at the conference. So the,
Speaker:you know, the Interact Tech Conference actually I thought was a real, real highlight of
Speaker:the various conferences that I've been to, perhaps of it is because it had
Speaker:been so long since I'd been to an in-person conference since the pandemic.
Speaker:So I would say it's one of my first big conferences since
Speaker:2020. I will say that I loved that there were
Speaker:just some really important discussions related to the
Speaker:future of indoor agtech and kind of crystal balling it.
Speaker:I mean, no pun intended, I guess, you know, I did moderate the panel on
Speaker:the crystal ball session, which ended the conference. But it's
Speaker:interesting to take a look at some of the major issues
Speaker:that consumers, society are facing when it comes to
Speaker:food production, food supply, and how indoor
Speaker:farming, and then maybe the subset of agtech
Speaker:indoors will help address issues like that.
Speaker:So I want to get into a little bit of your background. For folks that
Speaker:are regular listeners to the show, they know I'm a big fan of origin stories.
Speaker:So, to start with, where's home for you currently?
Speaker:Home for me is in the Hudson Valley region in New York. It's about
Speaker:100 miles north of New York City. Okay. And New York, I'm
Speaker:originally from New York, actually, the state. I'm a native
Speaker:New Yorker, East Coaster. So, this is home for me.
Speaker:So, home for me currently is in Minneapolis, but I've only been here
Speaker:since 2019. Home for me is actually, I would consider
Speaker:New York. So, I grew up in Yonkers. I grew up in Yonkers, New York.
Speaker:Okay, well, and, uh, it's always had some— very
Speaker:familiar with the East Coast as well. And then I, I had— I was 4
Speaker:years in LA as well. But so I've been in a couple of big cities.
Speaker:This is my first time in the Midwest, but I do have a special place
Speaker:in my heart for the East Coast and specifically New York and Hudson Valley.
Speaker:Oh, well, thank you very much. I'm originally— actually was born,
Speaker:raised in Westchester County, so I'm pretty familiar with Yonkers.
Speaker:Yeah, I went to an all-boys Catholic high school in White Plains,
Speaker:Archbishop Stepinac. Okay, yes, I'm familiar with Stepinac as well.
Speaker:Yeah, so obviously from taking a
Speaker:look at your LinkedIn profile, your background is in journalism. Was that
Speaker:your intent when you went to school and just coming out of university? That was
Speaker:your passion and that you were going to be involved in journalism from the
Speaker:beginning? Well, I knew a couple things when I was
Speaker:in high school or even younger, middle school, was that I was encouraged to write.
Speaker:And I started journalism unintentionally when I was
Speaker:in middle school and the English teacher said to me, you're a really
Speaker:good writer. The assignment had been to write about a topic to
Speaker:the local newspaper. And I wrote a letter about the importance of Earth
Speaker:Day and it was published in the local paper. My
Speaker:photograph is there. And I just— Oh. I felt like a
Speaker:star, like a celebrity on one hand. But I also figured out
Speaker:very quickly that writing and media gives
Speaker:you a lot of power to get, get really important issues across
Speaker:to a big audience. So I actually thought you could write
Speaker:letters to the editor for a living for a long time. Yeah.
Speaker:And then realized that, no, not really. I don't think
Speaker:anybody's made a living doing that, but you could make a
Speaker:living as a journalist. It fit my personality
Speaker:pretty well. I think I'm, in my nature, is to be
Speaker:a curious, is a curious person. And I tend to ask
Speaker:a lot of questions because I'm curious,
Speaker:genuinely curious. Yeah. Somebody once told me that there is no
Speaker:stupid question. And as an investigative reporter for a long time,
Speaker:the mantra was like, even if your mother says that you're gorgeous,
Speaker:check it out or something. I guess, you know, there's
Speaker:also never a dull moment, I feel like, in what I call storytelling.
Speaker:And I was fortunate and just that several years— I mean,
Speaker:a number of years ago now, I was given a phone call from an editor
Speaker:at the USA Today Network who said, do you want to write about our agriculture
Speaker:and local government in the Salinas Valley? And I took
Speaker:the opportunity. I think a lot of things in life is timing, and I
Speaker:accepted the opportunity. And That's what led me on my path to writing
Speaker:about women, women innovators in our tech. I know
Speaker:that from all the different jobs you've had in journalism, I saw that you worked
Speaker:at Gannett as well. So that just brought like a big flashback of me or
Speaker:my parents getting the Herald-Statesman delivered to their house as well.
Speaker:What were some of the maybe one or two highlights from your time there? And
Speaker:not specifically at the one job, but just your time as in journalism and
Speaker:specifically in investigative journalism? So
Speaker:yeah, I can tie this into a little bit on the agtech
Speaker:aspect of this for listeners, I think, as well. And that,
Speaker:I think my background, like I said, I first covered
Speaker:agriculture and agtech in Salinas, which is the vegetable bowl of the
Speaker:world, which the ag industry is worth
Speaker:at least $10 billion and about 85% of the leafy
Speaker:greens that we eat are grown there. The investigative
Speaker:part really was in really wanting to tell untold,
Speaker:undertold stories. And I'm also a history
Speaker:major. I majored in history at NYU, and
Speaker:I felt strongly about giving voice to communities and
Speaker:to stories that just were not told. And the reason why they're
Speaker:not told, I find often, is because maybe the media, mass media,
Speaker:is not interested in them immediately. It's too too kind of
Speaker:esoteric. Back in 2015, agtech was just this
Speaker:really weird word. Not a lot of people had heard about it, actually
Speaker:was really— and I'm going to argue that even today, it
Speaker:still has not hit the peak quite yet, you know? But
Speaker:back then in 2015, 2016, very few people,
Speaker:investors even, had heard about agtech. Farmers had not
Speaker:really too much heard about agtech. Farmers would just be like, yeah, I use
Speaker:equipment and technology, but I don't know what you're really talking about yet. And
Speaker:But it was starting. So the journalist in me
Speaker:immediately kind of observed all of this and living in the
Speaker:Salinas Valley and being surrounded by farming and vegetables
Speaker:and being at the forefront of what I consider Salinas Valley
Speaker:to be one of the birthplaces for agtech, because it's so close
Speaker:to Silicon Valley, a lot of intersections with investors
Speaker:who are also some early investors in agtech.
Speaker:And there was a new center from the Western Center Growers of
Speaker:Innovation Technology that had launched for agtech startups.
Speaker:So I, the question that emerged was how many women
Speaker:innovators are in that center and how many are
Speaker:minorities? So I kept asking, I was just curious, like how many are led
Speaker:by women? How many were co-founded by women? How many of these women
Speaker:are women of color? And everybody who I asked kind of gave me a
Speaker:blank stare. Like, I don't know why you're asking this. And I don't
Speaker:understand, like, what you're looking for. And I think that was what really
Speaker:led me to keep asking the question. And I really wanted to
Speaker:amplify, like, I was convinced somewhere in me that there were
Speaker:definitely companies, startups being launched or
Speaker:led by women who are creating innovations to tackle farming
Speaker:challenges. It was a real strong intuition. So I applied for
Speaker:a grant at the International Center for Journalists. They were looking for stories
Speaker:of minority business women owners. I mean, that's a mouthful, but anyway,
Speaker:it was good timing. I applied, I got the grant, and
Speaker:then my problem actually was a challenge, was to find the women
Speaker:in 2 months to create a documentary and to also write some
Speaker:profiles. I think it was sheer persistence and
Speaker:drive that kind of led me into the project.
Speaker:And so I'm just curious in terms of like the thought process when
Speaker:you have the idea, because originally you go out there to do a story
Speaker:on farming and Salinas, and then obviously you have this other question now
Speaker:about what female found— where the female representation and minority
Speaker:representation— and it's interesting too because I'm actually Latino. I was born in El Salvador,
Speaker:and I was conscious as I started this show, like as I started interviewing
Speaker:CEOs and founders, I was like, well, There's a lot of white males who
Speaker:are telling great stories, but it was just something that I was conscious of. So,
Speaker:and I've made more of a concerted effort to do that on this show. And
Speaker:I think it's something you probably discovered as well. Like, you have to work a
Speaker:little bit harder to find those stories, to find those people, to make those
Speaker:connections to folks. Yeah, I can relate to what you're talking about. I
Speaker:mean, first of all, I don't come from a farming background. I don't come
Speaker:from a family of farmers, or I don't come from agriculture. I don't come from
Speaker:the world of food. ecosystems either. I grew up in the
Speaker:suburbs and I grew up— I did not visit probably my first farm until I
Speaker:was in my— well into my 20s, maybe even 30s. I mean,
Speaker:I thought a farm was just full of maybe pigs and goats and
Speaker:there was going to be a tractor definitely somewhere and a farmer in
Speaker:overalls and a pitchfork or something. I mean, in other words, Yeah. there was a
Speaker:certain image and I grew up at a time when
Speaker:unfortunately in our curriculum we didn't have a garden. We didn't
Speaker:have a community garden and we didn't— I actually thought the food grew out of
Speaker:supermarket aisles for a long time. And there wasn't this real,
Speaker:where does my food come from? Who's growing it? So it wasn't until I was
Speaker:sent to the Salinas Valley that I made— there was this emotional
Speaker:connection, like, oh, when I go through my supermarket aisles, when I
Speaker:visit and I see this bag salad, oh my gosh, it's
Speaker:actually like, those are the people that are now harvesting it. And when I
Speaker:go to the supermarket now and I look at where it's being grown, I do
Speaker:feel this connection. And it's not just Salinas Valley, it's really across the US.
Speaker:Every region in the US specializes, has a special
Speaker:geography that is really good for certain kinds of crops
Speaker:and certain kinds of agriculture. So I think it was
Speaker:just a great, greater appreciation for how
Speaker:important farming is to our livelihood and
Speaker:also a real appreciation for the farmers And it's such a
Speaker:timely issue because of the food supply issue that
Speaker:we're now facing with the inflation and the rising cost of food and
Speaker:the access, the challenges to access to food now as
Speaker:well. And I think the timing of this is probably at the
Speaker:time you started it, but it seems to be top of mind for a lot
Speaker:of folks. I started the show in 2020, March, right when COVID hit.
Speaker:And it was interesting how the topic of food security, this
Speaker:issues with the supply supply chain, food deserts, all these topics started
Speaker:coming to the surface and people were having conversations even with
Speaker:Ukraine, access to the supply chain, impact to
Speaker:food supplies. It feels like now more than ever, these
Speaker:conversations about where our food is coming from, access to it,
Speaker:who's growing it, how sustainable these supply
Speaker:chains are, it feels like that's a conversation a lot of people are having now.
Speaker:I think, you know, the pandemic, the COVID-19 pandemic and
Speaker:also just what that had created in terms of not just
Speaker:the pandemic, but now what we're seeing with inflation and also with
Speaker:just the cost of shipping transportation with getting the food
Speaker:right from A to B to C to D is something that has
Speaker:hit all of us, our pocketbooks basically. So consumers really
Speaker:care about why is it that last, like 5 months ago, the eggs
Speaker:were $2.99 and now they're $4.99. It's really
Speaker:something that's come to life for everyone. Why are the cherries now, why is that
Speaker:Right. So I think that's really
Speaker:creating questions to people who don't even know anything about
Speaker:farming as to why this is happening, an appreciation for
Speaker:locally grown food as well. I see that there's a
Speaker:growing number of CSAs, people subscribing to CSAs and going to
Speaker:farmers markets, finding and growing their own food. I think people are also growing their
Speaker:own food, which gets back to vertical farming.
Speaker:So I'm curious, Amy, as when you started spending time out there and started
Speaker:discovering some of these women in the farming space, when did you start to piece
Speaker:together what this would start to look like? And when did the idea come
Speaker:to you for turning this into a film? Well,
Speaker:the grant was really what created the film because I answered that
Speaker:call out from the International Center for Journalists for stories of
Speaker:minority women. business owners, and I got a grant. I don't know what really
Speaker:sparked my idea for a documentary. I think part of it was I had—
Speaker:I just, I love doc— I love movies. I had never done a
Speaker:documentary before. What the grant afforded me was to hire
Speaker:a young videographer who was fresh from UC Berkeley
Speaker:Journalism School and who was very hungry to also work on a good
Speaker:project. So I got really lucky. I think a lot of things in life are
Speaker:about good timing. So I just The stars aligned and he did a really
Speaker:good job. And I also was lucky enough to find 3 or 4
Speaker:women who would share their stories. So the
Speaker:film was an eye-opener when it first screened at the
Speaker:Western Center for Innovation and Technology in 2017.
Speaker:I created this event. My boss and I at the time at the Gannett paper,
Speaker:we invited community leaders, policymakers, farmers
Speaker:from Salinas Valley. We invited educators. for this evening
Speaker:screening. And I invited all of the women who were in the film
Speaker:to sit with me, and I was the moderator. And there was
Speaker:just this, like, silence after the film screened, and I was just like, huh,
Speaker:are people— what are they thinking? Are they just not liking it? Or—
Speaker:People just started to clap, and their hands went up, and they said, I had
Speaker:no idea that there was— there are a new generation of women who
Speaker:are doing this. Like, who would have known that there is They're creating
Speaker:innovations to help farmers, like tackle issues like
Speaker:drought, water and land management, lack of farmable soil.
Speaker:And women in their 20s, a lot of them were in their 20s at the
Speaker:time and early 30s, and they were fascinated. And they were— and
Speaker:these women, smart women, a lot of them from science,
Speaker:technology, engineering, and math. So
Speaker:just really wanting and passionate about tackling issues
Speaker:related to climate. sustainability. And also some of them were
Speaker:frustrated with working at companies where their ideas were just not being
Speaker:told, not being allowed to get out there. So they were just like, why don't
Speaker:I hang my own shingle? So I think it was just really good timing
Speaker:to introduce this. And I didn't know what it would become. All I
Speaker:know is that every time the film would screen, people would just really
Speaker:just connect with it. And then I said to myself, I got
Speaker:more emails and more phone calls asking me to profile more
Speaker:women. And then I said to myself, by 2018,
Speaker:I had screened the film probably 20, 30 times. And I said, I want to
Speaker:collect this. I want to collect the stories into the format of a
Speaker:book. So I had never written a book before. Yeah. But people
Speaker:sometimes ask me, why a book? And that's a good question, because
Speaker:I actually had never written a book. But the book— why a book is
Speaker:because I actually really wanted to have something tangible. and
Speaker:kind of what I, in my mind, said is lasting. Maybe it'll last
Speaker:20, 30 years, 40 years, but in my mind, it was more lasting, right?
Speaker:Yeah. I wanted to document their voices. I wanted to
Speaker:get their stories out to inspire younger women, young
Speaker:people to say, hey, farming is not just tractors and
Speaker:overalls. It's not just like this image of you're a farmer
Speaker:that's not smart. Farmers are some of the smartest people I know. They're
Speaker:not just contending with weather, they're contending with science, research,
Speaker:equipment. It's amazing. So I wanted them to pick up this book and say,
Speaker:huh, maybe I can consider work and job opportunities in agtech.
Speaker:So it was really meant to inspire, to document, to
Speaker:celebrate women. There's still not enough women in
Speaker:agtech. There's still not enough money, I think, being invested in a lot of
Speaker:women-led companies. We can talk about the reasons why I think the case,
Speaker:why that's the case. But I just, I wanted to make a difference.
Speaker:I wanted to at least have people start asking questions.
Speaker:Well, one that I'm going to ask is just the following, is just continuing that
Speaker:thread. What are your thoughts about why there aren't more women
Speaker:in agtech? Well, part of it is, like I noted, that traditionally
Speaker:agriculture has been— farms have been passed down from
Speaker:generation to generation. The land has been passed down from
Speaker:generation to generation, from grandfather to
Speaker:father, fathers to sons, and really not traditionally to
Speaker:daughters. That's changing though, also. So part of
Speaker:the problem is that women really have not been at the forefront of being—
Speaker:this is a male, very male-dominated industry, agriculture, right?
Speaker:So when it comes to agtech,
Speaker:agriculture and technology, it's not a surprise to me that there
Speaker:are just not a lot of investors that are investing in
Speaker:women-led companies. Part of it too is that a lot of venture capital
Speaker:firms, a lot of investors, the key
Speaker:leaders are men, right? So I think you kind of just like get to know
Speaker:the people you get to know and you kind of like are in your circle.
Speaker:You're used to what you're used to. So when somebody different
Speaker:comes along, maybe they're younger, maybe they're a woman, maybe they look differently,
Speaker:maybe they're pitching an idea, I think it's just like, oh, interesting,
Speaker:but something different. And whether or not people accept differences,
Speaker:or it takes time to adapt to change. And the other issue is that I
Speaker:think that there, for a long time, there hasn't been a community for
Speaker:women in ad tech either. So I think it takes
Speaker:connections, networking, and a community to build something bigger.
Speaker:So that's why Farms to Incubators has been trying to create more events.
Speaker:More, we partner with organizations to give women the
Speaker:opportunity to befriend each other, connect with one another. It could
Speaker:be cocktails. It could be networking hour. A lot of the 30
Speaker:women in my book are a community of their own. And each
Speaker:one of them has said, I want to connect with the other woman. 30 women
Speaker:times, then you kind of, it kind of snowballs, right? So I strongly believe that
Speaker:networking and community is critical. I also think that accelerators
Speaker:and incubators are also really important to
Speaker:serve as a platform to allow women and those traditionally not in
Speaker:agriculture to get into the field as well. How much have
Speaker:you grown to understand and appreciate the space
Speaker:since starting your research for the film?
Speaker:I've grown a tremendous respect for those who farm, those
Speaker:who are participating in the food systems. I mean, let's talk about
Speaker:farmers. It's just not an easy life. It's a life that they
Speaker:enjoy to some extent though, because I don't think anybody would really do
Speaker:that just to make money, a lot of money. It's very costly,
Speaker:everything from fertilizers to, like, I'm just trying to think,
Speaker:to seeds, to the equipment. Very
Speaker:expensive. You don't make much money back usually. A lot of this
Speaker:country is still made up of family farms. So I have a
Speaker:great respect for for their intelligence and their passion for
Speaker:doing what they do. I know people farming all the way up until their
Speaker:60s, 70s, 80s even, and they're doing
Speaker:it because they just— it's like a religion to them. It's like this is
Speaker:what they believe in. And then there's a new generation of younger
Speaker:people who are very interested in farming. They
Speaker:want to become farmers and own their own farms, not
Speaker:because, oh, to just say I'm a farmer, but because they want to actually
Speaker:They want to grow, use good healthy
Speaker:strategies to grow food, right? They want to actually contribute
Speaker:back to society by producing healthy food.
Speaker:Yeah. How much were you aware and did you start to educate
Speaker:yourself on what was happening in the indoor farming space?
Speaker:So I'm going to be candid about this. I think indoor farming is still a
Speaker:very new space. It's still a new area for me because a lot of the
Speaker:farms that I've written about previously or I had visited were
Speaker:definitely not indoor farms. But I will say a
Speaker:couple of things is that I think indoor farming is critical
Speaker:to food production. And I kind of place it in a couple of different
Speaker:silos. I mean, there's vertical farming, but I think there's also
Speaker:greenhouse, growing in greenhouses, obviously, and hoop houses
Speaker:and so forth. Yeah. I think there's a lot of opportunities for people
Speaker:who just want to grow their own food to grow indoors in
Speaker:a greenhouse, in their own apartments and so forth. There's innovation
Speaker:that's going to really be needed, that is really needed to make that happen as
Speaker:well. I think it's an essential part of food production and
Speaker:supply because we're going to face a real crisis, I think,
Speaker:for food supply. I think if there's no indoor
Speaker:farming or agtech, Along with that, we're going to be in trouble.
Speaker:I think that that is— I see it as another opportunity for women,
Speaker:young women, to get involved in agtech as well.
Speaker:And I think probably to a guest that I've had on the show,
Speaker:everyone seems to be in agreement that there's no one solution that's going to
Speaker:fix this problem. And it's not one specific type of
Speaker:indoor farm or outdoor farm. It feels like it's a
Speaker:concerted effort for everyone to be working together and figure
Speaker:out what— where their expertise lies and how they can contribute to this
Speaker:problem that's just going to be getting growing bigger and bigger as we deal with
Speaker:the issues around climate change as well. Right. I'm wondering,
Speaker:in terms of your experience at the conference, did you have a chance to
Speaker:check out some of the sessions? What were some of your takeaways or anything that
Speaker:you found that was new to you in Door Act Tech NYC? Well,
Speaker:I was invited as a moderator for the final
Speaker:session. So that was a very good opportunity. And I
Speaker:think it was a very lively discussion, certainly from the
Speaker:panelists who are very high-powered panelists,
Speaker:I guess, all representing some of them invest in— from one from
Speaker:Citicorp, one from Local Bounty. I mean, there's, there were 2
Speaker:other amazing panelists too. So what I feel like that to me was a
Speaker:highlight really, because it's looking forward at how does—
Speaker:why do we care about indoor? Why should we care about indoor agtech,
Speaker:right? And what is the role it's going to play to our greater
Speaker:society? What are some of the challenges? I also want to
Speaker:highlight that I write a lot about agriculture from the lens of
Speaker:gender, Perry. So really, it's
Speaker:really a vehicle for me to actually amplify women leaders and women
Speaker:entrepreneurs. So going into a
Speaker:conference such as Indoor AgTech, I always kind of
Speaker:eyeball and see what's the participation of women,
Speaker:women-led companies, women representing their companies, women
Speaker:moderators. I didn't see a, I mean, this time I visually just didn't
Speaker:see a lot of women. I mean, I was definitely a woman moderator, but
Speaker:anyway, I feel like in general, there are definitely more women
Speaker:participating in agtech. It's all positive. And I'm hoping that in
Speaker:indoor agtech, it'll be the same case in the future, because I do think
Speaker:that there's a lot of— women bring something special. We already contribute
Speaker:a lot to the food systems. We're often the head of the household buying
Speaker:and cooking the food. 60 to 80% of the food produced
Speaker:internationally, a woman plays a role in it, especially internationally
Speaker:on the farm. So anyway, yeah, I'm not sure that answers your question.
Speaker:I'd almost like to ask you— No, it's great. Indoor iTech, since you were there
Speaker:for 2 days? Well, I mean, what
Speaker:was fascinating was the ability to hear from some of
Speaker:the newer opportunities that exist in the space, to meet
Speaker:people that are doing interesting things in space that I was not aware of. I
Speaker:think Steven Ritz stole the show with his presentation from
Speaker:Bronx Green Machine. His energy was really interesting, but just
Speaker:to see this idea and to kind of a little
Speaker:bit to your point in terms of education, how inner city kids, you know, he
Speaker:told the story of some of the folks that have gone through, kids that have
Speaker:gone through his program saying like, this is the first time I've ever had a
Speaker:salad. Right. Just awareness of things that we take for granted. And I grew up
Speaker:in Yonkers, not exactly New York City, but I lived— I've lived in New York
Speaker:City as well. And I'm very aware that to your point, growing up, you take
Speaker:some of these things for granted that you think your food comes from the supermarket
Speaker:shelves. Yeah. And it is that awareness that's helpful. I'm learning a little bit more
Speaker:about that here. My partners got us growing veggies in our
Speaker:backyard, and I just made a cucumber and tomato salad.
Speaker:All the ingredients came from our backyard. And there's something really
Speaker:special about consuming something that you grew yourself, and
Speaker:I think that's a feeling that more people should have. Yeah, you're so nicely put.
Speaker:I mean, I myself am now a backyard— I consider myself a
Speaker:newbie when it comes to gardening, but I have a I started a garden
Speaker:myself about 3 years ago, and I think it's so critical
Speaker:what you said about that love and that joy and that passion just to be
Speaker:connected to the land, I think. And also just seeing something that you've
Speaker:produced. I mean, people put a lot of hard work into their
Speaker:gardens, actually, and to eat from that, I think,
Speaker:also brings joy. So yeah, excellent point,
Speaker:actually. And then the other thing that I'm aware of, and I
Speaker:think to the extent that I can help play a role in highlighting some of
Speaker:these stories. That's when I saw you at the conference. I was like, I gotta
Speaker:practically chase you down in the hallway because I was like, I gotta, I gotta
Speaker:make sure I get Amy because I wanted to share your story. Because as much
Speaker:visibility as you've had with the documentary and with the book, I mean, if
Speaker:there's any other people that are not aware of the work that you're doing, by
Speaker:all means, if I have a little bit of a platform to share those
Speaker:stories, I go out of my way to look for women in the space as
Speaker:well. I reached out to Jennifer Waxman, I connected to her through your
Speaker:site, so I'm going to ask her to come on the show. So, you know,
Speaker:always looking to tell these stories because when I think of it as, you know,
Speaker:just a minority person of color, that there's something— and then also
Speaker:thinking about it from the woman's perspective, there's something powerful in any
Speaker:industry when you see people that are like you doing something that
Speaker:you didn't know was possible. I think even if just like one little
Speaker:girl sees hears someone on the show or sees someone talk about
Speaker:farming or indoor farming or anything in that space, they'll know that that's possible, which
Speaker:I think is very powerful. Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, I mean, Farms to
Speaker:Incubators is a growing— has gone from a
Speaker:documentary, gone from newspapers, a collection of newspaper
Speaker:stories into a book. And now actually I'm building a
Speaker:nonprofit. It's a 501. It's a new
Speaker:young nonprofit, 501, that
Speaker:focuses on storytelling, building community,
Speaker:and also education and training. What is my goal and interest in
Speaker:this is that I'm really hoping that there will be more women who are at
Speaker:the table. It's as simple as that, really. Because, you know, like I
Speaker:said, a lot of people think that farming is still really boring and
Speaker:it's just tractors and overalls and being in the fields. I mean,
Speaker:it is a lot in the fields, and that's true, and there's a lot of
Speaker:opportunity for work in the fields, but there's also a tremendous amount of
Speaker:opportunity in science and research and
Speaker:marketing and data and technology. I mean, you name it,
Speaker:you name it, and there is a place in the food system. So
Speaker:that's the message I'm really trying to send across. And I'm trying to do that
Speaker:by really amplifying women leaders and women
Speaker:entrepreneurs in the food space. And I'm trying to document their
Speaker:stories so that there's a trickle-down effect of a new generation that can
Speaker:consider opportunities in that space as well. So really one
Speaker:piece leads to the other. And it's not as obvious as I'm
Speaker:hoping it is sometimes. I mean, I still get very people
Speaker:who— not young people, older people look at me quizzically, like, I don't see,
Speaker:understand science, technology, like they're supposed to be
Speaker:engineers, right? And I go, yes, there's a lot of
Speaker:opportunities in engineering, but there's also a lot of
Speaker:STEM, which is science, technology, engineering, math, can also
Speaker:equal agriculture. Well, then I get a bounce back, agriculture, we're
Speaker:not a farmer. I mean, but then I say, well, the modern-day farm also
Speaker:includes aerial drones that take images of
Speaker:fields. Yeah. It includes AI, blockchain. And
Speaker:then I get, oh, blockchain, that's like cryptocurrency in the field,
Speaker:right? Yes, it's cryptocurrency, but it's also being used to
Speaker:trace food from the field to the
Speaker:big box store. In the case that, God forbid, there's some
Speaker:sort of contamination in the salad bags, they can trace it
Speaker:back to the field. So, and then there's a lot of, ah, wow!
Speaker:It's the, oh wow, interesting, that I'm kind of hoping
Speaker:that From Farms to Incubators hoping to spark. And from the,
Speaker:oh wow, interesting, to the exploration, to then,
Speaker:oh, I'd like to connect with so-and-so. So From
Speaker:Farms to Incubators is really a hub to connect. I mean, I
Speaker:think of it as kind of like the port where the dongle, where the USBs
Speaker:go in, or where you charge your iPhone. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:I think of us as that. We are connecting a lot of different
Speaker:kinds of devices together that are all
Speaker:interested actually in connecting with one another, actually.
Speaker:So that is what the role— I see my role is. That's how I see
Speaker:the role of this growing This small but powerful organization
Speaker:is trying to put together. I'm hoping to partner with other
Speaker:people who share a passion for it because I think that
Speaker:10 years from now, everybody's going to know about agtech and agri-food tech. It's just
Speaker:going to be part of agriculture, part of food. It's questionable
Speaker:whether or not it's going to be its own little, oh wow, sector. It's just
Speaker:going to be part of our lives. Everyday life.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah. I think it's going to be more common for people to be growing
Speaker:their food, not only in their garden, but it's people in the city growing food.
Speaker:food in their kitchen or people growing it in their garage with some of these
Speaker:grow towers. Yes, absolutely. I was never— I grew up in the
Speaker:suburbs and I went to school in the city. And up until maybe
Speaker:3 or 4 years ago, when I told people that I was
Speaker:working at a farm, I write about farming, my friends in the city
Speaker:would never— they wouldn't tell me they weren't interested, but they would be a little
Speaker:bit like, oh, oh, okay. Okay, cool. But
Speaker:now it's like, I'm a hot commodity. When I say that I'm in farming or
Speaker:in agriculture, I'm, look at this, look at the sweet corn.
Speaker:Oh my God, it's in a husk. This is like gold. I mean, they're like
Speaker:wide-eyed. They're like, let me come visit. Let me have my own farm. I mean,
Speaker:this is hot. And I'm hoping that it's not just going to be trendy,
Speaker:that actually this is going to just be permanent. Yeah,
Speaker:just a way of life. Lots of good things there. And I'm just really happy
Speaker:to share your story because I know it's going to be inspiring for folks to
Speaker:learn more about the space. I'm curious, as someone who's in
Speaker:media, like, what was that journey like for creating
Speaker:documentary? Like, how long does that— does a process like that take? So from the
Speaker:moment you came up with the idea to finding the people that were going to
Speaker:help you on this journey, like, how long does that— a process like that take?
Speaker:Well, I was under a very pretty strict deadline because I
Speaker:had gotten a grant. And I I applied for the grant on
Speaker:the intuition that there was a story, and I don't think I might— I will
Speaker:ever apply again like that because, I mean, if I had not found
Speaker:people, I wouldn't— it would just not have happened. Like I said, timing
Speaker:is a lot of things in life. So I had only a couple
Speaker:of several months to find them, actually, and it was really— Wow. In
Speaker:the end, the executive director of the Western Growers Center
Speaker:for Innovation Technology, Dennis Donahue, who said, I think I have a couple
Speaker:of women at Trace Genomics for you to talk to. A woman named
Speaker:Pam Marrone, who launched a company called Marrone
Speaker:Bioinnovations, who actually mentored some
Speaker:women of color in the space. Dennis
Speaker:connected me with her, and then she just said, yeah, I've got 2 or 3
Speaker:women too. I'm a woman also. You know, in other words, it really— I got
Speaker:lucky with connecting. And then— I think the whole process was
Speaker:several months, but the several months was only planting the seed.
Speaker:It wasn't really at the actual fruition
Speaker:at all. The actual fruition came with me taking the
Speaker:film on the road and me seeing this positive response from
Speaker:different audiences and saying, my gosh, this needs to be screened
Speaker:more. We need to have more events, discussions, panels, kind of like
Speaker:the Indoor AgTech Summit. We need to have more gatherings. And then from
Speaker:there, I made more connections. And then that's when I was like, I want to
Speaker:write a book about it. I mean, some of the screenings and
Speaker:gatherings drew up to about 150 to 200 people,
Speaker:and we used to fill every seat. And this was in 2018.
Speaker:And yeah, when I look back, it was pretty amazing. And it's kind of
Speaker:like now part of the history, I feel, from farms to
Speaker:incubators. It's part of this history that was essential in building
Speaker:it to what it is today. I've been told by a lot of people, I'm
Speaker:so surprised that you took this so far. And it's an
Speaker:interesting thing to be told because I never, first of all, planned
Speaker:on taking it so far. But I feel like it was just really
Speaker:important to collect and amplify. Like you said, when you
Speaker:see another woman, when you see somebody who kind of looks like you doing
Speaker:something really interesting, just feel like you might want to connect
Speaker:with And it's not to say that you're committed to doing what they're doing. It's
Speaker:just like, hi, how are you? Oh my gosh. Like I do this with book
Speaker:writing too. Like I had not written a book before. Well, if I see another
Speaker:woman who's an Asian American writer, I'll be like, wow, cool.
Speaker:Like, how did you do that? Like sometimes you just feel that connection. Sure.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. You want to say a little bit about the work you do at
Speaker:the Hudson Valley Farm Hub? Yeah, I can certainly talk about that. That is my
Speaker:day job. And I think my work from with From Farms to Incubators led me
Speaker:to that amazing place. I wear the hat of a communications
Speaker:manager there, so I'm also doing the same thing, storytelling,
Speaker:often taking photographs, often the person doing social media. But
Speaker:I will say that the work at the Hudson Valley Farm Hub truly aligns
Speaker:with my mission and vision to use
Speaker:agriculture as a platform to make a
Speaker:positive difference in society. So in the case of the Hudson
Speaker:Valley Farm Hub, it is growing produce,
Speaker:vegetables, and distributing it to emergency food
Speaker:systems in the area, in the region, pantries,
Speaker:SNAP programs. It's great to see people who
Speaker:unfortunately can't afford— I mentioned the $15
Speaker:cherries, but hey, everything is expensive now, really, right? Yeah.
Speaker:It's just beautiful to see that the vegetables and the fruits are going for a
Speaker:really good price. cause, not so that, you know, people are not just eating
Speaker:packaged processed foods, but locally, local fresh
Speaker:foods that also they can make delicious meals out of. And
Speaker:there's the other component of education and training that the farm,
Speaker:that the Hudson Valley Farm Hub is really committed to, training
Speaker:new farmers, people who want to farm. And
Speaker:that aligns very much with what I believe in. You know, you have to train
Speaker:the next generation of young people to consider bringing their
Speaker:talents. Otherwise, nobody's going to be farming anymore,
Speaker:because increasingly the farmers are getting older, or if they're not old,
Speaker:you know, their children might not be taking over their farms. Do we want all
Speaker:the farmland to go to housing development, to go to malls?
Speaker:I don't know. Then where are we going to grow the food? Ag land is
Speaker:really precious. It's like gold. So really hoping to
Speaker:keep that in the hands of You know,
Speaker:it's interesting, I think, and I've seen it some on the indoor ag side
Speaker:from a marketing perspective, the use of these newer platforms like TikTok
Speaker:to tell stories in a visual manner and some of the social
Speaker:channels. And I think, you know, some of that in a way pulls in a
Speaker:younger audience who's curious about what is being shared. And I
Speaker:think there is some crossover where some people who are interested in a new career
Speaker:can see those stories and say, oh, that's interesting. as an opportunity. And I think
Speaker:to your earlier point, there's not just— farmer does not mean, you know,
Speaker:person on the actual farm like planting the seeds. And
Speaker:nowadays with the seed genomics and all the
Speaker:data science you need and the people working and all the different technologies just on
Speaker:the indoor side with LEDs and robotics, there's so many opportunities to enter
Speaker:farming nowadays that are not limited. Yeah, to your point, drones
Speaker:and just all this new technology that's being used. Right. To have much more
Speaker:success with your farm. I mean, absolutely, that's the message
Speaker:I'm trying to get across, that food and farming can be sexy,
Speaker:basically, and it's not just— it's not boring. I mean, I, like I
Speaker:noted, did not come from agriculture and farming myself. It's a
Speaker:passion, it's an interest, and I get asked a lot by younger people or
Speaker:people like, how do I get into this? How do I explore this? Well, you
Speaker:just need a curiosity to ask questions, and I think Especially if you're a
Speaker:young person, just go to the farmer's market and start talking to some of the
Speaker:farmers there. Talk to some of the people selling the produce there.
Speaker:Say, I'm interested in this. And if you're taking a class, hopefully you're
Speaker:at a university where there's some sort of food or
Speaker:farming-related class. I really hope so. Increasingly, I'm seeing this
Speaker:in high schools, grade schools in the city too. I think
Speaker:that they're incorporating gardens into the schools now also, which is
Speaker:beautiful. So I'm very positive about this. I mean, like, if I can—
Speaker:if me, a city girl, has fallen in love with agriculture and I can grow
Speaker:and I can also love this and I love to eat, I am
Speaker:positive that there are opportunities out there for other
Speaker:women. And if you want to start your own agriculture agtech company, your own
Speaker:farm, I have numerous women who come up to me
Speaker:afterwards and say, my dream has always been to have my own farm. And they
Speaker:kind of look really shy when they say that. It's almost like their words are
Speaker:just a I'm like, what did you say? Oh, I just sort of had this
Speaker:dream, you know, that maybe— it's like, say it out loud. I would like
Speaker:to have a farm someday. And I really believe that if you
Speaker:say it enough, if you're passionate enough, you're curious enough, it'll happen.
Speaker:I really, really believe that. Maybe it's partnering with somebody else who
Speaker:also has something similar, like similar mission. Like, I feel like, Perry, you and
Speaker:I have similarities, right? Yes. So it's finding somebody with some
Speaker:common passion, and then maybe you could do something
Speaker:together, or maybe you could find at least trade or share
Speaker:information together. Yeah. Yeah. And I think
Speaker:it's taking the initiative and putting yourself out of your comfort zone, because even
Speaker:there's— for all the women that have come to speak to you after a screening
Speaker:or after reading the book, there's probably a percentage that were too shy to come
Speaker:up to you, or, you know, didn't know what to say or to share something.
Speaker:So I think letting folks know that there's a variety of ways to
Speaker:connect with people who are doing like-minded work, whether it's, you know, I have people
Speaker:sending me DMs on LinkedIn saying, I listen to your show, I'm starting a farm,
Speaker:I don't know where to start, but your stories have been inspiring me. So I'm
Speaker:like, okay, like, where else can I point you to? And just, you want to
Speaker:feed that, you know, fan that flame so that people don't lose the
Speaker:hope and they understand that there's a ton of different ways to enter
Speaker:this industry. I mean, I took a couple of skills that I had in
Speaker:podcasting and production And I was like, well, and I wanted to learn about the
Speaker:industry. So I was like, well, let me put these together and I'll create my
Speaker:own platform because there was nothing that existed at the time. So in the
Speaker:same way you made the film and then you did the book, and I think
Speaker:just taking the initiative to create the opportunity that doesn't exist
Speaker:for you and just make your own way. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, one of the
Speaker:hopes of that down the road that From Farm to Screen Creators
Speaker:wants to do is to continue to tell the stories of women through
Speaker:interviews and through audio. through podcasting, but
Speaker:I'm a solo woman myself. So it's, I always find that if there are opportunities
Speaker:to partner or work together to tell a story, whether it's like
Speaker:somebody else taking the photograph and me writing the story, or whether it's somebody,
Speaker:2 people doing an interview or one person drawing the painting, I always
Speaker:find that there are just ways to work together. It's very hard to actually be
Speaker:totally solo and do all of, all do all the stories by yourself.
Speaker:Absolutely. So as we wrap up, Amy, given the
Speaker:audience, a lot of folks that are in the space that are in the industry
Speaker:listen to this show. Is there a specific ask you have for the
Speaker:listeners of this show? Yes, I would say my
Speaker:specific ask is to please, if you know of a woman
Speaker:in agtech, a woman, she does not have to be the founder of a
Speaker:company. She could be a co-founder, a leader in
Speaker:leadership, and it does not have to be a startup. It could be working for
Speaker:a large ag company too. Please email me
Speaker:because we are expanding our portraits. We are launching our
Speaker:portrait section now. We want to have a diversity of women on
Speaker:that page. So please nominate her, you know, to be part of
Speaker:this by emailing me directly at
Speaker:[email protected]. Please check out our
Speaker:directory of women in agtech. There's 800+
Speaker:names on there now. These are all women who submitted their own names. They want
Speaker:to be on there. they want to be connected with, please go to the Pharmacy
Speaker:Incubator's website and put and submit your name or
Speaker:get your friend to submit her name. My third ask would be that when we
Speaker:roll out our stories and when we put them out on our social channels,
Speaker:please share, please reshare, share on your
Speaker:LinkedIn, on your Instagram, on your Facebook. Please use that as an
Speaker:opportunity to share out the stories. And then if you're
Speaker:interested in screening the film, in just seeing the book,
Speaker:in bringing the book to your— even go to your local library and say, can
Speaker:you please add this book to your collection? And the reason why I
Speaker:say that is so that the community can then see this book
Speaker:and be like, oh, interesting, women in— Yeah. I did not know. Pay
Speaker:it forward by just sharing. You don't have to necessarily
Speaker:be part of this storytelling team, although we would love to have you. We'd love
Speaker:to have talent. I would love to hear from you,
Speaker:but in a very simple way of resharing and sharing
Speaker:what's out there. That would be my big ask. Yeah.
Speaker:Well, we'll make sure to reshare all the links that you mentioned, and
Speaker:whatever's missing, just please get them to me. We'll make sure everything's in the show
Speaker:notes. So if you've been following along, then don't worry, we'll have— make sure everything's
Speaker:going to be in the show notes. Amy, I want to thank you for taking
Speaker:the time to chat with me, telling your story, which is incredibly inspiring. I'm
Speaker:really glad we got a chance to connect. And I feel we're going to be
Speaker:probably like, there's opportunities for us to partner on some future media projects. I want
Speaker:to make sure we stay in touch. And I'm glad we were able to share
Speaker:your story. I would absolutely love that. And I will
Speaker:definitely look for opportunities to work together again. Thank you for all the good work
Speaker:that you're doing. Thanks again to Amy for coming on the show and sharing her
Speaker:story. As always, full shows are available at verticalfarmingpodcast.com.
Speaker:Stop by, take a look. We capture a summary, timestamps, key
Speaker:takeaways, resources mentioned, all in the hopes that we can get
Speaker:you focused on listening to the conversation without worrying about taking
Speaker:notes down, which is something that I do for podcasts that I'm, I'm really a
Speaker:fan of. I really appreciate Amy sharing her story
Speaker:and her time with us, and I'm so glad to get the word out about
Speaker:the great work she's doing at From Farms to Incubators. Special thanks to our
Speaker:season 6 title sponsor, Cultivated. If you are looking into a vertical farm and
Speaker:don't know where to start or which technology would suit your needs, here's an idea:
Speaker:reach out to them today. Here's the best part: their service is
Speaker:free because they work on behalf of their partners. You can learn more at
Speaker:cultivated.com, and that's spelled
Speaker:C-U-L-T-I-V-A-T-D.com. Leave out that last E.
Speaker:Podcast production marketing provided by Fullcast. Learn more at
Speaker:fullcast.co about how podcasts can be beneficial for
Speaker:you and your If you are enjoying this show and
Speaker:you haven't already, please leave us a rating and a review at
Speaker:ratethispodcast.com/vfp. We'll be sure to read those
Speaker:out on future episodes. Tune in next episode, another
Speaker:great conversation with the CEO of City Crop, Christos
Speaker:Raftogiannis, and hopefully I didn't butcher his last name.
Speaker:We really had a fun conversation. I'm really looking forward to sharing that with you.
Speaker:Make sure you check that out. Until we meet again. Until we meet again, here's
Speaker:to your health. Thanks for listening. To read the full show notes for this
Speaker:episode, which includes any links mentioned in the episode, as well as a
Speaker:full show transcription, visit
Speaker:verticalfarmingpodcast.com. There you can sign
Speaker:up for our email list to be notified when new episodes are published.
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