It has been a busy four-plus months since our last post! We shouldn’t have been surprised that talking more and more about SEED and the automated system with more and more folks generated more and more questions.
What exactly is it? How does it work? What’s in it? Who can use it? Among others.
It was difficult to answer some queries simply because there was no assembled package. But there was also the matter of sharing too much and having an idea appropriated before we even got it off the ground (literally!). So, we began further developing the SEED project kit so that we could answer some of those questions without losing the more proprietary elements.
The kit, which is run on Arduino, is receiving a lot of interest and we have taken it on the road. One of the highlights of the last month was an invitation to share SEED at the Food Day LA showcase at Los Angeles City Hall.
“But still,” you ask, “what is SEED?” SEED is —
TRAINING and ENTREPRENEURSHIP – The future-forward job skills participants learn can be transferred to work in larger food/agriculture technology companies, neighborhood small farms, or their own enterprises, and each participant learns how to install resource-conserving systems that reduce waste and expenses. Our goal is to provide this training as a key opportunity for traditionally hard-to-employ groups such as youth, veterans or previously incarcerated community members.
STEM EDUCATION and AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY – South Los Angeles, like many low-income communities, is often ignored in terms of technology and innovation. So, we’re working to tap into the agriculture technology and robotics market – an industry projected to grow to $16 billion by 2020.
WORKSHOPS – Our current workshop curriculum educates community members in food security and production topics such as permaculture gardening, food preparation and preservation, health and nutrition and food distribution, along with job training to prepare residents for work in the emerging “green economy.” STEM sessions focus on: assembly and utilization of low-cost technologies; garden and farm development; explorations of computer coding; soil management; permaculture; and, business development.
FOOD SECURITY and SUSTAINABILITY – SEED engages residents in the citizen science and food system innovation that increases access to fresh produce. Importantly, our participant farmers analyze scientific and engineering processes to understand the complexities of our globe’s food and ecological sustainability challenges.
We know that is still a lot of words — and little visual — but we hope you will stay tuned as we complete development of the growing kit and eventually make it available to the public! Oh, and if you’d like to see the kit in person, we’ll be at the DTLA Mini Maker Faire December 2nd.
What happens when you grow using some of the best permaculture techniques, get certified by the county to sell your produce, then take said produce to your first farmers market experience? You are a colossal success, that’s what! Yes, we sold out of produce on our first outing. The culmination of a months-long process to get our first farm entrepreneur selling has been satisfying, since we’ve been working without the benefit of large donations or funding. Many simply do not believe that a food hub in South Los Angeles is possible. But, not us and certainly not our food entrepreneurs.
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